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Renaissance Souls meet to sharpen Sketchnotes skills and practice the pictograph path

Once in a while, a meeting occurs that leaves me grateful for the truly thoughtful, innovative, and resourceful people I have in my network. Yesterday I had one of those meetings. Because I took a few photos (see below), you can briefly come in the room (actually the music studio of Colorado Jazz Workshop) with us.

The purpose of our meeting was to practice a form of visual communication called Sketchnotes. (Click to read about the guidebook to this process of visual notetaking and to read a book excerpt.) The practicing did occur (see photo of an example above drawn by Susanne Hoogwater; click on it to see a larger version) but just as valuable was our free-wheeling conversation (freewheeling is what you'd expect from a group of Renaissance Souls). We considered the roles of cognitive development as well as of innate aptitudes in discussing the kinds of visual communication that would be most helpful to different people; visual communication generally and Sketchnotes specifically are not one-size-fits-all.

Among many other engaging topics, we talked about how templates* or patterns could drive the processes of information gathering, organizing, planning, and communication, and some pros and cons of those effects.

The get-together was very beneficial: A valuable way to learn, a prime way to provoke thinking. We will be gathering again for more mental drilling (and frolicking) and continued pictograph path practicing.

And here are the photos I promised (click on them for larger versions).

Life after law (school): Renaissance Souls now being called multipotentialites?

This blog post (Brazen Careerist) in which a woman explains why she did not practice law after law school describes the Renaissance Soul (coined by Margaret Lobenstine) or the Scanner (coined by Barbara Sher). Except in her post Emilie Wapnick calls this predisposition the mulitpotentialite. Renaissance Soul is my favorite of the three. Scannner sounds technological and multipontialite sounds pretentious.

What's a Renaissance Soul?

Wapnik writes:

Most people view law school as a form of professional training– a means to an end. But to me, law was just one stop along an ever-evolving journey of exploration.

Before law school, I spent 4 years writing and producing short films. Before that, I designed websites and studied art and before that I wrote and performed songs, learned jazz guitar and taught myself audio production.

That’s what multipotentialites do. We find something new that fascinates us, dive in, absorb all we can and then when we feel satisfied, we move on to the next adventure.

It’s not that we’re unfocused or non-committal. In fact, we pour so much energy into

Friday's lighter wisdom — TURN THE ESCAPE KEY NOW

TURN THE ESCAPE KEY NOW

I think I know how bank robbers feel as they wait for tellers to stuff their bounty into a satchel. . . . I damn near giggled as she handed me that bag, validated my parking stub, smiled, and raised her eyes to the next customer, just like that. Clutching my toy to my chest, I shoved through the crowd and hustled towards the exit.

Geez, would I get away with it? Slip a creative writing book past my mean-spirited internal censor? Would I finally ignore that sour-breathed advisor who had always banished enthusiasm with its sick idea of realism, pointing fingers and thundering, "This will go nowhere. This is a waste of time that will cost you. This is PLAY."
--Tama J. Kieves, from This Time I Dance! Trusting the Journey of Creating the Work You Love: How One Harvard Lawyer Left It All to Have It All! [later edition This Time I Dance!: Creating the Work You Love]

Are You a Flight Risk? Hope So

I don’t suppose any of you have a “mean-spirited internal censor,” that Judgment Jabber? Judgment Jabber is the voice that lives inside your mind that tells you: “You’re not good enough.” “You’re wasting your time on this job/relationship/recipe.” “Who are you to think you can succeed/be different/sing?” “What a failure!” “Look at your wrinkles/big ears.”

And lots of other negative things as it causes, exacerbates, and articulates your fears. It is a powerful

Former lawyer Marci Alboher now has a regular New York Times column

Congratulations. Marci Alboher. This former lawyer has a new column in  The New York Times named after one of her areas of expertise: Shifting Careers. Coincidentally her book One Person/Multiple Careers: A New Model for Work/Life Success is over to the left topping my list of "What I Am Currently Reading (or Rereading)."

From Alboher's first column "When It Comes to Careers, Change Is a Constant" . . .

