Dare to be Different

The fence had been pulled open. Diggers stood silently on the corrugated soil. The stands at Gresty Road were empty, silent with not even a faint whisper of a cheer remaining. Sprinklers were showering the arid ground.  It’s not really how you expect to see the local football ground before the end of the season and it made me look at it differently. Instead of the tired turf showing all the signs of the usual wear and tear after months of pleasing cheering fans, this was a new start.  Seeds were being sown and later that day as I walked back past the ground for a second time, the furrows had been flattened.  I’m sure there will be much tender loving care from the groundsmen as they nurture the pitch back to a perfect green in readiness for a hopeful new start to another season.

What makes the difference? The tender loving care. A bit like learning, really. Seth Godin in his book, Linchpin, suggests that differences are made when people give of themselves, take risks and act as humans rather than cogs in a machine to personalise what they do for those around them. But how many times do people still keep doing the same old thing? Keep playing on the worn out turf with the bare, muddy patches when what really needs to be done for healthy growth is to plough everything up, sow, roll, water and be patient. Not change for the sake of change or something that is rushed into, but change that is carefully planned (don’t tear up the pitch in the middle of the season!). Creating the right conditions for that change to happen is key – timing, watering, fertilising, patience.  Stuart talked about professional networking and its role in professional development in his post …………….          Godin goes on to say that sharing without needing something back in return is a gift that allows us room to experiment and room to find fulfillment in what we do. If professional sharing is the seeds, what do we need to do to churn the soil so we can have new, healthy growth free of weeds and bare muddy patches?