David Norris and Frank White(4) describe a powerful instance of Cognitive Dissonance in contrasting astronaut Ron Garan’s deeply moving experience of seeing the Earth from a distance with his awareness of the violence and other painful social and political situations happening on the planet. The experience of Cognitive Dissonance is necessary before people will commit to achieving Escape Velocity. Such dissonance is the foundation for an acute experience of the unacceptable contradiction between your dream for something you really care about and the seemingly inescapable truth of the way it actually is for you. We are referring to an intensity that is experienced physically, emotionally, and sometimes spiritually. We all have ways of avoiding this distasteful pain – distraction, focusing on something good, thinking about the future, hoping and coping, and keeping busy are but a few. Deep immersion in this gap makes the existing situation intolerable. It is this powerful Cognitive Dissonance that induces “the final no” to the current state of affairs and “yes” to a vision upon which energy flows and Escape Velocity becomes possible.
Energetic Awareness comes from attending to, sensing and directly working with the patterns of energy present in relationships, teams, organizations, businesses, and communities. It reveals the underlying patterns that directly affect the success of any effort, and helps a leader to:
• Sense the blocks to creating high energy teams, projects, or organizations;
• Understand natural solutions or innovations that “want to emerge” and are consistent with the players’ passions;
• Unlock energy and wisdom that is naturally present;
• Discover ways to heal, create partnerships, and navigate complex situations; and
• Build loyalty and agreement to shared goals.
In business and life itself, Energetic Awareness happens in a specific context — a mission-driven or relationship-driven framework. It has the power to mobilize everyone involved. Energetic Awareness occurs in a moment of presence. It propels people, groups, and ultimately systems forward by literally seeing themselves and the related environment at its very core as a field of interacting opportunities and energy flows. Escape Velocity becomes available when leaders observe people’s relationships and work in terms of energy flows between people, groups, and hierarchies. This is consistent with Serge Kahili King’s (5) insight that, “Energy flows where the attention goes.”
Frank Herbert(6) said that, “.., in all the universe there is only the insatiable appetite of matter.., that energy is the only true solid…, and energy learns.” Such learning is always the sum of intellectual, physical, emotional, and spiritual activity. We can get very smart cognitively yet remain stupid emotionally, spiritually, or physically. In an energetic paradigm, responsibility begins with our willingness to be cause-in-the-matter of energy across the entire system.
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