More Magic of Metaphor E-Book

Nick Owen

• Herausgeber: Crown House Publishing
• Kategorie: Fachliteratur
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2004

Beschreibung

More Magic of Metaphor explores the notion of leadership in its widest sense. Whether you lead in business, education, coaching, sports, health, parenting, or any other context this book offers insights into the many aspects of this complex, fascinating, and demanding role that we are all, from time to time, called upon to fulfil.

Leseprobe

“This is a magical book. You can read it as a story in its own right. You can use it as a source book for ideas. The stories themselves will inspire thoughts and ideas in your own mind. It has a clear and concise explanation of the complex (and fascinating) theories behind Ken Wilber’s work and Spiral Dynamics. The 15 rules for good writing alone make it worth buying. It is a book I have enjoyed reading, that I know will be a constant guide and source and one that has begun to inspire stories of my own. Thanks Nick.”

Alex McKie, Futurist

“If you have your heart set on dynamic leadership in the classroom and school, then MoreMagic of Metaphor is an invaluable resource in any integral toolkit. It’s a mind-stopper and a mind-blower, packed with stories that tell the importance of being the change you wish to see.”

Nick Drummond and Mats Edin Nordic Integral, www.nordicintegral.com

“Nick Owen has consistently led the way in applying the emergent field known as integral education. Here is his best work yet, where readers either new to his work or references can profit immediately by his personalized approach to leadership and education. His clear talent is immediately apparent as he explains in significant yet entertaining format the most compelling new approaches, while honouring the deep structures available to us all from archetypal storytellers. I could immediately see the relevance of Nick’s approach to any leader. So sit back, and try to savour each story as it weaves its magic within.”

Lynne D. Feldman MA JD Founder, Integral Education Yahoo List Chair, New Jersey Character Education Network Action Team Founder, Teen Freedom Corps Honored Social Studies Teacher, Northern Highlands RHS, NJ

“Stories are so important to individuals and organisations, yet we often take our stories for granted. Nick Owen weaves a spell with stories so elegantly that you have to think about them differently. You can read this book as a collection of fascinating stories, as an intriguing insight into possible interpretations and as a simple explanation of complex models. Understanding stories and how we use them, can enhance your effectiveness, whether you lead from the front or influence behind the scenes.”

Dr Maire Shelly MB ChB FRCA Consultant in Anaesthesia and Intensive Care, SouthManchester University Hospital Associate Postgradate Dean, Department of Postgraduate Medical and Dental Education, NW Deanery

“Stories to change beliefs, stories to modify behaviours, stories to help people out of ruts, stories to open up new vistas … Nick Owen has provided us with a rich source of short tales we can readily use. Thank you Nick.”

Mario Rinvolucri Teacher, teacher trainer Pilgrims Limited and writer

“Be prepared to run a gamut of emotions as Nick walks you through a beautifully crafted collection of stories, woven together by a guiding narrative. Using two wonderful world theories as a foundation for understanding, Nick has created a magical source book for leaders, therapists, trainers and the curious.”

Martin Woods Head of Leadership Development, Norwich Union Insurance

“As the person who put Nick to sleep when introducing him to the ideas of Ken Wilber and Clare Graves, I have often felt responsible. This responsibility has now been alleviated by reading this book. Nick has integrated their ideas in a totally unique way. May this be the first of many to integrate the gifts of NLP, SD, and The Enneagram in a truly Integral way. And more great stories to steal!”

Peter McNab INLPTA Master Trainer Founder Member of Ken Wilber’s Integral Institute Author of the Enriching Relationships CD, the NLP Practitioner Cards andIntegral Relationships

“Nick has combined anecdotes, metaphors and stories from across the world into an exploration of the leader’s toolkit. The book is of use both to those already in leadership positions and to those who seek to develop their leadership potential.

“The book is a journey through time and space as Nick explores both eastern and western leadership heritage. More Magic of Metaphor is thought provoking and inspirational; it enables and supports learning, exploration and growth in both the reader and in the wider team.”

