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Are “red marks” teaching you to aim low?
July 21st, 2010 by Mike Knutson
Lately, I’ve been writing about a topic – talent attraction — that I feel I don’t know enough about. It’s a topic that I have both a passion for and a lot of ideas about. Unfortunately, I still feel inadequate at sharing these ideas because I know that a lot of people are critical of the concept, especially as it applies to small, rural communities.
In short, I’m afraid of being told, “How dare you, this is terrible.”
Those words – ”How dare you, this is terrible” — by Seth Godin stuck with me as I watched a short video titled “Seth Godin on how schools teach kids to aim low.” The video highlights Godin’s thoughts about how we train the creativity out of young people, but it speaks to individuals of all ages.
(Source: PSCSvideos, “Seth Godin on how schools teach kids to aim low,” YouTube, May 5, 2010)
Watching the video reminded me that I need to have the courage to overcome the uncertainty created by the “red marks” of people who don’t believe in the future of rural communities. It reminded me that it’s ok to stretch the boundaries of my writing, sharing ideas that may be a bit unconventional . In fact, it’s reminded me that I have to take on this task if I hope to be a resource in the effort to build a deeper conversation about the future of rural communities.
My guess is that I’m not alone in needing this reminder.
In many ways, rural community leaders everywhere have been taught by decades of decline to accept criticism as “truth” and as Godin suggests, to “aim low.”
Godin’s advice doesn’t give us permission to become modern-day Don Quixote’s; we still need to listen to and learn from the “red marks” of our critics. But in the process, we can’t let those comments bury the creativity and innovation that can emerge from a willingness to tackle the issues.
Tags: education, people attraction, seth godin
Posted in Community Development, Economic Development, Rural | Comments (
2 )
July 21st, 2010 at 7:48 pm
It helps for me to constantly refer to Godin’s, Tribes. I have to remind myself that I’m a heretic and its definitely not the easiest job. Shaking up the status quo makes people very uneasy. Your doing great work and I for one appreciate it.
July 22nd, 2010 at 5:29 am
Darrin, Thanks for the encouragement. But more importantly, thanks for sharing your throughts in previous posts about talent attraction. We need to hear from more people doing work out in the field like you.