Put down that map and get wonderfully lost.

When in talks with people I hear a lot of longing for structure. For a road map, for how it will look in the future. For plans, programs, curricula, longing for certainty.

I experience that life is not a fixed plan, does not have a fixed road map, it is not input-throughput-output how life, at least mine, looks like. You can have a wished for idea, but it always comes out different.

And also it is great not to have a plan. To wander around. To have an overall idea about what you want to do, and just start doing it. Because on that moment it is needed, or you feel like, or you want to.

Also there is a saying I have always in mind: "Take it from here with the given facts" . In daily life, facts are changing. Constantly. Outside happenings change how we can and sometimes have to cope with the current situation.

And, imagine the feeling of getting wonderfully lost. Wonderful, isn't it?

Positive results are the outcome of positive daily actions.

Simple: if you are positive, positive stuff will come out of your actions. If you are negative, .........

Do something that makes you proud. Start doing things that matter. Every day. 

Actually: all you need is today. 

Your strategic plan can be: make this moment the start of changing your (daily) life. 

There has to be a revolution. 

After the Occupy Movement, which was a good start, there is a big silence. The idea was to start a revolution, to start a movement, to change things for good. It was a revolution of consciousness. 

After this start it is time for action. Because consciousness without action is useless. One can be really conscious about animal rights, wear a (silicone) wristband which shows you care, and still eat a hamburger at the Burger King. 

Or be very conscious about the possible bad investments (with your money) of the big Corporate banks, and still have an account at Citibank. 

So action is the next move. Go and buy your groceries at the shops who really show and prove they care where they get their products from. Put your money on an account at a sustainable bank. 

Because by doing so we can have an impact, from the beginning of the value chain of products and services, until we buy it. 

Say thank you to the right people when you cast a vote. That will make a revolution happen.

In case of fire, do not use elevator.

One day I was in the elevator in the Central Train Station of Amsterdam, moving from one university building to the other.

In the elevator there was a sign which said: In case of fire, do not use elevator. 

Under this sentence there was written something which really made me think. (and laugh). I made a picture and when I came to my class, I showed the picture, without the written part, and asked the students: " what do you think was written under this sign, it starts with : use......."?

They came up with different solutions: "use the stairs, use the fire-exit, use your mobile to call the fire-department, use the fire extinguisher, use the intercom " where some of them.

I showed them the picture, and everybody was laughing. 

And, this is a basic, logic form of thinking in solutions which fit the problem, we forgot. 

Because of all the information we get, everyday, we forget the most obvious, simple and most pragmatic solutions. Think about it. 

Focus on solutions.

It happens that I meet people who make lots of noise about how bad things are for them. Negative people do that.

I also meet people who quietly and steadily improve things. Positive people do that.

In life, there are always problems. Or challenges.

When you are a positive person, you are willing to transform those challenges or problems into opportunities.

One has to have the commitment and courage and discipline to do so. Focusing on solutions and to work your way, quietly and steadily, towards a brighter future, makes it that life gets better because you choose to do so.

Be one of these people.

Stay true to your path.

Everybody chooses a path he or she wants to take. Some are shorter tracks then we thought, some take a longer time. And, we have an idea in our head how it might be, during the way and in the end, at the destination.

During the way it will always be different, and also the end will be different then we thought. 

One important thing is that one has to understand and pursue one's own path, and not chasing after the dreams of others. Do, what is right for you, no one else walks in your shoes. Keep moving forward, no matter what the surrounding tells you to do.

Live a life you are proud of. Be aware of the track, the path you are walking. Also during the walk, look around, enjoy, see what is happening, see what you are making happening by being there, on that moment, on that path. 

By doing so every day is a new path, and the path to take.

Are you accepting enough risk. 

Life is a risky business. 

Every time we get out of bed in the morning, we take a risk. (but also staying in bed is risk taking). 

Every interaction, every decision, every step you take, you take a risk. 

So if this is the case, that, when you truly live, you are taking risks, whats the big deal? Because, with every risk taking, there is also potential. 

Potential to wake up, step out of bed and meet that great person, have that good lunch with a colleague, finish or initiate that project for yourself or for a client, sit in the subway and read your paper, or listen to music, whatever. 

Be a little risky, and realize the full potential your life has. Today.

Creative minds are rarely tidy. They need help.

An ongoing discussion in every self organized company, and also in our self organized school is, who is cleaning what, when and why he or she.

Basic starting point is that when you put a bunch of creative minds together, it is rarely that stuff will be at its place, clean, organized and tidy.

This has to do with the left and right brain. 

