Do you have hope? Seriously. I don’t mean silly optimism, or giddy cheerfulness. I mean deep down, in the belly, gut feeling, visceral and primitive hope. The kind of hope that comes from knowing you have to work hard to make it a reality. That kind of hope. All last week, whenever I spoke with friends and colleagues from just about anywhere in the world, I felt that kind of hope. They shared it; they voiced it; they pledged it.
Why? Because the new President of the United States – Barack Obama – gave fuel to their hope.
Let me be clear – this is not a political screed. And I am not being partisan or USA-centric to a global audience. To the contrary – I never brought up the issue in those calls – my friends always made the point, always asked the questions or voiced their feelings.
To that end, I’d like to look at President Obama’s speech:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/inaugural-address/
and see what we can learn from it and maybe apply to what we do and who we are.
Even his biggest critics will agree that Obama is a great speaker – in fact, some would argue that he is all rhetoric. And when you look and listen to his inaugural address, it was not his greatest oratory, or his longest and most detailed road map for the next four years. Yet it struck a chord and inspired just about everyone I know – everywhere. Why?
I have given it much thought and I must thank two good friends: one EN – a psychologist and unrepentant rocker – and the second RJR – a religious leader and English Literature Professor, who unwittingly and at different times during the week gave me the answer.
Listen to this:
The notes I handle no better than many pianists. But the pauses between the notes – ah, that is where the art resides.” – Artur Schnabel
Read and listen to Obama again. Look for the quotes and references that you might have expected to hear. Look for the way he might have filled the pages with references to one set of experiences; look for the way he could have saturated each page with specific road signs based on a singular journey; more importantly, look at what he did say and balance it against what he didn’t say. Listen for the “pauses between the notes.”
Now listen to this – the amplifying quote:
“Music is the silence between the notes.” – Claude Debussy
And in his silence, many around the world made their own music. He articulated a vision – a big vision – he made clear his intent – but he let his audience apply it to themselves and their own situations, needs, desires, wants.
Easy to be cynical – and there were many cynics – easy to ask where are the tactics, where is the substance. I’d argue it’s all there if you let yourself listen to the “real” music.
There is an old saying amongst musicians – play the instrument not the notes – ergo – changing the world – or even your own small corner of it is up to you and me.
Apply this notion to everything we do. How often do we feel the need to fill every page we show with wall to wall words; to fill every moment of possible discussion with “important” presentation, or as a blog I found put it:
http://headrush.typepad.com/creating_passionate_users/2006/07/hooverin_and_th.html
* A software company that adds features so quickly that users never have a chance to organically evolve their use of the app in a way that nobody imagined. Obviously this depends heavily on the type of product, but figuring out the ideal “space for user evolution” is one of the tricky parts.
Note: this is not necessarily the same as featuritis – where the company adds too damn MANY features and hurts usability. This is about introducing things based on current use of the product without allowing time for new uses to emerge.
* A church that fills every space of a service…conducts every prayer…never allowing the member/attendee a chance to reflect.
* Toys that specify explicit, carefully constrained use. (When the best toy, as Stephen just mentioned in the comments of my previous post, could be the open-ended, use-your-imagination box that the over-featured toy came in.)
* A speaker that never pauses. Not all pauses are awkward. Pauses aren’t necessarily – to use the radio term – dead air – they may be the most alive part of the conversation or presentation. The pause is usually where all the interesting things happen in the other person’s head! [Note to self: it won't kill you to shut up.]
* The graphic design that allows no white space, or does not respect the “weight” of that space.
* The movie that explicitly describes every detail, allowing no room for personal interpretation. Where every character says exactly what they’re feeling and thinking.
* The article or blog post that just keeps hammering…relentlessly…without any space for the reader to use their own imagination. Without space for the reader’s neurons to do anything but let the words flow by and right back out. Like, say, this one.
[insert space]
[allow pause for reflection]
So there you have it – my hope is built on and in the spaces; the silence…..
[insert space]
[pause for reflection]
Silence….
I know exactly how you feel… Sitting in faraway Bangalore(!)and listening to President Obama, I felt like he had taken on a larger mantle…the President of the World; I felt like I had also elected him !
