I’m making my way through a new book, Yes, And, by Kelly Leonard and Tom Yorton, executive vice president and CEO, respectively, of The Second City. The premise—to accept and playfully consider the merit of all new ideas, boosting improvisation, creativity, and collaboration—has activated a fresh excitement in me. Its message has nurtured an intention I’ve had since moving to New Orleans: allow possibility and unanticipated action to unfold. Think horizontally as well as vertically.
The book also couples well with a Notre Dame commencement speech (15 min.) I watched last summer, in which Kerry Ann Rockquemore encourages you to take a weekly Sunday walk with a friend, and bounce ideas around. No constraints, just play with possibility. Some of Rockquiemore’s most fruitful professional successes grew from seeds planted on these walks. I’ve begun to do this, and I find myself jiggling ideas free, making new connections, nurturing my self-concept for the future. These walks have certainly contributed to initiating this blog, and I hope more projects to come (but I can’t share my secrets).
This playful mindset completes a ying-yang with the tunnel vision, goal-driven mindset towards which I tend to lean. I’m still forward thinking and ambitious, but my brain is more flexible, agile, and available. While paddling the canoe down river, I’m primed to spot the beautiful, inconspicuous heron.
