Higher Ground

Stevie Wonder is one of those performers whose musicianship and talent for melody, arrangement and feel is unsurpassed. I think that one of the 10 Commandments of Bar Bands should be "thou shalt not play a Stevie Wonder song", having heard "Superstition" slaughtered on the altar of rock cover band guitarists one too many times. Anyway, I digress, here's some classic SW to start the post:

Nice sentiment, but why should we try and reach the highest ground? What does this mean anyway?

Religions all focus on this topic and a good place to start is looking at their thoughts on the matter. For brevity I'll take the medieval theologian Thomas Aquinas and his Seven Deadly Sins as representative of the religious stance. These are a distillation of those activities and attitudes that are most likely to condemn us to an eternity somewhere unpleasant:

• Pride: an excessive belief in one's own abilities
• Envy: the desire for others' traits, status, abilities, or situation
• Gluttony: an inordinate desire to consume more than that which one requires.
• Lust: a craving for the pleasures of the body.
• Anger: fury over love; resentment and hate
• Greed: the desire for material wealth or gain, ignoring the realm of the spiritual
• Sloth: the avoidance of physical or spiritual work

Some of these sound like fun, so why are they so bad? What harm can a little indulgence cause? The answer is, I think, that they are all paths toward lower ground, terrain where a bigger perspective is not possible, where we expend energy on gratifying urges rather than making a positive impact. As Carlos Castaneda put it:

"I warn you: Look at every path closely and deliberately. Try it as many times as you think necessary. Then ask yourself and yourself alone one question: Does this path have a heart? All paths are the same. They lead nowhere. They are paths going through the brush or into the brush or under the brush. Does this path have a heart is the only question. If it does then the path is good…if it doesn’t then it is of no use. Both paths lead nowhere, but one has a heart and the other doesn’t. One makes for a joyful journey; as long as your follow it will be one with it. The other will make you curse your life. One makes you strong, the other weakens you"

In Bear Grylls' autobiography "Mud, Sweat and Tears" he describes his error during a critical timed hike as part of an SAS selection test:

"I dropped off the high ground too early, and soon found myself floundering again in the worse of the boggy marsh. Burning up energy and precious time. I could feel my tired legs leaking energy, and the weight of the pack was pushing my sinking legs further and further into the boggy ground with each step. To make matters worse, I could see distant figures on the skyline above steaming past me"

This is a good metaphor for the reasons why we should not opt for the apparent comfort of the lower ground, those vices encapsulated by the Deadly Sins. Balance is lost, the more we indulge, the more we need to satisfy, the more our mental energy is bogged down while the opportunity to make a positive impact passes us by.  This is borne out by the spectacular falls of those in high places--from Tiger Woods to Bernard Madoff--where the root cause is always one of the seven.

In this Battle of Everyday that we are thrown into, winning, making an impact, depends on maintaining a strategic advantage. A major part of this advantage is keeping the higher ground; a position that develops power, enables vision and gives the edge over opponents in lower positions. This is true figuratively as well as in actual combat, where higher ground gives the individual or army a superior position, with more options for attack or defense. Higher ground could mean better fighting technique, better training or stronger spirit, all of which are elements of a higher state. Likewise, outside of combat, not being dragged to a lower position by the numerous temptations of modern life, cultivating discipline and control, develops a tangible power. It's a practical approach, freeing available energy for fun, creativity, beneficial work, altruism and relationship-building. These all improve the impact we make, and is one explanation of the principles of karma--what goes around comes around--as the higher we raise ourselves, the more advantages we obtain from the higher position. If you want to make an impact, gotta heed Stevie's advice:

Gonna keep on trying till I reach the highest ground....

Born to Run?

