Head down – it’s in the details
Posted by Lee-Anne Ragan | Filed under Communication
This is the view from the Athlete’s village in the Welcoming Ceremony area …. when you look down. As a 2010 Vancouver Olympic volunteer I’ve learned a lot about details, alot about looking down.
I thought I was a detail person to start with. I had nothing on the Olympics.
Names on athlete’s participation certificates are double and even triple checked. Processes, like distributing mail, have multiple forms to fill in. Allocating Victory Ceremony tickets for non-accredited participants takes a looooooooooonnnnnnnnggggg time. I created the form (with multiple columns to check off) to prove it.
Allocating complimentary tickets to sporting events to the National Olympics Committees takes even longer.
As volunteers we have our heads down, focused on details, minutia, routines, schedules, counting medal pouches over and over, adding up numbers, double checking, triple checking until we’re all but cross eyed.
This so the athletes can look up. Look to gold. Look to shaving off a few hundredths of a second. Look to making a difference on the world stage.
What do you look down at? What’s your view of the details?
Tags: 2010 olympics, details, olympics, routine, vancouver, winter olympics
Leaving behind Tim Hortons at the Olympics
Posted by Lee-Anne Ragan | Filed under Change management & wellness
This is the view that greets me most mornings as I start my volunteer shift as a NOC assistant for the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.
Tim Hortons on the sidelines. Cups of caffeine left behind, lined up along the garbage can, as we weave our way through security into the athlete’s village. No liquids allowed.
There’s a million reasons to celebrate… the Olympics, this city, being Canadian.
The Olympics have taken over. We find ourselves cheering for unfamiliar sports (who invented the skeleton race anyway?). We burst into singing the Canadian anthem with pride and spontaneity.
Love them or hate them we’re immersed. Schedules run amok. Routines are out the window. Familiar traffic routes are no more.
I have to concentrate to figure out what day it is and what time of day it is. The other day I jumped out of bed at 5:37 am shouting expletives because I thought I’d overslept and missed my 5:35 bus which would take my sleepy butt to my next volunteer shift.
That is until a sleepy husband reminded me I was on the night shift.
When were you last immersed in something, when up became down and right became left? And thinking of those lonely Tim Horton cups, what did you have to leave behind in order to move forward?
Tags: 2010 olympics, celebrate, change management, olympics, perspective, routine, tim hortons, time, vancouver
Best case scenario
Posted by Lee-Anne Ragan | Filed under Conflict resolution, Creativity & innovation
“Your mind will automatically go to the worst case scenario. So practice the best case scenario.”
Wise words from my massage therapist.
I love when my attention is caught and held by something that shakes up my preconceptions. That highlights patterns of thinking that I wasn’t aware of. When my synapses sparkle.
With all due respect to my amygdala, the two almond shaped bits buried deep in our brains, that filter all incoming information and ask one main question of it all.
Am I safe?
If the amagdala decides yes, then the information is passed along to to our cerebral cortex for higher thinking. Seth Godin calls the amygdala our lizard brain (because it’s the only part of the brain that a lizard has). Jill Bolte Taylor, the famous neuroscientist who experienced a massive stroke, writes about it in her book “Stroke of Insight”.
We’re already really good at awfulizing or practicing worst case scenarios. Our amygdala’s work overtime.
It’s time to assuage the amygdala’s doubts and let it rest. Let’s practice best case scenarios. Imagine what the world would be like if that was our default…..
Tags: amygdala, awfulizing, best case scenario, change management, creativity & innovation, jill bolte taylor, learning, lizard brain, seth godin, stroke of insight, worst case scenario
A sneak peak of the Olympic Opening Ceremonies
Posted by Lee-Anne Ragan | Filed under Change management & wellness, Social Responsibility
Rock.Paper.Scissors playing RCMP roving characters at the North Van Olympic torch relay, pictured here with Premier Gordon Campbell.
I was lucky enough to take part in the dress rehearsal of the 21st Vancouver Winter Olympic Opening Ceremonies.
The same ceremonies that will be viewed by some 3 billion (with a b) eyeballs later today.
