3. Joy

I have never witnessed a purer expression of joy than I did last year in Pilanesberg national park. It was close to sunset, the wind was picking up and you could sense the electricity of a storm in the air. As we came around a corner I saw a baby Rhino, not more than 4 or 5 months old dancing. Imagine the sight of a Rhino jumping from hind legs to front legs, as much as the podgy little body can muster. Every now and again he even managed to get all four legs in the air. A pure celebration of life in every pore and fiber of his existence. 

This type of experience, where joyful expectation spills over into boundless ecstasy is exactly the kind of feeling most offices and managers try and avoid. Joy is usually part of an after the fact celebration of achievements. The process and experience of work does not receive attention when it comes to the introduction and sustenance of joy.

For me however, joy is the engine of learning. Rudolf Steiner understood this and it has been practiced in Waldorf schools ever since. When you honour the human, the objective of the teacher is first and foremost to provide a path for students to find their own joy in the subject matter. For instance in music education the children are first exposed to music unconditionally. They find the rhythms and patterns themselves. If their interest grows from the joyfulness of the experience, they will add theory and more nuanced abilities in making music. The heart leads the lesson.

This view was also supported by Malcolm Gladwell in Outliers. The emotional pleasure that people received from their commitment towards mastering a discipline, provides the engine to completing their own personal 10 000 hours. If it ain't fun, it won't get none. Joy keeps you learning.

The process of work is extremely good at killing this kind of joyful discovery. When consulting Pharma companies I found time and again that my client counterparts started of pursuing a career in Pharma because they saw deep meaning and the opportunity to impact many lives. As the years go by they become jaded and chase numbers and market shares. The human connection that at first gave meaning to their jobs is completely lost. 

Here are five ways in which a manager can enhance the ability of joy to affect commitment and performance in an organization:

1. Making work a pleasure. This is a strategy used by many tech start ups keen to keep top talent. Great free meals, massages and a bar is usually thrown into the mix.
2. Ensuring personal engagement. This is harder to do as it requires a bottom up collaborative effort. The inherent motives of staff are aligned in strategy and the team all know how the collective effort satisfies their higher needs. This is time consuming and tough but very successful in values based businesses like Etsy.
3. Strengthening personal relationships. The social contract of work is a strong incentive. By ensuring that their is a healthy personal dynamic between the team members, work becomes more rewarding. This is the unintended pay off from office christmas parties and picnics.
4. Building a business around real meaning. When employees feel that their efforts are contributing to the word in a meaningful way, every effort and late night becomes its own reward. They don't feel tired but even more motivated to make a difference. Apple operated on this principle for years. Increasing organisations are realising the importance of this factor when hiring millenials. For them work must equal meaning. Companies are judged on their values as much as their products.
5. Celebrating accomplishments. This has to move beyond the "employee of the month" mode of recognition. Quite often these schemes can become exclusionary and political. When a transparent and progressive system is found where real world impact is included in the measurement of the accomplishment, everybody benefits from positive norming.

Looking at this list there are many ways to ensure that joy becomes a journey and not just a destination. A central part of the organisational culture, rather than an isolated fringe experience. Perhaps we can all feel like the little Rhino a little more often when we face new challenges or explore new opportunities.

2. Pride

Walking through the Alpine village of Bezau you are constantly reminded of the pride that locals have in their traditions and the beauty of their environment. The houses are meticulously preened and maintained with beautiful flowers blooming into late September. When you look at these houses it is easy to understand why Aristotle called pride the crown of virtues. Something which makes virtue shine more brightly as the individual fills their potential without hesitation, believing and proving themselves worthy.
Pride can also serve as a strong unifying force, when we express through rituals and symbols that we believe in the same greater goal. Pride for a sports team, a country, an ideal or even a special personality  signifies and bonds people in powerful ways. Just as the flower boxes in Bezau become a strong symbol of proud belonging, expressions of faith through clothing or wearing insignia can sustain the power and influence of an ideology.

We are quick to point out how national pride led to the disaster of Nazi Germany or even the Apartheid regime of South Africa. We are not so quick to see the limiting force of what we consider "good" pride. The pride of technological and economic progress in the West. Who dares raise critique or questions in the face of something that is so obviously revered? The radiance of pride can blind us and isolate us from the changing world around us. It is no wonder that Pride is also called "the original sin." Lucifer's pride led him to upset the order in heaven, starting a rebellion that ended with the downfall of God's most beautiful angel. How do we find a balance where pride can serve to align and unite people whilst maintaining a critical and sensitive spirit, understanding the boundaries of our perceived truth?

