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Keep It As Simple As Possible …
Posted by Joseph Riggio on Thursday, August 24, 2006The single “trick” that pulls the entire model of the work I do together ... and empowers you to produce your outcomes even in the midst of chaos.
Good Evening All,
The trend continues ... here I am at the end of the day making sure I get my daily dose of dialogue with all you all (still some lingering effect of being in Tiburon and "playing Southern").
A quote attributed to Albert Einstein has been running through my mind today:
"Everything should be as simple as it is, but not simpler." - Albert Einstein (from BrainyQuote.com)
I've been thinking about this one in relation to a number of things I've been doing and writing about lately. If I go back to some of my earliest posts in the revived BlogNostra I was writing about and presenting my ideas about what I do. I wanted to address this question, "What do I do?" to create a frame for you as you encounter what I write about here. If you get what I do - then you'll get much, much more value from what you read here as well.
As I've been thinking about this I decided I wanted to address this question using Einstein's attributed quote as the lens of consideration.
"What would be the simplest way to describe what I do - what you're reading about here - that adequately describes it without oversimplifying it?"
I begin from an assumption, you want to receive value from the time you spend here - reading what I write, reading the comments people make in regard to what I write ... and especially when you take time to leave a comment about what I've written here yourself, it makes perfect sense to me that you want significant value for your time spent. In answering this assumption I continue to keep you in mind as I write - both in regard to what I'm writing about, and how I go about writing it (that explains why your comments are so valuable and appreciated by me - "immediate feedback").
So what would be the simplest way to describe what you'll find as you read my posts here?
I describe a way to move from considering the world from the perspective of "What's Not Working" - to - "What's Working"
I don't think I can make it simpler - what I write about could be described as a multitude of ways to address the world from the perspective of, "What's Working." This unique perspective changes everything when you begin to adopt it as the basis of how you operate in the world. And, keeping it simple makes it totally accesible.
The idea doesn't rely on hoochie-goochie science or even wishful thinking and I definitely don't peddle a brand of pseudo-magic. This precludes the idea of possibility thinking or manifestation thinking as well. In other words what I'm presenting goes beyond any form of imagining the world into being - even when it might seem that way at first glance.
What seems similar to some folks I've spoken with revolves around the fundamental shift in perspective in what I do - moving from "What's Not Working" to "What's Working." If it remained just that - a shift in perspective from one position to another - then I would have to agree that what I say I'm not doing and what I'm doing would seem more similar then they are in fact.
One of the significant distinctions in what I'm doing has to do with going beyond just thinking or believing, it even goes beyond thinking or believing AND working hard. What I include in what I do moves beyond knowledge or the application of knowledge to the development of skills - in real time. One of the most critical skills that I address ... UPDATING.
The model I'm working out of presumes a totally dynamic environment/context - saturated with information/data emerging from it endlessly.
The ability to deal with an environment/context like the one I describe above - i.e.: totally dynamic and saturated with information/data, especially when you consider that the information/data emerges from the environment/context endlessly - requires you to free yourself of the desire to project the past forward. This means you are not depending on historical patterns to predict the current or future state of the environment/context or what will happen in it.
This prepares you to operate in relation to a chaotic environment/context - regardless of whether the chaos exists in relation to a business, professional, social or personal environment/context, or even some combination of these. The single "trick" I present in a multitude of ways has to do with operating from "What's Working" and the position that allows you to operate in this way.
One aspect of this "trick" has to do with organizing you to "noticing for" - in relation to where you are going - regardless of the environment/context or what you find happening in it. This aspect of the "trick" works in conjunction with noticing for (from the position of "What Works") in a teleological frame - or from a future-based consideration.
You can only succeed at operating in this way when you are in fact noticing for "What's Working" - and not at all when you are noticing for "What's Not Working. Noticing for "What's Not Working" prevents you from seeing the information/data present in the current environment/context ... only what you won't find present in the environment/context.
A dynamic environment/context saturated with information/data demands you are noticing for - "What's Working" to even hope to keep up and move forward ... otherwise you are virtually guaranteed to become overwhelmed by the inherent unpredictability and chaos.
This single question, "What's Working?" - shifts your entire perspective and operating position. Keep it simple ...
Joseph Riggio, Ph.D.
Princeton, NJ
Join me in the upcoming MythoSelf Advanced Program ... I'll be leading in October 20-22 in Princeton, NJ (at the AmeriSuites Hotel on US. Rt. 1). You'll find more information as well as a link to download the program PDF on the MythoSelf.com site.
[NOTE: If you are interested in attending this particular program with me as the lead presenter you'll want to do what you can to attend this program, as I have absolutely no plans to present another MythoSelf Advanced Program this year or next ... I'll share with you that this program gets among the most outstanding reviews of all the programs we run. ... One of the attendees at the recent MythoSelf Facilitator's Training program in Tiburon who's attend this program as well summed it up well ... AWESOME!!!]
(1) Comments • (1) Trackbacks • Permalink
I’m interested in how to apply what you’re saying in the “real” world...I spent the last entire two days with people on our board for a board retreat who focused the whole time on what isn’t working. I became uncomfortable and even left the room a couple of times to put myself together again. They wore me slick.
The field I work in focuses mainly on what isn’t working, what’s missing, and how to fix it, so I’m constantly surrounded by people who lean in this direction. It doesn’t have to be this way, but when I lean the other way and attempt to gently shift the paradigm with these folks, I usually get one of three things: a “you’re really young and naive - you’ll see how it really is one day,” or “come back down to earth,” or “to make things better, you have to acknowledge all that’s wrong/missing first” (or some variation of any of these) and usually in a condescending, patronizing tone. What’s interesting is over the two days, the group was suppose to develop a strategic direction for the organization...well, it didn’t happen. I think primarily b/c of what you’ve said - in order to move forward, it helps to notice for what is working. They weren’t going to do this.
Whenever a new idea or an innovative approach was offered to the group, it got shot down with a hundred bullets of why it wouldn’t work. Eventually, why bother opening your mouth? Some of these folks aren’t aware that they’re conditioning some of us eager, excited young pups who want to learn! to just keep quiet and we eventually leave the non-profit world all together, becoming completely disenchanted with he whole thing, never to return again! This supports a recent article I read I think in either Newsweek or Time about all the brain drain from the non-profit sector and more and more executive director positions being open with no one to fill them after all the boomers retire...well, I’m beginning to get a handle on why this is happening.
It’s interesting that these folks are the ones that want to “change the world” and “make things better” and are all about mission and vision, but love talking about problems and how the world isn’t perfect...it’s almost like they need it to be this way in order to function. I wonder how much they really want to make things better b/c that would involve letting go of what isn’t working and embracing something else… I dunno.
I’ve begun asking myself lately if these are the kind of folks that I want to be hangin’ around (and working for) and none of them are “bad” people by any means, it just takes a lot of adjustment to be around them and unfortunately it seems there’s more of them than more of me, and they’re the decision makers and “mentors” in the field...and a bigger question might be if this is something (my career) that I want to continue in. When is enough enough? And, is it my responsibility to shift their thinking, especially if I see no signs of a readiness on their part?
I’m also aware that I may be too critical because I’ve become much more aware of myself and how other’s operate too, but I know that focusing on what works actually works...hmmmm, just some thoughts… and I think I got a little bit off track. I promise there was a point in all this somewhere y’all, but thanks for the post, Joseph.
Allison