Tramps like us, baby we were born to run

Why is it that millions of people identify so strongly with Bruce Springsteen’s song ‘Born to Run’? Vicarious tramps, driving fast cars accompanied by their Wendy. I think there’s something worth exploring here, something that touches the core of the American psyche; it’s worth looking under this hood and meddling to see if we can tune up, find balance and adventure.
It seems like most of the fans that love the song are content in the very world that is to be run from; the cloying sterility of the job/dog/computer/Blackberry/TV lifestyle; the routine drudgery of making ends meet; the world of the GPS telling us where to go, and all the other (aptly-named) trappings of the new-millennium lifestyle. But are we really content, or are there suppressed rumblings deep in our engines, the spirit’s plea to recognize its purpose, the unfulfilled quest? I believe that we all have a deep-rooted wanderlust, a need to discover ourselves and our environment, a need to define our contribution to life. The popularity of Born to Run (and the many other songs and films that express the yearning for freedom) supports this belief; music provides an inspection-bay into our deeper workings, among which is a huge desire for freedom. That so many of us can identify with the song’s message is evidence that the human soul knows that its purpose is to ‘run’ and make an impact on the world in the short time available. Modern life stalls our motors though; we may lack curiosity and have no desire to explore externally or internally, no interest in finding out where those two lanes will lead us. We may lack courage; to leave safety and routine sounds good on a record—especially after a couple of drinks in the evening—but in real life it is scary and requires a top-up of bravery (and foolhardiness), levels of which are low in the cold light of the morning. Most often however we run out of gas because of lack of energy, and we fall into the very lifestyle that the songs and films we love rail against. As we progress beyond our twenties, our energy levels naturally decrease, whereas demand rises to cope with the complexities of work and family life. The lure of lifestyle weighs down our trunks with possessions; the hemi-powered drone becomes the coveted luxury car, and the notion that where you drive is more important than the car you’re driving takes a backseat to the quest for comfort and status. We continually reduce our degrees of freedom through acquisition and debt until we become enslaved by the very liberty that we think we have. Oftentimes our chassis is corroded by poor choices and the inability to restrain our compulsions, leaving us off-balance and vulnerable, unable to drive forward, to run and explore while we have the chance.
While Mr. Springsteen’s songs are powerfully evocative of the problems and angst we all encounter en route, they are not an abundant source of solutions, with the possible exception of one of his other paeans to the automobile, Racin’ in the Street. Here, he offers a glimpse of the road outta here:

Some guys they give up livin’, they start dyin’ little-by-little, piece-by-piece; Some guys come home and wash up, and go racin’ in the street

We should take his advice on how to keep a full tank, remain well-balanced, in-tune and able to make an impact. We have to stop searching for comfort, stop trapping ourselves with the vision of a lifestyle that is sold to us, stop planning our retirement and start planning to live. It’s time to wash up, take some risks and head out on the highway, ready for adventure and whatever comes our way.

 "What the hell's wrong with freedom man? That's what it's all about"

Live dangerously.....

In defining and understanding the universal principles of impact it is useful to study those who have genuinely made an impression on our world. One such person was Winston Churchill, who, despite the estimated 20,000 bottles of champagne he drank in his lifetime, was indisputably a heavy hitter. Paul Johnson's book "Churchill" has an insightful Epilogue which describes five characteristics that the author believes contributed primarily to Churchill's achievements:

1. Always aim high - improve your weaknesses and capitalize on your strengths, set your sights high. Churchill mastered English history, participated in five wars, became a prolific war correspondent and author, as well as an acclaimed painter, polo player (winning the top award in the world) and, of course, was Prime Minister during the most critical period in 20th century history.
2. There is no substitute for hard work - do everything to the best of your ability, take the tough decisions, balance "flat-out work" with "creative and restorative leisure".
3. Never allow mistakes, disaster, accidents, illnesses, unpopularity or criticism to get you down. Churchill suffered abject failure, humiliation and catastrophic loss but these never sapped his energy and courage to continue. This was arguably Churchill's greatest strength and the biggest contributor to his success.
4. Do not waste any time on the "meannesses of life" - for example attributing blame, seeking revenge, rumor-spreading, grudges or vendettas. Conserve energy for positive ends, understand that hatred and fear are exhausting, energy-intensive and wasteful.
5. Find time for joy in your life - be happy, laugh, enjoy your interactions with others.

These are five important principles, equating to boldness, discipline, courage, conservation of energy and balance, all key elements of impact. To finish with some further advice from Churchill, consider his counsel after being badly injured in a car accident in New York City in 1931. In an article about his accident he concludes "For the rest, live dangerously, take things as they come. Fear naught, all will be well."

Be bold, go with and don't worry - every little thing gonna be alright!

Accelerate!

It's acceleration that makes the difference. Acceleration surprises, makes an impact, penetrates, and gets us to where we want to be. Without acceleration we move at the same pace; we're predictable, people see us coming, things get boring. The art of impact is the ability to accelerate, to come from seemingly nowhere, to overwhelm and overcome resistance . 

To accelerate we have to build tension prior to launching, applying forbearance, the discipline to wait until the right moment before we embark and pull the trigger. The right moment is when there is an opportunity, a need that we can meet, a gap in our opponent's defense.  This requires building and holding tension--like pulling back the cord on a bow and arrow--developing skills, building concepts, connecting and collaborating to acquire the ideas and energy that will propel us towards the target. Like the archer we must develop the strength to hold this increasing tension, while remaining aware and ready to release at the opportune instant.