I spent most of the time with tears coursing down my face. If you were there and if you inhaled deeply enough you would have been able to smell the slight tinge of saline mixed with an older, slightly musty smell… the smell of Canadian pride being brought out, dusted off and worn for all to see.
Shivers danced up and down my spine like aerial acrobats. My mouth gaped like a kid on Christmas day, getting the present ever. Ever.
I was caught off guard by the emotion, the deep swelling of pride in this nation.
The same nation we’re slow to praise and quick to make fun of.
We’re not noisy about our love affair with our country like our neighbours to the south. In fact we often get drowned out by them. But the pride is there nonetheless.
For the first time First Nations were an integral part of the ceremony. Colours were a blur as nations from the east, west, north and central came and danced and welcomed the world.
The biggest roar was saved for the Canadian athletes as the rounded the bend. For a moment we were united in celebrating their feats to come.
Massive three-tiered banners of fabric hung from the ceiling alternately became the ocean, trees and totem poles as light was shone on and through them. Through some sleight of hand it transformed us, the audience. Gasps were audible. Hands became sore from clapping and throats hoarse from yelling.
The opening scenes were pure BC beauty. Remote snow capped mountain, rugged and regal. And then a lone snowboarder. On top of the world. With a kick he set off, all swirling snow and powder puffs. All eyes were on him as he skimmed effortlessly down crazy steep slopes. Then for a second he disappeared…
… until he burst onto the stage for real, sliding down a huge ramp and with a graceful flip ended up in the middle of the stadium. A sweet taste of what was to come. Magic. Being swept away.
A spoken word artist worked his magic by describing this, our indescribably country and that maybe being Canadian was a simple as saying ‘please’ and ‘thank-you’. And yes, our Z rhymes with Ted dammit.
When KD Lang took to a massive central podium, dressed simply in white and captivated everyone with her version of Hallelujah, she reached deep into everyone’s heart and for a moment, removed the cynic. With breath caught and eyes kindled by with hope, you were caught up in a net cast wide with possibilities.
Audience members were given lights and we played our part as we lit them in sync, until wave after wave, the stadium was alive with light. Other times our lights were the constellations and yet others thunderbolts.
Confession time: for the dress rehearsal we didn’t actually get given the lights but rather pretended to wave them about. Ever resourceful though, folks brought out cell phones and the glowing screens were almost as good. Better in some ways as we all yearned to be part of the magic.
With my IPhone flashlight app I got to be a part of the ceremonies. Not passively sitting there, being a quiet receptacle. But rather, as the social media world has showed us, at the centre, involved, loudly and proudly.
Maybe we can do it. Maybe we can dig ourselves out from under the weight of poverty, war, racism, terrorism and other soul-crushing issues. Maybe there is a god above.
Let the games begin.
(We were asked not to share anything about the ceremonies until the real thing; hence the blackout the first time this post was published this morning. This version is the full version, now that the games are officially underway. I was filled with awe to be part of the rehearsal and have been slightly giddy with keeping the secret.)
Tags: canadian, first nations, hallelujah, KD Lang, leap of faith, learning, olympics, opening ceremonies, pride, snowboard, vancouver, winter olympics
A sneak peak of the Olympic Opening Ceremonies
Posted by Lee-Anne Ragan | Filed under Communication, Social Responsibility
I was lucky enough to take part in the dress rehearsal of the 21st Vancouver Winter Olympic Opening Ceremonies.
The same ceremonies that will be viewed by some 3 billion (with a b) eyeballs later today.
I spent most of the time with tears coursing down my face. If you were there and if you inhaled deeply enough you would have been able to smell the slight tinge of saline mixed with an older, slightly musty smell… the smell of Canadian pride being brought out, dusted off and worn for all to see.
Shivers danced up and down my spine like aerial acrobats. My mouth gaped like a kid on Christmas day, getting the present ever. Ever.
I was caught off guard by the emotion, the deep swelling of pride in this nation.
The same nation we’re slow to praise and quick to make fun of.
We’re not noisy about our love affair with our country like our neighbours to the south. In fact we often get drowned out by them. But the pride is there nonetheless.
For the first time XXXXX were an integral part of the ceremony. Colours were a blur as XXXX from the XXX, XXX, XXX and XXX came and XXX and XXX the XXX.
