a lot and well it wasn’t good in a way
the very first memory I have of a major
can’t was bacon we grew up in a
religious organization that said you
couldn’t eat bacon it was an unclean
meat according to the Old Testament but
at the time I was a child and when you
hold back bacon from a child you really
got to ask yourself what are you doing
so then at one point grade 6 everything
changed
Jeff could have bacon you know what do
to a kid that you said you couldn’t have
bacon and then all of a sudden you give
him bacon he starts questioning
everything in the world which is cool
because now that helped me that helped
me a lot I coached volleyball now and
this is my only rule because that
horrible four-letter word gets into the
back of your brain your subconscious and
turns you completely into somebody that
will not learn anymore which is very
negative
so my only rule at camp says don’t use
that four-letter word and so my favorite
my favorite moment ever in volleyball
four years ago we just won the Campbell
try coach at Winston all senior boys so
we just want the camel tournament really
happy Wow want to turn the next day I’m
teaching grade nines or little nine and
ten-year-olds boys and girls had
overhead surf and I gave this little
girl the ball so yeah throw it up hit as
hard as you can right and and she looks
me lip trembling I can’t do a coach well
you kidding me and I lose I freaked out
on her the whole gym stops what is he
doing the poor little girl lips
trembling grabs the ball I said come on
I believe in you can do it grabs the
ball throws it up it hits that thing as
hard as she can just barely rolls over
the net the crowd the whole gym goes
wild and the look on her face that look
that’s why I do what I do because she
proved she could do something impossible
that day I could imagine the story she
told her parents and she got home mommy
daddy guess what I can overhand serve so
I hate that word because it’s the only
thing holding all of us back one year I
had an assistant coach called a kid dumb
and I said after that I will never ever
allow someone else choose my assistant
coaches because everybody has a
superpower I don’t know if you knew that
if you don’t believe that – I got a
sticker for you you have to believe that
though because we’re all different we’re
all weird I didn’t fit in as a kid I was
really different I still am really
different because I heard I heard a lot
of bad things when I was a kid I didn’t
believe him though I was told can’t a
lot but again somebody helped me believe
in different still to this day I believe
differently I wear mismatched socks I
don’t believe in cutlery organizers
they’re silly I know you’re thinking
like well Jeff how do you find spoons
you just grab one it’s so stupid
I don’t fold my clothes when I pack for
trips it’s packing everything in there
because you don’t have to listen to what
everyone’s told you you can live a
different life but this is what we think
still stop screaming cut in lines but
you go back in your mouth that last one
was weird some reason I’d rule if gum
well what is that what are we doing when
you tell somebody that when we take an
authoritative position when you say hey
you can’t step outside the red circle
what are we actually telling somebody am
I gonna am I gonna oh or you’re not
allowed to give away gifts at at Ted
well here have one as adults we use this
as an ego boost we use this to try to
say well I’m important I’ve got to tell
everybody what to do today I I have
power but that’s not power I believe in
what Oscar Schindler called power having
the power to do anything you want but
choosing not to that to me is power
Justin actually one time after he saw me
speak told me he’s like you’re a girl’s
mindset guy and I read this book after
he told me thank you Justin there’s two
types of people that’s world growth
fixed mindset think about that some
people believe what you were born with
is what you’re given that’s it
that’s your box that’s it worn down whoa
well good luck
but then Carol Dweck comes around and
says well guys we’ve had this research
for years you know there’s a study done
years and years ago on teachers
believing in kids did you know if a
teacher thinks your kids smart your your
kids gonna get a better grade conversely
if a teacher thinks your kid isn’t that
smart they’re probably not gonna get a
good grade we’ve known that for years
but we don’t do anything about it no
teachers do anything about it well after
today you can do something different
about that you can choose to believe in
you can choose not to put them into a
little box or say no you can’t though
you shouldn’t it’s time we started
believing in people because that’s what
happened to me every high school teacher
I had asked if I had attention deficit
disorder doesn’t grade six I had a
teacher Jocelyn Davis that said it’s
okay to be different and then then that
helped me in grade seven my teacher mr.
