Thursday, February 12, 2009

My Year of Hopefulness - People Who Get It

I'm doing a little experiment: spend a week jotting down the names of everyone you speak to and divide them up into two groups - people who get it and people who don't. And by "it" I mean whatever you're passionate about. Bookies, movies, innovation, a new idea for a project at work, a vacation destination. "It" means anything that you want others to listen to, believe, and embrace as their own. "It" is something you want others to buy into.

I found that I spend a solid 50% of my time talking to people who don't get it, and won't get it, no matter how much I try to convince them. That is sunk energy. I am spending 50% of my time with people stating my case and I'd have just as much luck with a brick wall as I do with them. I have been wasting too much time on people who don't get it, and who don't get me. 

Today I went to an Innovator's Network meeting - a group of people dedicated to talking openly and honestly, looking for silver linings amidst some very dark and gathering clouds. These were my people. Or at least some of them were my people. 

It took me a while to find them, a lot of time and effort shouting from the hilltops, and chasing a lot of roads that culminated in dead ends. I spent a lot of time feeling lonely and left out, and out of place. And then I walked into this room today and saw all of these people, gathered together, as if they had been waiting for my arrival. I took my seat among them and smiled. It felt good to be among like minds.     

For the image above, click here.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

What an interesting post. Even as a teenager, my dad and I used to talk about the difference between people who "get it" and people who don't get "it", whatever "it" is. I will tell you though - the older I've gotten, the more I've realized that you gotta have a healthy dose of people who don't get "it" sprinkled throughout your week. Why? Because their lack of getting "it" makes you really THINK - in ways that like-minded people DON'T. In other words - in a strange kind of way - those that don't get "it" help you think creatively, in a way. Who knew? Anyway, LOVE your thought-provoking posts...
Phyllis R. Neill, www.shementor.com

Christa said...

Hi Phyllis! Thanks so much for your comment. I totally understand what you mean - those people who don't get it, push us further and make us even more innovative. We just need to make sure that they don't sap our energy while we're innovating and creating! :)

Cheers,
Christa