Learn to Fly Because You Can’t Outrun the Bear

This is part 4 of a series of 5 articles all going back 25 years ago to my first year as a consultant and the experiences and lessons that stay with me to this day.

You never know when your early life experiences will come back and reverberate as powerful lessons learned later in your career.

They say there’s no such thing as a dumb question. There’s a parable I love that goes like this: Question: How do you put an elephant into a refrigerator? Nine of of Ten people will reflexively start telling you their theory. The correct answer is yet another question: “WHY do you WANT to put an elephant into a refrigerator?” Some people might consider that a dumb question, while others will consider it an enlightened question. That parable rings constantly in my ears decades later.

As a teen in the late 70‘s I started my career in aerospace manufacturing as a machinist and quality control manager. I learned how to run a shop floor, and with a newfound skill and interest in computer software, eventually wrote some shop floor control programs.

In 1994, I took a leap of faith and started on a journey to a career in technology.

Learning to Fly - Crossing Over

One day I had to go to a small electronics distributor in Eugene, OR. It was an 8-hour drive. I carpooled with my buddy, the sales guy. He dropped me off and I went to work. These guys were using some inexpensive off the shelf software and were upping their game to our more complex software for material planning and accounting. It was a little like the Jetsons meeting the Flintstones.

This was the first full implementation I had ever done from a clean start. I had to go through the basics of setup and training for all the modules. It was going to be a very long day. By this time, I had a pretty good command of the software, and lots of experience in front of clients. Still, I was very nervous. The company CFO was in the room and I was going to start talking about setting up the accounting modules and financial statements, which was way out of my comfort zone.

I started the morning off with the usual small talk. That turned into an overview of the software and the process we would go through to install and configure it. Then they started asking questions. Financial questions.

That bear was back and charging hard at me.

Then the weirdest thing in my entire life happened. All of a sudden, I was talking but not really sure what I was saying. It was like someone else was using my mouth to talk with. It was almost an out of body experience. It’s like I was watching myself confidently explaining things that I really did not know very well.

This continued for the rest of the day. I kept thinking to myself, “hey THAT sounds pretty smart! but WHERE the heck did THAT come from?!?!”

The day ended successfully, and the client thanked me for all the advice and expertise. I was in a daze, still not sure just what had happened.

My buddy showed up and we started driving home. After an hour or so, I told him what happened. I figured he would just laugh and ridicule me in disbelief. Instead, he just looked at me and in a matter of fact way, stated “you crossed over.”

I still don’t understand what happened that day. Another friend would later call it “intelligence adrenaline.” I guess that makes as much sense as anything. I am now learning there is a bit of brain and learning science behind this.

This was the point where I discovered I no longer needed tennis shoes. I felt like I could fly. In hindsight, it was a Luke Skywalker – Obiwan moment “…use the force Luke…”

Lesson Learned

I’m not exactly sure what the lesson here is, but I guess it starts with believing in yourself, and to trust your inner voice, even when it comes out of your mouth! Push yourself beyond your comfort zone to the point where you are scared spitless with your heart pounding, and palms wet with sweat. This is a time-tested method to grow.

Like a child that has a growth spurt, gaining 6 inches in height in one year, pushing yourself can result in sudden bursts of mental and intellectual growth. Let go of that rock on the bottom of the stream now and then and see where the current takes you.