Hall taught me how to public speak and
he made it okay to be different because
he allowed me to talk like Martin Luther
King jr. at the start of my speech I
have a dream my four little chats
literally how I started the speech in
grade seven and I won regionals
I lost him provincials because the topic
was racism Chinese boy beat me knocking
the same thing about it I probably
should have lost but then in high school
I had a coach named Cal toffman who also
believed in me I also had hockey coaches
that believed me and parents that
believed in me and a family that
believed in me so this weirdo kid that
never fit in he was slowly finding a way
that maybe being different is the right
way maybe that’s the way we’re supposed
to live our lives maybe we don’t have to
this is dangerous though if you keep
telling people they can’t you’re not
stopping them from doing anything you
can’t tell people that guy and if you
don’t believe me go coach volleyball
coach them go talk to kids so I tell my
boys are on that way and they go that
way I tell him to jump they sit nobody
likes being told what to do me included
so we have to choose a different way but
we’ve known this for 20 years the late
80s when we did this just know just say
no campaign it actually increased drug
usage because well what’s what’s the
message just say no we’ll just say no to
what marijuana what maybe I’ll try that
and it actually increased drug usage do
you think telling kids don’t have sex is
a good way to stop kids having from
having sex it doesn’t work I had I had a
dad in Saskatoon one time so I was like
Jeff oh no you’re talking about my wife
telling my son to shovel driveway I go
20 minutes later he still sit on the
couch so what are you doing he’s like
mom told me what to do don’t want to do
it oh okay next day this smart smart
father he’s gonna think his son next day
it snows same thing happens but he
doesn’t tell us that anything
about to go to bed son hey hey dad what
aren’t you gonna shovel the driveway dad
said yeah it’ll melt woke up the next
morning a son shoveled the driveway
he’s like it works stop telling people
what to do and challenge them give them
an opportunity telling somebody what to
do just inflates your ego my first
impostor you remember this moment back
when you’re a kid when you learned that
maybe the world isn’t what you seemed
great eight I got the lead role in the
musical it was like a 67 page script and
I was so excited then I started reading
about how many lines I had to memorize I
thought I couldn’t do it was impossible
opening night I killed it I nailed it
didn’t make one mistake and I learned
whoa my god what if again what if the
world isn’t what we think it is what if
it’s so much better nicer cooler sweeter
and then you get into the business world
they go through business faculty and I
learn all about business and then this
is the world well you can’t sell it you
can’t buy that
I still remember being left out of
meetings because my business model was
flawed because you can’t care about
people or the other one picking your own
price like actually Carol people say
well if you can’t afford that what if we
can charge a better price well you can’t
do that sound business model it’s
working don’t believe what other people
tell you he doesn’t believe in other
people but he also doesn’t think that
he’s the smartest if you read the Virgen
way he says the seven most used words in
his office I’m not sure what do you
think that’s seven guys like this that
are trying to invent the future then
they don’t care about what other people
are saying but those are two easy
examples this is my hero Ricardo Semler
wrote this book in 1993 he runs a
business that does heavy duty
manufacturing in Brazil in the 80s with
a company that has no rules you don’t
have a time to show up you pick your own
salary and you pick your own vacations
in 1993 he also said they don’t have a
dress code and he learned that when he
came in on the weekends he noticed
something funny why does everybody dress
differently on the weekends and they do
of the day the one we can be shut up and
found that out the next money said Kyle
should dress comfortably than somebody
what if we lose a contract cuz you’re
not dressed up if somebody doesn’t want
to hire us because you’re not dressed up
that’s not the type of customer
and in 1993 the coolest part of this
book at the end he has the employee
manual and in there Semco women in 1993
he was championing women in Brazil
because he realized they did not have
equal rights he realized they were gonna
struggle in the workplace in 1924 years
ago this guy was doing things that some
companies to this day can’t figure out
that to me is a leader we don’t want to
try new things because this is what we
assume it’s 2017 guys all those
individuals I just mentioned have failed
much more than we have you have to get
over that you have to get over being
crazy and when people call it say that
you can’t think about a 1987a Jamaican
bobsled team you cannot do that but the
coolest part of this story isn’t the
fact they went go look up this story
Jamaica has sent a bobsled team ever
since this day that means these guys
started a movement they actually did
something they actually changed and they
said to all those people that said no
you can’t they said you know what we
just did that’s amazing
Billy Beane reinvented how we look at
baseball stats but I love the Boston Red
Sox
the owner says to him the first move are
going going through the wall always gets
his face smashed in that’s what you do
but that’s why you get the reward you
get rewarded for the trouble as a kid I
made fun of my mom’s cooking one time
she’s like just make your own food then
Jeff you don’t say that to a little fat
kid it’s like throwing dice at a gambler
so I started making cookies and I made
really good cookies and I still make
really good cookies but I got to a
