Okay, it was only for a minute or so, but I was surprised I kept his attention that long. After all, he wasn’t even one (or at least that is what my “baby-dar” was telling me) and this was a pretty exciting aircraft.

Some freak out when a baby sits next to them on a flight. While I will admit I truly do detest 4 hours of a screaming child, I find those occasions are pretty rare, and more often than not–the baby can be pretty awesome.

So I watched this little guy and his parents held him and he checked out the world. A plane can be a fascinating place for kids. There are so many new people, so many new sounds, so many new things to see. The airplane window fascinates even the tiniest among us–or at least that is what my experience has shown.

I was glad this baby was near me as it gave me a quick pause in my crazy schedule to reflect. I’ve already been on 15 flights in less than ten days, and the repetition of it all often makes me just simply fall asleep. After about the seventh flight, I rarely even began conversations with those sitting around me, just trying to get in a few hours of sleep before I headed to the next plane.

But this kid was curious–he was fascinated, and it reminded me of my appreciation of this amazing thing I get to do in the fall–fly.

In a few more years, his curious glances will be replaced with curious questions. I could hear a toddler a few rows back bombard his mom with a rapid-fire investigation of such gems.

But then I looked at the businessmen around me. I reflected on my own habits.

Cell phones, laptops, a newspaper, and silence.

Curiosity wasn’t there.

Fascination wasn’t there.

It had been replaced with routine and boredom.

Rather than waiting to take off, the older people on the flight were already processing what we had to do when we get home.

The creativity was replaced with a to do list.

Our world needs more than this.

So today, add one more thing to your to-do list:

get curious

Still, I didn’t have to think much about it.

I picked up a prepackaged asparagus, onion, mushroom mix. It ended up being a really nice blend of flavors, but as we sat down to eat, I thought about how much I overpaid for this simple assortment. I would have actually put in a few more mushrooms if I had bought each ingredient individual, but I didn’t.

I didn’t think hard. I thought quickly.

I made a simple and tasty dinner.

But if I had spent just a little bit more time planning–just 5 or 10 minutes brainstorming, I probably could have come up with a better menu that would have cost less and tasted better–even if I used similar ingredients.

Do you ever do this? Do you ever worry so much about being quick that we don’t necessarily go deep?

Ever rush a project? a paper? an event?

Imagine what 5-10 minutes of thought could do for you.

“Why didn’t I think of that?”

The answer is simple: Because I didn’t spend the time needed to actually THINK.

But last night, I finally got to see the show.

It definitely lived up to the expectations taking an irreverent approach to the musical theatre genre and repeating many of the great bits from Monty Python and the Holy Grail. While I thoroughly enjoyed the familiar jokes, my favorite moments of the show took place when Monty Python satirized the musical theatre genre itself. While I’m definitely a fan of musical theatre, I find myself enjoying the modern theatre a bit more. Shows like Spring Awakening, RENT, Avenue Q, The Who’s Tommy, or even Blood Brothers appeal to me a lot more than anything by Rogers & Hammerstein.

So when the show took a delightfully unexpected turn with The Song That Goes Like This, I was thrilled. In it, two characters describe the song that demonstrates their love. They highlight key changes, glances, embraces, and even an unwelcome length of the song. The audience loved it.

Why? Because it really was dead on. I can’t tell you how many shows I’ve seen that have played on the same convention and actually had a “song that goes like this.” Sure, it demonstrates the love between two characters, but couldn’t it be done differently?

Outside musical theatre, I’ve been reading several articles recently describing the death of the romantic comedy genre. They highlight the same jobs done by the female protagonists, the same settings, the same inciting incidents, the size of the dogs, the quirky best friends, the overzealous attempts for connection, etc. etc. etc.   In other words, some modern viewers might like the film, but it’s the same story just in different wrapping paper causing many viewers to just get bored.

Spamalot works because it is fully aware of what it is doing and makes fun of the process itself.

My morale?

I know I rely way to heavily on my own existing habits or conventions and I think it is safe to say that sadly many of our organizations do as well. Sometimes we need to shake it all loose. We need to creative and challenge what we are doing and how we approach it. If we fail to do so, we become stale. We will die out.

