what is integrated thinking?

You know that you are part of lots of different worlds. In each one, there are roles you play, roles others fill for you, and combinations that make your heart sing. In each one, there is also the potential to be pulled in different directions, to be crowded or pressured, to be forced into roles that just don't fit. Sometimes you feel that you are in the right place at the right time. Sometimes you feel out of step. What makes the difference?

You know that you are made up of many different roles. There is more than one voice in your head. Sometimes this diversity makes you feel strong, flexible, aware of your all-but super powers. You know the strength that comes from connecting different experiences, different dreams, different points of view. Sometimes you see things from so many perspectives that your vision splinters like a kaleidoscope. Sometimes your dreams seem to cancel each other out. Sometimes you know the exhaustion of expending strength in multiple directions. You are multi-talented; you suffer from multiple personalities. What makes the difference?

It's not enough to understand one thing at a time in a world where everything is connected to everything else. Understanding the connections is primary and understanding grows from attention. When you pay attention to connections, you start to see that everyone and everything is connected with thousands of invisible threads. You start to notice how one change ripples into many changes. You start to notice the difference between the team that is more than the sum of its parts and the person you are when you cannot get it together. You develop integrity: the strength to hold together under a range of forces.

Integrated thinking is not seeing the forest and it is not seeing the trees. It's seeing that the forest exists because of the trees. It's seeing that each tree becomes itself in the forest.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The hypnotic contract

Under what conditions would you allow someone else to tell you what to think?   If you have watched a stage hypnotist, you have seen what looks like one person exercising remarkable control over the thoughts and actions of another. It is fascinating, in part, because we have all seen it happen in real life. Suddenly someone we know seems to be relying on someone else to do the thinking.  Even if the influence is good, it is a little frightening. The secret is that there are no magic words.  In order to lead someone into hypnosis, that person has to be willing to go there. Often the people you see on stage are more than willing. For whatever reasons, they are enthusiastic about giving up self control and allowing someone else to take charge. They know that there are limits to what can happen on stage and they are only agreeing to give up control within those limits. What you see in hypnosis is an agreement between two people. Like all agreements between human beings, it stretches as far...
Read more

Good with people

What do you think of when you hear the phrase "good with people?" When a wine is good with steak, it means that both the steak and the wine taste better when enjoyed together. If you are 'good with people' that could mean that both you and they perform better when you work together. "Good with people" should not be confused with charm or grace. Many famous leaders have, in the absence of any obvious charm or eloquence, managed to get people to produce at high levels. Some introverts fail to be influential; some extraverts fail to be effective. The most useful criteria for "good with people" is the performance that results when an individual is working with others: does the sum exceed the total of the parts? Or would they all have been better working from separate cubicles? We are entering the season of networking: it's a perfect time to observe the difference between the people who are working the room and the people who are making the room w...
Read more

The fine line between observations, suggestions and commands

I have been watching Tony Robbins this week in the documentary called " I Am Not Your Guru ." You can read a nicely ambivalent review in the Financial Times here.   I think the ambivalence is built into the process, which might be surprising given the loud celebration that characterizes the Date with Destiny in the film. For those of us whose work has evolved from NLP, there are lessons to be learned from modelling the most famous and successful practitioner of NLP (Robbins has far surpassed all the founders by all measures of success). Because he does so much so well, Robbins lets us see how fine the line is between observing and suggesting. Let me explain. Robbins frames his "interventions" both with the exercises and performances we do not see in the film and with his invitations. The film opens with an intervention with a young man who says he is suicidal; it is only later that we see Robbins say he is looking for someone who is suicidal to work with. Since...
Read more