The biggest roar was saved for the XXX XXX as they rounded the XXX. For a moment we were united in celebrating XXX XXX to XXX.
Massive XXX-XXX XXXX of XXX XXX from the XXX alternately became the XXX, XXX and XXX XXX as XXX was XXX on and through them. Through some sleight of hand it transformed us, the audience. Gasps were audible. Hands became sore from clapping and throats hoarse from yelling.
The opening scenes were XXX XXX XXX. XXX XXX XXX XXX, XXX and XXX. And then a XXX XXX. On top of the XXX. With a XXX he XXX XXX, all XXX XXX and XXX XXX. All eyes were on XXX as XXX XXX XXX down XXX XXX XXX. Then for a XXX he XXX…
… until he XXX onto XXX XXXX for XXX, XXX down a XXX XXX and with a XXX XXX ended up in the XXX of the XXX. A sweet taste of what was to come. Magic. Being swept away.
A XXX XXX XXX worked his magic by describing this, XXX XXX XXX and that maybe being XXX was a simple as saying ‘XXX’ and ‘XXX’. And yes, our XXX with XXX dammit.
When XXX XXX took to a massive central podium, dressed simply in XXX and captivated everyone with XXX version of XXXX, XXX reached deep into everyone’s heart and for a moment, removed the cynic. With breath caught and eyes kindled by with hope, you were caught up in a net cast wide with possibilities.
XXX XXX were XXX XXX and we XXXX our XXXX as we XXXX XXX in XXX, until XXX after XXX, the stadium was XXX with XXX. Other times our XXX were the XXX and yet others XXX.
Confession time: for the dress rehearsal we didn’t actually get given the XXXX but rather pretended to XXX them about. Ever resourceful though, folks brought out XXX XXX and the XXX XXX were almost as good. Better in some ways as we all yearned to be part of the magic.
With my XXX XXX XXX I got to be a part of the XXX. Not XXX XXX there, being a XXX XXX. But rather, as the XXX XXX world has showed us, at the XXX, XXX, XXX and XXX.
Maybe we can do it. Maybe we can dig ourselves out from under the weight of poverty, war, racism, terrorism and other soul-crushing issues. Maybe there is a god above.
Let the games begin.
(We were asked not to share anything about the ceremonies until the real thing; hence the blackout. Check back later tonight for the uncensored version. I was filled with awe to be part of the rehearsal and am slightly giddy with keeping the secret.)
Tags: olympic games, opening ceremony, preview, vancouver
Operation secret (Vancouver) Valentine
Posted by Lee-Anne Ragan | Filed under Communication, Travel
In response to Kelly Diel’s Operation Secret Valentine, here’s my not so secret Valentine.
As the world turns its gaze upon Vancouver to feast on the 21st Winter Olympics, and as the season for pink cupcakes draws near, I thought I’d share my love affair with my home town Vancouver.
From the mountains encased by frothy mist, that go on forever
And the eclectic mix of granola crunching, Lulelemon yogis, grouse grinding, mogul munchers and high spirited high tech gamers
To the medical and social safety net, albeit worn and torn in places, which makes me quiver in relief when I hear stories to the south of people being forced to do their own suturing, when no other medical insurance is available
From the gritty Downtown EastSide, Canada’s poorest postal code, an in-your-face reminder of how close we are to the bleeding edge and how some of the most generous people are folks I’ve met and worked with there.
To my kids’ school, nestled in a forest of towering giants, which sits beside a salmon bearing river, where the fish run wild and frenzied in their last gasping effort to reach home
From the fact that you can ski and feast on the beach in the same day, is not some marketing guru’s pipe dream but is in fact reality.
And that I can take a ferry and if I’m really lucky, like last summer, watch pods of Orcas breaching and spyhopping along the way.
To the colourful cast of characters that can find a reason to protest something, anytime, anywhere
From the slower pace of the west coast and that business casual can sometimes mean fleece and gortex
To the vibe on the Drive
From the ancient First Nation’s territory we stand on.
