PreRamble: Seth Godin’s blog is always interesting, often inspiring. In a recent post, he floated the idea that, in designing a new product or program, organizations typically engage the usual suite of expertise … legal, finance, tech/spec, marketing, … the typical, bottom line, no frills business requirements. The thing that is missing, says Godin, is the person in charge of magic.
“Who is obsessed with creating delight, with building in remarkability, with pushing the envelope (every envelope–money, tech, policy) to get to the point where you’ve created something that people will be proud of, that will change things for the better, that will make a dent in the universe?”
There’s a reason why some of the greatest thinkers and doers of our time have engaged in a multi-disciplinary practice that includes science, physics, mathematics and the arts. They recognize that the really “good stuff” happens along the edges of the proscribed and obvious in fleeting pockets of perseverance and conjecture.
Derided as unpredictable, unmeasurable and unnecessary, magic is routinely sacked in the cross-fire of day-to-day demands on our time and resources. Laments Godin,
“In our quest to get it done, to survive the project, to avoid blame, to figure out a solution, it’s magic that gets thrown under the bus every time.”
I have to rally with Seth on this — to side-step, or squelch altogether the element of magic in the development of our collective existence is missed opportunity on an epic scale. Magic is the X-factor in truly amazing innovation. It is is the link between our factual world and the soul of our humanity. It triggers connections in our hearts and minds that open us up to the vast spaces of utility and wonder that are waiting literally everywhere for discovery.
Sources of magic:
- literature
- music
- movement
- art
- design
- color
- form
- trees
- topography
- wind
- cloud formations
- in the demeanor of animals
- sunlight
- shadows
- humor
- athleticism
- other … a billion other
The Take-Away: Everyone has access to magic. Magic is awareness. Magic is energy. Magic is synergy. And, a little goes a long way. Take it upon yourself to find your magic … take a few clippings and replant them in and around the things you are doing in the world — business or otherwise. It’s up to each one of us to be an agent for magic — to “push the envelope, strive for remarkability, and create delight.” As Seth notes,
“It won’t happen on its own. It never does.”