Five quick questions
TEDxManitoba is thrilled that author, counsellor, and social media enthusiast David Zinger will speak at our event on February 9th, 2012. David, a prolific writer with over 2000 blog posts to his credit, holds a Master’s Degree in Education. He founded the Employee Engagement Network.
What motivates you?
Motivation seems like an old question compared to engagement. I am engaged by results, relationships, energy, organizations, community, strengths, and family. I love ignorance or not knowing. I embrace change and uncertainty and love to apply the principles of improvisation to daily living.
What do you do for a living and why?
I think I focus more on what living does for me, and that is everything. As part of ‘work’ I have pulled dead cows off of trains; I taught Educational Psychology for 25 years while also working as an employee assistance counsellor in a distillery for 15 years.
I wrote two quirky book on work, Zengage: How to Get More Into Your Work to Get More Out of Your Work and Assorted Zingers: Poems and Cartoons to Take a Bite Out of Work.
My primary focus these days is on employee engagement, or how people connect to their workplace, each other, the organization, etc. On a cold February Saturday in St. Vital, four years ago, I founded the Employee Engagement Network. I hoped to have a few people to talk with about engagement. We’re now at 4400 people and still talking.
Which TED talk do you think everyone should watch?
Eddi Reader’s “What You’ve Got”
Why are you excited to speak at TEDxManitoba?
I have loved TEDTalks since the early 1990s and it is wonderful to be part of something I have respected and learned so much from. I have loved Richard Saul Wurman’s perspectives from Information Anxiety for over 20 years and perhaps this is the tiniest of paybacks to him for all that he has given me.
TEDxManitoba is perfect for this work. I bring an expansive and open prairie perspective to my work. I have lived my life on the Canadian prairies and this prairie influence includes a wide open view of engagement, a down-to-earth perspective on work, a connection to people and community, being on the same level as everyone else, and never having to say look out below.
I am excited about learning about the ecotone between honeybees and humans and see if we can go from understanding honeybee communities to having a social media mingle that enriches both honeybees and humans.
What is your idea worth spreading?
We will benefit by thinking and acting differently inside our hives. There is a power in the small. We have received so much from honeybees and we can give something back. It is okay to not know what you are doing. Let’s play. Let’s see what comes next.