Richard Coulthwaite Director of Strategic Vision for Finance, Aviva Plc

“What a treat it was to receive this book. Having enjoyed and used The Magic of Metaphor extensively, I was expecting the delightful stories. I was also pleased to be reacquainted with the Apprentice Magician in the linking story, which brings a level of metaphorical explanation. This time he goes on a quest for stories about leadership, with a magic carpet as a companion and guide. What I hadn’t expected was the bonus of Spiral Dynamics—the psychological model developed by Professor Clare Graves—and Ken Wilber’s ‘Theory of Everything’. The result is a rich exploration of leadership, influence and motivation—and a thoroughly enjoyable read.”

Susan Norman Co-Director of SEAL (Society for Effective Affective Learning)

“Nick weaves all of these threads into a beautiful story, a journey, full of adventure and discovery that follows the developing relationship between a wise elder and his young companion. Once I turned the first page, and took the first step, I was spellbound; you will be too.”

Tim Watts Tim Watts Associates

“I have found a magic well. The first time I drew water it was clean and pure. The next it was clean, pure and ice cold. The next time the pure, ice-cold water was drawn and poured for me by a beautiful, dark haired maiden with smooth olive skin. I spend many days travelling and talking to people from all corners of the world, but having found my magic well I know that my throat will never be dry again, and that each visit will be better than the last.”

Jonathan Davies Senior Vice-President, CNN International

“What is good leadership? Nick Owen’s new collection of stories gives us a wealth of fresh insight into that question from the new and challenging perspective of metaphor. As well as presenting a fascinating new insight into what makes a good leader, the book is fun, original and inspiring—‘Entertrainment’ at its best.”

Leslie Perrin Senior Partner, Osborne Clarke, Solicitors

More Magic of Metaphor

Stories for Leaders, Influencers and Motivators

We say more than we know that we say … We know more than we can say that we know.

– Michael Polanyi

All truths are easy to understand once they are discovered; the point is to discover them.

– Galileo Galilei

Believe nothing, no matter where you read it, or who said it, no matter if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense.

– The Buddha

Fishing nets are for catching fish. But when the fish are caught, the nets are forgotten. Traps are for catching hares, but when the hares are caught, the traps are forgotten. Words are for putting across ideas, but when the ideas are understood, the words are forgotten. How I long to listen to a storyteller who has forgotten all the words.

– Chuang Tzu

To all dolphins …

In whatever waters they swim

About Nick Owen

Nick Owen has, at various stages of his life, developed successful and interconnected careers in education, the arts, journalism, overseas development and the world of corporate business. He has lived and worked in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and Europe.

He studied at Durham, Manchester and Oxford universities, is an NLP trainer and Master Practitioner, and holds qualifications in Spiral Dynamics, the Harthill [UK] Leadership Development Framework, and Reversal Theory.

His clients range from FTSE 100 companies to small educational projects in remote regions of the planet.

His main areas of expertise are:

enhancing professional performanceenhancing life skillsunderstanding how ‘messages’ are given, received, acted upon or misunderstoodresolving communication and relationship issues in order to create smoothly functioning organisationsstrengthening individuals and organisations through horizontal development; transforming individuals and organisations through vertical developmentco-creating models of excellent and appropriate leadership to build organisations in which everyone wants to belong and to which all can contribute.

