What do we fail to see??

5/1/10
Saturday morning and up early.  I tour the yard, return inside and make coffee.  Syl has been gone to Mexico for 2 weeks, and I notice that the house is still nice and clean.  I think to myself, “If you don’t make a mess or track dirt in, the house will stay clean, except for a little dust, which doesn’t worry me.”  I smile, workload reduced.  

Hmm,  where did those dead leaves come from??  I look up and see a wilted tree...  ooooh.  And like a suspense/horror movie (or a good Simpson’s parody), where the hero’s vision quickly and abruptly shifts around the room- bam, bam, bam-- noticing the unnoticed, the key clues and evidence--- I suddenly notice 5 other plants, crowded around the edges of our sunroom, seeking sun, but, dying of thirst!!  Whoops... I realize that there are 2 more rooms with other plants...  oouuuhh... 

Syl is away in Ixtapan, a dry climate, and in 2 weeks, I simply never noticed “her” unassuming and quiet plants.  I rush for a pitcher and the sink.  The plants get a good old fashioned soakin’, when it rains it pours.  I hope they make it, I like plants, really, I just didn’t notice.  And, in a way, the plants have just had a little taste of travelling.  They now know what their brethren in the Kalahari Desert experience!  

Through repetition, we learn to see the world in patterned ways.  We “Know” and act.  There’s a confidence and efficiency that results.  Our brains can rest, or our attention can turn elsewhere, except.... when things change, results fall off, or we are less than satisfied.  I participated in a workshop for non-profit organizational leaders on strategy that we held at Le Moyne.  We spent the time not with SWOT analysis tools, but rather rather exploring what it means to think strategically.  This involves seeing what we don’t see; knowing what we don’t know; getting outside the box.  

Easier said than done of course.  There are many forces at play that keep us on our present course, so what helps us see anew?  Examining and reflecting are good starts.  To see what’s “not there”, we can examine our passions and purposes.  What am I really about?  What gets me energized?  When do I feel most alive?  We can decipher the underlying assumptions, values, beliefs, and expectations we hold, and that hold the world (and our experience) steady.  Why? And Why? again.  Does everyone believe this?  How do others that I trust and respect behave?  Why?  Inquiry can help to loosen the binds that hold us in place, the blinders that (overly) focus us.  We can engage and connect with others on these questions, both inside and beyond our organizations.  The staggering power of teams manifests when several of different view and skills appreciate and give room to create something togehter that no one could do alone.   As we clarify the key “value proposition”, we can begin to see (and know) afresh all current and considered actions in relation to the core strategic focus.

What new worlds exist, right here and now, that you fail to see?

Getting Started

        This blog has sat for some time. Stewing, forming, taking shape? Like many unformed, uncertain tasks, I have done everything else in the meantime. It’s been a good busy with much accomplished. Yet, the “SweetSpot” has lurked, hung over my head, gently called, patiently waited its turn. And it’s not been forgotten, which is not always the case.

        Questions arise, “Am I avoiding this?... Is this some sort of writer’s block?... What do I have to say?... Is there a right time to start?... What’s the rush?... hmm, questions of timing, when will this come together?... enough to start, at least?... and bubbling, less formed, is some sort of tension, that I don’t stay with, but it moves me to action, lots of other things need doing.

        I suppose people might converge into some limited set of types as far as getting started. And I suspect, without bringing details to mind, that I “get started” in some different ways depending on the nature of what I’m starting. A master of the Urgent & Structured, sure, but the other end of the scale seems to drift, dissolve into shadow, unknown space and mist...

        “But, why don’t you just set a goal, pick a direction and start?? Why make something simple, difficult?”