Do you color outside the lines?

One of my earliest real-world lessons happened when I was just 6 years old. It was the first time I had ever been told to stay within the lines – a moment that would go on to influence my choices on whether or not to do just that for decades to come.

I was a happy and energetic Kindergartener in Mrs. Davidson’s half-day morning class at Loring Elementary School in North Minneapolis. After a year of perfect marks on my report card, my last one had two rows assessed as “Unsuccessful,” meaning I hadn’t fully mastered the topics.

The topics, you ask – shapes and colors. Funny enough, I had successfully mastered both in the first two trimesters, so what had changed?

Let’s go back to the day of the big exam – I remember being so excited. I knew every single shape and color, forward and back, and I was ready to take on the world. (If you know me, you are nodding and laughing at the accuracy of the last two sentences).

Mrs. Davidson passed out individual worksheets which included empty, black-lined shapes with a color written next to each of them for us to color in. The test was to both be able to identify the shapes and then read and identify each color.

I completed the activity in what felt like seconds, then glanced around the room in pride to see that everyone was still working. After some time passed, and the class was still working in silence on the test, I started to get bored. So, I took the black crayon and drew over the black outline of each shape. In my little mind, I had determined since it was a black outline on a black outline, I wasn’t necessarily not following instructions - I was just keeping myself entertained instead of sneaking out of my seat to roam around the classroom.?

When I received my graded exam back the next day, it had a sad face on it. It was the first one I had ever received. I felt my heart sink and my spirit drop. What had I done, where did I go wrong? I guess you could say, I didn’t follow the rules. I colored outside the lines.

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This event has stayed with me and has played itself out in a variety of ways in my professional life. The impact it has on me can be seen first in my fondness for achievement; I love it so much it’s even one of my CliftonStrengths themes. And with that, I appreciate the feeling when others acknowledge the work and the results of the things I attain. So, receiving that one, singular, sad face, became a contributing factor to my performance throughout my educational career - straight A’s through high school, college and grad school (insert nerd joke here), that provided me with a sense of achievement, along with making my teachers, professors and parents (miss you mom) proud. ?

In addition, I appreciate clarity of “the lines,” or, if you will, the end result of what I am to accomplish. It’s there, in that open space, that I truly thrive.

I embrace the ability to create my own path without being confined, and I’ve found the greatest success when my managers give permission to explore and take risks, which has allowed me to think about things in my own way, and to find opportunities to push the boundaries of has been done, and what could be done next.?

Taken together, one can see that my varied career path has been a result of never taking a position with a heavily bulleted list of clearly defined day-to-day activities. Luckily for me, I have found my way through, time after time, role after role. Thank you, Mrs. Davidson, for this lifelong lesson.

Now over to you, what did you experience as a child that continues to show up in your career? Anyone else bored with the status quo and prefer to color outside the lines? Let me know in the comments below.?