Perils of the Practical Person

In This Bloutcher;
Where Art, Life and Leadership Collide

• The Perils of Heeding the Practical Person
• The Mother of Creativity
• Another Iteration

The Perils of Heeding the Practical Person
(Excerpt from Memory Calls; Reflections on Paradox and Creativeness in Art and Life by Fred Mandell, unpublished manuscript.)

Nor is the will to power the only threat to creativeness.  Of a lower order but in many ways more insidious threat is the Practical Person.  For such a person Utility is the highest order value.  The Practical Person has a built-in sonar that scans for efficacy, efficiency, productivity, serviceability, convenience, appropriateness, good old "common sense"--the bland array of the tried and true.  The Practical Person does not see past his/her current context.  For this context is the sum total of the Practical Person's reality.  The Practical Person has little patience for dwelling in the imagination, among the outliers or the phantasmagoric--little tolerance for the unknown or ambiguous.  The Practical Person is a reductionist and is quick to judge that which cannot pass the litmus test of well worn belts and suspenders.  The Practical Person, without malice intended, has a gift for making the Creativeness Person feel that s/he lacks an essential quality of being a contributing member of society.

The Mother of Creativity

I recently delivered a featured presentation at the National Career Development Association Global Conference entitled The Artist Within; Creating a Masterpiece Practice. Here is one of the slides from my power point.

 We often think that dissatisfaction is not normal.  That normal is being in a state of equanimity and harmony.  If we were to be honest with ourselves, though, we would acknowledge we are in a state of dissatisfaction more often than not.  I would suggest that being in a state of dissatisfaction is more normal than being in a state of equanimity.  So rather than see such a state as an annoyance, an anomaly, why don't we view our dissatisfaction as useful information and empower our dissatisfaction to act on its own behalf.  At its core dissatisfaction is the mother of creativity!

Another Iteration

In my last bloutcher I showed images of "Hands of Paradox."  Here's the latest iteration with gouache and some words added.
                                             Paradox is hands open;
                                             Uncertainty trembles,
                                             Loosening the grip.

5 Leadership Paradoxes

In This Bloutcher
Where Art, Life and Leadership Collide

• Five Leadership Paradoxes
• Lessons of Paradox
• The Hands of Paradox, Charcoal Drawings

Five Leadership Paradoxes
As you know I have an interest in the role of paradox in our lives and, specifically, how paradox can be a source of creativity.  A relatively recent joint study (2012) by the Human Capital Leadership Institute and the Center for Creative Leadership identifies 5 Paradoxes of Leadership Development in Asia.  I believe these are universal leadership paradoxes. And, yes, even paradoxes of personal development.

Paradox #1:  To achieve success, learn from failure
I have never met a senior leader whose rise to the top has been a straight line.  Like the creative process itself, a leader's development is often characterized by stubbed toes, bruised egos and outright mistakes and failures.  "Effective top leaders should be able to deal with failure and learn from mistakes as part of their leadership journey--reflecting on setbacks, learning lessons from negative experiences and growing stronger."  I would even take this a step further and suggest that a key to organizational success is one in which failures are used as opportunities for institutional and team reflection, learning and growth.

Paradox #2:  To develop greatness, practice humility
"Effective leaders model humility and constantly learn from others.  Humility was a necessary component of intellectual curiosity and an essential component of fostering a learning culture within an organization.

For example, a top leader from Olam indicated his direct reports had taught him as much as he had taught them.  This was a signal to his team that one can learn from multiple sources and not just from people at the top."

Paradox #3:  To foster learning, emphasize doing
"When asked what contributed to their personal leadership development, the majority of leaders mentioned adversity and crisis.  A senior leader recounted a volatile labor strike that erupted while he was leading an Indonesian unit.  Being a Singaporean, he was not used to strikes of this nature.  Worried about the safety of his team, he suggested they all return home.  His concern for the team's safety instead led them to stay and help with negotiations, and tensions were later defused.  Leadership development truly occurred when classroom learning was applied in the field and this example illustrated clearly that leadership development did not take place only in the classroom.

Paradox #4:  To accelerate development, slow down
While multiple experiences were necessary for leadership development, organizations had the tendency to rapidly move people into different positions without giving them room to breathe.  The organizations interviewed saw the importance of giving their leaders time to slow down and reflect on their experiences.

Paradox #5:  To excel at the task, harness relationships
The best leaders are authentic in their interactions with others and not only build good relationships with people within the organization, but are also plugged in to key networks outside the organization.  Those best able to build and harness these relationships are most likely to operate at the highest levels.