In a fight, if someone approaches or throws a punch at a constant speed, even if fast, we can anticipate and avoid. It's better to start slow and then gather speed rapidly, making evasion impossible, hitting before the opponent's mind catches up with the attack. So it is in all areas of life. We must practice building knowledge, skills, concepts, even without a precise goal. The moment will come when direction is clear and the release of stored energy will be accompanied by the thrill of acceleration, assuring an exciting ride and eventual success.  

Shine On You Crazy Diamond

We’re all crazy, one way or another, and this can be a huge strength or a debilitating weakness. The real fun in life comes from identifying and unleashing that craziness; once we find the hidden deposits of crazy we can tap into vast reserves of physical and mental power. Too many of us either suppress and ignore our crazier side, or unleash it in ways that don’t give us pleasure, paths that can spiral down in a negative trajectory. Those that ignore or have never found this side of their nature live it vicariously through television, movies, gambling or computer games. So why not use it to achieve something more satisfying? Use it to become the person you want to be; it’s energy that can be brought to bear to defeat the mediocre and transform the ordinary into something extraordinary.
As we understand ourselves and exert control on elements of our personality, we can balance the darker elements of our nature and our better characteristics in a controlled manner. By exerting increased discipline and finding balance our awareness expands to uncover that crazy diamond within. Once discovered it can be taken out, polished and put somewhere more accessible so that when we need it we can reach down and use its energy to propel us through prior barriers, shining on, no matter what.

Boldness and Serendipity

Like the Seven Deadly Sins, I think there are Seven Deadly Root Causes of ineffectiveness; seven factors which, if not understood and managed, lead to an inability to achieve goals and make an impact. One of these is not being able to start (and its corollary, not being able to finish). If we really want to achieve something, to change, to make an impact, then we must start towards our goal. However, although this seems evident,  taking first steps requires passing through the pain barrier of action--actually doing something--and many of us struggle to break through this barrier. Moreover, it means opening ourselves up to failure, and the endemic fear of failure in our society can make starting a scary proposition. A bold first step is essential, we must accept the possibility of failure and press on regardless. Oftentimes, such first steps can be simple, for example contacting a potential client, emailing an idea or abstract, writing a summary, booking a performance or enrolling in an event. Apart from the negative effects of never taking such steps, there is an interesting positive phenomenon of "enhanced serendipity" which occurs. Making a bold initial move leads to the effect that W.H. Murray (of The Scottish Himalayan Expedition) describes eloquently in his quote below:

Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation) there is one elementary truth, the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from decision, raising in one’s favour all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreams would have come his way. I have learned a deep respect for one of Goethe’s couplets: “Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius and magic in it.”

We should all have the opportunity to experience this genius and magic, to go with the flow but influence its direction. As Bon Scott put it: take a chance, while you’ve still got the choice!

Hamsters on the Wheel of False Urgency

We're all on the wheel of false urgency, especially us so-called knowledge workers, consigned to the wheel via email and Instant Messaging. Got to get to the next one, deal with that question, attach a file, get through the inbox; ah.....finally there. Oh, no - there's another one, let's have a look at it while it's fresh:

Of course, the wheel is 24/7, especially as the 21st-century hamster's favorite food is no longer carrots (or whatever they eat) but Blackberries. Coming back to some basic principles, as Steven Covey pointed out (First Things First), there is a difference between urgent and important, and the trap that many of us fall into is to spend our time dealing with the urgent--the pressing demands, the action, the stuff that we can get done--at the expense of what's really important, those tasks that build toward something bigger, that lead to impact. Email makes this trap more dangerous, it has direct access to us at all times and by its nature it always seems urgent, a false urgency that we react to as we spin the wheel ever faster. The business world is full of six-figure earning leaders, super-qualified with MBAs and expensive executive training programs who are spending the majority of their time rotating. I would argue that the the majority of companies' payroll is spent on the wheel, a concern supported by groups such as the Information Overload Research Group (IORG).

The art of impact is the art of beating traps and finding gaps. In this case, a gap is needed between the falsely urgent and the important, a gap that allows us to beat the trap of the wheel and bring our undivided attention to bear on the important tasks. As Maggie Jackson points out in her book Distracted (Distracted) we are in danger of losing this ability to focus our attention completely. If our leaders are all shuffling emails, who is really thinking about direction, about strategy, who is creating something meaningful?

