I was inspired by the talkings and writings of Jamie Wheal and Adam Curtis on this subject recently. Describing the collapse of what we perceive to be benign authority – religious, political and corporate.
Scandals that have rocked our trust. Our privacy being used and abused. The giants dodging Corporation Tax. The manufacturers skipping on Compliance. Questioning motive. Being emotive therefore. The list goes on.
In some cases we can vote, maybe with our feet. But what does this call for? Simple, a
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If you’ve followed my work you’ll know that I am a big proponent of states versus skills. But as I’ve said before let’s not throw the baby out with the bathwater as skills still have their place. Often they are the foundation to one’s state. And if the pressure comes on we sink to our lowest form of training, so a strong base is still really important. So perhaps it’s worth looking at some of the skills we need to consider prior
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The future is stranger than you think. Not quite. The future is stranger because you think. I’ve always been fascinated with my inability to perceive the future. No matter how hard I try, I can only get so far. Which is often not far enough, and then I give up. But when I was reading The Future is Faster than you Think by Diamandis and Kotler I began to understand why.
In fairness they eased me in, noting “it’s not easy for any of
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The overall phases of performance often boil down to 4 things – struggle, release, flow and recovery. To boil this down even further you are either winning or learning. Like many good parallels I’ve drawn this one from sport. A cycling term that I first came across whilst watching The Least Expected Day. A Netflix produced documentary series focusing on the Movistar Team’s 2019 Grand Tour campaigns.
If you are winning so to speak, you are in flow. At your best, peak
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This is the strap line for the well known outdoor brand The North Face. You won’t find any adverts here but it turns out they are on to something. I was listening to a podcast (Flow Sessions) with Jason Silva who was interviewing Michael Pollan (author of articles and books about about the places where nature and culture intersect).
They described the difference between childhood and adulthood as explore versus exploit. In our childhood we are busy exploring life. Inquiring, penetrating, examining
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In Paulo Freire’s book Pedagogy of the Oppressed he talks about dialogue. Where we name the world together. A wonderful mantra for coaching, leadership and life. But this got me thinking about other forms of conversations. Perhaps less useful, or maybe just a right of passage. If we know where it ends, then we need to know where it starts. And where it might get stuck.
Dialogue – not just a conversation between two people. It’s also an attempt to name the
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It might be fair to say that there is a bit of stigma attached to the word sensitive. ‘Oh don’t be so sensitive’. And for that reason perhaps it doesn’t get the air time it deserves. But after all we have 5 (if not more) senses so we have to pay attention to them.
We need to be sensitive. We need to be sensitive to the conditions around us, and our conditioning. Our energy sources and the things that trigger our
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In Feb 2018 I posted a vlog – ‘How flow can help us to keep pace with the rise of the machines’. In this posting I tackle the opportunity from the other direction. When I was reading The Future is Faster than you Think by Diamandis and Kotler the first chapter made me realise what would happen when the future (e.g. technology) converges with optimal performance. In short if the performance of technology increases then the performance of humans must also increase.
It sounds obvious
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What’s the sound of one hand clapping? I digress but in doing so I reveal my inspiration – ‘zen questions’, head scratchers through and through.
Coaching or powerful conversations merely accelerate learning. We privilege the fact that the other person knows the answer. They know it now. But they don’t know that now. This question draws that knowing out. Bit of a hunch or guess maybe. But better to be out in the open.
Play around with the timescales, bring them in closer if that’s
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Whacky question I know, but here is an easier starting point. Someone says they are feeling a bit angry. What’s that telling you? What is your anger telling you? If your anger could speak what would it say? Here we are are reacting to what is being shared.
But we can also go on the offensive. Splitting the atom, data gathering, intelligence. If your body, heart and mind could talk, what would it say? Never mind your soul or spirit. Take them on one by one.
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