Big Ideas, Inspiring Action & Not Being Defined by the Norm

This essay was written for the Makers of Sport® newsletter in January 2016. Monday Musings and Weekend Reads were the written editions of the newsletter that accompanied the podcast; the archived email is on Mailchimp. The newsletter's links and announcements are trimmed here.

Happy Martin Luther King day, everyone. Many are off work today (specially colleges) in celebration of the holiday which is why this Weekend Reads edition is coming on a Monday rather than a Sunday.

The reason for today's holiday observation in the U.S. is due to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday (which was January 15, 1929). I'll spare you the history lesson, assuming you know about Dr. King's significance in American history as it regards to Civil Rights and segregation; but, I would like to focus on some of his ideals as it regards to creativity, innovation and courage. His teachings can align with us and continue to be applied today as creative individuals making things that matter, battling to get our voices heard and discovering our "why".

Obviously, there is no comparison to the struggles Dr. King faced and the struggles of a creative person. One would be ignorant to make such a comparison, but we as creative people can take Dr. King's teachings, writings, and constant pursuit of a seemingly unreachable dream and use them as inspiration in our own every day lives as it regards to business and professional development. No matter your field or mission.

Even though Dr. King is often recognized by many as a notable Civil Rights activist, he is oftentimes under appreciated as the lifetime learner, literary genius and innovator he was. Even today, Dr. King's writings stand up as some of the greatest literary and oratory works in history.

He was a man that lived his why every single day and was transparent in it. It drove him. And, though he predicted he would not make it to see the day where all races interacted together with respect and love, it didn't detract him from putting in the work and standing outside of what was popular opinion at the time to pursue his dream.

I've seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know that we, as a people, will get to the promised land." — Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Dr. King was highly educated and stayed in tune with happenings in the world of technology and modern innovation. He possessed an uncanny will to fight for his dream and even risked his life daily to pursue it.

Simon Sinek, author of Start with Why, brings up Dr. King in a TED Talk by questioning: "how do you explain when others are able to achieve things that seem to defy all of the assumptions? For example, why is Apple so innovative? Year-after-year-after-year-after-year they are more innovative than all of their competition. And yet they're just a computer company. They're just like everyone else. They have the same access to the same talent, the same agencies, the same consultants, the same media. Then why is that they seem to have something different?"

Sinek continues: "Why is it that Martin Luther King lead the Civil Rights Movement? He wasn't the only man who suffered in a pre-Civil Rights America and he certainly wasn't the only great orator of the day. Why him?"

What Sinek uncovers is that all of the great and inspiring leaders and organizations of the world (including Apple, Dr. King, etc.) all think, act and communicate the exact same way and it's the complete opposite of everyone else.

[Editor's Note:[I have written on "why" before](https://medium.com/@tadammartin/it-ain-t-about-the-money-1e9f8eb653#.8i23cr2cy) in this newsletter in case you are a new subscriber and happened to have missed it.]

He elaborates on what he calls a golden circle (left), which includes 3 circles contained within one another. The inner circle = why; the second circle = how; and the outside circle = what. Most people tend to operate by what first, then how, then why. However, the best companies and leaders in the world are always driven by something inside first. This is what sets them apart. They do things that seem to be puzzling to many because they aren't driven by something external like money or fame. They are driven by their internal mission and they let that dictate how they do things and what they do.

The goal becomes not to do business with people that buy what you do, but people that believe what you believe. This is what inspires action. This is how Dr. King was able to inspire many to follow him and his teachings. This is why people hated him. This is why he couldn't let a box define him.

He thought different. He acted different. He was different.

As a creative individual, I believe you can find deep meanings and current metaphors in all well-written philosophical work and Dr. King's works are no different. I encourage you to take time today to observe some of Dr. King's teachings and see how you can apply them to your own beliefs, professional and personal actions.

I believe that even if Dr. King were alive today and never had any place in history as it regards to Civil Rights (and thank God he did), he would have been just as much as an innovative thought leader as he was in that Movement in any other industry; all because he chose not to confirm to the status quo and to be mission driven from the inside.

I'd like to end this newsletter with a segment from a Nobel Price-winning lecture Dr. King gave titled The Quest for Peace and Justice. Remember, you biggest fans will not support what you do, they'll support why you do it. Others may try to mimic you, but if you are driven internally by something greater than money and fame, you will grow, lead and succeed.

Modern man has brought this whole world to an awe-inspiring threshold of the future. He has reached new and astonishing peaks of scientific success. He has produced machines that think and instruments that peer into the unfathomable ranges of interstellar space. He has built gigantic bridges to span the seas and gargantuan buildings to kiss the skies. His airplanes and spaceships have dwarfed distance, placed time in chains, and carved highways through the stratosphere. This is a dazzling picture of modern man's scientific and technological progress.

Yet, in spite of these spectacular strides in science and technology, and still unlimited ones to come, something basic is missing. There is a sort of poverty of the spirit which stands in glaring contrast to our scientific and technological abundance. The richer we have become materially, the poorer we have become morally and spiritually. We have learned to fly the air like birds and swim the sea like fish, but we have not learned the simple art of living together as brothers.

Every man lives in two realms, the internal and the external. The internal is that realm of spiritual ends expressed in art, literature, morals, and religion. The external is that complex of devices, techniques, mechanisms, and instrumentalities by means of which we live. Our problem today is that we have allowed the internal to become lost in the external. We have allowed the means by which we live to outdistance the ends for which we live. So much of modern life can be summarized in that arresting dictum of the poet Thoreau: "Improved means to an unimproved end". This is the serious predicament, the deep and haunting problem confronting modern man. If we are to survive today, our moral and spiritual "lag" must be eliminated. Enlarged material powers spell enlarged peril if there is not proportionate growth of the soul. When the "without" of man's nature subjugates the "within", dark storm clouds begin to form in the world.

Have a good week.

Cheers,

Adam