Stuck in Sydney at Sunrise!

Are you ready for a game-changer? Are you sure?

I was invited to speak in Sydney to 10,000 entrepreneurs from around the world.

Topic: Creativity Unleashed: 5 Habits of World-Class Innovators

Imagine you with more CREATIVITY... what changes? Do you have a blueprint to unleash creativity - in your own life and in the people around you?

Here's the "Sydney Question" and the rest of the story from Creativity Unleashed, pg 137...

Flying from New York City to Sydney, Australia is not something I would recommend doing on a regular basis. Sydney is a gorgeous city and New York is – well, New York – but the first time I made the trip, we left New York at 7 p.m. on a Friday evening. The sun was setting, and my plane would follow the sun’s path around the earth for roughly 24 hours, allowing for a brief refueling stop in Los Angeles. My fellow passengers and I did not see the sun again until about a half an hour before landing in Sydney on Sunday morning. Full of excitement to see Sydney, I dragged my belongings from the airport to downtown, just in time to attend a church service in the architectural marvel that is St. Mary’s Cathedral, adjacent to Hyde Park. That Sunday turned out to be an unbelievably beautiful sunny day, with the bluest sky and temperatures in the eighties… but I would not get to enjoy this day in its entirety.

My trip to Australia had been brought on through the request of a global entrepreneurship organization. I was there to speak to their members about Creative Leadership with a focus on becoming more creative as an individual and building a culture in your business that supports and sustains innovation. Since I had never made this trip and would be speaking on several consecutive days, I decided to allow an extra few days for some sightseeing and the chance to get used to the time change.

On that Sunday morning, I spent a few hours in downtown Sydney, caught my first glimpses of the Opera House, took a few dozen pictures of the landmark, and bought an unlimited subway, bus, and ferry pass for the week. Realizing that a lack of rest on the long flight and the disruption of a dramatic time difference was catching up with me, I took the train to my hotel and was checked in by early afternoon. I put my bags down in my room and thought a very brief nap might be refreshing. Refreshing it was. Brief it was not! When I bolted out of the bed, all was dark. Even though I didn’t have anything set on the schedule for Monday, I was in a slight panic. What time was it? Why was it dark? I felt like I had slept very well and very long, but how could it still be dark? Then I remembered that I fell asleep in the early afternoon, perhaps around 1:30pm. I paced around the room, looking out my window and opening the door to the quiet hallway. What time was it? 12:17. It must have been 12:17 AM. The clock in my room read loud and clear. I called the front desk to check the time, thinking that the clock could be wrong, but it was not. I tried to get back to sleep. No luck. I grabbed a book and started to read, hoping this might help me get back to sleep. Unsuccessful. For about half an hour, I went back to reading, then I took out my laptop and took a look through some notes for my speeches that week. Slowly, I started to think about the questions I was pursuing, which progressed through a series, including:

• How can I get back to sleep?
• How can I quiet my mind?
• What can I do to be productive since I’m wide awake?
• What would be a better use of this time?

Then, I stopped everything, stood up and briskly walked around the room a few times before I stopped and stared into my own eyes reflected in the full-length mirror on one of the walls. Better questions. These questions were fine, but there were much better questions to ask. What would be a great question for this moment? I nodded at my reflection in the mirror. Yes! This little extra chunk of time was a gift. What could I do with this time that would create a memory that I would cherish for the rest of my life? That was a much better question than the first few I had been asking. Several answers started popping into my head and the one I would choose left me invigorated. I would get back to Circular Quay to see the Opera House at sunrise. Not only that, but I would ride the subway there and cross the famous Sydney Harbour Bridge. As the train crosses that bridge, you have an incredible view of the harbor and Opera House. I looked online for the subway schedule and found that the earliest of the day from my stop was 4:17am. I would be on the first train of the new day. I would be among the first passengers to commute into Sydney on that Monday morning. I still had some time before I would leave the hotel, so I kept my focus on the question of creating a memory to cherish throughout my lifetime. I decided to video the experience and you can see a clip with the rest of the book videos.

That morning, I had the chance to see the sun’s first rays hit and reflect off the Sydney Opera House. There is very appropriate quote from Louis Kahn inside the Opera House: “The sun did not know how beautiful its light was, until it was reflected off this building.”

When the design competition for the building was being planned, the group essentially asked, “How can we design a building for the arts that is suitable for the arts?” Many cities around the world have since borrowed inspiration from Sydney, asking, “What could be our version of the Sydney Opera House?” Seattle’s Space Needle and San Antonio’s Riverwalk are just two examples.

