The Sixth Sense

Living a life of perpetual risk

I have yet another great quote from ‘Story’ by Robert McKee for you today:

“Life teaches that the measure of the value of any human desire is in direct proportion to the risk involved in its pursuit. The higher the value, the higher the risk. We give the ultimate values to those things that demand the ultimate risks - our freedom, our lives, our souls. This imperative of risk, however, is far more than an aesthetic principle, it’s rooted in the deepest source of our art. For we not only create stories as metaphors for life, we create them as metaphors for meaningful life - and to live meaningfully is to be at perpetual risk.”

That last sentence really jumped out at me. ‘To live meaningfully is to be at perpetual risk’. When you stop to think about it though, that is the essence of adventure. And the truth is we all crave adventure. Somewhere deep within us, we want our lives to be part of something larger than ourselves, something with meaning. 

The reality however is that we typically end up settling for cheap imitations. Instead of living a life of adventure we cover up the desire with watching just enough movies or playing adventure games on the PlayStation. But the truth is, there’s nothing like being in an adventure yourself. Even if it doesn’t always feel great at the time!

If living a life of perpetual risk is what it takes to have a meaningful, adventurous life, are we prepared to go there? It’s so easy to end up choosing the easiest, safest, most comfortable option. I hope to use my life both to live on an adventure and inspire as many people as possible to do the same.

What do you think?

Character - ‘As he chooses, he is’

I’m still thoroughly enjoying ‘Story’ by Robert McKee. I thought it might dry up somewhat as I got further into it, but it is just fascinating to read. I’m am learning so much about - you guessed it - story. As someone who is definitely wanting to become a better story-teller, it is really helpful and insightful.

Today I thought I’d share a few more great quotes on character:

“True character is revealed in the choices a human being makes under pressure - the greater the pressure, the deeper the revelation, the truer the choice to the character’s essential nature.”

“The only way to know the truth (about someone’s character) is to witness him make choices under pressure to take one action or another in the pursuit of his desire. As he chooses, he is.”

“Pressure is essential. Choices made when nothing is at risk mean little. If a character chooses to tell the truth in a situation where telling a lie would gain him nothing, the choice is trivial, the moment expresses nothing. But if the same character insists on telling the truth when a lie would save his life, then we sense that honesty is at the core of his nature.”

The context for these quotes is obviously related to building quality characters into a story. But I think these speak a lot of truth about being people of character too.

What do you think?

An (American) political rant

I have lots of thoughts swirling around my mind following a week of political overload since the start of the Democratic convention in Denver last week, continuing right through to the shock announcement of Sarah Palin as the Republican vice presidential nominee.

It’s all been filling the news columns stateside and here in the UK too. It’s hard to get away from it all. Thankfully, that’s just fine for me. Apologies to those of you who try to avoid politics like you do that crazy uncle who’s always there at the big family gathering.

I have to say, the whole Sarah Palin thing has been very strange. To be honest, it feels more like a movie than reality. I’m not quite sure how I see it panning out. She is a complete unknown. And despite what the McCain team say, it’s abundantly clear she was not nearly as fully vetted as Joe Biden was by the Obama team.

Story after story is emerging that I just can’t see helping the Republicans. Hearing a Republican defend her foreign policy experience as being fine because ‘Alaska is near Russia’ was just laughable.

I could well be wrong (I seem to remember that happening once before in 2002 I think), but it strikes me that McCain’s pick of Palin reeks of two things:

1) Throwing a bone to the religious conservatives.
2) Trying to get Hillary’s women supporters on board.

Both of these I find very frustrating. As a Christ-follower myself, I hate the way it feels like so many Christians are being used by the Republican party. Christians on the far right seem to have allowed themselves to be defined by two issues - abortion and homosexuality. And these two issues have become the litmus test and everything else is less significant.

I think this is terrible. I happen to think that things like abortion are important issues. I definitely want to see as few abortions happening as possible (without making abortion illegal). I definitely think that a baby in a womb is a genuine life. This has been made all the more real with my wife, Rachel, being 17 weeks pregnant. However I don’t think this issue is the be all and end all. What about those in poverty? Isn’t that a moral issue? And how about healthcare? Should people be left without cover because they can’t afford it?

These are just two issues, but there are countless others, and I think these too are moral issues the same way abortion and homosexuality are. I hate the idea that Christians are being thrown the bones of comforting views on abortion and homosexuality and then turning a blind eye to all other issues.