To the fact that salmon swims with sushi and maple syrup in the wide range of food found here
From the gloriously accessible waterfront, which isn’t hidden behind some grumpy old bathrobe but is out, bared in public and open for all to walk, boat, bike and run
To the trees that give up their leaves in the fall, bringing eagles nests into view
From the faces, in all their colours, shapes and sizes.
… and that when my youngest told a new friend from Bulgarian that he could teach him, not English, but some Chinese
… and that mostly the faces and their owners get along
… and that temples dot the skyline beside churches
… and that a reassuring melody of languages greet your ears
From our very geography encased in a watery, blue jeweled box means being bound by water we’re not able to grow much.
To being far enough north to have seasons. That carpets of springtime cherry blossoms, give way to verdant green summer forests, whose leaves bend and fall in a wild cacophony of autumn colours that finally give way to the muted grays of winter.
From being far enough south and influenced by the warm ocean air to not experience dramatic temperature differences. While other Canadians are digging themselves out from yet another snowfall it’s quite likely that my spring bulbs are poking their green heads up.
To wildly differing festivals sitting elbow to elbow, from the Pride Parade and the Vancouver Folk Music Festival to Chinese New Year and Diwali.
Vancouver is home in all her glorious colour and characters. Gotta love her.
Tags: chinese new year, cupcakes, diwali, downtown eastside, first nations, kelly diel, valentines, vancouver, Vancouver folk music festival, winter olympics
Start small & think big; creme brulee over soya sauce
Posted by Lee-Anne Ragan | Filed under Change management & wellness, Creativity & innovation
A taste of two worlds. And a time honoured lesson.
I was trying to put soya sauce on my sushi the other day and having a devil of a time. The little package of soya sauce didn’t have a small pre-cut in it designed to make it easy to open.
While yesterday my taste buds were watering in anticipation of eating some Marie Morin creme brulee. This divine concoction makes ‘mana’ out of cream, milk, sugar and eggs (proving yet again that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts). But that’s besides the point.
Each pot of velvety smoothness comes with its own little package of sugar to caramelize.
And here’s the key, each little package has a small cut so that you don’t have to wrestle with the slippery sucker until you’ve spilled the contents all over yourself in a last, mad, bite and slash with your teeth.
A little thing.
Makes a big difference.
Like in business.
‘Start small and think big’ says J. Reiter, quoted in Tim Ferris’s 4-Hour Workweek.
I’m liking that a whole lot. The small part makes it achievable, within my grasp, attainable. The big part makes it visionary, exciting, worth working for.
What’s your business equivalent of the cut in the creme brulee sugar package?
Tags: 4 hour work week, change management, creativity & innovation, creme brulee, four hour work week, learning, marie morin, perspective, tim ferris
Myles Horton & the Olympic Flame
Posted by Lee-Anne Ragan | Filed under Change management & wellness, Communication
Myles Horton was a famous adult educator in the Appalachian mountains. He rode the rails with the hobos and learned valuable lessons from them, lessons that I’m applying during my volunteer work at the 2010 Olympics.
Fire was valuable to the vulnerable men who hitched a ride by train. Fire kept you warm. It protected you. It was a means to a meal.
During those long train rides Myles learned that if you used up your fuel source too soon the fire would go out, leaving you cold and vulnerable throughout the night.
He also recalled times when men kept the fire burning too low and there wouldn’t be enough heat. You’d still go cold and hungry.
In his autobiography ‘The Long Haul’ he talks about how our life’s drive and goals are the same.
Fire yourself up too much, burn the midnight oil too often, don’t take care of your whole self, don’t have a life beyond work and you’re in trouble. All consuming and consumed, you’re headed off the rails and towards burnout and major stress.
Don’t fire yourself up enough and you’ve got no heat, no oomph, no zing, passion, or drive. You’re coasting through life, unengaged and uninspired.
The trick? Keeping your fire burning at a level that works for you.
Speaking of which, I’m volunteering for the 2010 Olympic Games. We volunteer 6 days on, have 1 off and work 9 hour days. Fire’s on my mind, I’m tending the flame.
And you? How’s your fire?