The Lessons of Paradox

In an ever more complex, rapidly moving world the lessons of paradox may be counter-intuitive.  Here are a few:

• Failure is a form of progress
• Speed can slow you down
• Reflection is a different form of doing
• Humility, not knowing, opens possibilities
• Collaboration is the new white horse 

The Hands of Paradox

Charcoal Drawing

Charcoal Drawing

Charcoal Drawing

Blows My Mind

In This Bloutcher
Where Art, Life and Leadership Collide

Blows My Mind

A viburnum bush sits outside my window.  For two glorious weeks in the Spring its white blossoms send out a powerful, heavenly fragrance that wafts through the air and into my studio/office.  It gives reason to pause.

In The Unknown Craftsman; A Japanese Insight Into Beauty, Master Potter Soetsu Yanagi (1889-1961) tells us:

     A true artist is not one who chooses beauty in order to eliminate ugliness, he is not one who dwells in a world that distinguishes between the beautiful and the ugly, but rather he is one who has entered the realm where strife between the two cannot exist.

This is the truth of Buddhism.  Yanagi goes on to tell us that according to a Zen catechism:  Buddha is also dust.  Zen monks ask us if the Buddha is not plainly before our eyes in everything.

Everything is Buddha and Buddha is everything.  This leads to an underlying connectedness between all things--an orientation toward oneness.  Differentiation is an illusion because all is one.

In Thus Spoke Zarathustra, Friedrich Nietzsche writes:

    All that is straight lies.  All truth is crooked.

To the Western mind all is about complexity and differentiation.  Zen Buddhism sees oneness and connection and the West migrates toward categorization and analysis and a preoccupation with distinctions.

What is one to do with this dichotomy?  Is Viburnum Fragrance also dust?

Later Nietzsche says time itself is a circle.  Is this an opening?  Do East and West meet in the fullness of time and connect back up with each other?

I never appreciated either/or.  I believe the opportunity is to find the part in the whole and whole in the part.  Another paradox?  Buddha says paradox is an illusion.  I would like to believe that.  But then I smell the Viburnum Fragrance and it simply blows my mind.

What's Changed?

In this Bloutcher
Where Art, Life and Leadership Collide

• What's Changed?

What's Changed?

For those of us living in Boston complexity came wrapped in baseball hats and knapsacks the other week.

In real time, questions came flying out of the tragedy and mayhem.  Everything happened too fast.  Who were/are these people?  How did they come to do these things?  Is that really the same friendly kid who hobnobbed with all the other everyday teenagers at Rindge and Latin High School?  Is there a foreign connection?  How did they fall between the cracks?  Weren't there tell tale signs?  Did the FBI ask the right questions, dig for the right information when they checked out Tamerlan Tsarvaev? What are the conditions that contributed to this event? We are beginning to get preliminary information but do they add up to answers?  To the full story?

In the Boston Globe on April 24th there is a letter to the editor in which the writer writes:  Students from Rindge and Latin High School (from which the brothers graduated) "are unable to accept the simplistic notion that Tsarvaev (the younger) as the symbol of evil.  They have struggled with the complexities of who this person was;  'He wasn't one of them; he was one of us'; 'He's only 19; he must be so scared'; 'what does this mean for Rindge?' As we all struggle to come to terms with losses of life and innocence in the carnage of the past week, Rindge kids remind us that even this alleged perpetrator's journey is part of the tragedy."

No simple answers.

We live in a VUCA world.  Volatile.  Uncertain.  Complex.  Ambiguous.
 
The VUCA acronym came out of the US Army War College in the late 1990's to describe the new conditions that world military leaders had to face--the rise of terrorism, global political instability, asymmetrical warfare.  This acronym perfectly applies to the world at large and one which we all live in, not just the military.  Unpredictability and disruptive change is happening in virtually every aspect of our lives.  The Boston Marathon tragedy is a microcosm of the broader world.  We have become the world and the world is us.  You may live in some small town in Kansas but you are touched by forces in far flung areas of the globe.  VUCA has come knocking on our doorstep.

I heard a heart wrenching question asked by a six year old child:  "Are we going to be okay?" How do you answer truthfully?  Well, it's complicated.

So what do we do about it?

First, we must give our emotions their due.  Anger, rage, fear.  But we must not act on our emotions.

Second, we should not adopt dinosaur mind:

Cartoon by Larry Gonick, February 8, 2012

We need to ask:  How are things different and how must we become more adaptive and creative in responding to our new VUCA world?

Third, we must claim agency over our lives.  Volatile does not mean unprincipled.  Uncertain does not mean ignorance.  Complex does not mean helpless.  Ambiguous does not mean paralysis. We are by nature learners.  We may be changed but we have the opportunity to become wiser and to actively live our wisdom.

