I appreciated Sheahan's paradoxy, captured on the walk-in screen with his favorite question: What if the opposite were true?

Sheahan also had the best advice of the day: Do less. Better.

According to Caitlin Kelly writing in the NY Times this weekend, "The class has three steps: attention training, self-knowledge and self-mastery, and the creation of useful mental habits. If it sounds a bit touchy-feely, consider this: More than 1,000 Google employees have taken the class, and there’s a waiting list of 30 when it’s offered, four times a year. The class accepts 60 people and runs seven weeks."

"One tool the course teaches is SBNRR--nicknamed the Siberian North Railroad--but really short for Stop. Breathe. Notice. Reflect. Respond."

Mindfulness builds resilience and the ability to pause before responding, noticing triggers and emotions, and choosing what to do and say next.

Tan's book, Search Inside Yourself, is out this month and is described as "your guide to enhancing productivity and creativity, finding meaning and fulfillment in your work and life, and experiencing profound peace, compassion, and happiness while doing so."

What's that worth to you?

Chances are what you remember are the people. Those we worked for and with, extraordinary members and leaders, co-workers and team members.

Now take that to the next level. Two years ago, I joined the International Coach Federation and attended a conference put on by the local mega-chapter.  It was surreal. Everyone was so nice.  No, everyone was so awake and open to whatever needed to happen next. Volunteers were accountable and plentiful. Leaders were fully present and energetic.

It's clear that when evolved people put their minds and souls toward a shared purpose, it is an extraordinary ride for all of us.

Today, I am feeling even more connected to this organization, with the news of my ACC accreditation. Last year ICF raised the bar for the profession and its members, and I am delighted to be a part of living up to it. This credential demands one to be steeped, challenged and tested against a code of ethics that is the platform for both practice and professional development.

So if you're feeling stuck, maybe it's time to change your perspective and raise your sights to work for and with people you admire and who make you a better human being, and for whom you can do the same.  Be more. Evolve.

This morning, I ran across these groundrules we adopted from Meg Wheatley's book to design this conference:

There is no power greater than a community discovering what it cares about.

Ask "What's possible?" not "What's wrong?"  Keep asking.

Notice what you care about.

Assume that many others share your dreams.

Be brave enough to start a conversation that matters.

• Talk to people you know
• Talk to people you don't know
• Talk to people you never talk to.

Be intrigued by the difference you hear.

• Expect to be surprised.
• Treasure curiosity more than certainty.

Invite in everybody who cares to work on what's possible.

• Acknowledge that everyone is an expert about something.
• Know that creative solutions come from new connections.

Remember, you don't fear people whose story you  know.

Real listening brings people closer together.

What design principles underlie your conferences--tacit or explicit? Maybe it's time you started to expect more of those you serve, and yourself.

"(Yet) some of the best paths to encourage innovation are surprisingly simple...(E)ach of us as individuals can also work to optimize our innovative capacities. If innovation is stimulated by identifying under-served markets and then figuring out a service or product to fill the void, then here are a few low-to-no-cost suggestions for reinvigoration," writes Anne Kreamer in a recent post Creativity Lessons from Charles Dickens and Steve Jobs. 

Keep reading for some simple ideas on how to expand your own creativity, and the research that backs them up.  Anne Kreamer is the author of It's Always Personal --why emotion has a place at work.

Great Ideas is especially suited to the Broadmoor because you get to experience the dividend of investing in a creative culture.

Customer service is too pedestrian a concept to capture the sheer delight that rises like a bubble of joy when you see the people of the Broadmoor in action. Yes, there's eye contact at ten feet and a greeting within five feet--from everyone.  Yes, you will hear a yes--in some unusual ways--to any request you make.  And, yes, you do start making unusual requests just to see what happens next.

For the true almost-100-year legacy of the Broadmoor is not the lovingly maintained historic structure, it is the shared  expectation that employees bring all of themselves to work every day, drawing on their imagination and creativity, mastering the art of improv when sharing an opportunity to shine with another employee, and delivering five-diamond, five-star service. 

The Broadmoor is proof that legacy can also be a powerful positive force, inspiring both employees and guests to be at their best.

Autonomy, mastery, and sense of purpose.  Dan Pink says that is the trifecta of motivation, and you see it in every employee at the Broadmoor.  Why would anyone ever leave? Turns out few employees do and guests are eager to return.

Great Ideas is my favorite ASAE event, and no doubt I'll show up in Orlando next year, but I can't wait to return to the Broadmoor.

The Graffiti Wall in the Creativity Room is getting attention, not only for declarations like this one, but also wonder at the wall itself.  It's Wizard Wall a cling film that rolls out to any length for instant collaboration wherever you are. It's erasable, reusable, and fun. When told where the Graffiti Wall was being used, the company supplied free samples and a 15% discount when you use the promotion code for this meeting.

Thanks to all our graffiti artists and the nice people at Wizard Wall.  Live generously!

What supports your intention, your rituals, your practice? Increasingly, I am relying on a number of apps on my iPhone to keep me moving, including:

Embracing Change a wonderful way into coaching using the principles of Appreciative Inquiry, integrating media, and probably the most sophisticated app I've seen

Embodied Training is your personal coach, featuring videos of Mark Walsh leading your meditation practice

Insight Timer, one of the simplest and most profound, this app times your meditation with resonant temple bells and connects you to a global community of meditators

Walkmeter, the GPS tracks your route while you walk, providing exhausting detail on your pace, distance, even elevation.  Then you get an email capturing the data. Walkmeter won the 2011 Appy Award for best health and fitness app.

What sustains you?  Got an app for that?

Complimenting this savory fare are Idea Blossoms--what you could do with those resources if you could sacrifice that Cow.

If you're here at Great Ideas, stop by to cook up some fun at the Creativity Room in Colorado Hall.

If not, take a moment and consider what you could be doing with the resources now sucked up by your Sacred Cows.  What could take root and bloom?