There are ways to stop spinning, find the gap and increase impact. Cultivating discipline, that key to freedom, is one of them; easy to say but an endless challenge in practice. Finding genuine flow is another path towards focus and concentration. Building skills and confidence and applying these to increasingly challenging tasks facilitates flow, which in turn naturally limits wheel-time and builds the ability to focus attention for sustained periods.

I'll sign off with a quote from Distracted followed by some light relief from one of my favorite songs about the consequences of distraction:

“Do we yearn for such voracious virtual connectivity that others become optional and conversation fades into a lost art? For efficiency's sake, do we split focus so finely that we thrust ourselves in a culture of lost threads? Smitten with the virtual, split-split, and nomadic, we are corroding the three pillars of our attention: focus (orienting), judgement (executive function), and awareness (alerting). The costs are steep: we begin to lose trust, depth, and collection in our relations and our thought. Without a flourishing array of attentional skills, our world flattens and thins. And most alarmingly, we begin to lose our ability to collectively face the challenges of our time. Can a society without deep focus preserve and learn from its past? Does a culture of distraction evolve to meet the needs of its future?”

Stay in the Pocket

I just spent some exacting but enjoyable days playing guitar for the recording of a new CD from the very talented Dan Zimmerman (Dan Zimmerman), with the equally gifted Daniel Smith (Danielson) at the production helm (powered by the incredible musicianship of Adrian Valosin, Wayne-O Taussig and Matt Zimmerman). Exacting in the sense that we recorded 19 new original songs live in 3 days, requiring a zen-like approach, being sufficiently in the moment without over-trying, yet as close as possible to that state of flow and effortless concentration in order to play a perfect take each time. This of course is a state that you cannot consciously find, it has to happen; all the harder when you're under the scrutiny of musicians of the caliber of those I had the good fortune to be with.

Daniel had some great advice for me, the gist of which was:

• Stay behind the beat - in the pocket - don't get excited and drive the pace by having the guitar part being ahead
• Use less notes, "I can't get my head round all those extra notes, they detract from the melody you're trying to convey"
• Roll off that distortion on the guitar and don't use it too much, get more contrast in the sounds. You get more impact from less overdrive, the cleaner sound is more powerful ("I'd rather have AC/DC than eighties hair metal")

Funny how the the principles of impact are the same, in music, martial arts or life in general. We have always to stay in the pocket by not rushing, being happy in the moment, allowing serendipity to work, while having the clarity of mind to anticipate upcoming changes.

Less is more - economy of movement, of effort, is the cornerstone of graceful impact. In my professional life, I see the effects of overly-complicated processes and people seeking the complex contributing to the inefficiency of the pharmaceutical industry. Being as clear as possible on purpose (fitness and purpose)--of work, the song we're playing, or whatever we're undertaking--and stripping out everything that doesn't contribute is vital.

Impact is contrast; in karate it's the contrast between action and no-action, typified by the sudden switch from a seemingly relaxed state to an overwhelming attack. Contrast is what adds magic to life, between sweet and sour, beauty and sadness, tension and release. Power is not generated by turning up to 11, overdriving or layering on fancy effects. Power is generated by the connection (emotional or physical) between you and those you wish to have an impact upon. This is not necessarily enhanced by increasing intensity or volume, it has to come from staying in the pocket and connecting efficiently and effectively, using contrast and dynamics. Listen to the Meters demonstrate this so perfectly - turn this one up loud and enjoy:

Fitness and Purpose

Continuing with the theme of integration (see Work/Life Balance? That's so Seventies!), I work in the Quality profession, contributing to the development of medicines by assuring compliance and integrity of clinical studies. Quality is often defined as "fitness for purpose" (see Wikipedia's Quality, first paragraph), the production of something in such a way that it meets its intended need.

The concepts of fitness and purpose are integral to the art of impact. They equate to building skills and then applying these to a challenge (see Requisite Variety ), the core elements for finding flow, impact and happiness.

Many of us spend a lot of time improving fitness, sweating at the gym, building muscles. This is a positive practice, but to realize the full benefits of any training, fitness must be connected to purpose - why are we investing time in fitness? What do we want to achieve? The reasons vary, it may be simply to look and feel better, to compete in a sports event, or to prevent illness or injury. Getting as clear as possible on purpose is the common denominator that allows us to improve the quality of our lives and break down work/life barriers. Purpose in the quality world is what the customer wants, it's the value added by our endeavors; any activity that does not add value should be examined and discontinued. This is also how to get strong impact, by removing all unnecessary motion in order to produce a clean, focused strike, unimpeded by useless motion. Purpose is what we are trying to achieve and how we intend to get there, it's the foundation that allows something meaningful to be built (see Just Like an Arrow). For example, purpose can be described a simple acronym like "SEAL": Service, Adventure, Entertainment, Learning. For me this is easy to remember and is powerful in laying the foundation for decisions and direction, always asking myself - does this provide  a service? Is there an adventure to be had? Will I be able to entertain or be entertained? Will I learn something? If the answer to any of these questions is yes, then I will go with it (see Go With!) and follow whatever road opens up. This applies across the board; for example the point of going to gym for me is to get better at karate and to experience the thrill and flow of martial arts, it's always an adventure.