Fourth, let us give gratitude where we have things to be grateful for and to offer love every day to those we love.

8 Creativity Cultivators

In This Bloutcher
Where Art, Life and Leadership Collide

• 8 Creativity Cultivators--things to do EVERYDAY to foster creativity and well being in work and life
• The Leader's Studio

8 Creativity Cultivators
1.  Read something unrelated to your field/industry--a magazine article, a poem, a children's book, a new app (like the Tibetan Bowls) and ask:  How does this apply to a current problem I am trying to solve in my field?

2.  Look at advertisements for products and services not in your field and ask:  What is the concept behind this product?  How might that concept apply to a problem I am working on?  What are the attributes of this product or service and how might they apply to a product or service I am trying to develop/enhance?  Here's one that caught my attention in the New York Times Magazine section to try out.  www.boccia.com. Click on Design Your Own Watch.  Play around.

3.  Find an inspirational quote and ask:  Where do I have opportunities to live this quote in my life and work?  Example:  "I think to be creative you have to resist taking the easy path."  David Libeskind, architect.  Look at the quote every day for a week before going on to your next one.

4.  Choose a random metaphor and apply it to a current problem or challenge you are facing.  Example:  Let's say you are trying to come up with a new product.  Metaphor:  Broccoli.  Ask yourself in what ways do I want my product to be like broccoli.  Trust me.  It's going to stimulate some worthwhile ideas.

5.  Listen to someone who has a different point of view.  Then try on that person's perspective by asking what assumptions do I hold that this point of view challenges.

6.  Take a time out by yourself--10-15 minutes--shut the door, turn off the phone, even better, get out of the office all together--and put yourself in a quiet state of mind by focusing on your breathing.  Empty your head of thoughts and to-do lists.  Breathe in and out.  In and out.  Then identify something specific for which you are grateful--your health, a relationship, an experience, Spring!  Give gratitude for that which you have identified.

7.  Find something to laugh about and share it with someone.

8.  Eat a piece of dark chocolate.  That's right--every day!  Seriously.  The research is in.  It's good for you.  It supports creativity.  Ask Miles Monroe--remember him?  He's the anti-hero in Woody Allen's Sleeper movie.  [Chocolate contains phenylethylamine (PEA), the same chemical you brain creates when you feel like you are falling in love.]

Truth be told, I rarely get to do ALL of these EVERY DAY.  But there is one I NEVER fail to do.  Want to guess which one?

The Leader's Studio

The Leader's Studio is a multifaceted learning platform designed to develop 21st century leaders while enabling them to accelerate innovative solutions to real time challenges.

In the past few years firms such as IBM and Deloitte have surveyed CEOs, Chief HR Officers and business leaders around the world in an effort to understand their leadership needs in a highly fluid environment.  What emerges from these studies is a brave new world characterized by rapid change, disruption and uncertainty on all levels of society.  The studies recognize that a dramatically new suite of leadership skills is needed than even 10 years ago.  These skills include creativity, nimbleness, resilience, comfort with uncertainty, agility.  The Leader's Studio is designed to develop and amplify these very skills.

The Leader's Studio game changing approach leads to two critical outcomes:

• Leaders with 21st century skills
• Innovative solutions to current business and organizational challenges

If you have interest in learning more about The Leader's Studio please send me an email by clicking here.

If you work with clients who you think might benefit from The Leader's Studio and would like to explore how we might collaborate please email me by clicking here.

Two Announcements One Tidbit

In This Bloutcher
Where Art, Life and Leadership Collide

• The Leader's Studio
• Updated Website
• One Tidbits

The Leader's Studio

I am excited to announce the launch of The Leader's Studio--a multifaceted learning platform designed to develop 21st century leaders while enabling them to accelerate innovative solutions to real time challenges.

In the past few years firms such as IBM and Deloitte have surveyed CEOs, Chief HR Officers and business leaders around the world in an effort to understand their leadership needs in a highly fluid environment.  What emerges from these studies is a brave new world characterized by rapid change, disruption and uncertainty on all levels of society.  The studies recognize that under these conditions a radically different suite of leadership skills is needed than even 10 years ago.  These skills include creativity, nimbleness, resilience, comfort with uncertainty, agility.  The Leader's Studio is designed to develop and amplify these very skills.

The Leader's Studio includes:

• The Leader's Studio Online 
• The Innovation Studio Workshop
• Synergy and Synthesis Action Learning
• Collaborating Partnerships
• Creative Leadership Coaching
• Innovation Proposal Summit
• Insights and Inspiration from the Great Masters of Art

The Leader's Studio game changing approach leads to two critical outcomes:

• Leaders with 21st century skills
• Innovative solutions to current business and organizational challenges

If you have interest in learning more please send me an email by clicking here.

