What Matters Now

I suspect (hope) by the time you read this, you may have already checked out What Matters Now – assembled by the editorial talents of Seth Godin, a compendium of thought-leadership from all reaches weighing in on, well… What Matters Now.

Dan Roam, author of Back of the Napkin, urges that there is no such thing as boring information – the sublime can be found everywhere – but only boring presentations and boring attempts at transferring knowledge.

On ignoring the skeptics, Aimee Johnson, VP of Strategy Starbucks, echoes Paul Hawken who recently said, ” Don’t be put off by off by people who know what is not possible. Do what needs to be done, and check to see if it was impossible only after you are finished.”

Even Tom Peters! makes a guest appearance offering the 19 Es! of Excellence! and although his emphatic punctuation is an easy target to poke at, he is right after all. If not excellence, then what? Reminds me of a great quote from an interview we did with Gareth Jones, “When it’s your turn to clean the grill, do it with excellence.” Because on the road to significance, everyone has a turn to dig ditches.

Dan Pink also drops by with notes on his emerging ideas about what drives us to give that discretionary 20% effort to our work, and it’s not about better ‘management.’ It’s about encouraging autonomy around what we do, with what tools and ideas, and with whom we collaborate. And it’s certainly not driven by an edict from Management.

But dear friends, it’s Elizabeth Gilbert (page 11) yet again who had me laughing out loud. Gilbert entreats us all to give ourselves to ease. To pause, exhale, and just for one lonely moment in this always-on go-go twitterific maelstrom, to check out and gaze at a blue sky. Or admire your children play, or even take a nap.

If you irresistibly respond to your email alerts – those insistent lower right apparitions right? – it might be time to exhale. ‘Tis the season after all for reflection, sharing, connecting, and rejoicing. The world will still need saving tomorrow and if you take an interval for renewal, you might be all the wiser for it. And if you haven’t seen her TED Talk yet on what it means to be called a genius, you must check it out.