Building fitness and skills while being clear on purpose enables us to feel good, learn, make good decisions and use serendipity to our advantage, being quick in accepting or rejecting opportunities. It also helps make the best of bad times, realizing which parts of the negative experience benefit us, how they are in-line with our purpose, for example in allowing us to provide a service or learn something, albeit the painful way.

Purpose can also be thought of as a story--our storyline, what we are trying to achieve--and fitness is a means of getting there. We should think of lives from time-to-time as being the story in a book. So make it exciting, look back and enjoy the read so far while eagerly anticipating the next chapter.

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Work/Life Balance? That's so Seventies!

It's time to move beyond the idea of work/life balance. Now that HR have become Human Capital Partners and we all work in space (e.g. "....a primary player in the IT space") (WTF?), the time is right to think further than this this outdated concept. It implies that there is a separation between work and life, that these are somehow disparate when clearly they are not - work is part of life and a significant part at that. So, using my elementary math skills, if work is a subset of life then mathematically:

Work/Life balance = W/L = f(L)/L = 1/Lexp2 = 0

Yes blog readers (well, actually reader, according to my blogger.com stats) you are first to see mathematical proof that work/life balance has zero value. In fact it has less than zero value (but I couldn't figure out how to get a negative number) because holding onto the ideal of separation means that we do not get maximum benefit and enjoyment out of work or other areas of life. This separation is reinforced culturally from our infancy, for example in the UK where kids dress in uniforms to demarcate their school existence, then the bell rings and real life begins.

Genuine impact in life, in all spaces, comes from integration, not separation. Someone once told me that in any situation the goal is to integrate, even with an opponent in a boxing or karate bout we must integrate, blend with the adversary to allow us to find a winning solution. Integration of work and life brings the realization that it is exactly the same set of principles that lead to success in all endeavors. This same understanding allows us to to become a better parent or partner, sports-person or artist by using the experiences that we have at work to benefit other areas and vice versa. It's just life - everything is an opportunity to practice and learn, especially if we adopt a strategy to accelerate this holistic approach.

Some of the strategies that can create this unified approach have been touched on in earlier in this blog; future posts will continue the theme. Until then, I will leave this post with a clip from Dr. Feelgood, precursors of punk from the 1970's, performing the song that defined my seventies idea of work/life balance for many years:
The day dragged by so slow
I feel just like I'm dying
Stop work whistle blow
And then I start reviving
Across your yard, beneath the stars
I made it through another day and here we are:
Back in the night...

Requisite Variety

Ashby's Law of Requisite Variety states that "variety absorbs variety, defines the minimum number of states necessary for a controller to control a system of a given number of states."[1]

The gist of this law is that in order to master any problem or process we have to be able to bring more variety to bear than is inherent in the situation. In combat that means being capable of using attacks in a greater variety of ways than your opponent. Further, by restricting the amount of variety that the opponent can use (by adopting strategy) the chance of victory can be enhanced.

When applying Ashby's law to non-combat situations the same principle applies. To succeed requires either: a) continually learning, incorporating new ideas and concepts to enhance variety and perspective; and/or b) simplifying the problem or process, so gaining the edge in the variety stakes by reducing the complexity of the problem. Et voila, two fundamentals of impact packaged in a cool-sounding law. Continual learning is a common factor in so many credible theories, from Mihály Csíkszentmihályi's principles of flow [2] to Peter Senge's ideas on organizational learning [3]. Martial arts are based on the idea of learning over a lifetime; no one has mastered everything, there is always so much more to discover.  Similarly, a continual focus on simplicity in everything we do, reducing complexity to a minimum, helps retain the edge over the challenges that confront us.

Ashby's law provides a framework for success, building variety through constant movement, creativity and learning, while simplifying the challenges to the extent possible. Try it - use variety to make an impact!

