Mindset is an important element in determining the likely success of anything we attempt to do. A lot of research and literature is emerging on the importance of a growth mindset over a fixed mindset. A growth mindset is one where you are prepared to give something a go, you're prepared to fail in order to learn, and you are keen to learn. A fixed mindset is one where you often closed to the possibility of learning a new skill, and reluctant to give things a go because you are scared of failure. I personally do not think that a person is either one or the other. I think that everyone is capable of either mindset at different times in their lives and when dealing with different situations.
I have a very fixed mindset when it comes to dealing with social situations, due to my selective mutism, but I have a growth mindset when it comes to helping my mental state or getting fit and losing weight. I still find it paralysing to attend meetings with more than one other person (and go out of my way to avoid it), but I have no problem committing to not snacking, getting daily exercise or practising mindfulness to help improve my body and mind.
I'm writing about mindset because I was fortunate enough to be asked by Academy9 to film one of their school engagement events at Breadalbane Academy in Aberfeldy last year. Academy9 is a community engagement event for the A9 dualling process, and is being organised by Transport Scotland. The whole event was amazing, and as you can see in the video below, the kids had a great time adopting non-traditional ways of learning. The underlying theme of the two and a half days was growth mindset, and how it is OK to make mistakes and look for alternative ways of learning or doing something to have a successful outcome. Inspirational videos were shown of people adopting a growth mindset to overcome their personal challenges in order to succeed. The kids were massively engaged and inspired by the experience, and hopefully they have taken that mindset forward into their traditional learning. I was equally inspired.
I wanted to take a risk, and produce a video for the event that embodied the spirit of growth mindset, and really showed the fun element of this type of learning. Often, these type of videos follow a standard approach that is quite mundane and pretty boring. There are lots of awkward talking heads, generally of the organisers saying how wonderful the event is, lots of sssllllloooooooowwwwwww mmmmooooootttttttiiiiiiioooooonnnnnnn shots of people walking and smiling (why do people do that - padding?!), and lots of fairly 'nice', but uninspiring and unrepresentative footage. So, I thought i'd take a risk and do it slightly differently.
I didn't want a corporate graphic opening, because this event did not feel corporate at all. The event felt quite spontaneous, which is why I picked this first clip as the opening one. There were toy cars that could be dragged back and then released to zoom forward. The kids decided to have a spontaneous race, which I happened to capture. This one shot sums up the fun element of the whole event and the interaction between the kids and the Academy9 staff. It sets the tone for the rest of the video. I didn't want any awkward talking heads, which is why I only used voice overs, and most of the voice overs are the children saying why the event WAS great and what they got out of it, and not organisers saying why the event SHOULD be good and what the kids should get out of it.
The clips were selected to show the range of activities, the interaction, the kids experimenting and making mistakes, learning, and trying new approaches - and not one clip of anyone walking in slow motion! It really shows the range of activities on offer to the kids, but also the scope of the event, and how kids can flourish when they are given an environment where they have the freedom to grow, make mistakes, learn from people involved in industry, but also have direct and fun interaction with them. I feel the video works, and I'm glad I took the risk to do it differently, but that is something I've always done. I always try and do corporate videos differently, when I'm given the opportunity. I feel you have to, because there's so many 'standard' corporate videos out there, that if you want your video to be noticed, it has to be different.
I'm currently working on another two corporate videos, and they are radically different, but I am confident that they will work. I'd rather stretch myself and fail some times than have a fixed mindset and produce mediocrity all the time. I'm so glad many of my clients trust me to adopt that mindset, to take a risk. Get in touch, if you are inspired to grow your business or organisation through interesting corporate video - info@morroccomedia.com