Butterfly Moments and Bricolage

Nice One John - Butterfly Moments.
I have lots of Butterfly moments. Meeting both my wives, ending up in Australia, my current and previous jobs, girlfriends, friends. I've written and blogged about this so much.
Can you create Butterfly moments? Yes.
If you think about it, some event are more likely to create Butterfly moments. Sitting in front of the TV all evening is less likely to create a Butterfly moment. Going for a walk around the block instead, is more likely to create a Butterfly moment. Going to the pub, or joining an Improv class is most likely to create a Butterfly moment. Mixing with people who create Butterfly moments is more likely to create more Butterfly moments for you.
I've cut down on Butterfly moments for the time being, except at work, and I've reduced the things that used to create Butterfly moments, but will fall out of fashion, like Social Network software, and "Networking".
Butterfly moments isn't networking. Networking is too precise and defined and loses the spirit of Butterfly moments. Some people have the ability to spot Butterfly people. Someone who you know is going to create a Butterfly moment for you. You know it's not going to be immediate, but if you stick with them things will happen. I had 4 meetings today with colleagues who will create Butterfly moments for me in the future. I forget when I meet them for coffee, that that's what I'm doing.
I also create Butterfly projects. I doodle at my desk creating MindMaps for myself and new ideas and projects, that somehow will lead to Butterfly moments. A competency model for Sales Channels using Lominger competencies, an Induction for new-joiners using an animated PowerPoint presentation I created a few months ago, a training matrix on a spreadsheet with lots of colours, a facilitation from 2 months ago on what is Good Selling. Actually, I think the term I'm looking for in all of this is Bricolage.

In essence, bricolage is what tinkers do-collecting odd bits of stuff they think may be potentially useful, then using whatever bits seem to work in the context of some later repair job. Simple. And yet profound. Because the bits the bricoleur ends up using were not designed for the use they end up being put to. Figuring out which bits to collect and how to apply them to some task at hand requires a completely different kind of thinking than the procedural algorithmic thought process business has become so dependent upon.
Chris Locke - Gonzo Marketing

Remembering Chris Locke's definition of Bricolage is a bit of Bricolage! I knew it would come in useful one day!!