When I started working in advertising, the agency had a giant wall in reception plastered with prizes. The golden lions and sparkling effies radiated through the entrance, telling every client and employee that this was no ordinary agency. In this place only brilliance is desired and required. Pride can quickly flip into hubris when someone is blinded by their successes and adoration. Over-extending their opinion of themselves through a lack of honest self-evaluation. Walking into that reception area every morning I am sure many employees took pride. They took pride into meetings and stopped listening to subtle signals of misalignment. Their pride did not allow them to admit mistakes, failure or even a lack of understanding. And so, building a sense of pride based purely on a glorification of past successes is a certain way to crash into the wall in front of you. Pride comes before the fall.

In my experience, two attributes limit the usefulness of pride. On the one hand it creates a boundary between people. Where one group believes they are more special or hold a more important truth. As Philip Zimbardo explains in the Lucifer effect, the separation between people is always the first step in a genocide. A strong sense of identity coupled with the pride of providence or belief quickly reduces the "other" to a less worthy being. By doing this we limit our ability to learn through empathy. We become blind to their plight. As a business, the more proud you become of your success, the harder it becomes to take the concerns and complaints of your customers seriously. It becomes "apple's word" against the consumer's concern. In this scenario the business looses the opportunity to turn "mistakes" into business opportunities because pride drives a divide between employees and consumers.

The second force is the blindness pride brings when confronted with new ideas or a shifting context. We have all encountered the out of touch CEO or senior manager. Proud of their accomplishments they believe that past success proves them right in current contexts. They become uncritical, and unable to question the first principles of their firmly held views. By believing their own mythology they begin to drift further and further away from the pulse of the present moment. The truth is that the world today is far too dynamic and complex for any one person to be "right." Information and competitive actions are flooding into a business at multiple points before any report can be filed or a board room meeting held. By the time a senior executive gets to weigh in with their opinion, the data is outdated. Responding to uncertainty with pride in such a situation is the certain road to nokia, motorola, or any company that believed for too long in their own myth, supported by pride.

How do we avoid that pride becomes a circle around our hearts? How do we remain critical of our beliefs, and maintain the curiosity of "beginner's mind?" The design process of prototyping and iterating is a great step in the right direction. Prototypes are designed to fail fast, thereby avoiding the pride and emotional commitment to little dinosaurs. Iteration brings a constant dialogue, ensuring the shifting situational signals are captured towards improving our design. No business plan has ever survived the first contact with a consumer. Letting go of pride allows us to be vulnerable in our curiosity, to open new doors and unexpected collaborations. By constantly engaging, with empathy and alertness, we can break through the blindness and solitude of pride to enjoy the connecting and uplifting elements more consistently.

1. Fear

As governments and politicians have known for millennia, there are few forces that can move nations as much as fear does. Paradoxically there are also few forces that can paralyse people as much as fear does. Rooted so deeply in our fight or flight reflexes, fear is almost more of an instinct than an emotion. On one hand fear made me procrastinate writing this blog for days; the fear of looking stupid, irrelevant or out of touch. What happens if the words just wont come? On the other hand fear also motivated me to write it. Especially after I publicly committed to doing so. On a societal and individual scale, fear is part and parcel of what makes us human.

However, I have yet to see an executive openly acknowledge fear as part of a business strategy or leadership style. Like fish swimming in water, they are often the last to notice what they are breathing. It is so innate that we rarely develop conscious tools to harness or channel fear towards a more useful and meaningful end. When they do embrace fear it is mostly in order to control. The implicit "motivational fear" which is expected to lead to better performance. "The boss will freak out if we don't complete this on time." is often met with the fear sustaining "Mr. Smith, I am afraid this just won't do."  Erich Fromm is the touchstone on the topic of how our fear of freedom has created a western mindset that is pliable and amenable to the purposes of capital. As a child I noticed that when I came across an unexpected snake in the bush, my fear would only make me run far enough to get out of its reach. Fear cannot be the foundation of sustained motivation. How much effort is wasted in organisations by employees who are just staying outside of the fear/risk boundary?

