The Big Blue Bear

Standing 40ft tall outside the Colorado Convention Center is a blue bear. 

Don't worry- it's not real.

That would be terrifying.  I can’t imagine anyone wanting to attend a conference if they had to sneak past a 40ft bear to get there.  There are very few breakout sessions that you'd risk your life for.

But this bear is not terrifying at all.  In fact, he's curious. 

The artist designed the bear to stand on his hind legs and peer into the expo hall, as if he's curious about what's going on inside.  And who can blame him?  We've all had the urge to take a peek when we walk by a busy conference; wondering what could be so special about the activities inside.  But there's been something extra special about this bear to me as I've attended the ASTD International Conference and Exposition these past few days.  Seeing him has been a constant reminder to me to be curious as well.

See, far too often when we are at a conference we try to make the most of it by planning every session, every moment, of every day.  We mark the sessions we think are best, we star the vendors we don't want to miss, and we arrive early at every session to get a good seat.  We create such a detailed plan for ourselves that we forget that our best laid plans always have a fatal flaw.  We don't know what we don't know.  We don't know that the course description was off and missed out on great information.  We don't know that the vendor we walked by had the perfect solution to our biggest problem. 

We're focused.  We're determined.  But we sacrifice curiosity.

Not the bear.  He's just curious all the time.  And a great reminder that we should be too.  Which is why I skipped a session just to take more time in the Expo Hall.  And you know what?  I found some great vendors I would have missed.  Then I changed my morning session and you know what?  The new session was the BEST one I took all week. 

We love our plans and our strategies.  And they are important.  But don’t let them stop you from being curious.  That’s important too.  Because you never know what you don’t know until you take the time to be curious.