You’ve heard the pitch a hundred times. A certain product delivers a desired effect -- though your results may vary -- or you’re fed a line cloaked in truth that makes the product, service or observation appear reliable.
Only after you try/engage/challenge said product, service or observation do you discover that there are more con men per square foot in the world than there are honest people. It’s disappointing and breeds the kind of society in which we live: cynical, uncertain and fearful.
That’s why it was a treat to participate in Innovation 101 last week. It was a daylong event at Festival Theatre in Wolfville hosted by the Kings Innovation Council. In what certainly must’ve been a coup, organizers managed to book Dr. Lance Secretan
www.secretan.com">www.secretan.com">www.secretan.com) in an effort to provoke innovative ideas and challenge old ways.
The Council’s goal is to create an unrivalled spirit of entrepreneurship in Kings County that will make it a business Mecca now and in the future. Suffice to say, the groundwork has been laid.
It was worth it to get a guy like Secretan to lead the charge. He’s recognized in the field and has credential up the ying-yang. Too often you get a pretender – someone who talks the talk, but can’t walk the walk. I had no sense of that in Secretan.
He’s committed to a powerful personal destiny and has found success beyond his business accomplishments that lends substantial weight to what he has to say.
As a result, I smiled when he touched on the importance of physical environment in the workplace as a factor in inspiration, leadership and creativity.
“Physical environment is a big part of this,� he said. “We put people in uninspiring places and ask them to be inspired.�
Our work world is controlled and centralized. We escape by seeking its opposite: fresh air; a walk in the woods; stroll on the beach; a hike to Cape Split. Our souls crave nature’s irregularity, Secretan says, because we’re required otherwise to live the bulk of our lives in what is essentially a box.
“There’s nothing in nature that is square or at right angles,� he said. It’s not in our DNA or cellular memory to flourish in such environs so we’ll always be unhappy and uninspired in square places.
“We have to bring something to the environment that enables inspiration,� he said. Don’t be afraid to shake it up: hang a drape, get some plants, minimize right angles and create energy flow.
Did that ever hit home. It wasn’t too long ago that our staff worked in what most people would have described as a hovel. The walls were dingy, natural light was virtually non-existent, the carpet was ancient, ceiling tiles were water-stained, cracked and crumbling. Don’t get me started on the furniture. You’d find better stuff in an Inquisition interrogation chamber.
But you know what? Our editorial, sales and production staff did some incredible stuff in that environment. We won dozens of ACNA Better Newspapers competition awards and even copped number one in our circulation class nationally a couple of years ago.
We overcame a stultifying physical environment and did some damn good work through sheer determination. Maybe that’s why we were so excited to move into new digs. We have plants, clean carpets, new furniture, a lunchroom, new boardroom, filing systems; the whole nine yards.
And what we’ve produced since has been amazing. We’ve never been as busy, which is a good thing, of course, and our copy reflects that commitment to our readers. Our new website, NovaNewsNow.com, is a huge hit and we’re the only weekly newspaper chain around that has a daily website.
We’re having fun again working ourselves into a lather, but I won’t go so far as to say our new office is the primary reason. Our people are first-rate, folks; as good as it gets, and that counts for a lot.
However, I will say this about the new space; it couldn’t hurt. Especially when I remember from whence we came and know now how important work environment is to productivity, creativity and inspiration.
