the back story

I like back stories – the explanation as to how we ended up where we are.  My 20 year old nephew was shocked when I made up back stories for people when we were sitting in a cafe watching the world. I digress.

Today’s back story fills in why I have those two quotes at the top of the left column.  They sum up for me some important ideas about sharing what we know and realising that what we know will be of interest to others – not all the people all of the time, but someone, sometimes.

In Gladwell’s book called The Tipping Point he investigates what triggers a new fashion or a change in behaviour.  He looks at the things that contribute to something tipping from a niche to widespread.  He suggests that there are 3 types of people who play an important role: connectors, mavens and salespeople.  Connectors know lots of people from different backgrounds and groups, salesmen persuade people to try things.  And mavens are information people, they seek information, they note it and they share it.  Reading about mavens was great – I thought ‘hey that’s what I am’.

Photo interlude – unrelated, just a photo I like.

Most people have seen improvisation in the TV show ‘Whose Line is it Anyway’ but there is much more to it than those comedy games.  The basic rules for behaving in an improv performance also make good rules for life and that is what the book Improv Wisdom discusses.  Some examples are: turn up and join in with what is happening; support others on the team, you don’t have to be in the limelight.  And the one that resonates for me at the moment is to share what you know because something that is easy or obvious to you may be a revelation to others.

I would recommend both books to people who like ideas. The two books are very different but both make you think about sharing.