When properly channeled, the creative, story telling dimensions of fear can be a great asset to a team as Karen Walker so beautifully explains. It is a great form of trouble shooting and imagination, a kind of productive paranoia when it is applied to building options. This healthy relationship to fear can change the culture of an organisation and release new levels of innovation. As Regina Dugan demonstrated so memorably in her March 2012 Ted talk, at DARPA they were able to reframe the fear of failure to release untold innovation. Having respect for the size of a challenge does not have to result in fear.

One of my favourite workshop activities is to ask participants what their "hopes and fears" are. This small exercise has a massive impact on three levels. Firstly it allows the group to identify risks and contextual constraints that help inform the design of a solution. Secondly it informs the barometer of commitment. The more deeply engaged someone is, the more nuanced and personal the perspective on fears will be. The third level of impact is however the one that fascinates me most. By allowing a conversation about fears, we open a channel for emotional communication in the team. Most executives have never been asked to evaluate an opportunity in this way. At first they feel vulnerable but pretty soon the room finds a bond as concerns are felt, rather than thought.

In the end I believe that when fear is given its rightful place, it can help us see a more vulnerable and human side to our colleagues. This strengthens rather than weakens our trust and ability to share ideas freely. What are the daily routines we can use to channel the level of fear in a team towards healthy respect for the challenge and transform uncertainty into a more complete and creative understanding of our potential?

Go e-motion

"It's business, don't take it personally." This seems to be the predominant view of professional life, where you can ignore your feelings and focus on the "rational" facts. Decisions are subjected to the higher purpose of shareholder value and how people are affected by this is "just business."
This view is made a lot easier to sustain when people are referred to as "human resources," or even better, the mythical FTE's (full time equivalents).

Rational, predictable, and flexible in their ability to be deployed. That makes the machine of business run a true course. The captains of industry can steer the strategic course as simply as a captain steers a ship, because the ship responds perfectly to a firm hand on the tiller. But nature is messy, and people suffering from alienation are not productive, inventive or resilient to stress. Innovation and new ideas come from being unpredictable. Organisational resilience comes from individuals responding to new and unexpected threats in novel ways. Business is an organic process, not a mechanical one. It is chemistry, biology and energy all bundled into the messy murky world of emotions.

It is amazing that business practise has for so long been able to promote a non-emotional view to one of our core human activities. Most probably it felt safe being able to ignore our emotions when so many of us feel threatened and confused by our own feelings. When they are mentioned, it is usually in the context of the positive. Good leadership instills pride and motivation. Happiness has made a huge comeback as a metric for success. Emotions, like human beings however are not one dimensional. Let's take a look at that.

Two years ago I set the challenge of writing one post a day on a 42 day journey. The inspiration would come from the experiences I encountered along the way. The Tao of inspiration. This year I am embarking on a similar journey: Austria, Berlin, London, Lisbon, Seattle, Portland, Johannesburg, Cape Town. Rather than looking at random incidents however, the 42 days will be devoted to exploring the impact of emotions on our professional selves and the human interactions we call business.

To navigate this journey I'll use Robert Plutchik's "wheel of emotions" as a map. Finding the "positive motion"  we experience from integrating all our emotions in making a meaningful contribution to the flow of economic exchange. Because business is very personal. Most adults dedicate a large chunk of their existence to make business work. The reward to our own identity and sense of self needs to be in balance if we want to prosper in a post growth environment. After all, the core of the word "emotion" is "motion." That which moves us.

The tyranny of Design

Wow, what an inspiration to spend two days immersed in conversations about the state of design and "What Design Can Do!"
It is clear that Design is going through the same transformational process that Rahul Mehrotra describes as attributes of a kinetic city: elasticity, incrementalism and soft boundaries. Everywhere Design is taking on bigger and more complex challenges. Finding ways to solve some of the world's most wicked problems.

The more I looked at the talks and listened to the speakers however, the more I got a sense that the debate was demonstrating strong signs of a bounded rationality where Designers have a unique monopoly on the truth of transformation. I got the feeling that the agents of change were always cast as Designers, leading the way and finding clever solutions. We live in an ever more systemically dependent world, the individual no longer has the capacity or the ability to "solve" a problem and solutions in one part of the system invariably lead to unintended consequences somewhere else.

