Read the new post in my blog:

http://ping.fm/MNtnO

At the fringes

There is a wonderful article about complex companies that survive more than 200 years. In many ways these companies are similar to cities or states...or even countries. For example, one of the aspects is that these companies tolerate and often encourage eccentric activities at the margins. This is very similar to the notion of pirates...letting activity at the edges be exploratory and provocative.

Here is a link to the article:

http://designmind.frogdesign.com/articles/the-connected-company.html

Why do we design education around assessment and accreditation instead of around students? Why are registrars more important than students?

A man meets a guru in the road. The man asks the guru, “Which way is success?”

The berobed, bearded sage speaks not but points to a place off in the distance.

The man, thrilled by the prospect of quick and easy success, rushes off in the appropriate direction. Suddenly, there comes a loud splat.

Eventually, the man limps back, tattered and stunned, assuming he must have misinterpreted the message. He repeats his question to the guru, who again points silently in the same direction.

The man obediently walks off once more. This time the splat is deafening, and when the man crawls back, he is bloody, broken, tattered, and irate.

“I asked you which way is success,” he screams at the guru. “I followed the direction you indicated. And all I got was splatted! No more of this pointing! Talk!”

Only then does the guru speak, and what he says is this: “Success IS that way. Just a little AFTER the splat.”

There should be a clear beginning to any story, a defining moment that sets the entire train of events in motion so that the story seems to flow in a reasonable sequence from start to finish, a moment when a person realizes they are part of history.

Maybe if we follow a trail, we have already lost our way. My path is not your path, though we might walk near each other at times.

When our tires are stuck in a rut the wrong thing to do spin our wheels trying harder to go in the same direction. A lesson that applies to life.