If you have some time, I’d really encourage you to watch a documentary about one comic great doing just that. Comedian (2002) profiles Jerry Seinfeld as he scraps his entire comedy routine and starts again completely from scratch. It’s a fascinating example of someone moving beyond past success and charting a new path.

But the prices are great.

I love the other grocery stores in my area. If I lived closer to a Whole Foods, I would probably spend a great deal of my time driving there, but fresh & easy is perfect for me now.

By having a smaller selection, a smaller store, and more uniformed packaging, the store saves money and passes it on to the customers. It also does a nice job of having several promotions for school (currently $1 from every $20+ receipt can be donated to a local school of your choice). It’s incredibly effective.

Today, I picked up some chicken soup costing less than canned soup and was actually fresher.

Can we do the same in our organizations? Instead of always looking for MORE can we do the same things BETTER and with less cost? Can we find the ways to take our existing programs and give back to our local communities in the process?

I think the answer is yes.

So let’s do it.

At the same time, I really do agree with many of the blogs I read last night about this being more of a stunt than anything real. I don’t believe the bands instruments were stolen. I don’t think that part was necessary to put in the video.

But it’s undeniable Atomic Tom created something pretty cool. Last night, I checked out the video and it had about 300,000 hits on YouTube. Now, about 14 hours later, it has almost a million more hits. It’s now a viral video and this band is getting a lot of recognition.

This March, I wrote about OK Go’s great video for “This Too Shall Pass” and how OK Go adapted to the changing music video scene in the wake of MTV becoming just a reality show network. I think Atomic Tom is doing the same thing. They’ve successfully promoted themselves in a very inexpensive way (well besides the initial sticker shock of an iPhone).

Can we do this? Can we work to create viral campaigns for our own events?

It’s time for us to get creative and reTHINK the way we present.

Seth Godin at Gel 2006 from Gel Conference on Vimeo.

The website mentioned in the talk has been changed to the Good Experience Blog. I visited the site today and already picked up some good ideas. It’s something to think about.

I’m blown away by when I see broken policies or procedures in our schools and organizations. I don’t understand when I’m at schools and students “boo” freshmen–it makes no sense to me especially when the answer is “that’s how we were treated as freshmen.” (btw, there is a great solution for this called LINK CREW–bring it to your campus).

I was at a campus last week. Everything about the experience was really incredible except that the lunch process took forever as someone in a district office came up with a policy to check names off a list, even though a detailed list of EVERYONE receiving lunch even updated with the day’s absences was provided to them. That’s broken.

I’m a huge fan of United Airlines (I’ll likely hit there 1K status with them this year after taking 100 flights since January), but there change fee on tickets makes no sense to me–especially when rival Southwest doesn’t penalize me. This is broken.

There is a mall near my parent’s house that spent millions and millions of dollars on rennovation, but then didn’t really consider the exits of the parking garages, both which don’t easily connect with the major freeway located two blocks away. The design causes major delays during the busy holiday season (I once sat in my car for 50 minutes as I tried to exit). This is broken.

What is broken in your campus? What thing are we still doing that doesn’t make sense? What can we do to make these things better?

Seth Godin raises some interesting points. Apply them to your school or organization today.

Season 6: Episode 12: “365″

It’s a pretty busy episode. The office is suffering the loss of pretty key leaders, they are attempting to manage the media after the state of the Union and other appearances, and they are struggling with international crises. In returns Leo, the former Chief of Staff who recently recovered from a heart attack, and he wants a simple moment to sit down with the staff. While everyone wants to spend time with him, they keep having something else come up. He calls a meeting where most leave. Someone asks if they are done.

Leo responds, “No, not yet” and writes “365″ on the board.

His message: they have 365 days left in office. 365 days to make an incredible impact on the world. 365 to truly lead.

But the days are spent maintaining and existing if even that. They have the opportunity to be extraordinary, and they are working through the distractions to merely be average.

And so I thought about my days at Leigh and all I had done, but also all that I hadn’t done…

And then I thought about the seniors sitting in the room. So much of senior year is spent joking about senioritis and how everyone can’t wait to “escape.” I made the jokes too.