The right side of the brain is best at expressive and creative tasks. Some of the abilities that are associated with the right side of the brain include: recognizing faces, expressing emotions, music, reading emotions, color, images, intuition.

The left-side of the brain is considered to be adept at tasks that involve logic, language and analytical thinking. The left-brain is often described as being better at language, logic, critical thinking, numbers and reasoning.

So, lets try to get a logic language together, being critical, first on ourselves, then on others, to recognize the faces, and the mess around us, express our emotions in a colorful way, and plug in some music to make it happen, all together.

In every organisation there is a mix of left and right brain oriented people who can make this happen. When the real will is there, connect it to power and there is willpower.

Pick your wars.

I used to go outraged on a lot of stuff. This was unfair, that needs to be different, why does he not do this etc. etc.

Until a friend of mine told me to pick my wars. Not go with everything into a fight.

Lately there where three people asking me: " why are you so angry?'. First I thought I fell into the same trap, but it was about the same topic. The same war. 

So unconsciously I choose my war. Also not as a war, but as a very balanced kind of Aikido fight.

What is your war and how are you fighting it? 

Education should not be a dress rehearsal.

I talk a lot with people who work at big companies. The first thing when it comes to how they see university students coming in is that they say: " we have to re-educate them". Why is that?

Suppose you study, for 5 years, marketing, on a regular university. The program is a fixed program, for 5 years, and when entering the program, one already knows what the theme is in the 2nd semester of the third year. Strange if you don't even know how the world will look like, lets say in one year.

And, worse, the most studying and work in project groups, is done with cases. Written for an educational setting, based on cognition only, and most of the time, because they are out of printed books, outdated.

At Knowmads we only work with real life stuff. Real clients, with real problems or challenges present to the students what keeps them busy in real life. Today and tomorrow. And they don't get written reports as a result. But real life stuff, like a website, a brochure, a film, a visual booklet, whatever is needed. 

Once we worked for a client, who first asked Mc. Kinsey to do the job. They came with a report of 300 pages, with on page 300 5 solutions, of which 3 where not implementable. We did the same assignment, came out with a workshop for the management, and presented 3 solutions, of which 1 is implemented, and the 2nd one is in the making. 

Life is not about cases. Working also is not. Education also not. Why not to combine life and work with education, instead of pulling off a dress rehearsal at university?

Every time you spend money, you're casting a vote for the kind of world you want.

I am thinking a lot about this. First: I am not a guy who does everything good. Concerning to living in a environmental sustainable way, buying the right stuff I have a way to go.

And: the other day I had a talk with a friend, and together we came to this:

Every time you are spending one Dollar, or Euro, buying something in a shop you say with that gesture: " Thank you. Thank you for what you did for me up until now. From the start of the value chain till this moment". At the vegetable shop, at the butcher, at the gasoline station, at the restaurant, actually, everywhere you buy something.

But, you also say with spending that Dollar or Euro: " Please, do it again, put the whole chain in motion again". 

And here it becomes interesting. 

First: do we have the notion what needed to be done in the value chain for me to buy the carrots at the vegetable shop, the chicken fillet at the butcher, the gasoline at the gasoline station or the pizza in the restaurant.

Second: as an individual we have an enormous power to say to the right companies: Thank you, do it again. By buying from the good or better producers and shops.

My question: what do you know about the products you buy, and are you voting  with your money at the right shop?

Begin.

Everybody remembers: the feeling you got from taking the first step. The magic feeling that you are on the move, something is happening, you are moving towards something.

Also everybody remembers, or knows, the feeling you get from sitting down and thinking about moving. The feeling you are stuck, want to do, want to move, and are not doing it.

I say: take the first step, just one small step forward. The miracle of your success is not there when you finish, it will be there in the beginning. That you had enough courage to begin.

So, get up and get moving.

Are you giving in to your fears and negativity. 

Everybody has it. Getting afraid. It is an emotion we all know.

But actually it is not about the being part. It is about what you do with it.

What action do you take when you feel afraid? The saying is that what begins in your mind ends up in your life. 

So, when I feel afraid I automatically focus on good stuff, on possibilities, on chances. This becomes the leading thing in my mind, and in my life. I try to let my good thoughts drive my actions.

By doing so my reality is catching up with my thinking. 

Are you both confident and terrified all the time. 

Most of the time being confident and being terrified are emotions with a negative connotation. But, when you have them at the same time, this might be interesting.

I have these feelings often at the same time. Mostly in times when I have to come up with creative ideas and solutions. 

Confidence as a starting point makes that I actually start with stuff, ideas, possible solutions, and it makes that I start with something. Start calling somebody, ask for help, build a website, design a project, e-mail someone with a difficult message or question. Together with the terror of not knowing, feeling insecure, or ashamed, makes it that there is always an edginess to the action or the possible solution I bring up.

