Welcome to Sit With It For A Minute...

Welcome to Sit with it for a Minute… -a blog dedicated to making sense out of things that perplex us, confound us, get us stuck, irritate us, cause us cognitive dissonance, etc. in our work, our organization, our leadership.  The goal is to support you to generate insights about these things - to discover new patterns of ideas, thoughts, behaviors, intentions. 

Insights are more than enhanced understandings or “aha” moments:

Our insights transform us in several ways. They change how we understand, act, see, feel, and desire. They change how we understand, They transform our thinking; our story gives us a different viewpoint. They change how we act. (Klein, Gary (2014). Seeing What Others Don’t: The remarkable ways we gain insights, p.23.)

What I appreciate about insights is that once you arrive at them, you can’t go back - you can’t unknow them. This can be vexing because what you thought or did prior to the insight was likely easier, was less likely to ruffle feathers, made things make sense.  With a new insight in hand, you are obligated to move forward with it, easy or hard, you can’t put it down.

Insight is the opposite of predictable. Insights are disruptive. They come without warning, take forms that are unexpected, and open up unimagined opportunities. Insights get in the way of progress reviews because they reshape tasks and even revise goals. They carry risks - unseen complications and pitfalls that can get you into trouble. So insights make your work harder. (Klein, Gary (2014). Seeing What Others Don’t: The remarkable ways we gain insights, p.153.)

If you’re reading this, you are engaging the leader in you. The curiosity in you, your sense of urgency, your desire to choose action, your intentionality to make things better than they are, your integrity, your sense of purpose - all of these things come into play when you do the work of discerning, interrogating, listening, and ultimately acting on the new pattern you come to know. Acting on your insights.

There is no fixed formula for generating insights.  However, based on my experience, what I have read, what I have learned, and what insights I have generated over my 30 year career, I invite you to start by pausing - take some time, make some space, focus.  No matter what you think of what you read in this blog - disagree, agree, question, like, hate - taking this “pause point” will “help us focus our attention and energy to grow, to create, to solve problems, and to innovate.” (Cashman, Kevin (2012). The Pause Principle: Step back to lead forward, p.9) Pause points, such as the time you are taking to engage the content of this blog, activate you as a reflective leader and support you to do the following:

• Build self awareness and clarity of purpose

• Explore new ideas

• Risk experimentation (try something on and see how it feels)

• Question, listen, synthesize

• Challenge, interrogate the ‘normal”, status quo within and around us. ( Cashman, Kevin (2012). The Pause Principle: Step back to lead forward, p.9.)

Sit with it for a minute. Let me know what you think.