Tags: 2010, change management, creativity & innovation, hobos, learning, long haul, myles horton, olympic flame, olympics, training & development, vancouver
Old men who wear hats are really bad drivers
Posted by Lee-Anne Ragan | Filed under Diversity & culture, Humor & comedy
Say what?!?! Those exact words came out of a participant’s mouth during a training I was giving. The entire group agreed. Wholeheartedly. Emphatically. Vehemently. As strong as the moon’s pull is on the tides, their belief was unshakable.
Seeing patterns in the waves of information we process every day is as common as craving ice cream on a hot day. Seeing a pattern is another way of making an assumption or making a generalization. We see a pattern and we assume the pattern is true and right and that it will continue.
For example we have to assume that the sun will rise tomorrow. Questioning everything and anything is a recipe for mental imbalance. We have to make assumptions or we’d go crazy. It’s natural.
Seeing patterns where none exist though is also, unfortunately, very common.
Fill in the blanks:
_______ are good at math
_______ are bad drivers
_______ are good dancers
Chances are it was easy for you to fill in the blanks.
Generalizations are slippery and seductive and very easy to come by. When the generalizations or patterns don’t exist however, or when they are harmful, there’s another word for them.
Stereotypes.
I imagine that my client really did see an older man wearing a hat who was a bad driver. The individual likely chatted about their experience with a colleague. Their radar got tuned in to a laser point. Trouble is they didn’t see the old men who didn’t wear hats who were bad drivers or the young men who didn’t wear hats who were bad drivers or the old men who wore hats who were good drivers or the men who were bald who were bad drivers or….. The possibilities are endless and dizzying.
Trouble is one or two instances of seeing an old guy with a hat driving badly became a pattern with no basis. What does a hat have to do with driving (unless of course it’s obscuring your vision but I imagine that wasn’t the case)? It’s ridiculous.
Try telling that to someone who holds a stereotype.
Tags: assumptions, bad drivers, Diversity & culture, driving, generalizations, hats, old men, patterns, radar
Why do we (need to) travel?
Posted by Lee-Anne Ragan | Filed under Creativity & innovation, Travel
I love to travel. Really love to travel. And now I know why.
Jonah Lehrer in his post called ‘Why we travel’ says travel puts distance between who we are and what we know.
When we’re surrounded by the familiar we’re surrounded by associations and assumptions that are as hard to get rid of as clutter in a teen’s bedroom. When we travel “the mind is suddenly made aware of all those errant ideas we’d previously suppressed”.
Note he said suppressed.
In other words we have the goods, we’re just suppressing them. It’s not that we’re not creative or not a font of “errant ideas” or a plethora of possibilities, we’re all creative. We all have it in our DNA.
It’s just that the daily repetitive rounds of work, play, parenting, and overall tending to one’s lengthy laundry list of life’s flotsam and jetsam tend to grind down our ability to free associate, have floating time and imagine new ways of invigorating ourselves. Much easier to flop on the couch after a long day of work, after the kids are in bed, and numb out with TV remote in hand, watching other people’s so-called realities.
Travel shoves all that messy stuff in suitcases, which we promptly leave at home. The suitcases wouldn’t fit within the airline’s luggage restrictions. Such is the weight of daily life’s flotsam and jetsam that taking them with us would cause massive overweight luggage fees.
Jonah cites a study by psychologist Lile Jia at Indiana University which underscores the impact of how easily we put cramping frames around our thinking and how the mere idea of travel releases us.
Students were asked to work on a problem that they were told was created by students in Greece. Other students, working on the same problem, were told it was created by students at the local university. The task was to generate alternate modes of transportation.
Who did the best job- those that thought local students designed the problem or those that thought international students designed it? Or did it even make a difference?
Turns out those who believed the problem originated in Greece thought of way more opportunities and were significantly more creative. They were buoyed and unrestricted by their local, homegrown, self-imposed constraints. Transportation didn’t have limitations, such as what would work in the here and now and known but rather in the imagined.
So next time you want to travel, leave your self-imposed constraints in their suitcases at home and off you go. No plans to take off into the sunset anytime soon? No problem. Just take a problem that you’re facing and pretend to jet away with it. Original and novel ideas that-a-way.
Tags: creativity & innovation, indiana university, jonah lehrer, lile jia, psychology, training & development, Travel