plateau and that’s all I made and I
never thought I could make anything else
and I still to this day when I teach
class I always say like I’m not smart at
anything I’m only better than you at one
thing making good cookies I make a
really good cookie this was impossible
to me though I always thought banana
chocolate chip loaf would be so
impossible to make so I don’t know what
happen one day I just had this little
voice in the back of my head say and I
did it’s such an easy recipe just use
too much butter and too much chocolate
you’re good CBBC rule you can never use
too much chocolate bacon butter or
cheese yeah so who’s the worst person
you can say can’t – it’s yourself we do
it all the time though
well I can’t go out after with the
craves no I don’t know anybody going
well I gotta do something well I can’t
stay during
break I got stop it oh they’re just of
my favorite professor in university in
the first day of class he gives us a
handout called Pygmalion and management
in the Galatea effect same handout that
every Harvard undergrad gets in the
first day well he got my attention out
Pygmalion and management is on
expectations whatever you expect in the
workplace you’re gonna get think about
it just like Carol Dweck’s book just
like students whatever you expected them
you’re gonna get the Galatea effect is
on yourself what do you expect of
yourself you’re gonna get telling a
university student those really cocky at
the time that concept was mind-blowing
because I realize that idea whatever you
want to do in life whatever it’s Tony
Robbins the secret affirmations it’s all
true if you can believe in yourself
that’s the hardest part and you got to
remind yourself it’s not gonna happen
easily I realized this when I started
looking through my computer and to this
day my file for strat lab is plans to
take over the world and my presentation
file is awesome presentations all my
passwords are encouraging words to
myself throughout the last five years
I’ve been slowly trying to tell myself
you can do it because I don’t know who
else is gonna do that for me sometimes
and then there’s a negativity horn oh my
goodness born out of big idea camp one
we wanted to make sure high school
students wouldn’t get negative in our
office so the second you get negative
restart gossiping you get a shot of air
horn in your ear
alerting everybody that there’s a
negative Nancy around and don’t talk to
them what a cool idea actions speak
louder than words don’t just say we
believe in entrepreneurship set up a
program where you’re gonna actually
start companies and help people talk is
cheap you guys change has happened for
years when we say can when we say we put
a back up against the wall and say you
know it’s not right that’s when we
actually truly change things at one
point it’s gonna get hard at one point
you’re gonna be asked to do something
when the entire crowd is against you and
I want you to not give in I know you can
because barbara Lee did she’s a hero to
me Barbara Lee was a congressperson
during the September 11th attacks three
days after September 11th on September
14th Congress went to a vote to allow
the United States military to use any
force necessary to rid the world of that
terrorist attack – Barbara that was very
dangerous
very scary that was an open-ended war
ticket so she voted no she was the only
one in the United States Congress that
voted against it ten years later when
they cover the report again they said
she was the only one that was right she
got over 50,000 hate mail sent to her
after that vote and she was voted back
in twice more service to hope for
humanity read the story I don’t have
time to share it all with you today but
my third impossible’ starting a company
during a recession in the world and then
in little old Saskatchewan nobody said
you can no one’s gonna tell you you can
but we did it we’re an inclusive
employer now or a four to 40 employer we
have nine employees and it all just
started with a little dream from two
guys that wanted to start a company
based on caring we’re now starting a
secondary company building websites for
people for really cheap hiring high
school students because we believe in
this community we know it’s going to
work because I don’t know what you guys
like I know the budget came out yes
that’s a bad thing
get into the it’s good it’s growing we
get to do cool things like big idea camp
so it’s a high school camp that we do
for kids to teach them about business
last year was amazing on the very last
day Eric Dale and CEO of Connexus had
his business cards on him and have them
all the student said hey when you’re out
of school call me we’ll find you a job
we also this is my favorite project
though Tyler great Carmical outreach and
our company created a strat plan to
actually end homelessness in Regina no
it’s not impossible stop saying that
medicine had already did it with the
housing first initiative and last month
the city just voted in Carmichael’s
moving buildings and you guys we are one
step closer to ridding our city of
homelessness and that to me is amazing
we’re all told can’t a lot as we were
kids it’s not an excuse to tell
ourselves now or anybody else around us
it all takes somebody to believe in you
and if you still do you still don’t
think you can do it at strat lab on
Friday afternoons for SC or 1:30 to 3:30
we set up a little thing called Learning
Friday where we take people’s ideas to
market two weeks ago I had a call from
art and he had an idea for a mousetrap
art sixty five he don’t know how to take
a mousetrap to market last Friday we set
up a Kickstarter and you’ll see in the
next two weeks his Kickstarter if you
don’t believe in yourself we will
believe in you talk to me on a Friday
afternoon for anything at all for the
next generation you guys encourage
somebody stop saying that dirty
a four-letter word thank you [Applause]