The act of design needs to be released from an individual truth charge to a systemic imperative. We need to usher in an era of ego-less design where the act of designing is not really intended to validate or dependent on a Designer id-entity. Why? Because the id-entity of the designers need to be fed on repeat business and new clients and the way to achieve this is by closely aligning with their visible contribution to change and transition. The object and "shiny new thing" becomes the lowest common denominator of debate about transformation. The subject and effect somehow get lost through a lack of longitudinal understanding, participation and appreciation.

Increasingly, real solutions are shaped by the invisible agents of emergent design. The evolution of ideas over time, once they have been set free and taken on a life ex-studio. Who is designing to empower, accelerate and support these agents of emergent design? The people who are designing, yet not classed or invited as "Designers?"

As I checked out of the after party I was struck by a sign posted by some unknown interaction designer. "Please take a photo of your wardrobe card (claim ticket)" What insight, what amazing progress from the piles of torn and lost claim tags. I am pretty sure this can soon become the norm. Everyone has a phone/camera and looks after it so much better than they would a claim ticket. So why not save the paper and just take a photo instead?

For me this is what design can do, reframe the obvious to bring a simpler and more delightful new. In essence an inverse "Nudge" that prompts and shifts the system rather than the other way around. No-one owns this kind of design and it becomes accessible to all. You can call it thoughtless acts of design but I see a thoughtful understanding of human interaction. So, how do we empower and promote this thoughtful engagement with our environment, deliver a culture of design that is understood without the id-entities? Who is designing for this?

Who are the designers reaching outside the disciple-inn to lead with optimism and empathy. Who are the designers that promote a belief that you can change the environment you live in and it is best done by deeply understanding the needs and emotions of those affected. Kiran Sethi is showing the way, and as always we learn most when we see the world as children do. Release design from the tyranny of Design and we'll shift into a more conscious, designing society.

Being right versus being real

The five of swords tells an interesting story about victory and defeat. The cunning warrior collecting the weapons of his vanquished enemies (or fallen friends). One cannot celebrate in this victory though, because although he may have prevailed, this victory will not build long term peace or trust.

This is the core challenge we face in negotiation and bringing to life ventures that require the vested efforts of more than one person. So much of our culture and traditional management places a premium on "being right." Being the one who knows the answer gets a promotion, gets the test scores, gets the pat on the shoulder from doting parents. But what happens when "being right" gets in the way of "being real?"

As I was reading the story of how the first Fargfabriken artist collaboration between Russia and Sweden in the early 90's ended in disaster, I couldn't help but think that especially Viktor Misiano was holding on to what he believed to be "right" and that this immobility meant that the Russian art works were not displayed, did not become "real" to the public. The cost of being right can mean being forgotten because your truth lives only in your own mind.

"Being right" is always contextual. You can only be right within a limited set of facts. As the situation evolves and new things come to light, we have to shift our positions, we have to respond to what is "real." But how can we do this if our ego and reputation are vested in the "right" answer?

With the start-up I am currently stewarding this tension has led to some interesting conflicts and debates.   As with any venture, the success of this project relies entirely on its ability to be "real" in the hearts of all of the collaborators. Getting them not only to see the direction and intent, but also to live it through their actions.

The challenge is not be be "right," to win a debate, or to relieve some internal tension (generated by the discomfort of doing something different). The challenge is to bring something into the world. To create a new "real" that will reframe and create a new version of what people believe is "right."

The wisdom of the five of swords points out a subtlety in this negotiation though. A strong push to override the opinions of others, to disregard their discomfort will certainly lead to an isolation where being "right" (in a push for tangibility) will again prevent the project from having integrity (due to the sublimated discomfort of the partners). How can we achieve both aims?

The energy of a sword is aimed at cleaving, separating and dividing. When a negotiation suddenly starts to feel like a divisive moment, we must honour this feeling. You can't push others into accepting your truth. Turn your efforts towards discovering the deeper, emotional purpose that unites. Being "real" should not be a lonely battlefield. It is not a clash of sharpened words and arguments. We don't want to admire the beauty of our swords after the battle. We want to enjoy the feast, together.

