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Getting It Together

Posted by Joseph Riggio on Friday, August 25, 2006

Putting together the essentials makes all the difference ... especially when you get to the core idea ... “KEEPING IT SIMPLE”.

Hello Again,

I'm getting back to a morning routine ... at least for today. It makes perfect sense to me to experience an ebb and flow in things. If you go back just a few days to in my posting Time To Decide ... I wrote about Irving Dardik, M.D. from his book "Making Waves - Irving Darkik and His Superwave Principal" ... and you'll see I'm talking about just that - experiencing the ebb and flow.

I find it interesting in regard to the ebb and flow, that most folks I meet are working very hard to stay in "the Flow" permanently - and life just ain't that way! Anyone who knows anything about living things knows that life expands and contracts ... ebbs and flows.

I was reading earlier this morning about the passing of Maynard Ferguson, the great jazz trumpeter. I remember listening to him as a teenager and young adult fan (many, many years ago it seems). He was renowned for his ability to hit double high C notes - repeatedly and with precision. This alone would accord him a spot among the great trumpeters of all time. Yet his style was what caught me every time - the only recording of his most folks will be familiar with at all would probably be, "Gonna Fly Now" from the movie "Rocky" with Sylvester Stallone.

If you listen to his recordings you'll here the ebb and flow ... the movement of sound (some might call it a barrage of sound). And, as you listen to his recordings you might consider that here was a world-class musician who never really "made it" if you consider "making it" to mean world class fame and tons of money. Oh sure he did really well for himself, but he lived in a small niche that was largely outside of the mainstream view. However the most telling statement in his bio/obiturary that I was reading for was this one:

""My instrument is a thing of pleasure, and I play it only because I enjoy it," he once said. "The most important thing is doing what feels right for me."

- Copyright 2006 The Associated Press.

When you observe the life of outstanding individuals who are following their dream you'll often find a portrait of the ebb and flow of life. The ride they are on can seldom be described by a straight trajectory, more often the movement follows a series of sweeping waves ... where every peak matches an equally deep trough. Yet I'd guess, even these folks would prefer living in "the Flow" - maybe especially when they are in the trough.

This probably sounds familiar ... I haven't met anyone who hasn't been "in the trough" at one point or another in their lives. However, I have met folks who thoroughly get that, moving through the trough has as much value as riding the peaks.

The great "trick" has to do with where you are standing in relation to your experience ... regardless of whether you are moving through the trough or riding the peak.

Yesterday I wrote ... Keep It As Simple As Possible about this "trick." I'll say it again as simply as possible: Moving from "What's Not Working" to "What's Working". From my point of view, what I'm referring to begins with a shifting of position - allowing you to experience either location ... at the bottom of the trough or the top of the peak as equal.

There are just locations on the overall journey ... and you can't do the journey without experiencing the whole'thang. I begin my work with many of my clients when they are experiencing the trough. This has been referred to as the "presenting problem" - a phrase left over from the days of psychotherapy and consulting by those who use it. I actually understand that, the presenting problem represents what my clients don't want ... not what they do. So I only use this as information to focus the conversation to be having about what they do want ... or moving to the position of "What's Working".

Now this may be a case where you have to take a step backwards first to take a number of steps forward. When you are experiencing a trough you may not be be noticing for - "What's Working (at least not without some training and a great deal of commitment to do so). So, I often lead my clients back to a time where they remember being organized in regard to What's Working first ... "Remember a time when you were magnificent ... when you couldn't put a foot down wrong ..." would be an example of a phrase familiar to my clients.

I often remind them that the time I'm asking them to remember doesn't have to be a profound moment in their life, in fact it can often be better to begin from a simple, more ordinary, more mundane moment ... like preparing a great meal (even by accident), or washing the dishes ... the more mundane sometimes the better.

Okay ... I'll give you Irv Dardik's secret:

  • Every wave has both peaks and troughs within it - no wave can be only peak - there must be a trough as well (the "trick" consists of getting the pattern just right)

  • All waves build up from small waves to big waves, from the smaller waves pushing forward - through the troughs and over the peaks.

  • And, remember - all the substance of the wave was stored in the trough ... no trough, no peak ... the bigger the trough, the bigger the peak.

    • Essentially what I've found has been that when you get the pattern right you'll be able to be noticing for ... "What's Working" and operate in relation to the information/data gathered from that position.

    So, what makes this so damn important?

    When you are operating from the position of "What's Working" you're noticing for: WHAT YOU WANT ... NOT WHAT YOU DON'T WANT!

    In this way you are organizing to get what you want as well. Let me make this simple again:

  • "Where you put your attention is where you'll get your results."

    • What I find myself doing primarily can be most simply described as well as: linking together strategies and people or if you prefer ideas and action. I find having a process for doing this makes a huge difference when you're committed to getting your outcomes ... both on your own and with others.

    Enjoy the waves!

    Joseph Riggio, Ph.D.
    Princeton, NJ

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    (2) Comments • (0) Trackbacks • Permalink

    Surfers are familiar with the wave that
    “looks big” but doesn’t have enough of a
    trough in front of it.

    And I’d refer you to the “law of oscillation”
    described by C S Lewis in
    “The Screwtape Letters”
    and his remarks on how this oscillation arises
    from the nature of human beings
    as part temporal, part eternal.

    Mike Gray on Saturday, August 26, 2006

    To have mountains, there has to be valleys too grin

    Allison

    abriggs on Saturday, August 26, 2006

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