Drawn to be wild.

Cracking open the stuff I do naturally exposed just how unnaturally I had thought about the stuff.

We all get the point that most of the time we live with some element of paradox. The more you want something the less chance you have of getting it. The more you try to define something the harder it becomes to understand.

I love what I do because I do what I love.

I'm lucky too because I planned it like that. It’s kinda working out. To say I knew what was going to happen every step of the way would be wildy untrue though. In truth, the surprises and unknowns created the the best parts of the journey. They may have seemed huge frustrations or even catastrophes at the time but they all added to the performance.

I've recently been forced to break down all the components of what I do and at the literal level they are quite simple: question, write, draw and think.

In putting it like that I'm forced to boil down what I actually do to fundamentals. Each of these four words are staggeringly deceptive. They are widely open to interpretation and levels of competence or quality. That's what's so brilliantly mischievous about the whole exercise.

It always amazes and surprises me not that people are so bound by a word. They make it a term. I prefer the verb in most cases. Even then it’s a challenge to convey what is really going on.  As a very visual kind of person I think I am less literal. I don't need to agonize each word when I can add a visual to give it rich meaning.  In my mind up pops a bunch of possibilities and pictures anyway. Yet still some folk need to dialog a while to get each word grounded in their own mind. We are all a lot like that.

Writing down the value of thoughts defines and refines my passion. Drawing them for the benefit of others ignites it. I'm careful when advising others though. I try hard to create a line between advice and somewhat experienced yet well removed objectivity. To advise sometimes is to attract unwelcome engagement and a lifelong dependency. Be careful what you wish for.

I've become ensnared by wanting to help people through their stuff and found out the hard way that one becomes the cornerstone of others inability to stand for themselves.

Standing up and showing up are two really big requirements for survival. One’s own confidence in any one of these serves the other. I really like to give and to give value generously. It inspires me to do it more. It enables me to stand up. It allows me to show up. In showing up I draw on what I have written. I've written about what I've drawn. It just all adds up. It adds to how I think and work.

To give an indication of how what I do is the challenge I love - I've written some laws and principles about my world. These are the key themes that emerge from years of drawing conclusions for others.

1. The Doh Rule - “The fact that organizations don't build real team spirit, belief and passion for the outcome cannot be underestimated. So why is it?”
2. The Law of Dumb Calculations. "I don't have the time to go through all this thinking again" - When we all know the price of avoiding reasoning, rigor and critical decision making is a rounding error compared to the accumulative cost of the graveyard of failed businesses. What's up with that?
3. A Clear Confusion. “Meaning defies clarity. In other words it might not.”
4. The Context Rule - “Solving the wrong problem well is simple and requires us only to ignore context. Try it. Then Hide.”
5. Tough & Tougher - “A Trilemma better describes hard choices in the 21st Century. It's never either - or. It's always either - or - and - and.”
6. The Principle of Avoiding Complexity - “People who regard the act of thinking hard as complex and time consuming should try not doing so. See how complex and time consuming that is. Excellent.”
7. The Law of Definition - “In defining anything - ever - be careful to listen to the lack of understanding on the face of the recipient. Then redefine it with them.”

Posted via email from Just Thinking!