As to the Palin pick being also about trying to get Hillary Clinton supporting women on board, I think this is just insulting! It assumes that women were only supporting Hillary because she was a woman and not because they have strong political views. I’m not a woman, but if that was remotely behind the move to pick Palin, I’d be very offended.

I’ve been alarmed at how suddenly the Christian right is now fully jumping on board because of the Palin VP pick. And I’m alarmed at the hypocrisy of some of those representing the Christian right. If Obama had a 17 year old daughter who was pregnant, would this have been James Dobson’s response: “The media is already trying to spin this as evidence that Governor Palin is a hypocrite, but all it really means is that she and her family are human.”? I suspect if this was a Democrat, he’d have been far less gracious. And that’s putting it mildly.

(Having said that, I don’t think that someone’s child should be part of the political debate at all. I’m glad to say Obama came straight out and said this was off-limits.)

A few disclaimers. As those of you who reguarly read my blog know, I’m hoping Obama wins the Presidential election in November. I think his policies are much better than McCain’s and will move America forward far better than McCain could. (Note, I don’t think he’s right on everything by any stretch, just a better option the McCain. I may post on my issues with Obama soon.) At the same time, I don’t begrudge anyone disagreeing with me. There are many good people who will choose to vote for McCain, and that’s fine. My only hope is that it’ll be for comprehensive and all-encompassing policy reasons and not petty ones.

Though I realise my comments are pretty hard-hitting on the Christian right, I am not suggesting every Christian who votes for McCain is a two-issue voter. Just my frustration that that does appear to be the case with a big proportion on the Christian right.

Ok, I’m done.

What do you think?

Some great quotes from ‘Story’

As I mentioned on Friday, I’m thoroughly enjoying a book called ‘Story’ by Robert McKee. It is filled with some outstanding comments, insights, and observations. Here’s a few more I thought I’d share with you.

“Story isn’t a flight from reality but a vehicle that carries us on in our search for reality, our best effort to make sense out of the anarchy of existence.”

“When society repeatedly experiences glossy, hollowed-out, pseudo-stories, it degenerates. We need true satires and tragedies, dramas and comedies that shine a clean light into the dingy corners of the human psyche and society.”

“Master storytellers know how to squeeze life out of the least of things, while poor storytellers reduce the profound to the banal. You may have the insight of a Buddha, but if you cannot tell story, your ideas turn dry as chalk.”

“The world of a story must be small enough that the mind of a single artist can surround the fictional universe it creates and come to know it in the same depth and detail that God knows the one He created.”

Why we go to the movies

I’m reading a book called ‘Story - Substance, Structure, Style, and the Substance of Screenwriting’ at the moment. It’s by a guy called Robert McKee. I’m only a few pages in, but this quote absoultely leapt out at me. Really powerful.

We go to the movies to enter a new, fascinating world, to inhabit vicariously another human being who at first seems so unlike us and yet at heart is like us, to live in a fictional reality that illuminates our daily reality. We do not wish to escape life but to find life, to use our minds in fresh, experimental ways, to flex our emotions, to enjoy, to learn, to add depth to our days.

This definitely resonates with me deeply.

What about you?

Author Interview: Joseph Michelli

As I mentioned on Tuesday, Joseph Michelli has very kindly agreed to take a few questions linked with his new book ‘The New Gold Standard’. Enjoy!

1) Thanks Joseph for agreeing to be interviewed for The Sixth Sense. Why don’t you start by telling us a bit more about who you are and what you do?

I am an author, professional speaker, and business consultant.  I work to enhance leadership skills, customer service, and employee empowerment worldwide.

2) Your latest book is called ‘The New Gold Standard’ (published by McGraw-Hill). Tell us a bit about what the book is about and why you wrote it.  

The book is a behind the scenes look at The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company.  The hotel chain began through the inspiration of Cesar Ritz more than a century ago and has maintained a legendary position in customer service excellence.  Despite its storied history, no one had been permitted to write a book about this iconic brand and fortunately I was given that opportunity. 

3) Whilst your book is presumably primarily geared to the business audience, many of my readers are involved in other social enterprises, non-profits, churches, etc. How would they benefit from the principles in The New Gold Standard?  

I have been surprised and pleased by the broad markets in which my books have gained traction.  I think principles of human service should transcend time, geographic boundaries, and even applications often narrowly prescribed to business.  A concept like “it’s not about you” which I present in The New Gold Standard, can serve as a reminder for how to build great marriages, outstanding places of worship, and dynamic community organizations.

4) Why should anyone part with their hard earned cash and precious time to read your book? Sell it to us!