But I’m wondering if we looked at a senior year a little bit differently. Most seniors have around 180 days left of school. 180 days left to make a positive impact on their campus. 180 days to leave a legacy. 180 days to be extraordinary. Far too often, we get distracted by the day to day, rather than thinking about the big picture and our opportunity to create.

What if the seniors truly made the freshmen class a priority? What if the seniors created a new positive tradition? What if the seniors worked to bridge gaps in campus unity?

Seniors, you have 180 days, what can you do?

For all other grades (even my middle school friends), you have your time as well–what are you going to do?

It’s noisy.

When I first started speaking, I used to sit in this noisy environment. I used to get drained by it. The chaos. The rush. It fatigued me.

Then I bought some BOSE Noise Cancelling headphones. I take this crazy atmosphere, and I slow things down. Today, I’m listening to This Will Destroy You, an ambient rock group, allowing me a chance reflect and write this blog, inspired by the lyric free melodies. Other times, I’ll take a podcast like This American Life or RadioLab, or a story from The Moth, allowing me a chance to simply think about the world we live in.

The headphones allow me a chance to step back and slow down. I’m still in my environment. I’m still going to get on my flight.

But now I’m thinking. I’m relaxed.

Do you wear headphones? Do you allow yourself opportunities to go big picture in chaotic environments? Do you allow yourself a chance to think and reflect?

Oh, and if you need music to reflect to… seriously, check out This Will Destroy You

I don’t understand a single word in the video, but you can tell there is great meaning in it. I had watched the video several times before I started hearing news stories on it. Turns out this was a special birthday surprise put on by the bus company for its employee. It was part of a larger campaign to find unique ways to recognize the service of their workers.

In a day and age where most companies tend to cut back or make rewards simply monetary, it’s nice to see creativity that recognizes that special part of the human spirit.

How can you do the same this year? What creative ways can you recognize those that help you? How can we make the people around us truly feel special?

These are a few of the questions I hope you wrestle with in the coming months. Please let me know the cool answers you discover!

While there have been some comments on whether or not it is a true Rube Goldberg machine, there is no doubt that the video is incredibly interesting. When I finally got around to watching the video on Saturday, it was close to over a million views on YouTube. It’s quickly appearing on facebook and Twitter feeds and becoming another viral hit. OK GO easily topped its previous treadmill filled video for “Here It Goes Again” which is currently at over 50 million views on the OK GO channel. In an age where MTV has abandoned the Music portion of its station, OK GO has remade the modern music video. It’s made sure it is the band that people talk about and the video that continues to be shared.

While at a conference last week, I had at least 10 different people come up to me and ask if I had scene it.

Can we achieve the same viral impact with our organizations? There are some bands that sit around and complain about the current state of MTV and the radio, and then there are others like OK GO who rethink their approach to it. Coldplay released a full album for free or voluntary donation. They remain a popular group. OK GO is exposing their music to a much broader audience than if they just waited for MTV to do it for them.

What can we do? I continue to hear about declining spirit and enthusiasm, poor attendance, and apathy in our organizations. Could a new approach revitalize perhaps remove those stale pieces?

One of my favorite quotes is by Rob Bell in his book, Velvet Elvis, when he asks, “Why blame the dark for being dark? It is far more helpful to ask why the light isn’t as bright as it can be.”

We can complain about our current situations and struggles, or we can take that frustration and get widely creative.

Yes, I’m frightened like many of you are about the current state of our economy and how it may impact our lives, but I’ve come to the realization that if my ship is going to sink, it’s going to sink in style. If my speaking schedule is reduced because schools have less funds, I’m going to utilize that time to post more free videos on YouTube so that my message can still get out there. I’m going to try to find more ways to share ideas with educators assist more student leaders. I’m not going to do everything perfectly. If you’ve ever listened to an interview with OK GO, they talk about the multiple takes for the treadmill video and even several setups for the Rube Goldberg machine video, but did you watch those finished products? Seriously–did you watch them? I’m so glad they got creative. I’m so glad they thought outside of the box.

I also think they’re right. “This Too Shall Pass.” The question is, when it does, will you still be serving the best way you can?