Use it

We're not fleas. We might let our anxieties and fears get the best of us; our survival instinct might play dirty tricks on us and make us resist change, but unlike fleas, humans have a brain that has evolved beautifully over the span of time. Unlike fleas, humans have the mental capacity to break down boundaries and explore.

The reason though that many of us choose not to use it is that it's an easier option. After all, when we choose to conform, we're not isolating ourselves from the rest of the fray, we're becoming part of it. And that's when the instinct kicks in again: we feel safe.

In my ten plus years of teaching, I've always found comfort in being part of a system and simply fulfilling my role within it. I just carried on with my work and did it mindlessly. It wasn't until I started reading educational literature that the deep questions started to flow, and the more I questioned, the more I realized that that we perceived the educational system just like fleas perceived their space. We fabricated mental boundaries that were holding us back.

So I chose to take a leap and be part of a startup company, the Innovation Academy, and set out to explore the unfamiliar. At this point, you might expect me to say that everything came up roses, but it didn't. Innovation is a darn hard process. Yet it was only through those hardships that I was able to learn these invaluable life lessons.

Feedback 

Some weeks ago, Matthias, a student of mine, wrote about how we have to use the feedback others give us to improve rather than letting ourselves feel diminished by it. I couldn't agree more, but here's the caveat: one has to always sift through the feedback and get rid of the pushback that comes from the naysayers. The naysaying is a result of people feeling threatened by what they don't know. Having said that, Bill, Corey and I have been very lucky to be challenged by people who genuinely care about what we're doing. Those are usually the people whose comments might be discomforting and messy, but at the end of the day, there would not be an IA if it wasn't for the feedback that forces us to think and question.

Photograph: Richard Rutledge/Merce Cunnigham Trust 

Self-doubt 

Like falling, self doubt can be an asset; it all a matter of perception. When we tread an unfamiliar path, we're bound to be faced with self-doubt, because novelty leaves little room for certainty. But when we harness it, we'll discover that the very emotion that once terrified us can indeed give us momentum. Often times this year, I've come to the realization that the doubts I used to loath so much, were in fact a blessing in disguise; as I learned to coexist with and seek to understand those doubts, I was able to question more and iterate forward. I'll even go as far as saying that if you're not doubting yourself, you should start to worry.

Time

One of the biggest misconceptions is that change can be instant. Disclaimer: it's not. It might take ages before you can start seeing the fruits of your labour if you'll ever be lucky enough to see them in the first place. So it's not just about dealing with uncertainty, but most importantly, you have to be able to power through it all over a long period of time. When I started teaching the IA, I assumed it would all fall into place straight away, and I couldn't have been more wrong. The process is strenuous and intense.  Thankfully, on those murky days,  I can latch to purpose, my inner bearing. The bottom-line is that, even though the process is messy and daunting, I've never felt this alive before.

I'll end this post in the same way that I started it: we're not fleas. We might have our flaws, our fears and our insecurities, but at the end of the day, we have no excuse. A bird's purpose is to fly, man's to tinker.