Well I know cash is tight and for many of us time is as tight - if not more so.  I think books like mine can be idea starters, prompting and inspiring people to reach for greater impact in the way they lead and serve.  I invest my time to write these books in the hope that others will invest theirs to benefit from the wisdom of tried-and-true leaders.

5) What books/magazines/websites are you reading at the moment and, more specifically, what would you recommend?

Well The Sixth Sense of course….I also read the classics like Harvard Business Review, Fast Company, and Businessweek.  In fact, Businessweek has kindly done a featured video curriculum about my books and the art of customer experience creation which can found here. I also love John Maxwell’s Leadership Wired newsletter and Warren Bennis’ Leadership Excellence newsletter.

To find out more about Joseph, you can visit his website: www.josephmichelli.com.

Set the foundation

Chapter one of The New Gold Standard focusses on having a good foundation in place. It’s all about communicating core identity and culture.

Ritz-Carlton make a big deal of ensuring the mission, vision, values, are deeply embedded in all their staff. Everyone of them has a ‘credo card’ they typically carry around with them at all times. Everyone in the organisation can easily provide a clear and accurate understanding of the business’s mission and purpose.

Time is spent everyday emphasising and reorienting around the mission and culture of the organisation. This daily time provides space for repetition of values, emphasising common language, visual symbols, passing on of oral traditions (not just email), positive story-telling, and modeling by leaders.

The challenge for me reading this stuff is translating it into the volunteer context in which I primarily lead. It’s all very well spending time every day embedding the culture of the organisation, but what about when the opportunities for doing that are physically only once a week at best? And even then for only a couple of hours.

How do you go about embedding culture when there are far fewer opportunities to do it? I agree with all the things Ritz-Carlton are doing, I’m just grappling with what that might look like for us at Mosaic.

We do talk about our cultural values a lot. But I know we could do more and do better. I definitely think we need to improve our sharing or stories that positively communicate what we value. Stores (and visual images) definitely help things stick. I just need to remember to do this more!

New author interview

A few months back I included several author interviews on The Sixth Sense. I am very pleased to say that there is another one lined up which I hope to publish later this week.

Some of you who have followed my ‘blogging career’ will remember me writing about a great book I read called ‘The Starbucks Experience’ by Joseph A. Michelli. No matter what type of organisation you lead or are part of, the book was full of lots of really relevant information that is both useful and inspiring. I heartily recommended it when it first came out now and would still encourage you to read it now if you haven’t already.

Linked with this, Joseph Michelli has a new book out called ‘The New Gold Standard - 5 Leadership Principles for Creating a Legendary Customer Experience Courtesy of The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company’. I am reading through this book at the moment and will share standout thoughts and insights as I go along. If it comes even close to The Starbucks Experience, I know I’ll be taking a lot away from it.

I am very pleased to be able to say that Joseph Michelli has kindly agreed to answer a few questions about his new book. And, as I say, I hope to be posting that interview later this week. Make sure you check back.

“Just killing time”

I heard someone say they were ‘just killing time’ the other day and for some reason it was like it set alarm bells ringing in my mind. It stirred up a renewed determination to make sure that that is something that could never be said of my own life.

It’s so easy to drift through life merely existing. Getting up, going to work, coming home, slumping in front of the tv, going to bed. It amazes me for how many people that description IS their life. There is no purpose. No passion. They are, literally, just killing time. 

This got me thinking. What are some ways to help protect ourselves from a life that is nothing more than just killing time? Are there things we can do to make sure we are truly living and not just existing?

And, not only this, but when do we lose it? You look at students full of passion, looking to do something amazing with their life and yet, for so many, a few years down the line and they’re just killing time. Going through the motions. Climbing up the various life ladders (career, property, etc.) that supposedly define success. What goes wrong? When do we stop being fully alive?

What do you think?

What makes the Olympics so magical?

I’ve been thinking about this question today. What is it about the Olympics that sets it apart from any other sporting event? Sport is typically enjoyed by a select group of people. But the Olympics brings in viewers who’d never venture near a game of football or rugby. Why is this?

I loved it that the start of the Premier League season was completely overshadowed by the Olympics. The over paid footballers relegated off the front and back pages of the the newspapers as British Olympians made all the headlines.

It is amazing how you get sucked into the Olympics. You switch it on and you nearly switch over as it’s some random sport you don’t know anything about. And yet, before you know it, you’re screaming at the tele, desperately urging your team on. I love it!

The Olympics is able to bring out the absolute best of the athletes. World records crumble every time. People put their bodies on the line like never before. It’s puts the football world cup to shame on that front.

What about you? What makes the Olympics so magical for you? (If it does, of course!)