If you work with clients who you think would benefit from The Leader's Studio and would like to explore how we might work together please email me by clicking here.

Check it out--my updated website--and pass the url on to others you think might be curious:

www.fredmandell.com
Let me know what you think.

One Tidbit:
In the 1950's an unassuming man approached a large toothpaste manufacturer.  He claimed to have a simple solution that would immediately increase toothpaste sales by 40%.  He offered to sell the exclusive rights to this idea to the manufacturer for $100,000, not an insignificant amount of money back in the day.  

Rather than pay the man, the company decided to bring together its top engineers and marketing people.  The company asked them to come up with ideas on how to increase sales by 40% at the lowest cost possible.  After several weeks, the team had not come up with any meaningful proposals so the company decided to go back to the man and purchase the exclusive rights to his idea.  Upon handing him the check, the man gave them an envelope with a single piece of paper inside with the four words:  Make the hole bigger!  A bigger hole, he explained, would cause faster toothepaste consumption and lead to greater customer demand.

Is this an example of outside the box or inside the tube thinking?
   

Creative Acuity

In This Bloutcher
Where Art, Life and Leadership Collide

• Creative Acuity

Creative Acuity
I just got off the phone with Bob Handley (not his real name.)  Bob is the Head of Strategic Planning for a Fortune 500 Company (his real job.)  Let's just say he works a lot with numbers.  In the parlance of creativity, he's a left brain sort of guy.  Except he really isn't.

Several years ago Bob participated in one of my leadership workshops.  It really hit home for him.  He soon enrolled in a drawing class and several months later he sent me an email saying how the class "noticeably increased my problem solving acuity."  I love the word acuity because it is one of those words that sounds like its meaning which is keenness of perception.  So Bob is a believer in the power of creativity to accelerate and improve strategic and business problem solving acuity.

Today, several years later, Bob has deepened his mastery of many of the tools and concepts in the workshop and continues to apply them on a daily basis.  In our conversation he reminded me of a Claude Monet story I had told in the workshop.  Seems a visitor came to the aging Monet's studio and, pointing to a painting, asked how long it had taken the artist to paint the picture.  "My whole life," Monet responded.  Of course the actual task of painting that particular picture had not taken Monet's entire life.  He was suggesting that the painting reflected the fullness of his life experience, including the effort of building mastery over his craft.  Bob reminded me of this story because he said that dedicating himself to learning and developing his creative skills has also increased both his resilience and confidence.  As a result, he is calmer when he bumps into roadblocks and this in turn adds to his ability to discern new pathways to a solution.

The original purpose of our conversation was to get Bob's feedback on a new online prototype of a leadership development program my team had been developing called The Leader's Studio.  One of Bob's pieces of feedback was to be sure to emphasize the importance of what we call the "Preparation" skill in the creative process.  Simply put, preparation means regularly engaging in activities that predispose the mind to creative insight.  Many of these activities are pretty familiar and simple such as going for a walk or engaging in a brief meditation exercise.  But in today's work environment with so much pressure to perform and so many demands on our time folks simply do not think they have even brief periods of time to engage in such activities.  The result is that they get drained of their creative juices and default to the things with which they are are most familiar and present the line of least resistance.

Despite this, Bob has found a clever--should we say creative?--way to make room for activities which prepare his mind for breakthrough thinking.  This enables him to actually increase his efficiency even though it means spending time, no matter how briefly, out of his office and NOT in a meeting.  In fact, he confided he will schedule "false meetings" in order to get 15 or 20 minutes to engage in a preparation activity.  The results have been striking.  Among his favorite preparation activities is walking.  Which is not easy since he works on the 20th floor of a 29 floor downtown building.  On his preparation breaks he walks from the 20th floor up to the 29th floor.  He says he huffs and puffs.  And then walks down again.  "Something seems to happen," he tells me, "and it always works!" 

I call that "something" creativity.

Here are some  other preparation activities which trigger creative thinking:

• Musical triggers such as listening to your favorite music
• Cultural triggers such as viewing a work of art, for an example a painting or a sculpture
• Water related triggers such as soaking in a bathtub or shower
• Athletic triggers such as walking, bicycling or performing any other repetitive exercise for at least 15 minutes
• Repetitive-movement triggers such as needlepoint or knitting
•  Surrender triggers such as relinquishing control over a personal or job problem
• Altruistic triggers such as becoming involved in helping others

Let's start a Creative Acuity Revolution at work:  Bring Your Knitting!

Shepherd Knitting While Watching His Flock