Adversity Prompts Innovation

Early in the twentieth century, a boy whose family had immigrated from Sweden to Illinois sent twenty-five cents to a publisher for a book on photography. What he received instead was a book on ventriloquism.What did he do? He adapted and learned ventriloquism. The boy was Edgar Bergen, and for more than forty years he entertained audiences with the help of a wooden dummy named Charlie McCarthy.

The ability to innovate is at the heart of creativity, a vital component in success. University of Houston professor Jack Matson recognize that fact and developed a course that his student came to call "Failure 101". in it, Matson assigns students to build  mock-ups of products that no one would ever buy. His goal is to get students to equate failure with innovation instead of defeat. That way they will free themselves to try new things. "They learn to reload and get ready to shoot again," says Matson. If you want to succeed, you have to learn to make adjustments to the way you do things and try again.

What "problem" or "defeat" have you been dealt, and how can you turn it into an asset?

 - John C Maxwell

Kenali Diri Anda

Alkisah, di Jepang ada seorang samurai yang suka bertarung samurai. Samurai ini menantang seorang guru Zen untuk menjelaskan konsep surga dan neraka. Tetapui, pendeta itu menjawab dengan nada menghina,”Kau hanyalah orang bodoh, aku tidak mau menyia-nyiakan waktu untuk orang macam kamu!”

Merasa harga dirinya direndahkan, samurai itu naik darah. Sambil menghunus pedang ia berteriak,”Aku dapat membunuhmu karena kekurangajaranmu.”

“Nah,” jawab pendeta itu dengan tenang, “itulah neraka.”

Takjub melihat kebenaran yang ditunjukkan oleh sang guru akan amarah yang menguasai dirinya, samurai itu menjadi tenang, menyarungkan pedangnya, dan membungkuk sambil mengucapkan terimakasih kepada pendeta itu atas penjelasannya.

“Dan,” kata sang pendeta, “itulah surga.”

Kesadaran mendadak si samurai terhadap amarahnya sendiri menggambarkan perbedaan penting antara terperangkap dalam suatu gelombang perasaan dan sadar bahwa Anda dilanda oleh perasaan itu. Ajaran Socrates “Kenalilah dirimu” menunjukkan inti dari kecerdasan emosional (EQ): kesadaran akan perasaan dirri sendiri sewaktu perasaan itu timbul.