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the power of courage

In corporate culture especially, we try so hard to fit everything into a quantifiable process–an admirable goal in many ways, as it helps us make tasks repeatable and measurable–but not everything fits into a formal process. Have the courage to pursue your crazy ideas!

Early this morning, Chris Brogan published a post called “Appreciate the Wild Minds“. Near the end, he wraps up his thoughts with

Their ideas don’t fit into spreadsheets and business plans quite often, but the extrapolations are things of beauty and wildness, all at once. It’s like watching nature try to express itself in a whole new way, watching how their thoughts manifest. Sometimes nature is ugly. Sometimes it’s not efficient.

In corporate culture especially, we try so hard to fit everything into a quantifiable process–an admirable goal in many ways, as it helps us make tasks repeatable and measurable–but not everything fits into a formal process.

How do you plot creativity on a spreadsheet? How do you predict that insane thought that comes to you at 3:00 in the morning, the one that could change the world? Or the one that comes to you in the, er, “smallroom” (which is where I have arrived at some of my best solutions–I’m sure there’s a study somewhere on why that is)?

This is where we need courage, both individually and collectively. The things that worked for us in decades past, the corporate strategies (many of which have contributed to bringing the economy to its knees) and formal processes that help us standardize business and behavior, are starting to collapse under their own weight. Human creativity does not fit into a “standard”; courage is not something you can quantify. I hear and read over and over again that it’s the entrepreneurs, Chris’ “wild minds”, that will save us.

Have courage. Speak your ideas bravely; pursue your unpredictable creativity. You may have the Next Big Thing waiting for you in the smallroom.

By Rebekkah Hilgraves

*RadHaus Solutions*: ActiveCampaign Certified Consultant. Marketo Certified Expert. Solutions Architect. Marketing automation implementation, integration, best practices, governance. Marketing automation, with a heavy dose of nerd. http://radhaus.solutions

*RadHaus Studio*: Broadcast and recording engineer, media production manager, cable monkey, marketing dork, project manager, chief cook and bottle-washer. http://radhaus.studio

A seasoned trainer, marketer, web producer and front-end developer, solutions architect, writer, consultant, broadcaster, recording engineer, and public speaker, I've worked in eLearning, Instructional Design, CMS, Marketing Automation and CRM (especially Marketo, ActiveCampaign, and SimplyCast), content delivery and management, taxonomy, SEO, media production and technical support. I bring a unique blend of experience and expertise.

Through RadHaus (formerly SheTech and Company), and in partnership with ELK // Obscura Media, and Prove digital marketing agencies, I have supported enterprise clients in marketing automation implementation and operations, digital marketing and data strategies. I help design and operationalize custom integrated marketing programs for businesses, working with audience/user group segmentation, SEO, web analytics, design and UX best practices, multimedia, social media and other strategic web design and delivery mechanisms. I also do hands-on media production and arts marketing, allowing me to remain involved in the arts.

As part of Marketo's education team, I managed the production and publication of eLearning modules, and was a key member of the LMS implementation and certification development teams.

A consultant on the Web Operations team for OppenheimerFunds in New York, I offered technical, production, and strategy support on a major web site redesign project.

As Managing Editor for an online news magazine published by NetQoS, I supervised and managed the migration of the site from a legacy content management system to a .NET-based commercial system. I maintained the site and the content, updating the magazine with new content from industry analysts and technical experts on a weekly basis.

My earliest foray into both technology and training was as a software trainer for logistics company Cheetah Software Systems, helping create an implementation and training practice standard for the company, and building their user documentation.