When Ted Greenberg left the field of suicide research to become a stand-up comic, he sent out a mass e-mail that began with the following:

“In August of 2005, I left my position at the Columbia University department of child psychiatry to pursue stand-up comedy full time. Occasionally I receive an inquiry about the U.S. securities market. I left that field in July of 1997. Less frequently, I’m asked for a ride to the airport in a Checker cab. I gave up my hack license in September of 1988. January of 2006 represents five consecutive months of me not changing careers.”

Mr. Greenberg’s career shifts may be unusual, but his announcement is something we’ve all come to expect: news that our friends and colleagues are shedding their skins to emerge as very different animals. It’s part of a fundamental change sweeping all industries and professions.

According to the Labor Department, “the average person born in the later years of the baby boom held 10.5 jobs from age 18 to 40.” In 2006, the most recent year for which there are statistics, 54 million Americans, or 40 percent of the work force, left their jobs.

Ah, yes! I understand career shifting well. My lifetime list includes (but is not limited to) high school teacher, dog groomer, cocktail waitress, juvenile probation officer, lawyer, health resort manager, lawyer training manager, writer of marketing materials for a start-up computer company, and candy maker. Today my slash list includes (but is not limited to) mediator/writer/speaker/trainer/student of the brain.

In a quick tour through my head, I estimate that well over half of my friends and colleagues have careers that are slashed. (I wonder about the relationship between slash people and Renaissance Souls.) To all my brothers and sisters in the slash, take a look at Alboher's book and read her column. You will realize you are not alone or misguided, and you will also pick up plenty of extremely helpful tips.

Did I forget to add that I help people design their own funerals? If I keep writing, I will remember more slashes so I am signing off now so this post will end.

"Legal system as one big, ongoing conversation": Welcoming Jeff Seul to the blogosphere

Jeff Seul recently joined the Boston office of Holland + Knight and started his blog techlawlife. He is a true Renaissance Soul and one of the leaders in corporate blogging policies. I have been in communication with Jeff for a few years now and have no doubt this is a blog you will want to follow. He tells his readers:

I’ll focus on IT issues, but you’ll see an occasional post about biotech. I’m particularly interested in technological innovations that address social and environmental problems, so you’ll also see posts on topics like clean tech and emerging trends in corporate law, like CSR and alternate corporate paradigms. There will be the odd post about life as a lawyer (and maybe some posts about the odd life of a lawyer). And, there will be some posts on things eudemonic, a word I recently learned from a cardboard coaster at Starbucks.

His first post portrayed the legal system in a memorable way.

One of the things I like about practicing law is that I get to participate in and influence some very interesting conversations – conversations with entrepreneurs about their ideas for changing the world; conversations with other lawyers and with policymakers about the legal and social implications of new technology; conversations with businesspeople about the right legal framework for commercializing their company’s technology or the right terms for a deal to which their technology is central. From 40,000 feet, I see the legal system as one big, ongoing conversation about how best to order public and private affairs. It’s a very disjointed conversation, to be sure. It takes place in courtrooms, conference rooms, and living rooms. (Yes, I even see litigants’ monologues in courtroom and the written opinions judges produce as part of this conversation, as I explain at length elsewhere.) Parts of this conversation occur in plain language and parts are overly coded; sometimes the tone is civil and sometimes it’s shrill. (It doesn’t have to be overly coded or shrill.) It’s a conversation about norms – what they are or should be, how to apply them, whether they are being observed, and, if not, what can and should be done.

He will keep us thinking and informed. I am looking forward to following this new blog and send Jeff a warm welcome.

A Sweet Break: Attorneys at Chocolate

I recently read stories of two lawyers turning from legal careers to chocolate making. Steve Wallace was written about in Legal Blog Watch and in JD Bliss. He had some practical, perceptive advice for some lawyers not sure if they wanted to leave the legal profession.

Wallace was asked by J D Bliss:

Based on your success at establishing a new company and business concept, what advice would you give to attorneys who would like to become entrepreneurs but are reluctant to consider such a major change?