Nick is Director of Nick Owen Associates offering rigorous development opportunities in the following areas:

Business:communication, presentation, relationships, influence, creativity, cultural awareness, leadership, trainer development, unconditional responsibility, motivation, coaching and mentoring skillsEducation:integral education, appropriate methodologies, leadership, classroom management, creativity, teacher development, motivation, coaching and mentoring skillsProfessional development:tailor-made courses for professionalsPersonal development:tailor-made programmes for individuals including personal life coachingExecutive coaching:for senior managersCertification courses:NLP-based courses, including professionally geared NLP Diploma and Practitioner Programmes

For more information, e-mail Nick Owen at [email protected] or go to www.nickowen.net

Contents

Title Page

Epigraph

Dedication

About Nick Owen

Acknowledgements

Foreword

Introduction

Section 1: Preparations

Section 2: The Task

Section 3: Problem Solving

Section 4: The Stories

Story 1 – Dances with Wolves

Story 2 – The Premier League

Story 3 – External Distractions

Story 4 – Presence

Story 5 – Holding the Space

Story 6 – A Tibetan Meditation

Story 7 – Silence is Golden

Story 8 – Integrity: The Triple Distillation Test

Story 9 – All at Sea

Story 10 – The Fox and the Hedgehog

Story 11 – A Close Shave

Story 12 – This Strawberry is Delicious

Story 13 – A Magic Carpet Ride 1

Story 14 – Creating Dissonance

Story 15 – Coping Strategies

Story 16 – A Magic Carpet Ride 2

Story 17 – The Lost Horse

Story 18 – The Presence of Absence

Story 19 – Personal Responsibility

Story 20 – Collective Responsibility

Story 21 – The Tale of the Rogue Monkeys

Story 22 – Stuck in a Rut

Story 23 – Gifted

Story 24 – TRough Justice

Story 25 – Taking Ownership

Story 26 – The Heart of Darkness

Story 27 – The Nature of Leadership

Story 28 – Courage

Story 29 – Rewarding Behaviour

Story 30 – Hidden Resources

Story 31 – Reflected Glory

Story 32 – Comfort Zones

Story 33 – First Fruits

Story 34 – Soil and Toil

Story 35 – MBA

Story 36 – Liquid Assets

Story 37 – Surface Tension

Story 38 – The Messiah

Story 39 – The Hat Trick

Story 40 – Illumination

Story 41 – It’s About Time

Story 42 – Fate Non Accompli

Story 43 – The Counterintuitive Route

Story 44 – Go with the Flow

Story 45a – Good Enough

Story 45b – Not Good Enough

Story 46 – Resistance

Story 47 – Drying Out

Story 48 – Three Sheep

Story 49 – Peda-Stodgy

Story 50 – In Your Hands

Story 51 – The Difference that Makes the Difference

Story 52 – Random Acts of Kindness

Story 53 – The Cracked Pot

Story 54 – Wake Up!

Story 55 – The Prisoner

Story 56 – Wistful Thinking

Story 57 – Stuckness

Story 58 – The Sequence of Things

Story 59 – Out of Thin Air

Story 60 – Absence or Presence?

Section 5: Homecoming – Change, Learning and Transformation

Section 6: Attributes of Great Leaders, Influencers and Motivators

Section 7: Unravelling the Threads

Appendix A – A Short Introduction to Spiral Dynamics

Appendix B – The Leadership Development Framework

Appendix C – Ken Wilber’s 4 Quadrant ‘A Theory of Everything’ Model

Appendix D – Some Practical Benefits of Spiral Dynamics

Bibliography

Copyright

Acknowledgements

For many years, the dolphin has been my guiding metaphor. I have never seen a “stuck” or bored dolphin. So, whenever I have felt stuck or blocked myself, I simply ask myself, “What would a dolphin do in this situation?”

From this perspective, especially when connecting to dolphin-like resources such as creativity, fun, grace, elegance and curiosity, my “stuckness” almost always seems to evaporate. And, when not, it is usually nothing more than my own stubbornness holding it in place. Just me, getting in my own way.

When I finally got round to swimming with dolphins – a curious, playful, energetic and welcoming pod of some seventy or so wild spinner dolphins in the Red Sea – I realised they were even more amazing than I had given them credit for. It would be hard to imagine many human beings so vital and adapted to their habitat as dolphins appear to be to theirs. And yet, deep down, hidden under so many layers, just as I can vaguely discern the dolphin potential in myself, I constantly meet its energy and effervescence surfacing in others too.

