The 20/10 question
I just finished a book by Daniel Pink entitled, "A Whole New Mind" and it is rather interesting. He argues that we are moving from the Information Age to the Conceptual Age. There is lots to this book and I'll probably do a book review on it in the near future.He has an interesting tidbit in a chapter about "Meaning". He suggests you take the 20-10 Test.
I heard this exercise from Jim Collins, author of the blockbuster book Good to Great. He encourages people to look at their lives--in particular, their work--and ask themselves whether they would still do what they're doing now if they had twenty million dollars in the bank or knew they had no more than 10 years to live. For instance, if you inherted $20 million dollars, no strings attached, would you spend your days the way you spend them now? If you knew you had at the most ten years to live, would still with your current job? If the answer is no, that ought you tell you something. This test alone obviously can't determine your life course. But the approach is smart--and the answers will be clarifying.I took it and I've decided that if I had 20 million dollars and 10 years to live, I'd walk into my principal's office and offer my letter of resignation tomorrow morning. I know some of the readers and contributors would keep on doing what they are doing, but some of us would be gone. What about you? What would you do? Let's discuss in the margins.
posted by Expat Teacher @ 4:35 PM
