Two weeks ago, my wife and I saw Kooza, a Cirque du Soleil show in Toronto.
I’m a fan of Cirque because they capture human imagination like no other. They create immersive experiences that lead to wonder, awe and inspiration. And they inspire possibility.
I, along with the entire audience, watched in wide-eyed wonder… seeing performers do things that didn’t seem possible. And just when you were already full of wonder and awe, they would level up the performance to elicit more… something even more breathtaking!
Have people perform on high tightropes walking, jumping and flipping…? Nah, too easy. Why not have them ride bicycles on the tightropes too? Still easy. How about doing that while also holding really long poles…. not hard enough. Why not also have them also balance someone on a pole between the bikers, who’s standing on a chair too…? That’s Cirque du Soleil for you.
During break, I visited the store and smiled when I saw a sweatshirt with the words “tout est possible.” In French that means, “everything is possible.” Indeed – tout est possible. Cirque du Soleil specializes in modelling this.
I’ve always been a believer that everything is possible since I was young. I attribute this to watching Star Trek growing up. Seeing the crew of the Enterprise boldly go into the future, into the unknown and exploring possibilities was inspirational for me. And because of that, I believed anything is possible. I still do today. When we try hard enough, look for alternate ways, collaborate with others, do the hard work, tout est possible.
That’s why I love innovation so much. Innovation is creating a new future. And that means, there’s no limits. It’s about exploring the possibilities… it’s about seeing what could be. When we’re facing problems/opportunities to solve, there’s limitless possibilities out there, waiting to be explored.
It’s just like Cirque du Soleil. They push the edges of what’s possible… and just when you think they’ve reached the edge, they go even further. That’s what tout est possible is all about.
After the show, as I walking back to the car with my wife, I told her how much I enjoyed the show… but most of all, what impressed me the most is that they demonstrated possibility. If the performers could do the things I saw, it meant I had the potential for it too. After all, we’re all human!
I spoke with a friend of mine the very next day about the show I saw. She was a former director of Cirque shows and told me some performers begin their training as earlier as five or six years old. I was astounded. No wonder they were able to do the things they were doing! They trained to do what seems like the impossible to the rest of us.
We all can be trained to see more possibilities and unlock the impossible! That’s what innovators do and that’s my speciality. I help transform employees into confident innovators to help unlock the possible.
So, what about you? What do you believe? Do you believe tout est possible? Have you done the impossible before?
What would happen if you did? What would tout est possible unlock for you? What about at your job? For your team? For your organization?
Tout est possible! Everything is possible.
How might you take this thought and apply it to your work today?
I hope you’re inspired! What are your thoughts? Comment below.
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