References
1. Introduction to Cybernetics, W. Ross Ashby (see: http://pespmc1.vub.ac.be/ASHBBOOK.html)
2. See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flow_(psychology)
3. See: http://www.solonline.org/?home

Transcendence for Dummies

Transcendence is one of those words which is good to use when you want to sound intelligent; not as good as "cybernetics" but still worth throwing in to a conversation every now and then.
Maybe it's simpler than it sounds, as Steve Earle puts it (from the liner notes of his Transcendental Blues CD):

"I have spent most of my life (like most people) trying to avoid transcendence at all costs, mainly because that shit hurts. Merely defining transcendence can sometimes be painful. I once heard that 'transcendence is the act of going through something'. Ouch. I see plate glass windows and divorces. Someone else told me that it was 'rising above whatever one encountered in one's path' but at this point in my life that smacks of avoidance as well as an elitism of some sort"

How about this definition of transcendence for dummies: simply, the art of escaping from the constraints of one's emotions and fears to attain happiness, flow and power under all circumstances. Whatever the definition, the idea is to achieve freedom from our physical, mental and emotional limitations in order to surpass ourselves, to achieve durable, effortless, power. Finding this "ordinary transcendence", rather than a Buddha-type enlightenment, enables us to make the impact we desire everyday, requiring only the discipline, curiosity and courage to persist in the search. I think that Mr. Earle has some of the answers in his notes - it is achieved through going through things, and it does allow us to rise above ourselves, or at least to rise above our lizard brains (see: http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2010/01/quieting-the-lizard-brain.html). Some of the milestones en route to this simple transcendence are:
Living an integrated life
Combine everything. Instead of compartmentalizing life into work, family, pastimes, sport, arts, etc. find the fundamental principles that apply across all areas, so that everything you do aligns and contributes to the overall goal.

Finding plenty of plate-glass windows to jump through
Relish the challenges, use them to figure out how to remain happy and on balance, whatever happens. I see people at work feeling stressed and downtrodden; that shouldn't happen, we have to have a "bring it on" attitude, keep smiling and light on our feet in the face of all hardships. Work is about getting results that are mutually beneficial--for us as well as the organizations we work for--and the ability to gracefully transcend everyday pressures is such a benefit, allowing us to be happier and more effective both inside and outside of work.

Knowing how to use every experience, good or bad, to become stronger
The badder the day, the bigger the challenge, the better the chance of taking another step towards transcendence for dummies. Reflect on how to make the best impact under the circumstances, stay calm and work on your strategy, stay happy in each moment and success will come.

As Steve Earle says in another of his songs:
The revolution starts now 
When you rise above your fear 
And tear the walls around you down 
The revolution starts here 
Where you work and where you play....
If you haven't started, it's time to re-evolve:

Keep on Dancing

"Move with the rhythm of any situation and adapt spontaneously". Movement, rhythm, and the ability to adapt; the essence of impact distilled into this concise phrase from Miyamoto Musashi's The Book of Five Rings.

I got some great advice once from a truly talented martial artist, a world-class European Shihan. He watched me spar for a while, then came over, stopping us to say "don't stay waiting to hit him, you have to keep on moving, constantly flowing to hit, then just continue the movement to strike when there's an opportunity. You don't have to think when to go - it will just happen". This simple advice vastly improved my ability to fight and win, realizing that even if the movement is imperceptible, continual motion allows natural speed and flow, adapting spontaneously to the situation.

It's good advice off the mat too, creating an impact by:

• Keeping light on your feet: staying happy and aware, waiting for the moment
• Continual movement: learning, trying different things, different ways of solving a problem, finding new perspectives
• Generating an awareness of the rhythm of situations: how to influence, control and adapt to this rhythm
• Relaxation to seize opportunity without effort

The great Muhammad Ali demonstrates this perfectly in this short clip of his 1966 fight against Cleveland Williams:

Win before you get on the mat

Engaging effectively to win requires, amongst other qualities, supreme confidence. As Robert Greene states in his book co-written with 50 Cent "The 50th Law": "A bold act requires a high degree of confidence. People who are the targets of an audacious act, or who witness it, cannot help but believe that such confidence is real and justified. They respond instinctively by backing up, by getting out of the way, or by following the confident person. A bold act can put people on their heels and eliminate obstacles. In this way it creates its own favorable circumstances".

Karate tournaments are a good practice ground for developing confidence as a means of success. To win a bout requires unwavering conviction that you can win. If you get on the mat with this certitude, there's a good chance that victory will be yours. Conversely, the slightest doubt represents a gap, a weakness for your opponent to exploit, and almost certain defeat.

