The summary of ‘The ordinary superpower | Phil Terry | TEDxEast’

The video features a community organizer who shares insights on community building, collaboration, and the transformative power of seeking help. The speaker emphasizes the importance of embracing differences, vulnerability, and asking for help to foster meaningful connections and achieve common goals. Themes of building supportive communities, overcoming biases, and engaging with diverse perspectives are discussed. Key points include creating support groups, running collaborative initiatives, and emphasizing the ordinary self's potential for extraordinary achievements. The speaker encourages viewers to participate in collaborative activities, join reading groups, and engage with communities to address global challenges and shape a brighter future. A key takeaway is the value of community, collaboration, and vulnerability in personal and professional growth.

00:00:00

In this part of the video, the speaker introduces themselves as a community organizer who has learned a valuable lesson in community organizing. They share a story about their mother, who was a teacher and dedicated community builder. The speaker also discusses how they followed in their mother’s footsteps by creating support groups and coalitions in college. The main takeaway is the importance of building communities and working together to achieve common goals.

00:03:00

In this segment of the video, the speaker talks about embracing differences, working in an inner city youth program in New York before attending Harvard Business School. They share their experience of co-chairing an internet conference, focusing on building trust by involving students from 50 other MBA programs in organizing the event. The speaker then discusses becoming CEO of a startup, emphasizing the importance of creating a supportive community post-9/11. They highlight the value of collaboration and seeking help from diverse executives across different industries.

00:06:00

In this part of the video, the speaker discusses the transformative power of asking for help and being vulnerable. They describe running a company called Collaborative Gain that encourages executives to seek help from each other on challenging issues. The speaker also created a nonprofit called The Reading Odyssey to help adults reignite their learning through reading communities. They mention starting Slow Art Day to help people engage with art and museums, leading to global participation. The speaker attributes the success of these initiatives to tapping into the superpower of community and mentions reading “Thinking, Fast and Slow” by Daniel Kahneman, highlighting the importance of understanding biases and cognitive traps.

00:09:00

In this segment of the video, the speaker discusses confirmation bias and the challenge of only seeing what we already believe, hindering our ability to create the future. Despite years of research and success in behavioral economics, even experts like Daniel Kahneman make the same mistakes. Collaboration and seeking help from peers is highlighted as a solution to improve future thinking, but people often resist doing so due to reluctance to believe they have similarities with others. The speaker emphasizes the importance of vulnerability in collaboration, despite it being challenging, and credits their therapist for helping them understand these concepts.

00:12:00

In this segment of the video, the speaker emphasizes the importance of embracing one’s ordinariness to connect with others and seek help. They highlight the power of asking for help in a genuine manner to foster meaningful relationships. The speaker encourages viewers to take three assignments: ask someone for help, participate in a survey on collaborativegain.com to identify humble leaders, and engage in free collaborative communities like Slow Art Day. The speaker believes that by making these small changes in how we relate to the world, we can address major global crises and create a better future.

00:15:00

In this segment of the video, the speaker emphasizes the importance of joining a reading group to collaborate and be part of a community that can help individuals discover their potential in reading books. The main message is that embracing your ordinary self can lead to achieving extraordinary things. The speaker encourages viewers to believe in their capabilities and the power of books to change perspectives and shape a better future.