I am currently enrolled in Seth Godin‘s Bootstrapper’s Workshop. It’s unlike any other class I have ever taken, but it’s classic Seth Godin. If you have ever read any of Seth’s books or heard him speak, you know he hates that our education system is based on learning by reading and memorizing—he wants us to genuinely and wholeheartedly use our brain and THINK.

The workshop, which I started back in April, is based on 10 lesson—none of which he gives the answer to, we have to think. We have to think because it’s specific to us; giving us an answer would help but it would rob us of the actual deep thinking necessary to get the richest answer. This workshop has challenged me and everyone else in it (we chat a lot). The fact that the answers aren’t readily available is a good thing, maybe even a great thing. This intense thinking makes my head hurt, but the “AHA” moments are incredible.

We live most of our life on autopilot. As a leader, we believe we need to have and provide all the answers to our teams and to our families. But what if we took a page from Seth’s book and just offered an incredible question? What if we empowered our teams and our children to think? I’ll be forthright when I say, it will take longer this way, but based on my experience, it is so worth it. Give it a go! See what they come up with. You might be surprised!

With Gratitude,
Beth