Some of you may know that about a month ago, I participated in the first ever Ignite Dallas (my recap). The premise is simple: talk about something you’re passionate about for 5 minutes and using only 20 slides. That happen to transition automatically every 15 seconds whether you want them to or not. It was a fun event, to say the least. You can view all of the talks at IgniteDallas.org (as of March 28, 2010, there are about a third of them up there), or search Ignite Dallas on YouTube.

Here’s the talk. If I may be so bold, would you mind rating it on YouTube while you’re at it?

A big thanks to Dave Curlee media and Chris Walters for making this happen.

My Ignite Dallas Story

A few people asked the back story behind this talk, so I thought I’d give you the quick details. My hope is that it encourages many of you to apply to speak at upcoming Ignite Dallas events.

First off, I have to give huge props to Mike Merrill. If it weren’t for him, I probably wouldn’t have known about Ignite at all. As a matter of fact, I think I can say that about several recent events. The man is a connector!

So Mike sent out an email promoting Ignite. My plan was to buy a ticket and attend. After I bought the ticket, I looked around to see who would be speaking, only to find out they were still taking applications. So, on a whim, I threw my proverbial hat into the mix, not really expecting anything in return. I had written a blog post titled Move the Box about two years prior, and I’d always thought it had legs. So that was my topic. I threw together a brief description and let it loose. How’s that for planning?

Funny thing is Chris Walters called me a week or so after submitting, and began prodding me for details about the speech. Of course, I didn’t know what they were, but I think I winged it pretty well. I knew the concept; just not the details. In my mind, getting all that together was a bridge I would cross if and when I got accepted.

5 Minutes, 20 Slides? Piece of Cake …

In retrospect, I wish I hadn’t put it off. It’s AMAZING how difficult putting together such a brief talk can be. The real challenge is knowing your stuff well enough that it sync’s up with your slide transitions (cuz there ain’t no stopping ‘em). In other words, you pretty much have to memorize your talk. I probably spent about three total hours on memorization, and another four on preparing the slides.

Speaking of the slides, I knew going into this that I would be sharing the stage with some real PowerPoint wizards. And since I absolutely suck at design, I decided to leverage that suckiness and just draw stick figures to communicate my point. This was probably my favorite part of the process. It opened my eyes to using a tool like PowerPoint in ways I often overlook. And for those of you who are curious, I basically drew every single element (every face, arrow, etc.) and scanned them separately, then placed them on the page against a white background. That was a lot of fun.

I hope you like it. I’d love your feedback in the comments. Below, I’ve listed the planned transcript, although I strayed in several parts. The best laid plans of mice and men …..

Transcript of Brett Duncan’s Move the Box (copyright 2010)

This is the box.
It’s comfortable. It’s non-threatening. It’s the norm, the status quo. It’s warm and fuzzy and familiar and cozy. It’s what we affectionately call the comfort zone.

This is you.
You’re smart, ambitious, gifted. Obviously good-looking. You’re a true creative thinker. And you’re in the box.

This is us.
I’m in the box. Your family’s in the box. Your co-workers are definitely in the box. We’ve all got different personalities, different skills, different stories. But one thing we all have in common is how much we love this dang box.

This is your big idea.
This idea: it’s outrageous. It’s fresh. It’s bold. It’s different. It’s creative.  It’s not the norm or the status quo. It’s a really big idea and it’s nothing like the box. It’s outside of the box.

So here you are with your idea.
You’ve dared to dream of something that doesn’t fit in the box. You’re pushing the limits and people are noticing. In fact, people celebrate thinkers like you. So you’re feeling special and unique.

But you’re not special and unique.
You’ve believed the hype, but the fact is thinking outside of the box is useless, because ideas simply aren’t enough. Big ideas are challenging and threatening and risky. And people don’t do those things.

Here’s the thing with ideas:
You assume that people are going to get as excited about your big idea as you are. So you share it with them, expecting everyone to jump on the bandwagon, and they give you a smile and a clap, maybe even an award, and that’s about it.

But your idea needs people.
You don’t just need people to help your idea spread; you need people just to get the thing off the ground. If you’ve got an idea that’s bigger than you, then it’s going to take more than you to bring it to life. Without people, you’re just wishing. With people, you’re innovating.

First, accept the fact that every idea is a “change,” and that people hate change. Your goal is what you see here.
You’ve got to somehow make your idea comfortable. You have to find a way to get people to accept change even though they naturally repel it.

And there’s only one thing you can do: move the box.
Accept the resistance and deal with it. Understand that leaders who bring big ideas to life aren’t necessarily innovative with ideas;  they’re innovative with people.

So, how do you move the box?
The first step is obvious: you need to know what’s in the box. What’s the culture? How does the tribe function? Who are the influencers? What are the obstacles and challenges? What’s the gospel that box the lives by, and how is your idea going to threaten it?

Then, you’ve got to choose your approach.
You could come marching in with guns blazing and use brute force, but that’ll just piss everybody off. You could rally the troops with a “motivational speech, but talk is pretty cheap. No, what every single one of us can do is nudge.

Nudging requires patience, and that means you’ve got to place the idea higher than your own ego.
The reason is your idea isn’t going to become a reality as quickly as you think, and if you put yourself above the idea, the process of nudging is going to absolutely wear you out.

But you’re a pioneer, a trailblazer dealing with settlers.
And settlers settle, so you’ve got your work cut out for you. When you nudge, you’re going to figure out just how far the group is willing to go, and then you’re going to ask them to go one more step. It seems miniscule, but it’s something.

It becomes painfully clear that progress is a process.
And if you don’t treat it that way, you miss out on a lot. Some people may mistakenly call this compromise, but they’re wrong. This is progressive patience.

So the group moves a step.
And then they settle again. They get used to this new territory, and kinda like it, but when the time comes to move into the next step toward your big idea, they’re open to it cuz they’ve done it before, and move a little bit easier.

You can see where this is going.
Eventually, you’re able to move the box all the way until your idea fits neatly in it. And everyone loves it and has embraced it. People get it, but they didn’t get it right away. But you were patiently progressive. Because that’s what leaders are.

Of course, sometimes things can get really crazy.
Believe it or not, it’s highly likely that people in the box are gonna realize what you’re up to, and they’re gonna start helping. And it’ll catch on, and the box is gonna start racing down the line. And that’s called a movement.

So, what now?
All of you creative thinkers need to rethink what it means to be creative. Thinkers think. Creatives create. Stop merely thinking outside of the box and start doing outside of the box.

We desperately need your ideas.

We’re waiting for someone to take the bull by the horns and start this thing up.

We’re waiting for you to move the box.

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