So I want to thank the many “dolphins” who have helped and supported me, in a variety of different ways, to spin and bottlenose this book into shape.

First, those who kindly looked at my manuscript and offered valuable feedback and suggestions: Binita and Rick Cooper, Alessandra Drago, Arielle Essex, Matthew Kalman, Alex McKie, Peter McNab, Maire Shelley, Carolyn Temple and Martin Woods. In particular, I must thank Christopher Cowan and Natasha Todorovic for their excellent and insightful comments, and for pointing out factual and interpretive errors in my understanding of Spiral Dynamics and its origins. Any remaining errors are my own. Also thanks to Don Beck and Chris Cowan for granting permission to use their story ‘Interviews with Six People’ printed in this book as Stories 13 and 16.

Second, the contributors who drew my attention to a wide range of stories in print, in movies, in the press, on the Internet and elsewhere: Arielle Essex, Eleonora Gilbert, Mark Hawkswell, Paul Holme, Alison Hood, Kathy Horton, Jacqueline Jager, David Jones, Carla da Silva, David Willis and Martin Woods.

Third, the storytellers from whom I have heard stories, or whose published stories have been sources for my own adaptations, and whose names are credited elsewhere in this book. And to all those who have created stories sometime, somewhere and whose work came to me via the Internet. Whoever you are, I thank you for your creativity and generosity.

Fourth, those who have given me support and strength at different times, especially when I most needed it: JB, Blackbird, AE, CF, EG, FCJ, SM, MP, SdiP, MS, CT.

Next, my publishers: David Bowman and the team who have given me so much support and encouragement.

And especially, to the teachers and mentors throughout my life from whom I have gained and learned so much: my father Evan Jones, and my uncle Colin Jones; my schoolteachers, Colin Turner and Ted Stead; my colleagues in education, Mario Rinvolucri, Sheelagh Deller, Seth Lindstromberg, Tony Wright and David Pammenter; my NLP trainers and colleagues too numerous to mention; my teachers of the Enneagram: Don Riso, Russ Hudson, and Sister Josephine Bugeja; finally, my Spiral Dynamics colleagues, and my SD teachers: Chris Cowan, Don Beck, Natasha Todorovic, and Christopher Cooke. Thanks to Christopher Cooke who first told me the story of ‘The Fish and the Water’.

Water is an essential companion to my life and my writing. So thanks to three important aquatic locations: the River Thames, which continues to flow comfortingly and always entertainingly past my window, and to the islands of Hvar and Venice and the seas that surround them.

Finally, a future-thank you to all those of you who will select, use and spread your own interpretations of these stories to a waiting and expectant world. The world is looking forward to your wisdom.

Nick Owen London, 2004

Foreword

I love stories, and always have. A long time ago, when my greatest goal was to have a train set on my sixth birthday, my father began to tell me stories set in an imaginary land peopled with kings and queens, mad inventors and carnivorous cheeses. (Carnivorous cheeses? Yes, truly, but that is another story). I loved those stories. Then the wheel turned its circle as the years passed and I found myself making up stories to my daughter at bedtime. These stories had princes and princesses, heroes and strange lands where normal rules were turned upside down and inside out. It was difficult but very rewarding to tell these stories every night, every story had to be new and interesting, and my daughter exercised strict quality control. I understood how good my father was at telling stories and how hard it can be to be creative every night to order. In the stories I told my daughter, I would sometimes have the hero’s worries and fears reflect the worries and fears in her young life. While I never introduced carnivorous cheese, (surely the ultimate ‘caseusex machina’ for the storyteller), I usually managed to resolve my stories well and my daughter would go to sleep content that these problems did have an answer.

I would then go down and watch television or read the paper, to see and read the stories of the day that were important to me. These were the stories that I wanted to know about, ongoing stories of what was happening in the world, stories in which I participated.