In engaging with projects and people, confidence is paramount to effectiveness. It doesn't mean that we stubbornly persist in imposing our ideas at any price, but rather that we remain calm, confident in our abilities, ready to seize opportunity or find the creative solution under any circumstances.

Tension and Release

Making an impact requires understanding the simple concept of tension and release. Building and holding tension as a component of success has been illustrated several times, not least by Walter Mischel's famous Stanford experiment on delayed gratification. In this study kids were sequestered with a marshmallow and told that if they did not eat the treat straight away--if they were capable of self control and could handle the discomfort of waiting with the tasty 'mallow tempting them--they would eventually get two marshmallows. Mischel followed-up several years later and found that the 30% of children who succeeded were significantly more successful than those that those who succumbed. The study illustrates that the ability to hold tension, not to give into the temptation of comfort, is a psychological determinant of the ability to make an impact.

The same concept is used in music and sport. Tension in music is built by placing notes over a steady rhythmic foundation. How the melody is placed over the rhythm can build an enjoyable tension - think of the moments before Phil Collins' famous drum roll in "In the air tonight" or the build to your favorite chorus, or the drop in dub step for those as hip as me :)

In sport, my earlier post on Tiger Woods illustrates how he builds tension between hips and shoulders, allowing this to accelerate the club toward the ball. This effortless acceleration is what we get from building and holding tension. It's the ability to seize an opportunity quickly after waiting for the right moment, having built knowledge and understanding. It's quality - making sure that we don't release the product before we have built the process, or the ability to generate relaxed tension through setting strategy and objectives. Ultimately tension can be powerful and pleasurable, the delicious pain of waiting, capable of making people across the world play the air drums as the chorus kicks in.

Who better to hit this one home than Mike Tyson:

Fight Club

The reality of the situation is that life is a fight. Whichever way you look at it, it still comes down to this, it's a fight through all of the obstacles, events both good and bad, twists and turns, unexpected events.

So if it's a fight, what do we do? We have to enjoy it, relish the challenge. We have to prepare ourselves, physically, mentally and spiritually. We have to train and enjoy getting stronger, increasingly able to take on our adversaries.

This is a very positive way to visualize life and its challenges. It's a way to avoid being too disheartened by the inevitable problems and hurdles. Making an impact in this fight, like any other, is a never-ending quest and requires preparation, attitude and strategy. We must learn to always fight with what we have, no matter the situation and our condition, making the very best of what is at our disposition. We must understand that to win requires unwavering conviction that we will win, striving to eliminate all doubt. Of course, the aim is not to fight if at all possible, using strength and strategy to obtain a good outcome without injury.

To quote Tyler Durden: "I say never be complete, I say stop being perfect, I say let's evolve, let the chips fall where they may".

.....are you ready to evolve?

Go With!

The art of impact is the art of conserving energy so that there is more to unleash in a focused way when the moment arises. It's important then to realize where we waste our effort, looking carefully at our personal energy footprint, reducing it to a minimum.

A big drain is our tendency to go against, instead of going with. Whenever there's change, or a new situation, our instincts cause us to resist, to complain, to be anxious. All this takes energy and suppresses our ability to think creatively about the new challenge.

It's better to go with whenever possible, saving our energy for the inevitable opportunity to make an impact. Use this as a tool; make a conscious choice to stop resisting as a default. Let the situation carry you and focus your resources on finding the opportunity, instead of fighting. This is how to harness serendipity, keeping aware of the possibilities instead of blinding ourselves by struggling against.

Of course, we can't go along with everything - like Jim Carey in Yes Man - but we can certainly go with more and see where we end up.

Grip

Grip - a grip on yourself and your environment - is fundamental to impact, without this it becomes difficult to build anything meaningful.

My local gym runs boxing classes which are the ideal forum for studying the art of impact. The concept is simple - hang a bunch of heavy bags and guide the participants through a series of punching combinations while playing Ne-Yo. Taking a look round during the session it's clear that impact is not proportional to size or gender; some of the smallest women punch harder than the bigger guys. So why is this? One root cause is the lack of grip. Very few have a grip on the floor at any point during their punch; their mind is in their arms, those weak appendages attached to our shoulders. To improve requires getting a grip, establishing a solid foundation, finding balance, developing awareness and control of our body. By gripping the floor with our feet and legs, combining a downward push from the head and shoulders with upwards pressure from our feet and knees, we start to feel a dynamic tension that can power a whiplash strike from the upper body.

