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PeterpandemoniumAs a connoisseur of language, and especially of wordplay, I knew I had to use that one as my title as soon as I read it in a recent article in the New York Times
about an emerging trend: grownups whose taste in entertainment and products runs to what they consumed in their childhood. Market researchers say that more adults 18 to 49 watch the Cartoon Network than watch CNN, and the average age of video game players is now 29, up from 18 in 1990. What’s going on here? Variously called “rejuveniles” and “kidults”, there are enough of these retro-inclined adults to attract the attention of marketers and
product developers. There’s a lot of talk about “awakening the kid in us,” but some social scientists remark on a disturbing aspect of the focus on youthful pastimes. “Adulthood has lost its appeal,” says one sociologist quoted in the Times piece. Maybe the sobering new economic realities of the post dot-com era have led inevitably to this outlook, maybe it’s the pervasive media culture of youth, but whatever is behind the trend, it has got
me thinking about the distinction between child’s play and grownup playfulness. Child’s play is serious business to a child. As children, we played to practice the skills and capacities we would someday need to function in the adult world. Returning to those games as adults, we are playing with no real purpose, playing to escape a perceived reality we don’t want to be part of. That may sell a lot of Hummers and Harry Potter books (uh-oh, here come
the emails!), but does it make “real life” any more bearable? As an executive coach and a coach of coaches-in-training, I often encounter people who are suffocating in their own feelings of significance – the sense of importance (and yes, self-importance) that keeps them from seeing that everything in life is just not that serious. In fact, relatively few things are. Significance is also one of the big enemies of learning, because if we and our lives are so
important, then we must already know everything there is to know, right? Once the openness to learning shuts down, the process of decay sets in – this is as true of organizations as it is of their leaders. So what’s the antidote to significance? A sense of playfulness, of lightness, and of lightheartedness. This is not so much an activity or something you buy, as it is a shift in your perspective. If you
think of your life as a comedy rather than an epic or even a tragedy, you’ll get the idea. I’m convinced this is what’s behind the enduring appeal of Jerry Seinfeld and other great comedians – they show us the lightness of everyday life, even in the face of some pretty weighty goings-on. This is the kind of playfulness that keeps us balanced in the face of all those chores and duties that necessarily accompany
adulthood. It’s lightness that makes being in the grownup world a delight and not a burden. This is the lightness of heart and spirit that is available to all of us, no purchase required. All that’s needed is to see your world with a new pair of eyes. This is playing with a new purpose, and it is a wonderful way to renew your own sense of purpose in your work and your life. Try these simple exercises to get started: -
Get down on the floor with your kid or your dog or your cat. What in the world are all those giants doing up there?
- Turn up the music and dance around the house for a half hour or so. What in the world were you so worried about?
- Watch “Meet the Press” or “Crossfire” without the sound (no closed captions allowed.) What in the world are they talking about?
Carry with you back to the “real world” just a small piece of what you felt as you were doing these things, and see what a difference practicing playfulness can make. Plus – it’s contagious! 
Nearly seven out of ten employees make copies of non-work items in the company copy room, a new survey says. Humor,
personal-finance materials, menus/recipes, children's school items and sports pools are some of the most common documents copied. Over 30 percent of small business owners don't take a vacation every year, according to one recent survey. (What about you?) Executives rely on third-party endorsements when deciding on which applicants to hire, according to staffing experts. Senior managers typically speak with at least three references before
considering someone for a position. 
Ideavirus An idea that spreads rapidly. "Sneezers" are the people who launch and spread an ideavirus, according to the master marketer Seth Godin, in his new book Purple Cow. 
 Ten Poems to Change Your Life, by Roger Housden. What I like about it: This slim but compelling volume contains some of my all-time favorites as well as several new delights. The author, who has made it his life’s work to bring the love of poetry to the world, uses these well-chosen poems as a springboard for powerful questions about life and its meaning.
Beth Bloomfield
Executive Coach, Strategy Consultant
Principal, Bloomfield Associates
 History of the World, by J.M. Roberts. What I like about it: its condensed, yet refined view of history.
This 1000+ page book takes you from Neolithic man and the early beginnings of civilization to the modern age of computer technology and beyond in the most brilliant, challenging and entertaining fashion.I am learning a great deal of information that I had forgotten and it is creating a wealth of context for me as to who and why we are what we are. It is also pointing out why great leaders came to be, why certain civilizations came and went and why the current
configurations of countries, races and religions are what they are. Brilliant!
Alexander Caillet
Management Consultant and Executive Coach
Gunn Partners Consulting Share what you’re into — books, articles, movies, music, websites — with others on the list! Send us the title and author or other pertinent information, along with a sentence or two on what you like about it, and if we use it in A Different Optic we’ll not only quote you, we’ll provide a link to you or your website. |
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"It is only when we realize that life is taking us nowhere that it begins to have meaning."
- P. D. Ouspensky | |
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Beth Bloomfield will appear on a panel of coaches and clients at Howard Community College on Wednesday, October 8, from 6:30 to 8:30 at the college’s campus in Columbia, Maryland. The event will kick off a new program in the college’s Business Department aimed at introducing students, faculty, and the general public to the ways in which professional
coaching can improve performance in the workplace as well as in other aspects of life. For details, contact Betty Noble, adjunct faculty member at HCC, at (301) 829-6626. Celebrate the first anniversary of A Different Optic, and help us make it even better by clicking here and completing a five-minute
online survey. We want to know what you want to know about! To tempt you further, all entrants in the survey will be eligible for a drawing for a $10 Starbuck’s gift card! | | |
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