“A ship in port is safe, but that is not what ships are for. Sail out to sea and do new things.” – Rear Admiral Grace Hopper

It was September, and we were sailing through a hurricane in the Caribbean on our way back to port at Norfolk.  I’d roped myself to part of the ship so I could go outside and spend time “experiencing” the hurricane first hand.

It’s good to be young and bullet proof.

I found that if I looked straight forward as we rode the waves at one moment I would see nothing but blue sky ahead, as we rode up, and then nothing but water when the wave took us down.  If I wanted to see the sky when we’d hit the low end, I had to look up quite a ways.  What a ride!

I think there’s similarities between the experience of my wild ride on a flat-bottomed amphibious ship and PPM.  You definitely want to strap yourself in, and the journey will be wild, not just all up.  We’re excited to see the blue sky, and a little fearful when you can only see blue sky by looking up.

Just like sailing, PPM isn’t all just up…or down.  You’re going to see both ups and downs.  But when you’re riding the bottom part of the wave it doesn’t mean you’re sinking, it means “up” is next.  Translation?  There are so many variables that it’s actually doubtful that the bottom of the wave is a reflection of real life, any more than nothing but blue sky at the top is.

If we ride the ups and downs of a radio station as if these swings were reality we’re going to sap the creativity out of our stations, because anything new you try is going to cause some sort of reaction.  We want to feel “safe” and secure.  So often innovation and risk taking evaporate.

What if reality isn’t whether you’re riding a hurricane, up and down,and instead is what you dowhile you’re riding a hurricane?