Teaching Tip #24

Teacherscribe’s Teaching Tip #24

Be a laser, not a light house.

I devour podcasts for personal growth and as professional development.  One of my must-listen-to podcasts is entreleadership.  In April they featured an interview with Todd Henry, author of the Accidental Creative podcast and blog.

In the interview, Henry says something brilliant when it comes to being creative, which I think is essential to our profession.  Henry says that you need to be a laser not a lighthouse.

What?

To give this tip a little bit of context, in the interview Henry talks about the enemies of creativity, one of which is your mindset.  Then he said, “be a laser not a lighthouse.”

A lighthouse serves two different purposes – it guides ships and it warns of dangerous terrain.   When you think about it like that, it basically just warns ships to steer clear of the area.

Do you know anyone or work with anyone who does just that?  They don’t really offer any key insight or inspiration.  Instead, they just warn you not to try something or – worse still – they tell you the dozen reasons whatever you are thinking of trying won’t work.

Don’t be a lighthouse.  Please.

Now, don’t get me wrong.  Troubleshooting and playing devil’s advocate are important, but at the right time.  Usually, towards the last part of a process.  Not at the beginning because they kill projects in their infancy.

So, be a laser instead.