{The broken link to the video is corrected; please forgive the inconvenience}
It’s funny how people become friends. Some just fall in line, some just by repeated meetings…some by a grand collision of paths. ― Shawn Lein
Have you seen Brad Paisley and Robbie Williams’ video – Collision of Worlds?
Written for the movie Cars 2, the song is about Mater the tow truck. It seems Mater has trouble adjusting to local customs, as he travels the world…before saving the day. (No, I have not seen the movie).
Collision of Worlds explores the differences between American and British English cultures and language in a fun sort of way.
Last week, while in Montana, my early flight was canceled by a winter storm. But what a gift…as the snow fell, over breakfast the CEO rehearsed the Story of how our paths connected last year.
It is still amazing how our lives “collided” and the Story since. My work began with the CEO before expanding to the other partners. A few months later, an Employee Leadership Development program was launched.
The changes over the past 5 months are as remarkable as the transformation of the landscape by the snow.
A Positive Collision
Most often we think of the damage caused by a collision associating it with motor vehicles smashing into trees or crashing into each other. We buy collision insurance.
In the tragic story of the Costa Concordia cruise ship, it crashed into the rocks. According to the Associated Press CEO Pierluigi Foschi stated they the company
…could not offer proper assistance because the captain’s description “did not correspond to the truth.”
This story provides another illustration of how lives collide … decisions made by individuals have impact; creating the story.
Collision and the Story
The business of life is people and this is where collision takes on a deeper meaning.
A collision is an encounter between people resulting in an exchange or transformation of energy or life.
Collision is about the story and there are at least 5 characteristics:
- Everyone has a story – look around your office or as you move about your day; how well do you see the people?
- Every day we add to our story – some days are pretty ordinary, some are significant; what happened today in your story?
- Today, you will have influence on someone’s story; was it for better or worse?
- There is always more to the story – rarely do we have the full story; how open are you to what you don’t know?
- You can write a new story – really good news; how well are you at accepting personal responsibility?
The “collision of lives” in Western Montana continues like ripples in the water. What started when one CEO and I joined our stories, moved to include the other two partners and then, the employees. On my last visit, I presented to a group of over 40 people from the city … a “collision of lives”.
What is the affect of your life on others?
When people encounter you what type of energy exchange do they experience?
Please forward to a friend or Tweet if you like this article; and I would love to hear your comment below.
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Really like this piece. Since we are all energy then every contact is a sharing of that energy which also brings about a change to the combined energetic force. The quality of that contact determines the quality of the resulting new energy. Quite a responsibility for all of us.