FLYING CLOSER TO THE SUN – Seth Godin’s Summer Intensive
Free ebook by the Seth Godin Summer Impresarios. Click image to get your free pdf.
My three days with best selling author and entrepreneur, Seth Godin, and his hand-picked crew of potential impresarios.
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Life coaching comes in many different forms. How is that possible since it’s the same goal of coaching someone’s life? Easy. We all see life from our personal experience, our honed perspective. Someone can be a life coach with the lens of organization, another with creativity in mind. July 30, 2012, I walked in to a life coaching session seen through the eyes of marketing, humor and high-stakes. I was privileged to work with Seth Godin.
He doesn’t market himself as a life coach. He might even laugh that I would call it such. But when your work is your life… and Seth leans across the table with all the penetrating questions of:
“Do I care?” “Do I believe?” “Are you the person to do this?” “What do you want from me?”
…expecting nothing less than your most passionate and driven response… then yes, he’s a life coach. And a mind-blowing one at that.
This three-day intensive was a study of many things:
- How much damage has industrialized education caused?
- How quickly can that damage be reversed?
- What’s holding us back from “shipping it”, from getting our work in to the world?
- What projects are we passionate about and capable of implementing… TODAY?
- How do you articulate your project? Find and unify the needed elements? TODAY.
- Can you ask for what you truly need?
Over the next few days, I’d like to share what I took away from working with Seth, his brilliant assistant, Michelle Welsch, and the diverse students pulled together for this unique experience.
Seth Godin’s Education Manifesto. Click image for free ebook pdf
1) How much damage has industrialized education done?
Required reading for the participants, and I believe for anyone affected by the current education system (a.k.a. everyone), was Seth’s manifesto – Stop Stealing Dreams. He challenges many aspects of schooling that are taken for granted. He actively offers and asks for answers on how to transform (not reform) education as we know it.
Luckily, on my path through arts education and progressive education, I have already begun to see many of these signs. In Creatively Independent‘s work, Chris and I have experienced first hand the assumptions in the system that absolutely don’t work with today’s needs and potential. It has pulled me through my current work and my desire to help revolutionize education before entering my little boy into the same flawed system.
Mind you, I’ve got my major “good student” hangs up too! And I was amazed at how deep this industrialized form was embedded in my fellow participants, a stunning group of international undergrads and graduate students ranging from 19 years-old to upper 30s. This was going to be an interesting three days.
The first day, Seth asked us not to bring notebooks or computers to the table. No note taking. You could almost hear everyone’s mind gears slowing down for a minute, a monkey wrench was definitely thrown in – one of many over the next three days.
The day was filled with insight, provocations and a ton of humor (laughter helps when you start to realize one pill makes you larger and one pill makes you small. Go ask Alice…).
That night I was talking with a friend from home, doing my best to both recap the day and breathe. I realized I was quoting Seth on one topic and right in the middle of my sentence I stopped. “No, he didn’t say it exactly like that. That’s how I interpreted it.” And that’s when the penny dropped.
If I had been a “good student” diligently taking notes all day, any information and insight would have still been directly connected to Seth’s wisdom. It would be disconnected from me, just enough for me to not have to own it. And this information needed to be owned.
He was educating us – from the latin root of the word ‘educe’ meaning to draw out that which is latent in us. And he was removing his own ego by actively asking us not to quote him.
So, in a series of posts, I want to spread my interpretation of the three-days with Seth Godin. What’s fab is many of the impresarios that participated have started to do the same. And it’s wonderful and wild where the similarities and differences might pop up. You can find the other impresario’s insight: Keila Harris, Paul Jun and Sam King.
SELF-OBSERVATIONS:
1. Where was the moment you took ownership of your own education?
2. How do you like to receive and then retain information? Chats? Books? Videos? Experiential?
Comments: 13
Thanks Jess. It was so great to have you there!
Thank you, Seth, for the insight, the time and the opportunity to interact with such stunning people!
So Glad you are capturing this to share with us all. Love you Honey!
I love Seth’s perspectives, and so thrilled to be two steps removed from one of the participants in this event I didn’t know was happening. (Thanks for bragging Jo!) Your insight is fantastic, I’m going to enjoy reading your posts. Of course, now I have to go back and re-read all Seth’s books, and retake my notes from MY perspective, instead of just rewriting his book in my notes…
@Jo, Thanks Mom! Can’t beat top-notch family support. 😉
@Lani, Thanks for kind words. Yes, I’d be excited to hear your impressions of Seth’s work. It makes a big difference, I think, to process the information – fit it to you and you to it – and then speak it to others. THat’s why I love teaching!
Thanks Jess for your wonderful reflection. I have been an avid fan of Seths for years. I was gobsmacked when he published this book on schools and learning and took a very innovative look at a school system which is broken.
I work with youth who don’t fit the school system. Young people who the ‘system’spat out or they showed courage to drop out and start doing what they want to do. My Big Picture program (www.bigpicture.org.au) is a personalised model which encourages students to find their interests and follow passions and fosters their learning with real work and mentors in the real world. I really look forward to your future posts.
Wonderful to meet you, Geoff! Thank you for your passion with Big Picture. I can’t wait to check it out. My company works with all ages, and are lucky to work with at-risk teens often. Helping them find their connections with others and themselves; helping them step into their authentic selves.
Sounds like I’m finding a like-minded educator! Very exciting.
I have read this about five times now – each time it just gets better! I like so much of what is going on with this education revolution and am so pleased to see so many people making a ruckus. Very exciting.
Thanks, Sonya, for saying hi and taking the time! I’m excited to read your blog, as well. The revolution is here. Thank goodness for the global internet tribe of rebels! Very happy to meet you and learn more about your work.
[…] could read a few other student’s perspectives here: How a Stranger Changed My Life, Creatively Independent, and Sam […]
As a compulsive note-taker I find this fascinating. I have often wondered about my need to take notes…about my need to “get it right.” Or is it simply a lack of self-trust?
I’ve recently been learning some new material in order to pursue a new business and found myself mentally hyperventilating, trying to capture everything I was hearing in my notebooks. I have decided that I am going to just listen to the material and let it wash over me…see how much of it gets into my brain without having to take notes.
THANK YOU!
SO excited to read about your work, Jess! I know your mother and so glad I found her link to you here. We share some similar beliefs and appear to be pointing in a similar direction — I love that you were able to be with Seth and especially love how gracious you are with sharing your experience!
Karen, I feel you! It was a shocker to not bring out my notebook too. Glad you’re taking the challenge of soaking the information in. I have a feeling the allowing action will alter how you respond to the information too. That you asked for it and are worthy of it… as opposed to the action of running to catch up with the wisdom of the class/teacher/moment. Good luck. Keep me posted!
Trista, happy to meet you. Thank you for taking the time to read and join the conversation. I look forward to learning more about your work and passions. Happy to share the experience of working with Seth. More posts coming soon. I’m hoping this will help open more active dialogs on progressive education, intention and finding our authentic selves.
Welcome Trista and Karen!
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