A Pattern of Five

by Danny Summers

Over the past week or so, a pattern has been emerging... A Pattern of Five!

Seeing the first major patterns then gave me the idea for this message to share today. But before I highlight the major ones that gave me this idea, I will first step back to some basic thoughts.

A Pattern of Five seems to repeat in so many things in our world:

• Five elements in nature: Earth, Water, Fire, Air and Ether (or Space).
• Five patterns in nature: Tessellations, fractals, line patterns, meanderings, foams, and waves.
• Five basic shapes in nature: circles, squares, triangles, hexagons, and rectangles.
• And in Traditional Chinese Medicine there is a "Five Element theory" relating to the emotions: fear, anger, joy, anxiety and sorrow.

One of our first learning experiences as children certainly involves a Pattern of Five... Five fingers and five toes!

Counting these little digits may be one of the first things we learn and remember and grouping them in a Pattern of Five will forever be part of our reasoning.

If we move on to think about a sport with a Pattern of Five, Basketball quickly comes to mind. If we were to grab any photo to be an iconic image of a Basketball team it should be the 1995-1996 starters for the Chicago Bulls... often considered the best of all time. I realize you may be a Celtic fan who wonders why I didn't pick a photo of the 1985-86 Celtics... names like Bird, McHale, Parish and Walton would also be appropriate.

But, do you know the game was actually invented in 1891 in Springfield, Massachusetts, by a Canadian physical education instructor James Naismith as a less injury-prone sport than football? Naismith was a 31-year-old graduate student when he created the indoor sport to keep athletes active indoors during the winter. He created the game with 5 Basic Ideas and 13 rules. Oh, you guessed it... it was with a soccer ball and two peach baskets!

A major Pattern of Five that I recently experienced was at Cultivate'24, during the opening day General Session. The keynote speaker was Chad E. Foster and his message was also the title of his book, Blind Ambition. Chad has an amazing story and one that should inspire all of us. Here are a few details from his website and the presentation...

"Can you imagine going blind in your early 20's? When most people were preparing for the adventure of adult life, Chad was watching the world he grew up with fade to black. But that didn't stop him from becoming the first blind person to graduate from the Harvard Business School leadership program and climbing the corporate ladder as a successful Finance/Sales executive. He works at Red Hat, one of the most innovative Tech companies and the world’s largest open-source software company. With determination, ambition, and drive, he created what Oracle said would be impossible. He gave hundreds of millions of people the ability to earn a living by becoming the first to create customer relationship software for the visually impaired."

Today, he is sharing his story with thousands. During his presentation at Cultivate'24, he broke down his Keys to Resilience into the Five Pillars he uses in his life and career. Following are just a couple of quotes I made note of when seeing Chad's presentation...

"When you stop and think about it, this is an incredible time to go blind."

"The best way to improve your vision is to stop looking around you and start looking deep inside you."

"I believe I would be less successful today if I could see."

 And here's a link to Chad's website and book: Chad E. Foster

And now for the other major Pattern of Five...

If you have seen The Fall Event 2024 program and sessions, you have already seen a Pattern of Five in the Early Bird Marketing Workshop on Sunday, September 22... The 5 Pillars of Successful Brand Marketing, facilitated by Steve Kendall and Kim Nelson. Here's a Preview:

Our next GROUPtalk LIVE on Thursday, August 8th will be a preview of the Early Bird Marketing Workshop at The Fall Event 2024. Here's an introduction to the August 8th preview:

What’s Your Marketing Action Plan (MAP)?
Join our next GROUPtalk LIVE on August 8th at 11 am to learn more about this year's Sunday Marketing Workshop and Tuesday’s Marketing Breakout Session.

1. Pre-Fall Event “Marketing Workshop,” Sunday, August 22nd from 3-6 p.m.
2. Follow-up Marketing Breakout Session Tuesday, September 24th, from 3 to 5 p.m.

This year, at The Fall Event 2024, we are dedicating more time for members to engage in “All Things Marketing.”

Sunday's Workshop: A special 3-hour Introductory Workshop designed to empower you through exploring Five Key Marketing Fundamentals.

• ONE: Define Your Brand & Market Position + Customer Journeys
• TWO: Design Your Marketing System & Assets
• THREE: Direct Your Marketing Plan
• FOUR: Develop and Evolve
• FIVE: Deliver Excellence

The Fall Event 2024 will also feature Tuesday's marketing Breakout Session that will allow attendees to discuss specific marketing topics... titled “What’s on Your Mind.” The informal marketing breakout session will allow members to share their successful marketing efforts with the group. It’s also a time when we can revisit various topics from Sunday’s Marketing Workshop.

Our goal is to continue offering attendees opportunities to learn current marketing methods while providing a platform for sharing ideas with others.

Are you registered for The Fall Event 2024? If not, it's time to get started!

Now, can you see why I think a Pattern of Five is something we should give attention to?

Establishing an attitude and position of Lifetime Learning is so important, for us all. The world of Garden Retailing is changing and we all are in this learning experience together, in what we call The Garden Center Group!