And he fills me with hope…a dependable, sustainable kind of hope.
President Obama is NOT a great speaker. That was not a great speech. He is a good speaker; it was a good speech.
But he is not yet in the league of the greats, JFK, MLK, FDR, or even the man who I despise the most of any man in America but is an AMAZING speaker: Louis Farrakhan.
If anyone wants to read a GREAT speech–one of the greatest ever given–read JFK’s inaugural address. Note the originality, the rhetoric, the brilliant phrasing, the inspiring build, the way it is perfectly written for how the speaker speaks (thank you, Ted Sorenson). Those were different times, of course. Perhaps Obama could not have given that kind of soaring speech in today’s climate. But Kennedy found a brilliant way to communicate HIS message, Obama could have found a brilliant way to communicate HIS. He did not.
It is my understanding that Obama wrote quite a bit of that speech. I would recommend he let go of the writing a little and find his Sorenson. We need to be inspired these days. I’m afraid good-but-not-great rhetoric, decent-but-not-inspiring phrasing, solid-but-not-particularly-imaginative writing might not get the job done.
I don’t know if he’ll let it happen. But I have hope.
“The kind of hope that comes from knowing you have to work hard to make it a reality. That kind of hope?”
I do have that kind of hope. And I think everyone would claim they do too, because they want to agree with everything linked to the word Hope.
However, Hope as a verb is simply defined as to desire with confidence, and often accompanied with an expectation. Hope as a noun is defined as the feeling that what is wanted can be had or that events will turn out for the best. Turn out?
My concern for those focused on all the Hope is that by believing that something is going to be done for them, created to help them, or built to make their lives better somehow, they release themselves from any accountability of the outcome.
If what they are hoping on fails…it’s not their own fault. They had “hope” after all.
Nothing happens unless we do something. And each of us has the means to create change. I believe we are being influenced to act. Not hope. I believe folks are confused, as usual – by all the pretty words coming from someone who has tons of charisma and an elegant smile.
…I like Obama. I like speeches. But, I plan to spend less time examining words and I plan to facilitate Change in my own community…help people who have less than I might, think bigger, move forward and inspire others to do the same.
Obama needs more than our allegiance of hope. He needs every single one of us to act.
“you HAVE TO work hard to make ANYTHING a reality!”
One of my favorite parts of Obama’s speech was when he combined “hope” with another powerful word: “virtue”. An interesting choice. There are numerous interpretations of the word virtue(just Wiki it and see..)
But my sense is in this instance, Obama is gently reminding us to not simply be hopeful, but also to take thoughtful and courageous action. Not to be selfish, but rather to be compassionate.
I have to agree with Barry, the speech was good, but not great.But as for hope, yes,even as a cynical Brit, President Obama does fill me with hope.
He seems like the kind of person who’s not afraid to try a new aproach, and will make the most of the great human resource he’s got access to. He’s ceratinly the best man for the job right now – and that’s a great foundation for hope.
like everything else in life — Yes we can — needs yes I will
On January 20, 2009, I experienced Obama’s speech on the Mall. The beauty of the speech was its accessible to all in concept and content. It had the duality of speaking directly to the American people and the world. How? Because, I believe Obama spoke to universal needs: stability, security and peace.
Obama’s speech did not explicitly promise to deliver us from all of our challenges (i.e., poverty, unemployment, banking issues, etc.), but encouraged us to focus on personal responsibility, tolerance and hard work. I perceived Obama’s goal was to help us focus on taking better control of our collective situation; hence, we can make it through and feel wonderful about our effort and the results.
Finally, I think his speech reflected the understanding that humans have a tendency to ‘feel’ what they expect. If we expect good, you will seek and do good. For example, it’s learning to understand how a homeless individual can still have a dynamic outlook on life. It’s the perception of control, which gives individuals and nations the confidence to solve their problems.
Whenever I hear Obama speak, I always think his underlying message is, “As a man thinkth, so is he.” Change your thinking…See the opportunity…Work…..Change the results. Government will act as a partner, but not the exclusively solution. The nation is also needed.