Weekly Grab
This is my weekly compilation of photos and prompts. If you’d like to see these delivered daily to your inbox when they’re first released, including some subscriber only exclusives, consider supporting my work with a Substack subscription (also complimentary, but donations welcome). Thanks for following my curiosity journey.
Stay curious, preferably with a camera in hand.
Fear
Mostly, we choose to avoid fear because it comes with an unknown outcome. We might fumble our speech. Our solution might be incorrect. Our choice might be the wrong one. We call this failure. But truthfully, almost all of our fear is over dramatized. The consequence of failure is often not nearly as bad as we imagined.
Maybe we should treat our fear more like a haunted house. Go, knowing there will be scary moments. But, almost certainly we will emerge safely on the other side.
Measurement
The measurement of learning is challenging. Standardized testing is largely ineffective. Multiple choice is borderline ridiculous. Closed book and timed exams are also suspect when it comes to understanding comprehension. One of our fallacies as a society is we tend to hang on to systems too long. The system is built to resist change. It’s easier to keep doing what we’re doing than leap to something new, especially with cultural norms and things like education where there’s so much at stake.
As leaders, here are some reflective questions we can ask ourselves regularly…What are we measuring? Who’s it for? What’s it for? What systems are we feeding which might need to be changed? What can we act upon to change it? And most importantly, when do we start?
Early
Early is easy to measure. It’s before late, which is after on time. We can be certain about our timeliness because it’s relative to something universally understood, accepted and defined.
But, what about talent, skill and drive? Or, creativity? How do know if and when we’ve met the standard in this areas? Well, it’s hard because there isn’t a universal standard for talent, drive or creativity. We can describe what we believe each of those looks like. But, there’s a strong chance another person, perhaps more talented, would see it differently. The key then is to understand that these largely immeasurable qualifications are cultural. And culture is based on different rules than specification. Specs can be counted on as nearly certain. Culture evolves, as society changes what’s important. The norms about personal drive and persistence and toughness are different in the sports community than they are in the speakers’ guild. A truck driver’s creativity is measured differently than that of a poet. Choose community, choose culture, then choose the standards to live into. Otherwise, we might be late even though we think we’re early.
Faceless
We probably can still tell who you are. But, we’ll have a hard time understanding how you feel.
And, of course it works the other way as well. Our face gives so much away even when we don’t want it to.
Expression
We have one, even when we think we don’t.
It’s best to act as if someone is always looking.
Lens
The amount of information we choose to receive has a lot to do with our openness. Are we approachable and maintaining a posture which welcomes new ideas and perhaps a different approach or way of doing things? Or, are we generally closed off and set in our ways.
One of the best skills we can develop is curiosity, the practice of intentionally seeking out the unknown or undiscovered. But, it only works with an open lens.
Unplugged
Consider what an unplugged day might feel like. Will it be liberating, peaceful or full of tension? How will we be missed? What will we miss?
Sometimes, it’s good to get away for a bit. Perhaps today is the day.
Get the Camera Out 