Kicking But

When I left high school, I earned a bachelor's degree in Business Administration.

When I was 35, I returned to university and earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree.

What I learned: "Burn the Box!"

If you don't have a box, you are ALWAYS thinking outside of the one that your competition uses as a safe zone.

No box, no safe zone, no competition!

good advice, I hear alot of stuff like that. I don't know about you, but I've always wound up in jobs where bosses are always handing you rule books of how-do-I-do-this, and this-is-how-you-day-will-be.
My career has mostly been in the hotel sales and marketing business where think on your own is talked about but rarely if ever practiced in real life. As the old joke goes about oral sex, it's where you talk about it alot.
Oh for a career where the boss tell me,"here's your corner desk, your mission, your scope, check in with me once and while and file a report every two weeks. Good Luck." I think I would die and go to heaven. In my career, hotel magnates practice
"hands on" management, which means, tell me when you hit the mens room.

Write down what you are passionate about. What activities put you in a zone that captures your energy and creativity?

Write the "things" down in terms of a subject and verb. For example, I love to analyze data. I write down analyze and data. If you are honest and devote efficient time to this, you will have a list of subjects and verbs that define you. The verbs say what you should be doing. The subjects represent the arenas.

For example, I have a job that doesn't allow me to do much research. Yet, I love to research subjects and write conclusions. Going through this exercise allowed me to look outside what I do everyday and find an alternate path for my career.

I am currently traveling that path and know that this different approach brought me to this point.

I love this post so much, I must reply.

I have sought out the answers to these "Impossibility Questions" in a much less direct way, now I have a new tool to capture it and a name to call it!

What I do once I have the Impossibility Statement is challenge one person (in person, on the spot) to think about a solution. This often results in a "can't be done" or "too hard" response. I then immediately gather a group of peers and then pose the question to the group. They start by resisting; I push forward by applying constraints which at first seems counter-intuitive. In my experience, the more constraints that are given, the more the ideas start flowing.

An example: I ask the group how we would (insert impossibility statement here). When the response comes back about how tough it would be I don’t let them off that easy by stating "we MUST get this done. Not doing it is not an option." Drawing this line has a miraculous ability to remove mental barriers and I usually have some ideas emerging after this. If still more constraints are needed, I put a timeline on it by saying "we MUST get this done in X days, how are we going to do it?" I empower them by letting know I came to them with the question because I know they can solve the problem and before you know it, I have the start of a plan.

It is a wonderful thing to be a part of and even more wonderful to lead. Over time, your team(s) will start to enjoy the process and crave challenges.

There are a host of other topics that need to be considered, like the resolve and dedication to get the new project complete, maintaining the enthusiasm, etc. that are all for another conversation thread.

I'm asking the Impossibility Question to three people today.