Week 3/ Response to Bryan

Vivianne

Week 3/ Response to Bryan

Bryans Post:

Week 3 Reading: The Art of Possibility (Chapters 5-8)

As I continue making my way through the readings of The Art of Possibility I’m further engrossed in the idea of redrawing perceptions of the world around us to start seeing what is truly around us. Starting with the first reading of Chapter 5, I felt that the idea of “leading from any chair” could just be a good motto for any leader. In my opinion, good leadership is simply motivating your students, team, or employees to perform at their best. If you are motivating these people to wish to perform at in a leadership role or to be able to function so efficiently that they don’t necessarily notice when the leader is removed, then that is the mark of great leadership. I also found it inspirational to hear the tales of the conductor having the violinist take over so he could watch his orchestra from the back row of the audience. To me, regardless of what kind of music being performed, this is a concert I would be compelled to go see. Hearing that level passion that the conductor is leaving his very controlling and involved role to experience his “product” as the paying customer would, demonstrates a thoughtfulness to me that should be modeled by any leader of quality.

Moving on through the reading, I found chapter 6 to be especially inspiring. The whole mantra of “Don’t take yourself so goddamn seriously” is a good one to live by, and one I’ve learned on my own to adopt over the years. Having worked in a teaching and mental health role with kids, I’ve worked with a big range of ages and learning capacities, and throughout this I’ve learned that humor is probably the most universal of languages. Some of my most successful teaching moments have evolved out of taking difficult materials and adding bits of humor to the teaching process. Even just joking around with students can sometimes build a strong enough rapport that they learn that you’re not always about business, and in turn, this can motivate some to really push themselves to perform better in my course because they feel they know me better as a person than some of their other teachers. As I read of this concept being applied to business models, it didn’t surprise me to learn of instances where it generated success in those worlds as well. I also felt that chapter 7 conveyed a strong idea about presenting things as they truly are when dissecting a situation. I think it’s human nature to fall into the “poor me” boat when things don’t necessarily go our way, but it rarely ever helps the situation, and more rarely improves it in my experiences. I can really see how the simple idea of changing “but” statement to “and” statements can make it easier to stop us from playing the victim in situations where it really won’t help anything move forward.

Lastly, I think this week’s reading wrapped up with some good thoughts on doing something about all of the possibilities one can see when they reframe their ideas. The metaphorical imagery of a river building an ice tower is a strong concept, and the thoughts on letting nature flow through your body to take the course it should are really strong; but, I have to admit I’m excited to hear more ideas of doing something about the possibilities Zander is trying to open our minds to seeing. Again, I have to reiterate that for an “assigned” reading this has been an easy and compelling read for me, and one I would recommend to others. I look forward to concluding this book in the coming week.

My response to Bryan's post: 

Bryan, I enjoyed your post very much, but what stuck with the most from it was your Chapter 6 reflection. I too agree and need to live by, “Don’t take yourself so goddamn seriously”. Not too long ago, I would become overwhelmed and stressed out over the smallest things. During my experience at Full Sail, my managing and teaching position along with my personal life, I have learned and continue to adopt this attitude so I am able to strive for a piece of mind.

I agree with you that humor is always needed when things get a little too serious. I also bring humor to my classroom to ease the tension, especially during my portfolio class, where the pressure is on due to completions of portfolios and website in a 4 week deadline. My students always seem to appreciate my silly jokes. I believe when a teacher rules with an iron fist, it brings the moral and motivation down in the classroom. When people are happy and comfortable in their work environment, they are more productive. Humorous and happy people always seem to get more accomplished. So I build the environment in my classroom with a smile and the occasional teacher joke.