Monday 24 October, 2005
Reflection isn’t a linear thing. Reflection is a state of
mind, a level of consciousness. It’s an organic process. It’s like
creativity. People hold an intention for an outcome, the ideas start to
germinate and then the ideas pop up.
You have to become receptive to data points, even though you’re not
exactly sure what those data points might be. Then you collect them, let
them germinate. The only way they germinate is if you don’t crowd your
head full of other things and things to do. This is why playing golf and
sailing and doing all these other recreational pursuits that are not
demanding of your cognitive, data-processing parts of your brain,
actually allow your brain to start organising itself in a way where
ideas will pop up.
This is where emotional intelligence is important. You have to think about how people will hear things because of their viewpoint or background, and adjust how you express yourself.
Recently I was working with a judge. After trial, he had to return to his chambers with all the arguments and sit down and actually reflect on ‘what do I think of all of this?’.
That of course, is a very important thing, particularly in leadership positions when you have to make a stand, when no one else will understand that stand. First of all, you have to be particularly clear, know what your rationale is, and then you also have to know how you’re going to deal with the responses to that stand. Going through this, step by step, will produce a considered result.
One of the great difficulties that we have in western cultures is that we’re not comfortable with silence - we fill the space with conversation. We define ourself as being busy by what we are doing and what we are saying - we don’t see thinking and reflecting as an actual act. It’s not ‘doing’.
Realising that you can only produce quality decisions with quality thought, and that you can only produce quality thought with good input and most importantly, space to process that information, is crucial.
There are places where this is perfectly legitimate, but there are plenty of places where it’s not helpful.
Discussion is the bouncing backwards and forwards and things, a little bit like tennis, but it’s really about going backwards and forwards with an idea, weighing things up, with no implied resolution.
Dialogue, however, is the process where I understand what you think, you understand what I think and we mutually take on the board the parts of those thoughts and then integrate them into a third thought. Dialogue integrates the value of both arguments and discards the irrelevancies of both.
If we engage in dialogue, we actually come up with new thoughts, and we’re leveraging the intelligence and capabilities of everyone in the room. That’s what boards need to do.
If we get really clear about the outcomes, and everything is referenced to that outcome, - will this take us to the outcome? will that take us to the outcome? - then the simple question is: what do we want to create, and how do we want to be as a group as we create it? Then the process becomes straightforward.
If however, it does clearly serve the group’s outcome, then it is your role to work out how to get that idea across to the rest of the group. If we have an idea, and we’re the champion of that idea, we are responsible for other people understanding that idea. They’re not responsible for understanding it, we’re responsible for enabling them to understand it.
This is why modern leadership is so important. It’s a different form of leadership from the classic model: command and control and direct. In a service-based economy it’s about engagement and relationships and responsiveness. It’s very much about shaping hearts and minds.
In my experience, very few things are actually urgent. Part of this comes from a lack of delegation. We do far more than we actually need to do, which makes us feel good, because we’re busy. “The busier I am, the more valuable I must be.”
Start getting comfortable with being quiet, with stillness, with space. Otherwise you won’t be able to reflect. It’s a very healthy practice, particularly when you need to be pulling lots of disparate thoughts together to crystallize wisdom.
You cannot be wise without reflection.
Source:ceoonline.com
Seeing your reflection in a mirror
Reflection can be the act of expressing your ideas to someone else. If I have to explain something to you, it forces me to start organising all the elements that are important as I speak them out. That act causes you to pick up, process and organise information – you change your relationship with the information. That’s where you rearrange thoughts, words and information in a more coherent way. Often, you will come to a new conclusion when you vocally reflect with someone else.This is where emotional intelligence is important. You have to think about how people will hear things because of their viewpoint or background, and adjust how you express yourself.
Solo Reflection
The reflection you do on your own is the most important.Recently I was working with a judge. After trial, he had to return to his chambers with all the arguments and sit down and actually reflect on ‘what do I think of all of this?’.
That of course, is a very important thing, particularly in leadership positions when you have to make a stand, when no one else will understand that stand. First of all, you have to be particularly clear, know what your rationale is, and then you also have to know how you’re going to deal with the responses to that stand. Going through this, step by step, will produce a considered result.
One of the great difficulties that we have in western cultures is that we’re not comfortable with silence - we fill the space with conversation. We define ourself as being busy by what we are doing and what we are saying - we don’t see thinking and reflecting as an actual act. It’s not ‘doing’.
Realising that you can only produce quality decisions with quality thought, and that you can only produce quality thought with good input and most importantly, space to process that information, is crucial.
What exactly is ‘dialogue’?
In a board room, we use the expression ‘dialogue’ but we don’t know what that means. Most people debate or discuss – debate being putting forward your proposition and negate opposing propositions with propositions that you additionally put forward, so debate is fundamentally to prove that your position is right, at the expense of others.There are places where this is perfectly legitimate, but there are plenty of places where it’s not helpful.
Discussion is the bouncing backwards and forwards and things, a little bit like tennis, but it’s really about going backwards and forwards with an idea, weighing things up, with no implied resolution.
Dialogue, however, is the process where I understand what you think, you understand what I think and we mutually take on the board the parts of those thoughts and then integrate them into a third thought. Dialogue integrates the value of both arguments and discards the irrelevancies of both.
If we engage in dialogue, we actually come up with new thoughts, and we’re leveraging the intelligence and capabilities of everyone in the room. That’s what boards need to do.
Avoiding the lukewarm, “committed to death” result
When approaching a problem, the first thing is to be very clear about what we want to achieve as an outcome. What we would like to achieve, what seems reasonable, and what would we do if we go for greatness?If we get really clear about the outcomes, and everything is referenced to that outcome, - will this take us to the outcome? will that take us to the outcome? - then the simple question is: what do we want to create, and how do we want to be as a group as we create it? Then the process becomes straightforward.
Getting your point across
If your ‘great idea’ doesn’t serve the collective goal that has been expressly stated by the group that wants to create it, then it’s your responsibility to accept right here and now that your idea doesn’t serve that goal. You’re here to create one thing, not just what you come up with.If however, it does clearly serve the group’s outcome, then it is your role to work out how to get that idea across to the rest of the group. If we have an idea, and we’re the champion of that idea, we are responsible for other people understanding that idea. They’re not responsible for understanding it, we’re responsible for enabling them to understand it.
Changing leadership for changing times
Because we live in a knowledge economy, a very service-dominated economy, a person’s relationship with what they do is becoming more and more important. If then, you ask me to do something that I fundamentally don’t agree with, I might ‘do’ it to the point where I keep my job, but I won’t do it with the spirit in which it was intended. I’ll do enough. Enough not to get into trouble.This is why modern leadership is so important. It’s a different form of leadership from the classic model: command and control and direct. In a service-based economy it’s about engagement and relationships and responsiveness. It’s very much about shaping hearts and minds.
A wise man thinks twice before he acts once
The crucial thing to remember is to be clear about your outcome. If you then search for the inputs that relate to your clearly stated outcome then you will be able to have time to come up with a quality solution.In my experience, very few things are actually urgent. Part of this comes from a lack of delegation. We do far more than we actually need to do, which makes us feel good, because we’re busy. “The busier I am, the more valuable I must be.”
Start getting comfortable with being quiet, with stillness, with space. Otherwise you won’t be able to reflect. It’s a very healthy practice, particularly when you need to be pulling lots of disparate thoughts together to crystallize wisdom.
You cannot be wise without reflection.
Source:ceoonline.com
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