Impact will progressively improve by being aware of the power of grip and investing time to achieve it. Energy can be saved if foundations are in place, balance is maintained and awareness is enhanced. We can move out of the "sweat" zone (see prior entry "Swimming, Splashing or Sweating") by reducing the amount of resource invested fixing problems that arise due lack of grip. Similarly on the heavy bag, a solid grip gives a base to launch punches that accelerate and penetrate, generating effortless power instead of powerless effort.

Surf's Up!

Following on from my last post, once we get proficient at swimming in calm waters, the real challenge lies in finding flow under more turbulent conditions. Viewing our professional (and personal) lives as an ocean where we are confronted by waves—opportunities and problems, challenges that we must overcome—presents us with choices. We can choose to splash around in the shallow water, hoping that no waves come our way; we can struggle with the swell, fighting against the waves; or we can learn how to surf, using the energy of the wave to propel us on a more exhilarating ride. Even in the current economic downturn there are plenty of opportunities—by definition, a trough always comes with an accompanying crest—waiting to be sought out and surfed, provided we have the requisite discipline, balance and strong foundation to endure the ride. 

To experience the rush of surfing we have to actively look for the waves and enlist others to help us find the bigger ones. Unfortunately most of us do not get to experience the thrill of this ride because of one of the following factors:

·      Fear

·      Lack of awareness of possibilities

·      Getting trapped in the shallows by desires, emotions, possessions, or petty problems

·      Distraction, continually aiming for the little waves

·      Not prepared to invest the effort required (prefer comfort)

As Laird Hamilton demonstrates, to really surf requires:

·      Waves, the bigger the better (an big, ambitious, bold goal or project)

·      Balance -  from a good foundation

·      Going with (not against)

·      Developing strength, especially a strong foundation and core

·      Beating fear

·      Being bold

·      The support of a good team

There will never be a point when we feel we are ready to take on the biggest waves, it will always be a process of searching them out and trying our best to stay on, getting back on the board when we are knocked off, and having the determination to continue developing our skills. We have to meet our fears and weaknesses head-on, then curtail and transcend them so that we can find the calmness of mind to retain our balance under all circumstances and feel the thrill of flow.

In these changing times there are many opportunities to find a bigger wave. As companies cut resource  and require employees to take on more, this can send some good surf our way if only we recognize it as such. This type of surfing is a transferable skill—finding such flow in one area allows us to develop it in others and consistently create the effortless power associated with true impact.

Swimming, Splashing or Sinking?

We can learn much from studying high caliber athletes like Michael Phelps and comparing their technique to that of weaker swimmers. The novice swimmer uses a lot of energy, generating a lot of splash but not moving very quickly, whereas experts seem to move through the water effortlessly, finding a smooth, splash-free, alignment and flow. 

With this in mind, a plot of effort versus results produces the following 4-quadrant diagram:

EFFORT	2. Splash	3. Sweat
	1. Sink	4. Swim
	RESULTS

 These quadrants can be summarized as:

Quadrant 1 ‘sinking’: no effort put in and no results obtained.

Quadrant 2 ‘splashing’: energy is used to push water into the air (splash) instead of directing it into propulsion, giving the impression of plenty of action without producing results.

Quadrant 3 ‘sweating’: much effort is used to make progress, giving short-term results that are difficult to sustain.

Quadrant 4 ‘swimming’: energy is focused into obtaining the desired outcome; there is little wasted effort and a sustainable flow is developed.

There is abundant ‘splashing’ in today’s workplace, examples abound of large amounts of energy directed at activities that do not contribute to attaining goals. A continual focus on the urgent (including activities that are not important) is one root cause; the accompanying neglect of communication and training, with reduced time to build relationships and trust [1] causes splash through re-work, poor quality, unclear priorities and discontentment. Not to mention email, a large proportion of which is ‘falsely urgent’, driving many executives to spend hours splashing at work and wherever they can access their ‘splash-machine’, the ubiquitous Blackberry.

I think the majority of us are prone to spend much of our time in Quadrant 3, sweating, working hard to get the results we desire, while not having time or resource to invest in higher-value activities. Again, this can be a symptom of pressure to attend to short-term priorities at the expense of longer-term benefit. To ‘swim’, moving into the fourth Quadrant, requires focusing energy into activities that will produce the greatest benefit, a concept that has been expressed many times in varying ways, famously in the ‘Pareto Principle’ [2]. As Michael Phelps demonstrates so gracefully, sometimes we have to use less effort to get more results, to go faster we first have to slow down to review where our time and energy will be most valuable.

References

1. Covey SR, The Speed of Trust: The One Thing that Changes Everything, 2006, Simon & Schuster.
2. Pareto Principle, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pareto_principle