All too often, we get hung up on what someone says without allowing ourselves to hear what they mean. The same goes for you and what you yourself say. It’s like opening yourself to not just hearing the music, but also to feeling the emotion of every note and, especially, every combination of notes.
Make the most of the Loose Tether It has been said: “The best way to hold your child is with an open palm.” That implies the presence of full support when necessary simultaneously aligned with broad ranging and independence.
The Structure and the System of Thinking
Whole offers the same opportunity for the team as well as for each team member. The outcome: Soar as far and as high as you dare yet remain grounded and connected at the same time.
Surrender to the Process
Don’t merely trust the process, let it carry you from beginning to end. Our client and friend, Frank, once said to one of us [JK] at the of one of our sessions with a key client: “Hey, Krub, I’ve got you figure out.” To which I could only reply: “ok?” Frank expounded: “John, I notice that every time we’re in a meeting and somebody asks an important question, you get up, walk to the front of the room and start by saying ‘There are three things we have to consider in answering that question….”
To which I answered: “OK, Frank, what’s your point?” “John, when you start talking and walking, you don’t have the slightest idea what those three things are going to be, do you?” Frank replied confidently and expectantly. I focused my eyes squarely on his. “Frank, that’s true enough. But I’m ahead of everybody in the room because I know that there always are three things to consider. I just have to fill in the blanks when I pick up the marker.”
The point is that having a foundation to think around is like having the required starter yeast for making sourdough bread. You can make something nice tasting from any combination of flour and water, but you can only make sourdough bread with sourdough starter. If you fight the process, you don’t get the desired outcome.
Persistent Reflection
Every session of Thinking Whole will generate a lot of statements, a lot of ideas, a lot of conversation, and no small part of challenges. In real estate, it has long been an accepted fundamental that the “three most important things about real estate are – location, location, and location.” In our case, the three most important things about Thinking Whole are reflection, reflection, reflection.
Socrates said: “The unexamined life is not worth living.” He took that very seriously… and died. Our variation on his theme is a little more lighthearted but no less significant: “The unexamined idea has no place on our flipchart.” While some group methodologies insist that every idea is a good idea, we believe that every idea sops up the energy in the room. The more ideas you have, the less energy each idea has.
There is a difference between an idea fully thought out and well-articulated, and an idea fragment. The best way to be sure the room is being filled with actionable ideas is to make sure that everyone on the team is continually reflecting…
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