Could it be magic?

Ted Talks continue as an obsession and phenomenon in my life.

I caught this one by David Blaine recently (#spoileralert) where he takes the premise of “how I held my breath for 17 minutes” concluding that magic is:

• What seems to be the “impossible.”
• Practice.
• Training.
• Experimenting.
• Making something the best it can be.

The little grey cells began to get excited and before long, I realised Mr Blaine had prompted me to consider the parallels between “magic” and “work”. Join me as I say “abracadabra” and attempt to levitate my way through.

The impossible

People have been working for hundreds of years (even before Elizabeth Arden produced 8 hour crème) so surely it can’t be or even SEEM impossible? We’ve always done it. Right? Sure, BUT – the world of work, indeed just the world itself that my great grandad, Bartholomew worked in was a world AWAY from the one his great grandson ended up in (this doesn’t mean I don’t respect & admire the pants out of everything the generations preceding me endured and what they sacrificed, please note.) #Gratefulandblessed.

Today, you can hear the frenzy, the unapologetic pace, the competition, deadlines & aspirations for more, better & quicker are as loud and consistent as Big Ben’s hourly chimes. The way we live, the way we roll, the way we spend money and fundamentally, our workplace evolved into a complex set of play toys that rule our nurseries now. To me, “impossible” is a double edged sword because the stakes are there and higher in 2017 than they were in 1977 or 1947 but the X-men/women my generation have become, makes them chase the impossible (while taking a selfie to prove they found it.) Not only are we pre-conditioned to go after the dreams and confront the reality of nightmares, it’s expected. Dip into a TV channel and you’ll find they’ve made a TV series of it, we’re voyeurs in other people’s journeys, struggles & confrontations. The TV producers know we are.

Interviews today are all about challenges, problem solving & resilience – we’re focussed on “show me you already have these skills” or at least give me a hint that you’re in the mind set to join us. Thankfully because of how we are culturally, the millennials onwards and even the generation pre-Facebook are up to the task of “impossible”. We’re lucky that they are. Will the time come when they throw up their hands and say “it’s not possible – you’re asking too much”? Maybe.

Practice

From nursery to classroom to our daily routine in and out of work – this is our life. We practice at and LIVE every day. Even if you’re the enemy of routine, I guarantee through all of the repetition on planet Earth, you have one. The way we learn, the way we build our lives is all through practice. We do it unconsciously and not because we’re training for survival in an ice capsule in the middle of Times Square for 3 days and 3 nights. The people who walked past David Blaine DOING that, were making their way through the practice of their daily lives when they saw him there. Practice is life and life is practice. Work, life, hobbies and existence – it’s inherent in them all.

One step closer to the applause at the end of the trick?

Potentially.

Training

Training/learning are intrinsic in the work place. Do colleges and universities “train” young adults for today’s world of work? THAT’S a story for another time. Right now, I’m on the fence. The older I grow, the more I see the value of the training the world itself has to offer in pursuing interests, looking up from a phone to make eye contact and talk to someone wiser or packing a bag and going exploring a city I’ve never visited. I class those things as training, because I don’t believe learning is always done in a classroom. Having led learning teams across multiple organisations, I know and stand for the fact that the connection the people make, is the key driver in learning and LOVING that learning. If interest wanes, the rest shall follow.

Although we’re not all Private Benjamin, training and learning will always prevail in and out of our employment zone, but what I find encouraging is that on the commute home, most of the world has head phones in. It’s not always music. Its audio books and podcasts, so even when we’re not working, we’re training an area of our mind because that’s who we are today.

Experimenting

The company I work for runs A/B testing all day. Guess what – in my own division so do I. Maybe not daily, but certainly weekly. I endorse that. I’m on the coat tails of the generation who are still hungry, even greedy for success and results (I make a daily effort to fuse the “hungry” with “humble” – some days, better than others #confession.) We want to know if the grass is greener, if the results are better if we make a minor change – but to hedge my bets, I’ll keep the tried and trusted solution up and running concurrently. That’s how being experimental works for me. How about you? I hear about it all the time when I’m at a networking event (people attend because they want INSIGHT on wisdom to do things better) or talking to people. We didn’t become an experimental generation, I don’t think – we’re certainly not the first BUT BUT BUT we’re more zealous to SEE the result, perhaps because we’re convinced there’s more riding on it in today’s world. Or professionally speaking, are we just vainer?

#foodforthought

Making it the best it can be

This is the comment of a real human, Mr David Blaine.

I learned the value of it from one of the most important people in my life a few years ago when she gave me the secret of life. She was right. She still is.

Magic, professional kudos or both are not about perfection.

For a happy life, they can’t be IMO. What they ARE about is appreciating the RESULT and not punching thine self in the face if “imperfection” makes an appearance. You can’t build a successful career or life in any other way. Why? Because as we’ve talked repeatedly in this article, we’re in a world where most feelings and expectations are heightened, so the fall in the climb for “perfection” would be particularly perilous if we didn’t have the acceptance that “the best it can be” is actually the best and equally worthy of kudos. You have to be OK with that. Or frankly, you wouldn’t leave your bed, never mind the house!

In conclusion

I see the magic in the work place as part of the magic in the world.

The impossibility in ever changing deadlines, the need for more training, the 12 hour days of practice, the incessant need to unlock efficiencies we find in experimentation and most importantly validating that working your butt off with integrity and generous spirit (but not without bad days/imperfections) IS beyond as good as it gets! There IS a BEST in “the best it can be” and for today’s world that’s more than admirable enough to aspire to. For the moment at least.

The parallels with David Blaine’s TED are very much on display in the side show we know as “work” and who knew, from an idea a world class Magician had!

There’s definitely something in this “magic” malarkey you know…