If you have ever experienced them playing ‘No Cars Go’ live, you’ll know what I mean.

Check out this video from 3 years ago at Glasto…

Prior to playing that set, they we’re speaking backstage about not being sure what to expect – not even being sure if the set would go down well.

It blew the place away…

These guys MEAN IT.

You know when Bill Hicks says play from your f-ing heart? That’s what Arcade Fire do.

But now – in a remarkable feat of technical achievement, they’ve partnered with Google to release a ground-breaking video (geeks, listen up – it’s a jaw-dropping HTML5 Google Chrome Experiement).

Basically, the video is customised to the location you grew up in. At the end, you can write a postcard from the future to when you were young, with thoughts you’d like yourself to know back then. Finally, you can share the customised video and postcard with anyone you wish.

Being a fan aside, this is one of the most outstanding multimedia experiences I have ever seen.

Multimedia aside, their musical talent is incredible and I’m always amazed they aren’t more widely admired (but quite thankful for that too…)

Check.it.out.

Click below to go to the launch pad – I would say use Google Chrome browser but I’m sure you already do….:

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Last week I went to Edinburgh to run a day with a large drinks brand.

I arrived at the hotel the night before after flying up with one of my clients called Rob.

Rob asked the receptionist if there was WI-FI. The receptionist then looked for a pen, found a piece of paper and wrote the WI-FI access code down.

I then mentioned that I also needed the code so took my iPhone out and snapped a picture of the written down code.

Rob and the receptionist were both surprised.

“I have the same phone and I wouldn’t have thought of that” said the receptionist.

“Nor would I” said Rob, who has 2 phones with cameras. And a camera.

Later I asked the people behind the reception desk what phones they had. 3 had iPhones and 2 had Blackberrys.

Most of them have 3 or 4 apps. At least 2 are related to social networks.

It’s a small sample group but the findings are consistent with my findings from asking non-industry people about what they primarily use their phones for.

The camera is perhaps the most basic of extensions following the ‘common’ uses of a phone – but still the surprise at my usage reminded me of the delta between the capability of technology and the actual adoption of inherent functions and possibilities.

We run the risk of assuming that people with smarter phones are using many of the potential features.

Smartphone penetration does not necessarily mean feature adoption.

Yes, there have been billions of apps downloaded but I feel we should look more closely at how people use their devices in the context of their lives, rather than build because it’s possible.

As I have said on many stages around the world, if you come up with an idea of using a mobile device that’s really useful, try it out on people you aren’t tweeting with, aren’t LinkedIn with or aren’t working with.

I realise that if Henry Ford had asked people what they wanted, they may have said “faster horses” – and I don’t think that innovation has to come from looking at what people want today.

I’m not knocking the brilliant progress we are making, nor how exciting the technological possibilities are. But I am urging caution that don’t assume everyone uses devices in the same way as we do, as those in the industry.

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My thoughts on this are:

http://www.jonathanmacdonald.com/?p=4608

http://www.jonathanmacdonald.com/?p=4612

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In fact, I spend as much time as possible with them.

I’m not talking about individual people, I’m talking about people that have their own thoughts, words and deeds.

Individuals relish the excitement of adventure.

Individuals rebel against the construct of ‘what’s expected’.

Individuals just get on with doing stuff and leave the pontification to others.

Individuals realise that many may find them ‘weird’ or ‘not making sense’.

I love individuals.

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One Block Off The Grid put together the above data in the context of replacing all electricity capacity.

I actually find the chart a bit sad as alternative, renewable and sustainable energy is, in my opinion, extraordinarily more important than how rich Mark Zuckerberg is or how many ‘friends’ one collects – but looking around, it’s seemingly all about ‘iLife’ nowadays.

Virtualisation of anything and everyone – all surface, no feeling. It’s fashionable and funky. Someone else will be worrying about how to power the next generations – we have to make sure we update our twitter status enough or ‘social media gurus’ will chastise us for ‘not managing our online presence well enough’…

I believe we would be better off to ensure we don’t disappear up our own backsides in hype, hyperbole and buzz words and actually do something that matters.

But anyway…have to go now and tweet as I’ve just decided to make a cup of tea and my ‘followers’ won’t make it to noon without knowing that…for sure.

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The fact is, we can’t breathe underwater, unaided.

We can’t fly either.

In fact, there are a number of things we simply cannot do.

However, I suspect that most of our usage of the word ‘can’t', isn’t actually related to things we literally cannot do.

This presents such usage as an outright fallacy, a misconception based on incorrect reasoning.

