Poke the box- or how I learned to green screen.
Seth Godin has a great little book called ‘Poke the box’.
It’s about learning through experimentation. A box has a big red button- what happens it I press it? How about if I press it twice or five times really quickly?
This idea that we’re life long learners is an important one- but what does that actually look like? Watching the discovery channel? Binging youtube videos? Generally being curious?
I suppose yes, all of these.
And I think it’s about experimentation. It’s poking the box. Sure you might watch some youtube videos about the box, but you really just gotta prod the thing.
This is how I learned to green screen. I had to learn about lighting, distance, shutter speed, iso, frame rate, keying, colouring… in other words a lot of prodding.
I’m not super good at it now- but I know more than I did and can do more than I could.
Even though I know this from experience, I still find myself afraid to experiment. Maybe it comes down to stakes (or at least perceived stakes, which is all they ever are)
If I fail to green screen well, I don’t lose a lot; I can just try again. But if I start a new business on the other hand… well!
But what if we could treat the business like the green screen?
What is it to adopt an attitude of experimentation in all that we do?
To try without the need for perfection but to try toward knowing more than before.
That’s success in my book.