Stories are important. We need stories; they are all around us, on television, in newspapers, magazines and books. Hundreds of thousands of people write new ones every year in the hope of getting them published. And that is just our conscious mind at work. Stories are so important that we tell ourselves several every night in the form of dreams. No one knows exactly how these nocturnal stories work, or what they do, but if we are deprived of them, we go crazy. So, too, daytime life without stories is intolerable. We want our minds and hearts stimulated by stories. We learn from experience and pictures and words evoke experiences. A good story gives you an experience you can learn from. When we are inspired by a story, it is because it speaks to us, it touches some nerve in us because the storyteller has made the theme a human experience and we connect with that experience, we identify with it and by understanding the characters more, we learn to understand ourselves.

Stories are the perfect teaching medium. What do we learn from stories? Everything. We learn how people are and how they act. We learn how the world is and how it could be. Everyone has goals, and goals are stories we want to happen and they have happy endings, (at least for us). Once we set our goals, we make action plans. Action plans are adventure stories with us as the hero accomplishing the tasks.

When we are young, we like to hear stories that end with ‘and they lived happily ever after’. Even at a young age, I recognised that people do not live happily ever after. Bland stories of happy people with no challenges never interested me. The phrase ‘living happily ever after’, means that the story is over and the next story with its conflicts will soon follow. It is just another form of punctuation, like a full stop but longer.

There will be more conflict, because we make goals and very rarely does life grant us our goals without putting obstacles in the way. Once you have a goal and an obstacle, you have conflict and when you have conflict, there has to be a resolution and then you have a story. You have a life.

Nick Owen himself, as the storyteller is here throughout this story that you hold in your hands. The stories that Nick has woven into this book have everything that a good story should have. A cast of colourful characters, servants and masters, warriors and wizards, mothers and mystics that inhabit the stories that decorate the book. These stories are short, often funny and they show us something important, not by telling us, but pointing to it and letting us explore it for ourselves.

These short stories are bound together by another story of a young magician. And this story is in another story, a story of world famous psychologist Clare Graves, practical philosopher (not an oxymoron in this case) Ken Wilber, and authors Don Beck and Chris Cowan. They tell a story about evolution, of people moving through different values, struggling with obstacles and getting to new levels. This is a story about all of us and the world we live in. This story is about you and me, why we do what we do and all that remains is for you to take those ideas and apply them to your own personal story.

At every level, this book will stimulate you, and give you ways to make your own story more interesting, more exciting (if that is what you want) and happier.

These stories will give you inspiration to answer the questions you have, and to help you find your own answer, as every hero must. May your story be a good one, one worth telling. My congratulations to Nick Owen for telling such a good story and telling it well. Read on …

Joseph O’Connor São Paulo, Brazil August 2004

Welcome to a book for people who want to make a difference – in their own lives and in the world around them. It’s not a pretentious instruction manual or a know-it-all quick-fix with five simple steps to solving all humanity’s problems overnight. Instead, it represents a toolkit for thinking better, understanding more, and conveying increasingly conscious awareness powerfully to others.

Herein are three sub-books woven together. One thread is a careful selection of useful and illuminating stories and allegories which can be retold with great impact. Another is a metaphorical journey of exploration and personal development to more effective leadership, more positive influence, and enhanced motivation winding among the stories. And a third thread is an introduction to some new ways of thinking about human nature, change, and meaning making – essentials for positive growth. It’s a powerful, multilayered tapestry which can be used and appreciated in chunks or as an integrated whole.

A challenge we’ve faced for nearly 30 years in applying Spiral Dynamics, my business and one of the models Nick Owen will introduce in this book, is how to teach the principles of a powerful model without either going overboard in theoretical detail or skimming through it so lightly that the outcome belies the intention of the theory – to recognize the elegant complexity of the process of human emergence. Nick avoids the traps of both over-complication and typology while leading his reader gracefully through these systems as parts of an interwoven, connected field – the nature of the human being in operation in this world.

