It’s true: FBLEMUR is NOT an acceptable word in the Scrabble dictionary. I know. I checked.
As I did with a number of other potential words. Like: Oahutua. Ibexslingo.
On the other hand, there are a number of words that turn out to be acceptable in the Scrabble dictionary that I would have bet good money were not words.
So, there you have it: The paradigms we’ve been using as the frameworks for how the world works are not necessarily sound. Big surprise – right?!!
I bet you’re wondering how I’ve come by this precious and shocking wisdom. Here’s the story.
Game Play and Competition
I have a 13-year-old son. We play games. While I know that a little healthy competition is normal and can be a good thing, I’m thoughtful about how it is modeled.
In fact, as a certified Strengths Coach, I know some people are literally hard-wired for competition; but there are healthy levels and unhealthy levels of how that shows up.
Back to the games… Games are obviously set up for competition. There are rules. There are players. There are expectations that someone wins, and someone loses.
But what if we could change the rules, the way we think about and play, and subsequently, change the outcomes? What if we could create space for creativity and collaboration, instead?
When my son was younger, he had the Cars (movie) version of Monopoly. Instead of hotels, we bought specific cars from the movie, and they were more or less expensive just like the houses and hotels in the traditional version. Of course, we often had our favorites; I loved Uncle Topolino!
As we made our way around the board, buying cars and building wealth – or losing it, as the case might have been – we also helped each other once in a while. He might forgive an expected payment when I landed on one of his parking spaces but was low on cash. Or we might trade cars, so one or both of us could have a complete set of preferred cars.
Collaborative Scrabble
It’s similar to how we play Scrabble now. We ask for and trade specific letters that we need to make a word. Sometimes, we slide our letter tray around so the other can see and we work together to come up with words and figure out where they might fit on the board.
The whole idea is how to make really good words. Certainly, we also want to get good points out of the words we make, but really, it’s more about making good words, using more letters, and having fun.
In fact, collaborative Scrabble is always marked by lots of laughter over the ridiculous words we come up with. Like FBLEMUR, or OAHUTUA. Or the time when we were discussing what to do with the Z… and I said, “you could make Zip, Zap, or Zebedee!”
Don’t ask me why – Zebedee?! – obviously, the letters weren’t actually available to make it, but it simply flowed out of my mouth in the moment. It was even funnier when one of the readings in church the next day was, in fact, about Zebedee! We’re still laughing about it weeks later.
So, what’s the point of all this, you might wonder? Why is she writing to me when I’m a leader, a business owner, someone trying to get something serious done???
Because it applies to you. Especially now.
The New is Emerging
The way we’ve been working and living is no longer the norm, nor will it be the norm when we emerge from the current COVID-19 situation. Something new is being birthed and we have choices to make about how we will either flow with it or resist it as it unfolds.
This is a time for creativity, for innovation, for examining and busting old paradigms, for creating new ones. It’s a time to come together and really connect with the people around us. To explore and being to life the collective genius we embody.
It’s time to assess and inventory our real resources – both tangible and intellectual – and design new ways of thinking, creating, collaborating, working, and living.
It’s a time for new leadership to emerge; and perhaps, a time for ineffective leadership to fade away.
It’s dressed in frightening clothing, for sure… but don’t mistake the opportunity facing each of us. It’s a new time. What will you do with it?
