I Cannot Help It

I have spent the last several weeks thinking about the future. I guess that's appropriate for a blog called "Future-ready Leaders Now." Truth be told, however, I'm always thinking about it. I have a good excuse.

I took an assessment a couple of years ago, one that TLA then administered to everyone in its aspiring principals program. According to Gail Ostrisko, our consultant, The Highlands Ability Battery purported to measure, among other things, one's time horizon. It did this by showing the test-taker a picture of a rectangle drawn horizontally on the page and whose bottom line extended slightly beyond the vertical lines that bounded the rectangle's sides. Use your imagination.

In 30 seconds, the test-taker was to write down all the things the rectangle evoked. The more words like "butter, brick, breadloaf, and hat" recorded, the more the test-taker was said to be situated in the here and now. Writing words like "bridge, tunnel, window and door," on the other hand, indicated a futuristic stance. Gail told us that these abilities are innate, hard-wired, nothing to be done.

How did I come out? That's right, I'm the guy looking 10 years in the future. Always have, always will. I cannot help it. For the most part, I've been well-served by the ability. Even now in this difficult time, I can imagine TLA or some variant of it serving Triangle-area leaders just like we are right now.

Far from discouraged and like the author of the Serenity Prayer, I am coming to accept the things I cannot change (being broke), demonstrating courage to change the things I can change (the TLA business model), and the good sense to know the difference between the future I thought we'd enjoy and the one we will enjoy. Godspeed into the future!