These two emotions at the same time also allow me to not know. And, when one does not know, one starts asking fundamental questions. " is this something I really want to do", " Is this something really necessary".

It can really be scary, because people might think you are stupid. Because of the strange questions you ask. Or the strange solutions you come up with.

Always when in a state of terror and confidence, start doing, start asking. It helps you to design the right actions and answers.

What’s important is creating value.

A lot of talks nowadays about creating value. A kind of buzz word.

I think creating value is about doing something you are proud of. Regardless of what someone else thinks. And by doing so raise your awareness about what real value means.

Real value creation has as a starting point that you won't feel the need to take anything from others. If you want to be truly effective, be sincere and be helpful. 

Make a difference and be satisfied and find fulfillment by pulling all of life forward. With you.

Organisations make a difference through people.

Sometimes people ask if it is OK to work with big corporations. Like we, at Knowmads Business School, work with clients like KLM, Achmea or T-Mobile. Or are talking with other big corporations like SHELL.

I always start with the idea that companies are made by and consist of people. People make it happen, not a ghost, a computer system or outer space creatures. 

And, organisations can make a difference through the people working there. Or not. So I always look at the people I am talking with, not the logo on the building, the brochure, the advertisement, website or the business card. And when you realize that it is a human being, sitting in front of you, with feelings, experiences, his or her own story, I want to hear their story.

Who is the person in front of me, why does he do what he does, how does he see his company, what does he want to do and to change and to make better, different, and how can we grow something together which makes us better. 

The together us, our common personal purpose we will find out together. Or not. And that is also OK. Based on a humanistic view. Not a website, a logo or a story in the newspaper. 

Personal. Because organisations are people. Persons.

More passion into the education system.

In regular education the starting point is often control. It paralyzes the teachers and the students. 

Once I heard a great story of a friend of mine. He was overhearing a talk between two old ladies during breakfast in a hotel. One lady said to the other she still had to manage her luggage. The other one asked if it was managing or organizing her luggage. The lady asked what she meant. "Organizing is something you do because you feel like, it comes from an inner drive. Managing is something which comes from the outside, it is a have to, driven by demands from the outside" she answered.

Most of our educational institutes are being managed. By managers or administrators. From an outside perspective. I call it spreadsheet management. If it fits in a cell of a spreadsheet it will work. To quantify it. Not start from the inside, or try to organise it. Because there is a big lack of passion.

Passion for the individual student, for the individual learning curve. Passion for young people who are, regardless of their lack of experience, driven to try stuff. Driven from inside to organize it the best they can.

We, as teachers and educators need to indoctrinate passion into the system. By organizing the things we think can be beneficent for our students. Show them where to look, not what to see. 

Be passionate ourselves. About the things we love. I find a lot of fulfillment in students who are making things happen. Starting from their believe that they can make it. This is a great return on the passion I put in.

What's you passion? What makes you cry, die or fly?

(and, did you ever meet a real passionate manager?)

Old regrets and excuses.

Sometimes I meet people who are regretting all kind of stuff happened in their life. " If this would have happened different, If he would not have done this and that etc etc.

I always think: " Maybe there was something I could have done differently, or maybe not". Either way, merely these are things that have already happened.

I say: get it over with. Be done with these old regrets and excuses. It might be useful as an excuse for people who have failed. And, failing, and using it as an excuse, only happens to those who do not learn anything and give up. And by using old regrets and excuses, the failing goes on and on and on.

Most of the time one fails because of the things he did not have the guts for to do.

You will fail with the things you make excuses about for the rest of your life.

And:

Insufficient ruthlessness about purpose.

Why are you doing stuff? What is the purpose?

This is a question I ask myself almost every day. Because, throughout a regular day this gets blurry. While doing the purpose becomes the doing itself, not the why.

Then one can fill it in easily, when asked being asked what the purpose is. Empowerment can be an answer. Sustainability. Facilitate growth. Paradigm shift. Hollow words, most of the time, and easy to use. Jargon filled statements.

Try to keep with the clear purpose, and a simple set of goals. And, when you know what your purpose is, look at everything you are doing and ask: " is this serving my purpose?".

The bloody truth about schools.

Stop making cool ideas and start creating solutions.

That's the feeling I often get when I am going to conferences, TED(x) events and other inspirational, mind blowing events.

There are cool ideas enough out there. If you check Springwise or Trendwatching or every night one talk on TED you will get inspired on the spot. But where it is all about is action. Creating solutions.

