Thank Goodness For Twisted Pitching

Tonight, I had the opportunity to participate in a pitching program--pitching not baseballs, but ideas. I have "pitched" a number of ideas over the years, most with little success. But tonight was different. Tonight, I was not pitching my own ideas. Rather, I was pitching ideas assigned to me, and I was pitching them as part of a team made up primarily of people I had never met before. It was challenging, and scary, and immensely satisfying. For, while I didn't come out with an idea sold or a deal done, I emerged with multiple realizations. I learned that I can think on my feet a whole lot better than I thought. I went from being terrified to be our group spokesperson to frantically scribbling out our pitch and presenting it reasonably successfully (even fielding a few questions!). I discovered the value of pitching with a team (something I have rarely done). There are many more resources available when it's a bunch of heads with a bunch of backgrounds, rather than just you and your own ideas in your own living room. And I learned that co-immersion in an idea or a task is probably one of the best versions of networking possible. I came away from the event both more confident about my own skills and more aware of and excited about the skills and expertise of the people around me. The evening was a reminder that collaboration--straightforward, baggage-free collaboration--can be one of the most powerful forces for connection and for getting things done.

 

We work hard every day to involve ourselves in things that we believe will be useful for us. Then, every so often, we happen into situations that turn out to be the most useful of all. I guess we don't always know, as we pitch our way through life, exactly how each game will turn out. So we just have to keep pitching...