Comments on: Neoteny at Work

By: Jim Hancock

Jim Hancock — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 14:16:52 +0000

Claire, that’s fantastic! I love that!

By: Kathleen

Kathleen — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 13:02:42 +0000

This was rich, fabulous mix of thinking. Bennis is a favorite writer, his books all soul stirring.

"That seems to me like sound advice to keep from being kidnapped by the same-old-same-old." loved this reminder.

Neoteny is a gift.

By: Tweets that mention Neoteny at Work: Reimagining Your Business with a Child’s-Eye View » Aging, Creativity, Innovation, Worldview » InsideWork -- Topsy.com

Wed, 20 Jan 2010 09:57:37 +0000

[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by annkroeker, Claire. Claire said: RT @annkroeker: Love this article "Neoteny at Work" about maintaining childlike "uncontaminated wonder" into adulthood. http://bit.ly/4uszWa [...]

By: Claire

Claire — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 09:56:11 +0000

This is brilliant!

I have had a question now for a while that no one has been able to answer for me in a satisfying manner. Until yesterday morning I wanted to know what data was, at its most primal level. So I invited a computer scientist to coffee and for two hours I got my explanantion. I felt silly and alive and just like a big kid, getting all excited because I understood and had the freedom to ask as many questions as my heart desired.

Ann thank you for sharing this!

To be more wonder centered in Him…

Here’s to a creative day!

By: KenV

KenV — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 22:14:59 +0000

Thanks Jim! I really liked your article. Makes me think about what kind of preconceptions I have and how they affect my approach to problems. How they ‘contaminate the wonder’, so to speak. It’s been a recent prayer of mine to be a Christ-influenced leader at work. I’m a manager, so the opportunities to lead are part of my job description, but getting that Christ-influenced goal is pretty much forcing me to start all over. Or forcing me to let God work as He will…not my will.

Thanks again!

By: Jim Hancock

Jim Hancock — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 20:00:25 +0000

Glynn, Anne, Brad—I’m happy the Neoteny post strikes a chord with you. I find myself recalling Chesterton’s claim (in Orthodoxy, p 49) that, “when we are very young children we do not need fairy tales: we only need tales. Mere life is interesting enough.” That’s the spirit in which I want to frame and pursue work and life every day—as if for the first time.

By: Glynn

Glynn — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 16:34:20 +0000

Back in the dark ages (1984), I watched as the IT guy installed our first desktop computers at work (an IBM). The rest of my department was horrified or at least suspicious; I was thrilled. I sat through the installation and set-up; I asked question after question which the poor guy dutifully answered. And then he showed me how to do things that weren’t in the training manual — like how to play music. I was a total kid. Yep, it was neotony, but it was neotony with a purpose — by having a simple conversation with the installer, I could immediately see possibilities, applications and uses that neither he nor IT could see.

Great post, Jim.