There are moments during the day when you’ll freeze and stare.When deciding to get out of bed;While looking at the computer;As you’re scrolling through your phone.Next time you catch yourself in that moment, stop and be aware.Ask yourself:What is this moment I’m in right now for? Who is it for?How much awareness can I develop about my body at this moment?How am I breathing?What are my thoughts?You don’t need to listen to “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” to enjoy the trip. Stopping and choosing to be aware is often just enough.
The other day I attempted to make a fatteh - a middle eastern dish that uses up stale bread, it dates back to the Pharaohs - for my sister. I was testing the recipe out.While making the dish, I ended up burning a minor ingredient - the bread!My sister, being open that she is, said, “It’s okay, we can still try it out.“I said, “no.“I said “no” because I cared more about the experience that my sister might have. I wanted that experience to be better, and I knew that all I had to do to improve was pay slightly more attention to one element.We tried it again - this time with improved focus.Cooking food for yourself is nourishing and for sustaining life.Cooking food for others is about craft and creating an experience.Same can be said for just about everything else in life.
“A prototype is a question, embodied.” - Diego RodriguezAnd a curious question is like a foray - a brief sprint into a new activity.Therefore a prototype is like a foray.How many forays have you had in your life?I was counting what I could recall of mine:What if I created a wedding band?What if I started a neighborhood newspaper?What if I created an extermination company with my friend?What if I had 3 other brothers and we were like the busted ghosts?What if I traveled around the world?What if I quit my job and didn’t have a next job?What if I start a blog?What if I started doing 30-60 minutes of exercise outside during the work day?How many forays have you had in your life? How many today?If you wrote a book about your life’s various forays and each chapter was a different foray, what would your chapters be called?You have a beautiful and colorful life. Keep being curious.Keep trying new things.Keep Learning.Keep Advancing.
When you’re climbing over the mountain of work you have to do, take a tiny step.It’s a lot easier to do what’s immediately in front of you while still being able to pivot or re-orient yourself as needed.Take the tiny steps.
Your colleagues love feeling they get when they’re helping answer the big questions. Your colleagues hate being pulled into meetings that say: “weekly product/services cross-functional.“What if the calendar invite read: “How might we transform into a product-led growth company?“The body of the calendar invite would read: “This is your time to spend with the rest of us who are trying to answer this big question before us. Meeting notes are found [here] and this week’s agenda is [here]. Come ready to tackle the question!“Transforming how the meeting is positioned in the mind of the attendees transforms how the work gets done.People want to feel like they’re part of something bigger - that’s motivating for us.When you want people to work with you, how might you show them more that they’re part of the something bigger?
A good roux can deliver a creamy bechamel or a deliciously dark and deep gumbo. To make an effective roux, you need to be mindful of how much butter and flour you’re mixing together. You want enough for the flour to hold the butter, but not too much that it separates.Knowledge and inputs are the same.Take in only enough to be effective. Take in too much and you won’t be able to keep together.Cheers to moderation.
Every jazz musician struggles to find their voice. Who are they? How are they meant to show up? What does it mean to be me? What am I actually contributing? How am I pushing the craft forward?I don’t want to make any assumptions, but that sounds a lot like the rest of us. No?Well, how do jazz musicians find their voice?They aim higher and emulate the greats.They fail.They realize they cannot even dream of becoming their ideal. And through all of the failures and all of the suffering, they find their voice.Conan O’Brien once observed, “It is our failure to become our perceived ideal that ultimately defines us and makes us unique.“Don’t be afraid to aim high.Fail as often as you possibly can.Learn from each fall.Eventually you will find what you’re looking for - your voice.
What if my customer’s problem was solved in a song?What if I could make the relationship better by bungee jumping?What if the song that I’m writing was in a completely different style of music that my audience would hate?What if instead of looking for a job, I looked for clients?What if of instead of punishing my employee for not achieving results I rewarded them for owning their accountability?What if 1+1=500?Crazy? Absurdist? A waste of time? Just silly?Yes. Probably and possibly.But, they’re also powerful and interestingly productive.I’m doing a practice of giving myself 30-45 minutes every day, in the middle of the day, to walk around a park and do nothing but think.When I think, I’m thinking about a question. A What If question.What If I could recruit without talking to candidates?What if my clients had a DEI initiative that didn’t involve DEI?What if bars weren’t hiring a band, but buying an experience?What if a demo video didn’t show the band, but it showed the bar owner talking about how much the band made them?Even though the answers to my literal questions may not be possible, I end my walk with more actionable ideas for stepping closer to my goal - being more effective.Just another friendly reminder to take a moment, smell the roses, and be silly. It pays off.
Artists make things - and you make things every day.Decisions.Innovations.Commitments.Connections.Ideas.Recipes.Food.Music.Experiences.Inspiration.To show up.Questions.You make things from things that already exist - smarties like to call that innovation.Or you make things from nothing - I like to call that creative.Make your art.Every day.No matter what.
In music theory 101 you will learn about scales, keys, time signatures, and how to basically analyze music.You will learn about notes move from one to other. You will also learn about how notes move together at the same time - sometimes in the same direction.If your teacher is hip, like mine was, you will also touch on function. What is the function of this note and this harmony? Why does it exist? And where does it lead?Now that you’re an aspiring music theory wiz… here’s how you can use your new found knowledge to solve your toughest problems.Let’s say you have a tough and generous problem to solve. It can be a business, leadership, or personal problem. Now to think yourself, “What is this problem? What is causing it to be in my life? What would make this problem resolved? What does a good resolution look like?“After understanding the function of the problem (thank you John B.) you start to work to think about a solution.What if I did this?What if I did that?What if I combined this and that?What if I thought about something completely different?What if this is not a problem but an opportunity?What if I’m actually not the one to solve this?If we’re sticking with the music metaphor - this process is called permutation. We’re inverting, retrograding, transposing, and retrograde inverting (that’s a big one) the problem. Simply - we’re playing with it.While you’re playing with the problem, give yourself time and space.Go on a walk.Visit the museum.Chill on the couch.People watch in the mall.Do any activity that doesn’t over stimulate your brain but allows you to continue half-process the problem. IF you’re feeling lucky - take a nap.The later that day, re-approach the problem.If you are like me, you’ll likely see the problem in a new way. You might even have some creative ideas for solving it!John Steinbeck wrote, “A difficult problem at night is resolved in the morning after the committee of sleep has worked on it.“Give yourself time, space, and the freedom to play with your most difficult problems for more creative results.And congratulations on passing Music Theory 101 ;-)