ECCI, the European Convention on Creativity and Innovation is just over and I was fortunate enough to get really valuable feedback from the people attending the PtO workshop. It's nice to be able to share what it is you feel you need to share, but it's supercalifragilisticexpialidocious when people ask you meaningful questions, when people challenge your story because they want to understand it better, when opinions are the result of thought and not a substitute for it.
I would like to share a few with you because I think they are very relevant.

What is your measure of success? (Dominique)

Good question. When do you succeed, when do you fail?
Well, look back on all the great inventions ever made, or even better, inventors currently celebrated. We celebrate the people who came up with (r)evolutions in art, business, politics, science, literature, etc because the outcome of their work is considered a success and only then. And only when the outcome is a success, that's when we appreciate the work that preceded that success. That's when we marvel at their relentlessness, trials and tribulations that preceeded the breakthrough we get to enjoy in our own daily lives.

But what happens when the outcome isn't successful?

Simple, no one really gives a damn about all the work, hours, sleepless nights that went into it. In fact, we consider it a waste of means and time. We even mock the so-called failures.

Now there's something I would like to pinch: You do not succeed because the end result is a success, you succeed because you try. You succeed because you gave it your all. You succeed because you had the courage to invest love, vulnerability and belief in whatever it is you wanted to achieve.

You see, no one knows beforehand whether or not something will be (deemed) successful. No one! Not the inventor, not the critiques, not the investors, not the public, not you and certainly not me!

But if no one has the one formula for garantueed success, there is simply no other choice than to give your ideas an honest try and see what happens. Therefore we shouldn't be celebrating the outcome, we should be celebrating the effort and be grateful for the unexpected perk we call a success.

My PtO measure of success? You succeed because you try and are willing to learn from whatever comes along. By giving it your very best shot you learn something about your abilities, your talents and how hilariously wrong you are about the assumptions you have about your limitations. Regardless the outcome, you win!

There is one thing however, that troubles me. It’s almost constantly in the back of my mind.
Which brings me to Joost’s question:

How do you keep the balance between this being your ego-trip and something I genuinely can relate too? (Joost)

Again, great question. This is indeed something I struggle with. Here’s why:

Yes, Pinching the Ostrich as you read it here, is MY story. It’s the only angle I can be responsible for, it’s the only view I can share. I cannot and will not share my views on how, for instance, my wife sees this entire journey. There’s only one person that can do that and that’s her.

But with MY pictures all over the place, with me constantly talking about MY experiences and MY challenges, etc, etc, I do indeed worry about the balance between the story about my own journey and the actual goal of PtO: the fact that you can do this too. It’s right in front of you. It’s right there. No one’s holding you back to take that first step to discovering the creative being that you are, but you.
And by all means, don’t do what I do. Make it smaller, make it bigger, make it shorter, longer, but do make PtO yours. It’s your life, your angle, your ostriches to pinch. All I’m trying to do is share how I’m Pinching my Ostriches, hoping that my trials and tribulations are somehow relevant, regardless the outcome.

The worst thing that could happen to Pinching the Ostrich is that people would think and feel that this is something solely for someone crazy enough as me. When in fact I’m aiming for quite the opposite: Anyone can learn, overcome, connect, create and inspire far more than we believe or are lead to believe. All you have to so is pinch one assumptions about your self, just one, and take it from there.

In short: My face will be all over the place for the next years to come. Live with it. ;-) But if there’s anything that could make this experiment something YOU can relate to, something YOU can draw strength and inspiration from, please, pretty, pretty, pretty please, share it with the rest of us. Because I don’t have the answers, I’m only hoping to find the right questions.

Take care,
Karl

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