Off Course-On Target

The Equator Educates Wayne: Zen and the Malecón

One of the greatest benefits of being able to travel to so many countries where I can be with such interesting people from all over the world, is getting to constantly learn about new things.  While I was unfortunately only able to be in Guayaquil, Ecuador for 2 days, I came away with some outstanding new lessons that are worth passing on to you.

One of Guayaquil's recent achievements is a complete renovation of the city's riverfront, which they call the "Malecón". It is complete with encapsulated prior monuments, children's play areas, parks, water displays, etc. In some ways it is a common story of a city taking an area that was run down, dirty, and crime infested, and rebuilding it. But what was most impressive to me was the attention to detail that is everywhere.  It reminded me of the overarching message that Robert Pirsig so impressed me with in his book Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. Though I read it so many years ago, it remains one of the most influential of books (HIGHLY recommended). 

What I took away from Zen was the fundamental role of what he called "quality" and it was everywhere I looked. As I took advantage of the warm equatorial night to stroll the several kilometers of the Malecón in Guayaquil, I saw quality everywhere: the individual quality of the light fixtures from both a construction standpoint and by  the large variety of their designs which reflected the overall marine and water theme.

Quality was also in the hedges, which incorporated brightly painted steel sculptures that were of an abstract wave formation. It was present even in the treatment and variety of materials used for the walkway itself, from wood planks to intricate patterns of concrete to tiles.

Each of these "quality" touches were not necessarily crucial to the overall effect and without them, this would still have been a very "nice" treatment.  But with them, it became something truly special. This was reflected in the feel you could not miss in the laughter of the young children running and playing, the smiles of their parents, the new romance radiating from the couples young and old snuggling on the benches, and even in the way the police personnel, most of them women, were completely integrated into the scene and busy chatting with those walking and sitting.

More to come about my education at the equator...

Till next time,

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Off Course - On Target: The Story

Some of you may be wondering why I decided to name my blog "Off Course - On Target". Of course with me, as you might imagine, there's a story. In fact, it goes back to a serendipitous meeting I had with Charles Garfield.

He and I were both keynote presenters at a conference. Being strangers in a strange land, so to speak, we went out for dinner the night before the conference. Charles told me a fascinating story about his work as one of the chief engineers on one of the Apollo space missions. He related the story of one of the greatest hurdles they ran into…a hurdle so big that it almost led to the cancellation of the Apollo missions themselves.

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DOWNLOAD Size: 7.3 MB Duration: 10:19 Transcript: 318 KB

In this podcast, Off Course—On Target: The Story, you get some background behind the name of my blog and this podcast series, and I start you on the path to learning how to become more open to new ways of thinking, how to recognize when and how to act on new ideas, and how to be more innovative, inventive, effective, and productive.

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Consensus: How to Create and Maintain a Better World - Part 2

Being good at consensus requires being a great listener. Consensus is also the practice of true semantics, which contrary to popular misconception, is NOT about words but rather, about getting to meaning, as in "I know what you said, but what did you mean?" It's about listening for understanding.

One of the greatest lessons I learned from my parents was that "we judge ourselves by our intentions, and everyone else by their actions." I've learned how true this is and also how valuable it is to try to reverse it. So I work at trying to see how my words and actions are interpreted by others and not just assume that my intentions are obvious. Equally, I work at trying to understand the intentions of others, which are often quite contrary to what could have been assumed from their words and actions alone. Doing this with groups as I work on building consensus has proved extremely valuable.

Developing consensus with others usually involves finding common ground—removing or setting aside our individual or situational context to discover the underlying principles that are usually there when we get past the language and specifics of our unique applications and situations. Being able to abstract and synthesize from a large volume of input is equally essential. This process typically enables the real essence to bubble up and become evident to everyone involved.

Of course, finding consensus takes time to work through. In our hurried world, this can be an added challenge when everyone seems to be looking for quick fixes and instant gratification. But in my experience, consensus has always produced results and benefits that FAR exceed the expectations of those involved and is seen as a huge payoff for the investments made.

Negotiation is also a good skill to have. And yes, this is about compromise, but NOT in the form of giving in or backing away from achieving great success. This kind of compromise is about being able to look at the big picture, look at the consequences of our actions, and create solutions that will be lasting and successful because they work for all.

If any of this raises your curiosity, then you might do a quick personal assessment of some of these related skills and qualities. How good are you at listening for understanding—asking good questions that lead to greater and deeper understanding for you and others. What opportunities do you have to put consensus to work?

My greatest hope is that in the not too distant future, we can say that, rather than standards, it is consensus that we have in great abundance.

It may seem like this is a long and winding way from that strange power receptacle in my hotel room a couple of posts ago! But that shouldn't surprise you if you've come to this site before, since this is yet another example of how Off Course - On Target is where unexpected paths lead to great discoveries. I hope that this brief detour to explore consensus leads you to some great discoveries and value that you can take with you and use. Either way be sure to let me know about it.

Till next time,

w
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Consensus: How to Create and Maintain a Better World - Part 1

Last time, I talked about how the RJ-11 plug reminded me about the great thing that standards offer and how the power of consensus makes this all possible. In my experience, consensus seems to be either unknown or misunderstood by most. The Ball Foundation suggests that "Consensus is mutual agreement among team members that all legitimate concerns of individuals have been addressed by the group and everyone agrees to support the decision." and Merriam Webster has this wonderfully simple definition:"group solidarity in sentiment and belief."

In practice, consensus is about developing a collective decision that every member agrees to support with their words AND their actions. How often do you see that? Too rarely to be sure but whenever it IS seen, it seems to create great and lasting success, joy, and results.

To me, consensus is an extension of and an improvement upon "just" democracy, because consensus is not based on simple majority voting or our input as individuals. Rather, it is the requirement to think, work, and act as a collective, to consider the big picture and the consequences for all. In its true form, consensus requires that EVERYONE in the group helps to develop a plan that they can then support afterward. With the more typical majority vote and other forms of group decision-making, the decisions of the group are often followed by a complete lack of support by those who voted for it.

Another phrase associated with developing consensus—one that is pretty accurate in my experience—is that this process involves "herding cats". In my experience, it also has a few goldfish thrown into the mix!  :-)  But isn't that our reality? We're not all the same. Like our parents might have said, we are "snowflakes", each of us unique.  Not just us as individuals, but each of our projects, our organizations our every situation is an instance of true uniqueness. Yet, is not our diversity and eclecticness the great thing about being human? As we have more and more choice in our lives, more options, and more challenges, isn't there an escalating need to be very proficient and skilled at developing consensus among our groups, be they national, cultural, professional or personal?

In both the present world and the one that is looming, I have to believe that consensus will be one, of if not THE key, determinant of our ability to create and maintain a better world.

More on this later...gotta run.

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