Wallace's words of advice:

What I’d suggest to someone who isn’t 100% sure about pushing ahead to something new and giving up what they have, is to look for ways to expand the scope of what you’re doing now.  The lawyers I’ve always admired most are the generalists – the older partners whose clients love them because they are always there and are able to tackle anything.  Young lawyers are trained to be specialists, and I think that can be inherently unsatisfying.  Try recapturing a little of the generalist spirit, perhaps through pro bono work.  The satisfaction that I get in everything from working in a warehouse to negotiating a trade agreement is a reflection of that generalist spirit.  I think it can bring greater satisfaction to more lawyers if they pursue it.

When I read those words, I suspected that Steve Wallace might be a RSer. I e-mailed him to ask and he confirmed my suspicion. Steve feels fortunate because his work with his chocolate company uses so many of his talents and interests. The article I am writing for The Complete Lawyer features Renaissance Souls remaining happily in the legal profession and includes tips from them on how the RSer stays satisfied and engaged in the practice of law.

Cheryl Schneider also left the law and entered the world of chocolate. Her company in Maryland is Penny Chocolates. Read her life-after-law story.

I recall someone wise once telling me that because the word "attorney" means a person "appointed to represent another person's interest," one could be an attorney at other things besides law. Perhaps a physician could be an attorney at health and a priest could be an attorney at soul? May I appoint Wallace and Schneider as my attorneys at chocolate?

To market, to market, to buy a fat [blog];
Home again, home again, jiggety-jog. Mother Goose (mostly)

Note (added October 22, 2006, 9 PM Mountain): Here are a couple of articles about a Stanford Law School grad doing something other than practicing law. From "Choreographer Has Line On Lively Steps" in SFGate.com:

During the day, Palo Alto resident Hedy McAdams negotiates domestic crises in her job as a family law mediator.

But at night, she guides enthusiastic dancers through the steps of country line dances . . .  .

"I'm the only Stanford Law School graduate that I know of who is teaching country western dancing,'' she says.

A recent article from Palo Alto Online "Rhapsody in boots: Local lawyer brings elegance to country line dancing" tells more of McAdams's story, including her promoting and researching line dancing as a way to keep the aging brain active.

Lawyers with Renaissance Souls: if a polygon is a dead parrot, what's a polymath?

I am writing an article for the next edition of The Complete Lawyer on the Renaissance Soul in the legal profession. I have been surprised at the number of lawyers and ex-lawyers identifying themselves as RSers after taking a quick, unscientific quiz. A few told me they dropped everything after taking the quiz and rushed to the bookstore to buy the book The Renaissance Soul. (I first heard a person with a Renaissance Soul called a "RSer" in an e-mail from Margaret Lobenstine, author of that book.) Are any of you out there in the blog conurbation a RSer?

After reading the quiz, you might guess that RSers would leave the law eventually, and many do. Many stay, too. I received an e-mail today from a wonderful man, a federal judge, who identifies himself as a strong Renaissance Soul. He described several well-known partners in large firms around town who also are classic Renaissance Souls. I hope to write about some of them one of these days in my blog future. How to be a happy polymath in the practice of law.

Take a look at this list of polymaths. As you will see, several of them were lawyers. Copernicus was a lawyer and thought of astronomy as a hobby. A good lesson in the potential of an avocation. Wonder what would happen if he was at a networking event today? That would be some elevator speech: "I'm a mathematician, astronomer, jurist, physician, classical scholar, governor, administrator, diplomat, economist and soldier. Oh, yeah, and I dabble in astronomy."

I am going to stop now and figure out the mechanics of this process called blogging  (see, Kevin O'Keefe, I did not say "blawgging.") I figured since my blog was announced last month by Mark Beese, and I was urged, called out, and invited to blog last week by Gerry Riskin, I better jump in and learn while I go. I will be putting up the blogroll and those many other blog components -- after I learn how to make a link live. You are reading the first post of a true neo-blog-ophyte. Welcome to my adventure!

(This IS quite a week of taking techno-plunges. I am creating my first podcast on Friday.)

Note (added November 1, 2006, 6 PM Mountain): Here's an article in which being a Renaissance Soul is described as having sustained interest deficiency.

Note (added November 29, 2006, 12:40 PM Mountain): For those Renaissance Souls with a diverse and varied online presence, this free online identity management service might be helpful.