Ideas worth spreading is great. And the next day everybody goes back to his usual work scene, with deadlines, targets, colleagues who where not at the conference who do not get it where you talk about and more daily stuff. 

I want to change this. How?

Lets say we organise a TED like event, call it Ideas Worth Doing, invite 200 bright minds in the room and let somebody give a talk about something which inspires him or her and that needs to be made in to action. And after 20 minutes talk ask the people: What action can we take NOW to make it happen. Together. In the coming 3 hours. With our phone's, our tablets, our laptops, go out there and shoot a movie, interview people, live stream it and there you are: Creating solutions, on the spot. Together with 200 people, live. 

And then ask who wants to take ownership to take it further. Because, individuals don't win, teams do. Cool ideas also don't win, actionable solutions do.

Passions and goals must be self-set.

What is your reality? Are the opinions of the people around you YOUR reality? Or are you working on goals of others and according to the ideas and wishes of the people around you?

You can spend a lot of time on reacting and responding to everyone around you. But then YOU will lose YOUR direction in life. You have to keep on setting your wants, opinions and challenges in the center, as your way of living. Not the wants, opinions and challenges of the people around you. Your own passions and your goals should be leading, and, self-set.

If you do so, you will see great, remarkable things happening in your life. And then invite the people around you to take part in that. On an inclusive way. And let them set their goals for themselves.

Making it up as we go along.

This is how we did it while we where kids and while growing up. This was the best way of navigating through our lives. See what happens and then react on it, do something with it, or not. When we grew up we where improvising our way through life. Getting by the best we could.

How did we get out of that natural rhythm? We have the idea that we can create an achievable or make-able world. We can shape/manage upfront everything, shaping ourselves, ideas, actions and plan ourselves till death. Shape, manage, plan our companies, our projects, with plans, action steps, stepping stones, deadlines etc. etc.

And the reality, most of the time, is different. Or it hits in, when we did not expect it. Influences from outside, actions from others, or from nature, are shaking our reality and can make a whole different reality happening in our lives. Or in our organisation. Or in our project. In our daily lives.

Why don't we teach and tell our kids that making it up as we go along is what life is all about? Why no tips and tricks for living by the seat of our pants? To show that we can do better?

My daily motto, amongst others: take it from here with the given facts. These given facts change, constantly. 

Try making it up, once in a while, as you go along. 

Education: Vulnerability & Enthusiasm.

Yesterday I wrote about Rhythm & Attention as being two of the four themes important in education. Together with Vulnerability & Enthusiasm these are according to me the four words basic for educational settings.

When people feel that they can be themselves, that there is a basic safety guaranteed and also felt, people allow themselves to show who they are. When you feel that you can show your vulnerability and not being seen as weak, or unable, but as a human who also has feelings, this is really strong. It makes the people see their own vulnerable sides, and makes them want to help to co-create a different reality.

Then enthusiasm is a good starting point. When being surrounded by enthusiastic people who see you for who you are, who you are as a being, as a person (and not a student-number), things are looking differently. All of a sudden one can see the possibilities of bringing you, as also a vulnerable person to a next level. 

One of the best (enthusiastic) talks on TED about this is from Brene Brown, the power of vulnerability. 

So for me the starting points of a good learning environment are these four themes: Rhythm & Attention and Vulnerability & Enthusiasm. Facilitating a good rhythm, giving the needed attention, being vulnerable and being enthusiastic works. Think about it and try it.

Education: Rhythm & Attention.

These are, amongst two other themes, two words central in my approach to facilitating a learning environment. 

In a learning environment my starting points are that these two words, as a combination, need to be in the center. When working with groups of people, I need to be able to work with the rhythm of the group. So I think, when one wants to have a good, flowing rhythm, the group needs to be small. Working as a facilitator with a group of people of maximum 15 people is the best I believe. Or with two facilitators and then with max 30. That's it. By keeping this limit in numbers, everybody has an overview of what is happening.
(I don't understand that in universities and colleges nowadays there are lecture-halls where up to 200 people are sitting and listening to a professor. Every week, they have to be there, at a fixed hour. Why not to put it on YouTube? So that students can watch it in their own rhythm, on the time which is best for them?)

Because, when the rhythm is good, also the attention is better. From the facilitator towards the attendants, vice verse, and amongst the attendants. Then one can really listen, look each other in the eyes and see and feel the communication, verbal and non-verbal. Attention is it what we want as humans, and by giving and getting it we learn much faster and better. For sure.

Everybody remembers the teacher who gave you real attention, don't you?

What screws us up most.

In life is the picture in our head of how it's supposed to be. While actually supposed to does only exists in our heads. 

The dictionary is clear: sup-posed (s-p-zd ). adj. 1. presumed to be true or real without conclusive evidence. 

