The fiddler in the subway. Being present to possibility; focus at summer institute. Presented by Dr. Tony Frontier (best professor and speaker – seriously!)
Imagine you are in the subway of New York City and a man was playing a fiddle. Would you stop and listen? Would you even notice? Would you be more likely to stop if you knew one of the world’s finest musicians was playing a $3.5 million dollar instrument, a musical protégé outlier who is paid $60,000 per hour to perform? If you say yes, you can buy a ticket to his show for $250 per ticket. 45 minutes he played in the subway, 1,077 people walked past him, only 7 stopped and listened to the music. From those people he eared $32.17 in tips. Interviews (n = 40) of people leaving the subway atrium. Findings: Very few remembered hearing any music at all. They were thinking about work and mentioned they were in a rush to get to work, most mentioned thinking about work-related tasks, no one with ear buds heard any sound at all.
“The behavior of one demographic remained absolutely consistent. Every single time a child walked past, he or she tried to top and watch. And every single time, a parent scooted the kid away.” -Gene Weingarten
Put Down your cell phone and close your laptop, this is no ordinary fiddler in the subway. This is Joshua Bell, people! 
There might be someone next to you in this life that is playing the stradivarius. BE PRESENT. Try Receive (the other person knows we are listening) Appreciate Summarize (I heard you say… clarification) Ask (a few questions I have Four Levels of Listening 1.) Downloading: “Ya, I know that already.” (closed mind) 2.) Object Focused: “Ooh, that data affirms or challenges what I know.” (open mind) 3.) Empathetic: “I am trying to stand outside of my world view and feel what you might feel.” (open heart) 4.) I am open to transformation; I will need to change to understand the depth and value of what I have heard.” (open heart/mind). I have shook my mind.
Inner focus: What is of interest to me? Knowing your values and your true north. This guides what you pay attention to. Example: How does Tony Frontier pay attention? Through photography. It will require a person to slow down in order to capture the moment. Photography is the passion. Hearing the stories of those one photographs unveils the unexpected.
Other focus: What are the interest of another? Look into their eyes.
Outer focus: What are the interest of the larger world? What is my passion, what are other people’s stories, how can I tell a story pulling information together from both of our worlds. Curiosity. What story does this picture tell you? Tell the narrative that transcends your own story.
Tony took an awesome picture of a business man paused momentarily to listen to a trumpet player on a busy city street sidewalk. He wondered if the businessman played the trumpet when he was a child? Or perhaps he wished he wasn’t carrying the briefcase anymore? Did he miss his passion? Connection to Goleman Focus book – know your passion; be open the unexpected, pay attention to what is going on around you. Be one of the 7 people who stopped and listened to the music.
“A wealth of information creates a poverty of attention.”
Nobel Prize Winning Economist, Herbert Simon, 19776/17/2014pre sence n.
1. A person who is present.
2. Current existence or occurrence.
3. A state of deep listening, of being open beyond one’s preconceptions
and historical ways of making sense. The importance of letting go of old
identities and the need to control; awareness that there is an emerging
future that depends on us.
#3 from Presence; by By Peter Senge, C. Otto Scharmer, Joseph Jaworski, Betty Sue Flowers
Leadership, Learning, Service & Research 