The threefold awareness in transformation

What does a year of living out of suitcases, a year without furniture or a home address teach you? How do you see the world when you have no tripod or fixed point of view. This is not the post I set out to write, but somehow it is the one that emerged as words started flowing. In a way it is only fitting as this year was not a journey that was planned, strategic or intentional.

I am you

The year has been filled with friendship. Old friends whom I hadn't seen for 26 years, new friends with whom a deep spiritual connection must have existed before we even met. The year has included (in chronological order) Costa Rica, London, Cologne, Frankfurt am Main, Stockholm, Berlin, Tegernsee, Munich, Derby, Bali, Singapore, New Zealand, Nuremberg, Mallorca, Berliiiiiiin, New York, Denver, Medford, Portland OR, Middletown CA, Palo Alto, San Francisco, Santa Cruz, Mt Hood, Open tent somewhere in Utah desert, Helsinki, Cape Town, Kalk bay, Johannesburg, Pretoria, Magaliesburg, Pilanesburg, Lodz, Buxton, Leeds. (Duplications and miles and miles of mountain walks not noted).

In connecting to so many people in so many places the most persistent thought is the sense of genuine connection we all share through our humanity. The journey I am undertaking is the journey everyone undertakes on a day to day basis. The distorted lens of flights and passport controls has only served to bring this basic human quest in focus. No matter where or who you are, we are all on a journey to add meaning and substance to the life we have been given.

Once in a meeting with Stefano Marzano I thanked him for taking the time out of his schedule. His answer: "we all have the same number of hours in the day." A profound insight about the choices we make in filling each hour with substance. In this instance it made me acutely aware of my responsibility towards him; to fill the hour with 60 minutes worth of value. In this regard every one of use faces every day with the challenge of filling it with our unique biography, a contribution that transcends the escape velocity of the hours lent to it by creating a substantial shift in the people around us. The value of the journey is not measured by the places you have seen, it is measured by the lives you have touched.

So, you are me. The travel catalogue of daily adventures mapping kindness, generosity and the conversations people will have, when you are not there.

I am not you
Having roots, a home and the network of support that grows organically from seeing the same sights every morning, provides a sense of stability. Time and again I have seen peace in the eyes of those who have lived in the same place, dwelled along the same paths, all their lives. Is it an innate sense of calm that leads one to feel content with your home environment, eschewing adventure, like Bilbo Baggins? Or does having a home create the calm that fills these environments with a content happiness? I don't know which way the causality runs but a foundation gives you more than the obvious stability, it gives you a calm energy.

This calm energy is well suited for constructive arts. The patience of building a house, watching a community develop. The patience of waiting for the seasons to carry a crop to bare.

Over the past year my energies have been channeled into facilitation, connection and contradiction. By not being embedded in a fulcrum of production, the "touch and go" contributions I have been able to make feel like the platinum plate of a catalytic convertor; consumed in and by its use, leaving nothing behind but an altered quality of experience. The delivery of the experience, the real value has to be realized by someone who takes anchor and works with the now, the space and the physical possibilities of the "sit-you-ation."

You are not you

A long time ago I had a vision of an individual life's trajectory. I imagined a thin glowing white silken line stretched between someone's parents, and their counterpoint. Looking at this thin line I saw how people were running back and forth on this thin white line, to either manifest what their parents represented (in the words of the Cowboy Junkies: "become their mothers and fathers without a sound") or to try hell for leather to be the opposite. How strange I thought that no one dared to step outside the silken thread of two dimensional connection. How many alternate versions of you could there be if neither one of these two poles was an actual definition of your destiny.

By being on the shiny certainty of confirmation/contradiction we are mostly blinded by the binary nature of our "yes/no" choices. But there lies a universe beyond what we see in front of use. The choice you face today is not: "shall I go to work or stay at home." The choice is rather, how many different places are there out there where my true potential could illuminate a more meaningful contribution.

We underestimate who we are and the true power of our thoughts and actions because for the most part, the measure of success and meaning is flawed. If there is one thing the past year has taught me, it is that staying in Plato's cave turns you into a caveman. Once you let go of what you hold to be manifest truth, a new version of you emerges that has not been defined by the "accepted" interplay of light and darkness. The image of you reflected in your job, your family or your immediate set of friends are not the whole truth of who you are. When you let go of the silken strand of identity, you immediately embrace something much bigger.