Skating.....Passing.....Creativity

I hope you enjoy my post today which covers 3 topics dear to my heart

Great moments are born from great opportunity

        - Herb Brooks

Herb Brooks was without question one the most dynamic and talented hockey coaches in the history of USA hockey turning a group of talented but disconnected hockey players from all over the US into one of the most dynamic and memorable teams in history beating the Soviet Union 4 to 3 in the 1980 Lake Placid Olympics.

He instilled three ideas into that team and that was just one of many the reasons they pulled off the ‘Miracle on Ice’.

Skating……………….Passing………………………..Creativity

So what does this have to do with business?

Skating means skills and practice. Without good solid skills that are practiced day in and day out, you have no foundation to build upon. For me as a business analyst, this means always keeping to my own mantra to ‘try and learn one thing new every day’, whether it is a communication skill, a flaw I most likely have or a new concept in BPMN, or Lean or Elicitation or Leadership or SQL…..it does not matter what I learn but until I learn one thing new and acknowledge it ‘ALOUD’ to myself as reinforcement, my day is incomplete. Build the skills and practice them constantly.

Passing means teamwork. Enough said as everyone has their own variation of what teamwork means but for me it means that whatever I do it is never about me, it is about the team.

Creativity means developing the competitive advantage. Doing something non-linear and unique that no one sees coming to differentiate your game and give you a fighting chance. Today the buzz is about ‘elastic thinking’ and that is all and good but in the end, true creativity is not a skill you can read about and learn at least in my mind. Creativity is just something that is there and you just have to watch for it and when it comes around, tap into it and go with your gut – never be afraid to be creative.

I write these thoughts not for you is my example, I write them for me – it is a way for me to take a break and be creative in my own way so if you read this, I hope you enjoyed today’s post. You can follow me on twitter @tgsaet for more inspirations if you like and as always………….

don’t forget to smile, be safe and say your gratitudes

afterthought - I love the defenseman who has lost his stick in this image - he is going to stay in that play no matter what but that is another article right 'never, ever, ever, ever , ever , ever , ever , ever , ever give up'