The Take Away

Carr Leon Hagerman
Artist. Performer. Author. Tinker.

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5 posts tagged Carrr Hagerman

No and…

At what point in history did we endow “Yes!” with such value while considering the lowly “no” with such trepidation?  It was Viola Spolin, the legendary goddess of improvisation theater who coined the term “Yes and…” some 40 years ago as a methodology for creating and building “scenes” in improvised theater performances. While there is value in learning to “let go” and suspend judgement, there is something naive and even counterproductive in being so prejudiced against the “no”.  No is necessary.

Judgement is important, obviously, and if we’re thinking through our approach to anything, we cultivate judgement, we engage in thinking that builds a kind of personal trust in our own ability to decide what is a yes, and what is a no, thank you.

It’s time to tell the purveyors of “YES!” to sit down and take a number, let us think about it, so we can use our own judgement to decide whether or not that “Yes!” is worthy of our confidence.

In the Take Away, we talk about how important it is to create a personal “white space”, one focused on “connection over collection”, and recognize our tendency to say “Yes!” to everything the corporate juggernaut dispatches in our direction. 

Try this..

More Connection. Less Collection.  Connecting with others is where the energy is, so raise the bar of useless effluvium and just say “no” to nonsense that we tend to collect.

Write down a list of those things you are inclined to say no to. When things come to you that don’t lead in the direction of energy and engagement, you can check in and check off the crap you don’t need.

Maintain skepticism. When someone is promoting “Yes and” outside of brainstorming and improvisational theater exercises, there is often a reason they want you to suspend your judgement. Make your yeses matter.

Be proud of no. While it has fallen out of fashion in certain parts of the corporate and personal landscape, it’s a valued component in our arsenal of critical thinking tools.

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Please Don’t Move Me In the past year there seems to be a surge in “movements” in our country. Everyone from social change advocates to green energy proponents,  management gurus, health care experts to the preachers of jack-you-up want you to join their cause and movement.  Some movements have played an important role in change and the advancement of an idea, like the civil rights movement of the 1960’s, while others seem to flare up as a response to more recent events, such as the Occupy movement. There are movements in form for art and architecture, language and design, but regardless of what causes them, or whether or not they’re necessary, we seem to identify with the idea of a  movement. I don’t think much of movements and won’t join them. Movements don’t need enough from me, except to attend a meeting or rally, make calls or carry signs or buy some stuff.  I have to join up with the cause and put my name on the mailing list. They don’t require my thinking really, don’t advance the notion that I should study a position or even have my own specific ideas. Instead, when I’m part of a movement I’m giving up my individual voice to blend in with the mass, to believe in a “unified vision”, and to chop wood and carry water for the ideas and the leaders who are pushing the movement. The same holds true in business. Motivational leaders want you to “join our movement” so you can follow the bouncing ball, buy the tapes, read the books, and make sure you have the right color and brush to paint inside the lines. In nearly every case, movements are about giving up yourself for someone or something else. Though there is value in learning and expanding and being part of something cool, mostly what we really need is less stuff we “really need” to do. I don’t believe it’s a good thing to give up our own voice and ideas to become a faceless body for the agenda. In our own workplaces and lives, we can give ourselves over to the conversation about what’s important, that’s a good thing it seems to me, but we should do so with our name firmly attached. Since we spend so much time with others at our workplaces, committed conversations about things that matter can sometimes “move” things, but without the cost of giving up our identities in the process. So, be a bit careful about joining a movement, instead, think about engaging in the marketplace of ideas in your own way, in a commerce that needs both of us to think together. If at any time someone shows up with a bullhorn and some signs, it might be a good time to excuse ourselves and look for a different place to talk, someplace where we can think clearly and hear one another speaking.

Please Don’t Move Me

In the past year there seems to be a surge in “movements” in our country. Everyone from social change advocates to green energy proponents,  management gurus, health care experts to the preachers of jack-you-up want you to join their cause and movement. 

Some movements have played an important role in change and the advancement of an idea, like the civil rights movement of the 1960’s, while others seem to flare up as a response to more recent events, such as the Occupy movement. There are movements in form for art and architecture, language and design, but regardless of what causes them, or whether or not they’re necessary, we seem to identify with the idea of a  movement.

I don’t think much of movements and won’t join them. Movements don’t need enough from me, except to attend a meeting or rally, make calls or carry signs or buy some stuff.  I have to join up with the cause and put my name on the mailing list. They don’t require my thinking really, don’t advance the notion that I should study a position or even have my own specific ideas. Instead, when I’m part of a movement I’m giving up my individual voice to blend in with the mass, to believe in a “unified vision”, and to chop wood and carry water for the ideas and the leaders who are pushing the movement.

The same holds true in business. Motivational leaders want you to “join our movement” so you can follow the bouncing ball, buy the tapes, read the books, and make sure you have the right color and brush to paint inside the lines. In nearly every case, movements are about giving up yourself for someone or something else. Though there is value in learning and expanding and being part of something cool, mostly what we really need is less stuff we “really need” to do.

I don’t believe it’s a good thing to give up our own voice and ideas to become a faceless body for the agenda. In our own workplaces and lives, we can give ourselves over to the conversation about what’s important, that’s a good thing it seems to me, but we should do so with our name firmly attached. Since we spend so much time with others at our workplaces, committed conversations about things that matter can sometimes “move” things, but without the cost of giving up our identities in the process.

So, be a bit careful about joining a movement, instead, think about engaging in the marketplace of ideas in your own way, in a commerce that needs both of us to think together. If at any time someone shows up with a bullhorn and some signs, it might be a good time to excuse ourselves and look for a different place to talk, someplace where we can think clearly and hear one another speaking.

Source carrhagerman.com
Hyatt Bearings on rails of steel Engineers keys for unlocking the switch CP Train light Abandoned telegraph pole Memories of youth spent chasing trains

Yesterday afternoon as I ventured home after a meeting, I stopped to explore some railroad tracks near where I grew up. Back in my youth these sets of tracks were busy with trains, four sets of tracks in all, with telegraphs lines and poles stretching between the east - west tracks. I chased trains, was chased by irritable railroad employees, made out with my first girlfriend Jill Johnson (It’s safe, there are a lot of girls with that name!) I also spent hours waiting and watching for trains.

Even today, the sound of a train in the distance on a summer evening brings my memories home, and calms me.  The old telegraph pole reminded me of when I was a kid, we could hear the clicking sounds of messages still being sent, in a straight line, on wires made of copper.

Trains are such an old world technology, loud, resource heavy machines that can only go in straight lines. This train stopped and a young engineer got off, unlocked the switch, and disappeared as quickly.

I took a few pictures of the things I felt evoked my childhood, that highlighted the elegant simplicity of the technology, and captured the strength of America’s industrial past.

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Yulia Brodskaya’s work with strips of paper. This work is made up of strips of paper glued to a background creating a fantastic depth and texture. Huh…not much social life if you do many of these!

Yulia Brodskaya’s work with strips of paper. This work is made up of strips of paper glued to a background creating a fantastic depth and texture. Huh…not much social life if you do many of these!

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