In a recent Ted Talk, Kare Anderson, invites the audience to consider being an “Opportunity Maker.” What’s that? An Opportunity Maker she defines as “someone who actively seeks out people who are unlike them, builds relationships with them, and then works together to create something no one alone could have created.” She says “Opportunity Makers are not affronted by differences, they’re fascinated by them” and adds “this is a huge shift in mindset that the world is calling out for.”
There is a huge emphasis on “strengths” in the work place, and while Kare Anderson states that one trait of an Opportunity Maker is honing one’s strengths, I am struck by the emphasis here on “differences.” I ask myself, “What differences do I appreciate in others? Which do I judge and distance myself from? What opportunities have I missed because I have judged and distanced myself from rather than sought to find that which connects us?”
As you encounter people and ideas this week, look for the differences in what you hear and see. Be fascinated by them and seek to find opportunities for creating something neither you nor the other could have imagined possible.