One reason I’m very pleased to introduce this book is that it gives us all a resource for presenting the work in ways more people can grasp and use. It’s not full of jargon or arcane references. Instead, it’s packed with meaning and metaphor – ideas that can resonate with the reader and those who will then hear the stories retold. How much better to offer a great story with a lesson that’s a fun read and even a great ‘tell’ so learning happens with a spontaneous ‘ah, ha!’ of discovery than to poured information from a pitcher of rote facts.

We humans are connection-seekers and meaning-makers, creatures anxious to draw parallels with our own being, patterns we see, and what we desire or reject. Nick’s book is for people who want to understand and make a difference. If you are at all like me, you will thoroughly enjoy the tapestry Nick has woven and come away from this book enriched, entranced, and empowered.

Chris Cowan NVC Consulting, Santa Barbara, and the International Spiral Dynamics Organization co-author, Spiral Dynamics: Mastering Values, Leadership,and Change

Section 1

Preparations

It was 2.17 in the morning. A candle glimmered in a dimly lit study area. Not a sound could be heard except the occasional sighs of students sleeping in the dormitory. A Young Magician was putting the finishing touches to a paper he’d been writing on The Uses of Storyand Metaphor with Practical Applications. It was the last written assignment of his apprenticeship at The Academy. He checked the clock on the wall, took another swig from his mug of cocoa and began a final read-through of what he had written.

Using story and metaphor with practical applications

If you could communicate “messages” with impact, wisdom and memorability, what difference would that make to your powers as a communicator? What difference would it make to other people’s perception of you as leader, motivator, parent or teacher?

In business, if your team were to share the vision, direction and values that you do, how much easier would it be to drive your business forward, and create powerful and favourable impressions on your clients? You and your entire team would be operating as one, moving with confidence and commitment towards a set of common goals.

In education, how much more satisfying would your teaching be – both for you and your students – if you were able to:

explain ideas more easily, more memorably, and more powerfully?create an environment to which all your students wanted to contribute and belong?motivate your students with a desire for lifelong learning?

So consider this question: What do the following teachers, artists and leaders have in common? Lao Tse, Jesus, the Buddha, Rumi, Chaucer, Shakespeare, Dickens, Tolkien, Gandhi, Winston Churchill, Einstein, Milton Erickson, John Harvey-Jones, Stephen Covey, Peter Senge and J. K. Rowling.

Answer: They all use varieties of anecdote, story, parable, case history and metaphor to put across their “message” in powerful and highly memorable ways.

Words by themselves are abstractions. A word is merely a representation of something, not the thing itself. Without a context or frame, words remain concepts, and concepts are open to a multiplicity of interpretations. Poor communication attracts poor results.

The meaning of your message is the response you get

In other words, the meaning of our communication is not what we think it means: it is what our listeners or readers think we mean. Poor communication, for example, is the reason many organisations and institutions fail to realise their full potential. Research suggests that 80 per cent of problems occurring within business contexts are communication issues. Mainly, this is the result of the vague interpretation of vague communication.

If we wish to ensure our words are understood in the way we want, we would do well to translate concepts and ideas into concrete, tangible, shared meanings. Anecdotes, stories and metaphors are very powerful ways to do this. They translate conceptual left-brain ideas into immediate and experiential right-brain recognitions. Stories connect ideas with people’s lived experience. They make sense!

Three holy men from three religious communities were invited to give thanks following a fundraising dinner in New York. The Christian priest offered a prayer about tolerance. The Muslim imam offered a prayer about charity. The rabbi, however, told a story. And the story contained a “message” for the diners to reflect upon. A week after the dinner, nobody could remember the prayers. But everybody remembered the rabbi’s story and the power of its message.

Stories can be used in many different contexts to get key messages across. They can be effectively used by coaches, mentors, teachers, trainers, therapists, parents, managers, team leaders, motivators and presenters, as well as in a raft of personal contexts. They work well in one-to-one situations, in small and large groups. Whatever the context, stories work brilliantly and are remembered.

