Broken Bones

My son just had a cast put on his arm. The poor little guy busted his arm jumping on the bed. He now only has to break his arm 5 more times, break both legs, and get a whole bunch of stitches to catch his dad.

My son cried for a few minutes when his arm snapped but the cast serves a badge of courage. At 5 years old he already lives life with reckless abandon in the pursuit of fun! I am wondering if a few more broken bones might caution my son to slow down or if the need for more mementos of a life worth living will keep him moving forward....as they did his dad!

I recently heard the story of the Broad Street Bullies. The Philadelphia Flyers of the 1970's. They were the toughest guys in the league...they also won back to back Stanley cups. People don't like that. The hockey purists were of the impression that the Broad Street Bullies had tainted the game with their rough style of play and neglect of the rule book. This is a 'purist' way of blaming losses on something other than the scoreboard.

When the Zephyr Skateboarding team showed up at a skateboarding contest in Southern California right around this time they provoked a similar reaction that the Broad Street Bullies did. The kids who where technically perfect on their boards were beaten by the innovative stylings of Jay Adams and the Zephyr team. Like the fans of the NHL's original six, they did not want a new style to trump tradition. The thing about tradition is that it doesn't evolve....How can anyone defend stagnation? How could anyone miscondone progress?

Like the Broad Street Bullies, the Zepher Team won multiple trophies. Not necessarily because they broke the rules but because they had the willingness to push past convention.

I can remember planning for a meeting by proposing to try something completely different, off the wall even. We went in dressed differently than our competition, we conducted the presentation with a special energy, and we presented our solution from a non-traditional point of view. We won the deal because we were not boring or predictable and we knew our customer didn't want to do the 'safe' thing.

Why not jump higher on the bed? Why not use physical toughness to open up your offense? Why not try tricks that have not been attempted? Why not approach a presentation with the intent of differentiating yourself (instead of being like everyone else)?

The worst that can happen is a broken bone. The cast comes off in 3 weeks and your back to jumping on the bed.

Don't Forget to Remember!

Dave