News SPLASH

Last night, I caught the end of the animated flick, "Meet the Robinsons," with my son and noticed a quote from Walt Disney (the man) before the closing credits. Here it is:

"Around here, however, we don't look backwards for very long.  We keep moving forward, opening new doors and doing new things...and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths."

The movie celebrates imagination so the quote is a good fit.  Even better, it's an important reminder that while we should learn from the past, we need to "keep moving forward."  Stay curious.

In a recent blog post, Rosabeth Moss Kanter, author of SuperCorp: How Vanguard Companies Create Innovation, Profits, Growth, and Social Good, draws four important leadership lessons from her observations and time with the late Senator Edward M. Kennedy:

·         Remember that performance is everything

·         Find a higher purpose

·         Keep going (resilience)

·         Never forget family

The beauty of these four lessons is their simplicity.  Life -- and business -- doesn’t have to be complicated.  I encourage you to read Professor Kanter’s entire piece.

An article in the October 2008 issue of Body + Soul magazine by Janice O'Leary talks about the importance of boredom.  We especially liked the view that doing nothing can inspire creativity. "Creativity is one of the sweet fruits of boredom," says Richard Winter, M.D., author of Still Bored in a Culture of Entertainment. "If you don't give yourself time to reflect, you don't come up with inspired ideas."  Time and time again we have found that fresh ideas appear when we aren't actively pursuing them.  The best approach:  Load your brain with all the information you need to innovate and let it seep while you focus on other things...or nothing at all.  An idea always seems to come.  As Ms. O'Leary says, "By keeping the mental slate clean, you actually allow your mind to be fresher, more loose."  And that, she says, often allows you to find new solutions to old problems.  Give it a try.