A few weeks ago I finished reading “Notice. Collect. Share” by Russell Davies. It’s a reminder that in order to get better at the work of strategy (which is sense-making by another name) you need to get better at noticing the interesting things that are out there, collecting what you notice, and sharing the best of that.
Today on my morning walk I came across this plack on a rock:
“12,000 to 15,000 years ago retreating glaciers deposited this stone. In 1997 Vancouver Works Department dug a hole on 6th Avenue & Larch to lay storm drains and came across this huge rock.
Rather than blow it up they were able to put it down where it now sits, one third in the ground but above the ground it is 145cm tall and 480cm around at the base.
This stone is to remind us all of how recently come here. All too soon we forget the age of the planet that is home to us all.
A century is 100 years, and 15,000 years is 150 centuries”
A huge glacial stone.
There is a lot to love - and question - about this plaque:
1.) Is it a rock or a stone? They mix the terms up, but a bit of research tells us it is certainly a rock (stones are smaller, often hand-sized)
2.) The simplicity of language here is beautiful: It doesn’t say something like” Rather than deconstruct the obstruction using an explosive device…”. The plaque writers are clear and concise.
3.). Yet…they don’t actually tell us the age of the Earth: About 4.5 billion years.
Winnie for scale.
*If you’ve been following here for a while you might remember me talking about Russell Davies as the author of Everything I Know About Life I Learned From Powerpoint, the singular book that will make you a better strategist and communicator.