Seeing Red Fish

My second year at Irving I remember seeing a video about a Seattle fish company.  In that short 20 minute video, I remember thinking of how amazing those people were working together, and how easy it would be for any work place (specifically Irving at the time) to follow the same philosophy.  I walked out of that meeting refreshed, energized, and ready to take on the world.

By the end of the day, however, I had a slightly new look.  It seemed most people I talked to were less enthusiastic about our immediate transformation that I felt was needed.  These people seemed to take the video with a grain of salt, and preferred to continue on about their normal routines.

With the help of experience, mentors, education, and conversations over the past 8 years, I can now better understand what I was seeing at Irving that day.  However, even after all of that processing, I saw yet another video just a few short days ago titled "Seeing Red Cars."  The basic premise of the video is that whatever you focus on, that's what you'll get more of.  As I look back to that day at Irving, I noticed that most of the folks seemed apathetic toward the idea.  What I didn't focus on were the ones that felt the same way I did, or, now with better understanding of working with teams of people, noticed that many of the people there were living that philosophy, just in different ways.

I'm fascinated how a simple transformation in approach to people or situations could make that big of a difference on interpretations or perspective.  While I see some parallels in my response to this recent video to my reaction with the fish video from Irving, I feel I come at this one from a different place.  As I've learned since that day at Irving, exposure to a 20 minute video does not change people or philosophies.  They don't suddenly make everything right with the world.  They don't motivate, empower, or justify transitions to thought.  However, to focus on that would undermine my attempts to focus on what I want to see more of... that exposure to 20 minute videos could simply start conversations, and begin opening minds to change.

What will I see my first day back at work this year?  How will I feel?  Will those thoughts and feelings be the same in February, and how will those feelings dictate my actions?  I'm excited more every minute the year approaches, and know that I will continue to see red fish, wherever I look.