Okay, I'm apologizing in advance for the slightly self-serving, self-congratulatory tone of this post, but...
I was right with the Surprise stuff.
For over three years, I blogged incessantly about it right here.
I wrote the seminal book on it (shame on you if you ain't got one yet).
I spoke at conferences and in boardrooms about it.
And I must admit, while nicely accepted, the concept of the power of Surprise didn't exactly set the world on fire.
But then I got to TED.
Yesterday, the Surprise, uber-eye-popping announcements by Microsoft (new browser named Pivot and a mapping program that replicates what it must be like to be Superman) were topped only by the largesse Pow! laid down by Google who gave away a new Nexus 1 phone to every participant at both Long Beach and Palm Springs. To say that the gathered elite were buzzing all night with (my favorite term) Euphoric Shock is a supreme understatement.
Then this morning, the 500 fervent attendees of TEDActive in Palm Springs erupted like Mount Vesuvius when TED Head Chris Anderson made a Surprise live, on-stage appearance to open the day.
This afternoon, the brilliant graphic artist Marian Bantjes wowed the place with her dissertation on the unexpected and the power of Surprise. One step further--her quote in the official TED guide: "I would like to be remembered as someone who was always full of Surprises."
The hits just keep on coming. And there's still this evening...and all day tomorrow.
So what did I learn today?
Sorry again, but I learned that I was right. I learned that Surprise is perhaps the most effective tool in communicating, selling and getting into people's souls. Unheralded, underappreciated, indeed. But TED has proven to me that its time has come.
And has showed me that, as it pertains to timing, perhaps I was a little early.
Well, better late than never, n'est ce pas?