The new Potluck Economy. What are you bringing to the table?
The old-fashioned, Leave It To Beaver, church-basement concept of the Potluck Supper is back in style.
For those of you who missed this very 50′s ‘harvest gold, Kraft Recipe way of life: a Potluck supper is one in which everybody brings a ‘covered dish’ to the table. Usually this is a family favorite, a specialty of each particular cook. One woman may bring her Sunday best chicken casserole; another brings his homemade wheatberry muffins; yet another bakes up a sumptuous Red Devil’s food cake. And so on and so forth, until the table is rich with the imaginative recipes of each of the chefs.
A potluck gives everyone a chance to shine in their own special way. No one dish is the star; no one cook dons the apron. Which is why, even if you haven’t potlucked in eons, you ought to think about the enduring idea behind it.
In life, we all bring something to the table. Some of us are talented artists, others excel at sports, others are savvy in business. No one quality is necessarily greater than another– no one talent whups another. Sometimes we meet someone and say ‘Wow, look at the way she aced that serve. I can’t do that!’ Or ‘gee, he’s really great at closing a deal. Sure wish I was that good.’ We tunk ourselves because we feel we don’t stack up. Sometimes we let this stop us from trying, from going further, from expressing our own abilities — whatever they are, wherever they may be on the path to excellence.
That’s when we need to remember the concept of Potluck. Each of us, every single human being, brings something unique to the table. Each of us brings something worth sharing. Whether it’s boundless ideas and energy, an instinctive eye for art, the gift of loving support, creative business savvy, or a way with words that always touches the heart . . . all are making an important contribution. It takes everyone, every flavor, every taste and texture, every dish to make a Potluck.
Today, more and more people are RSVP-ing a resounding YES to the new Potluck Economy. We’re bartering, GlobalMojo-ing, Kickstarting, trading, gigster-ing, Freecycling, donating, giving of ourselves, and our stuff in a myriad of imaginative ways. New technology is letting us collaborate, communicate, co-work and co-create. We’re couch surfing and crowdsourcing. We’re innovating breakthrough ways of working, living and being. It’s definitely not business as usual. Thank God.
This then, is the new Potluck Economy. Welcome to the table. What will you bring?
Guru’s Note: This is an update from a Trend Report originally published in 2008. This trend has legs!
Why everyone should play bad tennis
Most of you, my awesome readers, are competitive, kick-ass perfectionists. You work your butts off to be at the top of your game and the top of your field. You read Outliers and so you know it does take 10,000 hours — and you willingly burn them up.
Which is exactly why you should play Bad Tennis or take up something like it. Try a sport, a passion, an artistic pursuit. Something that you are wholeheartedly bad at; that you will never excel in; where you will never be a rockstar. This choice-to-be-less-than-perfect will teach you acceptance. It will teach you about boundaries. It will also be your sanctuary from the stress of Life in the Perfection Lane.
Let me tell you how hard it was for me to learn to play Bad Tennis. I come from a tennis family filled with champs going back to my state and college champ father, who was nicknamed “Bounce.” Yeah, you got that. I guess it’s better than “Ace.” Our family scrapbooks are jammed with photos of kin victoriously leaping over the net. My brother and sister-in-law, my niece and nephew, are all tennis rockstars. Doug and Leslie are fresh off an amazing summer at Martha’s Vineyard’s glorious Boathouse, where they loved teaching some of our country’s best and the brightest. Last summer, Doug was Tennis Director at the Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, Rhode Island. Matt just won another tournament — both singles and doubles. DC attorney Mallori played for UVA in Charlottesville, and her awesome new sports-smart husband Tommy is getting a Masters in Health Management.
Get the picture?
Then there’s me. So what happened, you ask? Due to an accident and long stint in the hospital when I was a kidlet, it was clear early on that tennis was never going to be my strong suit. Instead, swimming became my passion — and thankfully, the sport gave me back my functionality. I was as at home in a tank suit as the rest of my family was in tennis whites.
Over the years, I made tentative stabs at playing good tennis. My generous brother sent me racquets. I fell in love with my best partner — the Little Prince Tennis Ball machine. But no matter how much I loved it, my attempts were for naught.
Until I realized one day how utterly fabulous I felt with every volley — even if these returns had no resemblance to what Matt Man can do. Finally, I accepted my Bad Tennis. I now embrace every moment when I can persuade someone to play with me. I know it’ll be the break I need; my escape from the relentless pursuit of excellence that dominates much of the rest of my life.
What’s your Bad Tennis? Bad Chef? Bad Painter? I think I know more than a few Bad Dancers. Leave a comment or write me at hello@guruofnew.com.
Innovation is the new black.
If you’re cool-hunting in the business category these days, the hottest, hippest word out there may be idea, followed by innovation. Google lists 45,500,000 global monthly searches for keyword “ideas” and 4,090,000 for “innovation.” Thanks to years of economic uncertainty and disruption, generating ideas is the new passion du jour. Armies of creatives hop from a plethora of pricey TEDs to trend treks to inspiration workshops. 60,996 Trend Hunters and 15,000 Springspotters rove the planet searching for nuggets. Books by innovation gurus whip us into a change-the-world whirlwind:
“EXPLOITING CHAOS is a rousing battle cry for the kind of creative, risky thinking that is most needed in times of change and disorder. Whether you’re a CEO trying to stay ahead of the curve, a daydreaming teenager, or a wannabe trailblazer, this bold guide is the shake-up you need to check your assumptions, get inspired, and turn business-as-usual totally upside down.”
- Daniel Pink, bestselling author of A Whole New Mind
Or they don’t:
“While 95% of the 300 Fortune 1000 executives surveyed recognize the criticality of innovation to future growth, more than half of those surveyed admit that their company has no system, tools or processes for fostering enterprise innovation and at least a third of those surveyed see the lack of such tools and processes as barriers to innovation at their company.”
Innovation is either going to save us or the (lack of it) will be the end of us. We are either woefully and humiliatingly behind. Or lightyears ahead.
Why am I ready to rant about the current focus on innovation and ideas? After all, as the uber-entrepreneurial Guru of New, with decades devoted to idea generation, innovation and new products, I should hardly be kvetching when trendcasting turns front and center. But here’s why: now that there are legions of processes for generating idea-gasms, shouldn’t there also be processes for ruthlessly killing the bad ones? With this explosion of inspiration, who decides what ideas are good, and which ones are bad? Which ones are brilliant — but perhaps not right for your brand or business? Which ones sound genius but will ultimately chew up your company’s money and resources? How you do decide which ones are Newtons, and which ones are iPods?
I’d love to hear how your business is solving this dilemma — other than counting the days till Walter Isaacson’s “Steve Jobs” is released, now estimated to be November 21.
