I'm on island time

Since last Sunday I have been working as a member of the Junior Staff at Sea Island. After a relaxing 5 day spring break in Daytona, I jumped into Camp Cloister, a day camp with 50 kids under the age of 9. This job constantly puts my hospitality and childcare skills to the test, but is one of the best experiences I have had. On my first day, four-year-old twin boys who look and act exactly like Disney channel's Zack and Cody walked in with the collars popped on their pastel Lacoste polos. Each grabbed one of my hands and one said "Hey babe who's your favorite super hero" (thankfully we both like Batman and a bond was instantly formed). The rest of my day was spent doing tye dye and playing duck duck goose on the beach. Each day, each second for that matter has been different. Sometimes the kids love the activities we have planned for them, and other times we have to come up with things spur of the moment with 13 screaming six-year-olds waiting impatiently...event planning improvising at its finest :) Sometimes I work at the movie theater, sometimes I am a camp counselor, sometimes I make flyers or posters for upcoming events, and sometimes I dress up like a princess, wear a tiara, and drink pink lemonade. I think this is what it means to be in PR...just taking things as they come, being prepared for anything, and staying flexible yet in control of the situation. My first few days here have been all about that, and its been a whirlwind to say the least. I have met families from all over the U.S. and even the world and built some amazing relationships with the children and families so far this week, and I can't wait to make more great memories this summer.

BrAiNStOrM!?!?!

Last Friday, I spent the day at Manning Salvage and Lee in Atlanta, learning more about the real PR world and shadowing GCSU's PRSSA professional adviser Carlos Campos. I had a great day networking with people at MS&L, learning about their particular clients and experience and getting valuable advice about internships and much more, but one of the highlights of the day was an offsite "field trip" in the afternoon. We met Professor Larry Stultz of the Atlanta Art Institute, who is known for his creative brainstorming techniques, in order to get some fresh new ideas for the MS&L crew. Mr. Stultz had some amazing ideas. He said that with creativity, the sky is the limit and everyone must be involved and engaged in every step. He said that when brainstorming, the group should have toys, music, pictures, and NO smart phones.

First, he mentioned assumption smashing, where you ask questions like what can we add, what can we take away, can we make it bigger or smaller, or can we change the color or style? Then he talked about mind mapping, where you write the key word in the middle and let people write things around it, drawing lines and connecting other questions, phrases and ideas. He then talked about the six thinking hats of Debono (blue is the leader, white is positive, black is negative, green is creative, yellow is optimistic, and red is emotional) where group members put on different theoretical hats to look at the situation from different points of view. My favorite was “Out of the Blue” where everyone makes a paper airplane and writes one word on it. Then everyone flies their own plane, picks up a new one, reads the word on it, and then writes the first word that comes to their mind related to what they just read. All of this is done with loud music and lots of energy.

What I liked most about all of these ideas was the simple fact that they encourage outside of the box thinking, which I think people don't do nearly enough. In a world where we have information at our fingertips, I think people loose the ability to think critically, or creatively for that matter. If things as simple as toys, music and simple group activities can boost brain power, .why are we not incorporating more of these things into the classroom or workplace, and what could happen if we did??

Think Outside the Box

I recently read an article called Great Minds Don't think alike by Ray Silverstein. In it, Mr. Silverstein talks about how it is easy to hire people who think like you...everyone agrees and there are no conflicts. But really, this type of thinking is detrimental to growth and innovation. Silverstein says that in the workplace, collaboration is must. He says that to do this, we can encourage and reward new ideas, take action against negativity, let others be in charge, and bring in people from diverse backgrounds.

This article made me think about how things in the past have been negatively impacted because everyone just went along with the group, and agreed blindly to whatever the status quo proposed...groupthink. In fact, I can't think of any event in history where groupthink was a positive thing. I think of how a few girls fueled the crazy witch hunts in Salem in 1692 that ended in the lynching of innocent people and how thousands of people were senselessly killed in the Holocaust, blindly following orders to torture other human beings. I think of how engineers have failed with the crash of the Challenger shuttle and the sinking of the Titanic. Did one person not think differently, ask why, or propose better ideas for construction? Or how about with things like cults or the Pregnancy Pact (where a group of teenage girls agreed to all have babies together before even graduating high school). How do people rationalize killing themselves in the name of religion or throwing away their future at the thought of "playing mommy."

Groupthink, occurs when people don't want to shake things up, when they attempt to minimize conflict by not voicing or evaluating new ideas. Everything runs smoothly when we are in agreement, but is that always a good thing? History certainly says no.

So, my advice for the day:

BREAK OUT OF YOUR BOX!!