It is all in our heads, and the nice thing is: it can also be different in your head. 

What others think or how they suppose things to be is in their head. And hopefully not a leading rule for your life. Because, it will be very sad if you discover at the end of your life, that you played a side-role in the movie of somebody else.

Supposed to. Remember the feeling you had when you where an adolescent. How did you feel back then when these two words where mentioned? You always started questioning this "supposed to".

Keep on questioning supposed to. And suppose something else.

Knowmadology.

Knowmads cross boundaries. That is in the dna of knowmads. 

Knowmads are moving between people and places. And they are sensitive. Towards themselves and their surrounding. And because they move, they constantly come from a different perspective. And because of that they are able to see, feel and do different things. With a project, with the lives of the people around them.

It is about moving. When moving one gets hold of different data. Different experiences. Different meaning. A different stance towards the people in their environment. Out of that also inspiring stories emerge. Stories which are speaking to the heart. To the feelings of people. Stories that inspire people to look at themselves and their (working) environment differently.

Check out the different way's of describing knowmads in the book Knowmad Society we published two weeks ago.

We are knowmads, and you?

For change to occur, there must be a change in meaning.

At Knowmads we talk a lot about change. So, it is a very disturbing environment at Knowmads. Why?

Change only takes place when people allow an event or information to disturb them. Disturb them so much, that they are letting go of their present beliefs, and are willing to develop a new, different interpretation. So change is about letting go. And that is very scary. Because things get a different meaning when you let go.

Education, how we at Knowmads are facilitating it, is giving students the possibility to change the meaning of things. What is the meaning of a workshop? Why should I attend a workshop Non Violent Communication? Or a workshop about Nietzsche and his influence on Nazi Germany? As part of the program of a Business School? Read here what Jonas, from Tribe 4 of Knowmads learned, by sometimes feeling very disturbed. 

Meaning is relative. Meaning, it relates to something you choose for it relates to. It shows of great abilities to change yourself, and by that your relation to the outside world if you can change where things relate to. If you can change the relation you have with the why and the how of the meaning of something, or somebody, you are a change-maker. For that you have to let go. But you have to choose so to be disturbed.

Try to choose to be disturbed. And it is scary. But change will appear. For sure.

Do things. Tell people.

This quote I found on the internet. And this is what it is. Nothing more, nothing less.

Extensive posts and blogs I also find on the internet, about storytelling as the future of marketing and companies. But is is a s simple as this. Doing is worth telling about. 

The next question is: Is what I am doing worth telling about? (And to whom?)

I do chuff (my word for things) and tell about it. I try to make the story not bigger or smaller than it is. 

What chuff you do, and are you telling about it? 

Education. A big word nowaday's. Education is hip. Mayb the new bubble? A hype? Or, because there are manny people involved, it is business. And, everybody, including me, thinks he knows something about it. Or has an opinion about it. How it should be. What works, and what does not work. Mostly the 35/40 plus generation. What about the students themselves? Are they in the lead?

I believe that we are learning all day.Every day. By seeing, listening, doing, smelling, hearing, touching, with all our senses we do learn. From each other, out of books, magazines, television, You-tube, Google etc. We get everything in our system. In our heads, and in our hearts. And in our hands. We do stuff with it. Or do not. Which is also learning.

Who needs big campus for that? Libraries? Universities? Big debts by taking an education which only focuses on the head? I saw the other day a great quote from a graduated student, saying: Thank you Google, Wikipedia, MSN and Crtl-C/Ctrl-V for my graduation.

My question is: how can we make our daily invisible learnings visible. How to get learning into the awareness of ourselves, that what we are doing, now, is based on something we did, saw, felt, learned before. Which experience, learning, knowledge might have worked, or is working out, or not. And how to build on that experience, knowledge and feeling in a fruitful way so it starts working for ourselves. And for others. And the world.

How visible is your invisible learning? 

Today, first day of the year, I decided to write a blog. Every day. Whow. Something for a dislect. Or dyslect, your choice.

Based on an interview I saw today with Seth Godin, and based on the fact I want to leave my notebook, and share what keeps me busy in this world. So here we go.

Lately I am thinking a lot about awareness and the power of choice. Had a lot of talks about it and actually it boils down to this:

Every time we put one euro or dollar on a counter, for lets say a Snicker, Mc Donalds meal, some vegetables or whatever we are buying, we say with that euro or dollar: Thank you. Thank you for what you did up until now, in the whole value chain. from start till now. But actually: we also say: please, do it again. By purchasing with that one euro or dollar we put the whole wheel in motion again.

Think of that. Next time you buy something. I also will.