Before leaving my hotel for the subway station, I spent a few minutes online looking up Sydney destinations that might help with the creation of a lifelong memory. I already had a few places that I planned to visit, but as I searched online, I stumbled upon “I’m Free Tours.” What? Although I rarely participate in formal tours, the title and the fact that I was looking to create a lifelong memory fed the intrigue. They run three free tours every single day. If you’d like to join one, all you need to do is show up at the tour’s starting location at the designated time. No sign ups or payments are required. A guide in a green shirt that declares “I’M FREE” will greet you and off you go. Sustainability of the free tours comes from tips at the conclusion of each tour. Their website proudly proclaims:

Independently owned and unfunded.

We do not accept kickbacks or incentives and are completely unfunded by any government or private body. Wishing to remain unbiased and independent, we strive to inform all participates of the BEST LOCAL sights, stories, transport, activities, restaurants and bars to help them get to know our cities like we do.

You can learn more about them here: www.imfree.com.au I decided that I would join the tour at the start. It was scheduled to last about 2 ½ hours, and I could duck out if it wasn’t what I hoped. Instead, it was more than I hoped. My guide that morning was Justine, the co-founder of I’m Free Tours in Sydney and Melbourne. She didn’t mention this to the group, but I had decided to stay close to her to get the most out of the tour and, as we walked from place to place, I asked her about the tour and how she got involved. She proceeded to tell me about the early days of the business, which occurred only about five years prior. Since “what can I learn?” is question that I like to let affect each day of my life, I asked Justine many questions. She was a graduate student studying architecture when she and her fiancé, Ross, began the business. They were looking for jobs, and not finding something that fit the way they hoped. While they continued their job search, they decided to run a few tours. The couple had spent some time touring Europe and they both had a great appreciation for their own home city, so “I’m Free Tours” was launched. Justine let me know that they now had a full schedule every day in Sydney and Melbourne, as well as a growing staff with the same enthusiasm and knowledge about these cities. My tour group was about forty people, which was fairly typical, but not even close to the largest groups they would frequently draw. In addition to learning about the unique small business, the tour itself was also excellent. We saw film locations from the Matrix, a hospital funded by the sale of rum, and heard countless great stories, including a crowd favorite about two creative, artistic, and entrepreneurial protestors. Some in the crowd liked the story. Some hated it. Some both liked and hated the story.

In the wee morning hours of March 18, 2003, Will and Dave got to work. Hauling a collection of equipment for their project, they climbed to the top of the tallest sail of the magnificent series of buildings in Circular Quay, known worldwide as the Sydney Opera House. Once at the top, the two painted a graffiti message to the world in three coats of red paint:

NO WAR

The very next day, a coalition of nations would declare war on Iraq. The pair of men were punished for their vandalism, including a $151,000 fine to help pay for the clean up the Opera House sail. Most of the fine money was raised creatively. Will Saunders and Dave Burgess created and sold “No War Snow Globes” with a replica of the Opera House containing their red graffiti inside. Thousands of the snow globes were sold at $20 each.

Danish architect and designer of the Sydney Opera House, Jorn Utzon, even sent Will and Dave autographed photographs of the Opera House. When Utzon won the design competition in January of 1957, he could not have anticipated the challenges the project would bring. One of the judges arrived late to the design review and pulled Utzon’s design, entry number 218, from the discarded pile. Although Utzon won the competition, he would never see the finished building with his own eyes. His design was selected, he would see pictures and videos of it, but Sydney did not allow him to return. While he oversaw construction, progress was extremely slow, and the budget was obliterated. To say that local officials were not pleased would be a dramatic understatement. But Sydney did eventually complete Utzon’s Opera House. How many times have you heard, “Sydney Opera House – it’s definitely on my bucket list. Right alongside the Eiffel Tower, Jerusalem, the Grand Canyon, and the Great Pyramids!

The last stop on our I’m Free Tour that Monday morning was one of the best places to photograph the Opera House. Virtually every tour attendee was still with us and most contributed with a meaningful tip. I did some math with rough estimates and have to say that Ross and Justine have found a great way to turn their passion and talent into a meaningful and profitable small business.

What could you do this year – this morning, or this weekend – that might create a memory you will cherish for the rest of your life?

an excerpt from Jonathan Fanning's latest book, CREATIVITY UNLEASHED!