Learning from Children

Greetings.  If you've ever read my first book Lessons from the Sandbox, you know that I believe we can all learn a great deal from children about how to build more innovative, energized, and resilient companies and organizations.  Simply by rediscovering and using a set of amazing gifts–or innate abilities–that we all had as kids.  These include:

• The Gift of PLAY as the real "work" of childhood
• The Gift of ENTHUSIASM for anything worth doing
• The Gift of WONDER about everything around us
• The Gift of CURIOSITY about the biggest and smallest details 
• The Gift of ASKING a million QUESTIONS as a way to learn
• The Gift of TRYING NEW THINGS and taking chances
• The Gift of PUTTING THINGS TOGETHER that don't belong
• The Gift of URGENCY for things that really matter
• The Gift of PARTICIPATING and making a difference
• The Gift of LEADING and capturing everyone's attention

All essential skills for success in any company or organization.  But somewhere between the sandbox and the world of adult work, most of us lost the knack for engaging the world head-on and seeing it as a place filled with limitless sources of inspiration and possibilities.  The good news is that we can have these skills back to use in new and compelling ways.  In fact, they are the same essential skills that leading entrepreneurs rely on when launching and building any important new business.

If you haven't read Lessons, be one of the first ten people to send me a quick email on why it might be helpful to you and your organization…and I'd be delighted to send you a copy.

And, in the meantime, you might enjoy watching the latest 30-second commercial from the folks at E*Trade who are building their brand with the help of very young kids.  It's part of their clever ad campaign that attempts to provide insight on investing from the mouths of babes…

We win in business and in life by rediscovering the magic of childhood. Wondering, imagining, exploring, questioning, and seeing the world with new and enthusiastic eyes.  Maybe it's time for you and the geniuses you work with to relearn the real keys to business success.

Cheers!