The lift sign in the above photo seems fair, until you realise that it’s fundamentally untrue, unless it only ever makes one journey in it’s lifetime, after being built and fitted on the ground floor.

But let’s not fuss about the details of lift signage, what we have on our hands is a fallacy with compound effects to human life.

The main problem is the when we say “Oh I can’t do that”, the thing we are speaking about gets compartmentalised in our brain, adjacent to being able to breathe underwater, unaided.

Happy bedfellows, languishing in the vortex of the un-doable.

Picture the face of Nick Clegg on election day, a face of total resignation to a fate that he probably felt he couldn’t do anything about, despite ‘winning’….kinda.

That’s what the contents of the folder looks like.

Our mental filing system then requires extraordinary effort to switch folders from ‘things I can’t do’ to ‘things I possibly can do’ which is why, after being told by someone that they can’t do something, the work is so tremendously difficult in changing their opinion.

The Fallacy of Can’t is a nightmare to deal with.

Of all the fallacies, this is one that has the most extreme affect on progress, development and innovation. Stuff that makes people and organisations grow.

The C word (as I sometimes call it – just to be on the safe side) is built into our language so deeply that we say it without realising – and then the fallacy gremlin takes over.

It sits waiting for you to say things like “I can’t” or “We can’t”, then simply opens a mental drawer and plops the thing that you are talking about into it.

Job done.

It takes a nano second to do, and sometimes a lifetime to undo, if at all.

If you’re lucky, the folder system you have in your head has weak locks, meaning it’s easier to re-file. But remember, weak locks are bad at keeping things in or out of anywhere – so you may be more susceptible to self-doubt.

When I was totally and utterly screwed over in business, losing pretty much everything in the process, I said “I can’t fix this. I can’t make things better.”

But, over an arduous 5 year period, I realised that I could. And I bloody well did.

So how can one move from a can’t to a can?

Well, the absolute first thing I did, which I recommend to anyone, is to work on the perception of whether something is literally possible. So here’s a quick and dirty checklist of surviving The Fallacy of Can’t:

1. You need to define exactly what the thing is that you may or may not be able to do. Define it in exact terms. For me it was, on a human level, to be able to house, feed and support my family whilst not losing my mind in anxiety, stress and/or depression in the process. On a business level, it was to create an even better organisation than I had ever done before. On a moralistic level, it was to enable others to also reach their own potential.

2. Forget the tactics, forget the ways and means – first address a cold, hard question: “Is it humanly possible to do this thing?” If the answer is no, your challenge changes from one of struggle to one of acceptance and adaption. If the answer is yes, your journey begins, but it may be a 2000 day journey (like in my case), or a 20,000 day journey if you’re unlucky.

3. Now you’ve established what the thing is and whether it is possible, it’s now time to map out the separate steps you would need to take and to start your journey. These steps should be achievable but you may find there are several sub-steps or dependancies. Then, you just have to get busy. If you have a wobble, refresh your answers to the points above. Remember, provided what you are trying to achieve is literally possible, it’s down to you how successful you are.

For me, the above was my antidote for The Fallacy of Can’t.

Whatever level of this fallacy you experience, in others or yourself, try and avoid the C word wherever possible. It produces zero net benefit for anyone.

Life is too short to eliminate the possible.

Namaste.

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For previous fallacies, please choose from the below:

The Fallacy of Expectation: (http://www.jonathanmacdonald.com/?p=4829)

The Fallacy of Plenty Time: (http://www.jonathanmacdonald.com/?p=4756)

The Fallacy of Volume: (http://www.jonathanmacdonald.com/?p=4742)

The Fallacy of The Self Sufficient: (http://www.jonathanmacdonald.com/?p=4697)

The Fallacy of Accurate Information: (http://www.jonathanmacdonald.com/?p=4612)

The Fallacy of Protectionism: (http://www.jonathanmacdonald.com/?p=4593)

The Fallacy of Binary Collaboration: (http://www.jonathanmacdonald.com/?p=4577)

The Fallacy of Incomplete Logic: (http://www.jonathanmacdonald.com/?p=4549)

The Fallacy of Old World PR: (http://www.jonathanmacdonald.com/?p=4342)

The Fallacy of Certainty: (http://www.jonathanmacdonald.com/?p=3834)

The Fallacy of The Unique: (http://www.jonathanmacdonald.com/?p=3764)

The Fallacy of The Adequate (http://www.jonathanmacdonald.com/?p=4449)

The Fallacy of Fame (http://www.jonathanmacdonald.com/?p=4492)

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