In the rest of this assignment, I want to share some applications for storytelling, and show how stories can make a real difference to your impact and leverage, whether in business or education, in coaching or parenting, or simply when communicating and entertaining.

Contexts

You can use stories in every conceivable communication situation. They work particularly well when you “frame” them. Framing means that you give the listener a clue as to what the “message” is about. It is usually preferable not to explain a story. When the listener has to work to find a meaning it makes more sense and is installed much more deeply in their memory.

Here’s an example of framing. Let’s say the managing director of a company is holding a meeting with the intention of encouraging all employees to take more responsibility for the running of the business. The MD has in mind the development of a healthy organisational culture through the nurturing of a certain set of attitudes, but, rather than direct them, he would prefer his staff to work it out for themselves. So he talks generally about the kinds of people who work in successful organisations, and the kinds of attitudes they have. He goes on to use an anecdote to explain this:

When JFK visited Cape Canaveral in the sixties, he’d met all the top people – the astronauts, the scientists, the technicians – and he was on his way out, walking down a long narrow corridor, when he came upon an old grey-haired man stooped over a mop and bucket.“What do you do here?” Kennedy asked.“Sir,” said the old man, straightening up and looking the president right in the eye, “I’m doin’ exactly what all the folks here is doin’. Workin’ to put a man on the moon!” Kennedy, they say, was impressed.

In a different context – education, for example – you could use the same story to encourage students to take more responsibility for their learning and behaviour, whether in the classroom or the sports team. If Kennedy is not an appropriate model for your students, that’s no problem. Simply translate the story into a more appropriate context, and instead of JFK use a person who will be a more appropriate role model for your students.

Applications

Anecdotes, stories and metaphors can be used to reinforce almost any message you want to get across. Here are some possible applications:

motivatingreframing an issue or problemgiving feedbacksetting goalsinfluencing othersrequiring responsibilityteaching a pointreflectingtaking actionmodelling excellent behaviourdemonstrating negative behaviourmanaging issuesdeveloping skillsintroducing new ideaschallenging negative mindsetsdealing with leadership issuesenhancing creativityintroducing a themewaking people upchanging the moodrealising potentialgetting attentionmaking people laughrelaxing peopleeasing tension or stressgetting audience involvementshifting a paradigmsimplifying a complex ideachallenging complacency

Examples

Challenging complacency

Consider the parable of the boiled frog. If you put a frog in a bucket of very hot water you can be sure the frog will jump right out before he gets boiled. So would you! But put that frog in a bucket of water at room temperature and then ever so slowly turn up the heat, and you’re going to have one very contented frog. And by the time that water gets to the temperature we were talking about earlier, he’ll be far too groggy to do anything about climbing out.

Such complacency is classic in businesses and in individuals who have seen success as a reason not to change anything. When the market shifts it’s already far too late to take effective action. Wake up!

For anyone, or any organisation, wishing to make the most of themselves it’s useful to ask two questions:“Am I achieving more of my potential today than I was yesterday?” and “How can I achieve more of my potential tomorrow than I am today?” It is not enough to sit on past laurels or lily pads!

Skills development

Tiger Woods’s ball was stuck in a sand trap. It was a very difficult shot. He took a long while weighing up how to deal with it. Finally, he addressed the ball, focused all his energy and played the shot. The crowd watched as the ball hung high in the air, dropped and then bounced twice and into the hole.“That was a real lucky shot, Tiger,” a voice shouted from the crowd. “Yeah, it was,” responded Tiger.“But you know what? The more I practise, the better I get, and the better I get, the luckier I get.”

Effective behaviour isn’t random: it’s built upon an understanding of the structures and patterns that support excellent practice. Know-how is priceless and it can be learned. High-quality training and development are not expensive. Ignorance is expensive.