Hidden Talents
On most days we roll into the office and begin a familiar routine. Maybe we say, “good morning” to those who work near to us, drop the laptop off in our office and grab the coffee cup. We swing by the kitchen and knock out a k-cup from the brewer -- so begins another day. But what if we came to the office with some expectations? You know, to do something out of the ordinary, to see what might be possible. Maybe you think that's idealistic. You do everyday things, and have given up on doing something special. Don’t. There are hidden talents in everyday things. It just takes some disruption – this first in the way we view others and the so-called ordinary things.
Take for example a piece of paper from the copier or printer. Does it cares whether we print the latest sales numbers, list of customers or copy some presentation? Whatever we do with it is transformative. But transformation takes someone who is willing to be disruptive. So, why not let that be us? Sure we can print that report, but we could use that paper to make an airplane. Or how about sketching out an idea for a project you'd like to do? Each of these is an opportunity to demonstrate our own and the paper's hidden talents. One might be more relevant to our work than another, but still it's there. What about our teammates? What talents are hiding there? Maybe we look at the IT guy as a nerd, but he's using creative problem solving to stretch the IT budget or get that report to print right for us. What about the person who does payroll? Yeah, she's organized and does her work on time, but did you know she paints? She might have some thoughts on that website we’re designing for young women and why or why not women in her demographic will find it of interest. It's easy to call paper, copier paper, instead of a letting it be a platform for your imagination. It's easy to see the guy or girl in the other department as a doer of this or that but not a creator of anything. And that person you see in the mirror, she doesn't do everyday things. She finds the hidden talents in everyday things and somehow gets the frothiest coffees out of the Keurig.