While in deep meditation this month (yes, I do try to practice what I preach!), a thought kept lingering at the edge of my mind:
There is information, knowledge, and wisdom that we acquire through study, experience, and intellectual endeavors. Then, there are the insights, wisdom, and just plain old knowing-ness that come when we allow ourselves to access something deep inside of us. That access comes from quiet contemplation, intuition, and trusting what is.
Both acquired and accessed nuggets of information are highly valuable, and yet we often discount the latter because it doesn’t feel hard-earned. I’ve written about my love of the work of Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky (Thinking Fast and Slow) in which they invite us to challenge our assumptions about the relative merits of the quick reflex and thorough analysis. Currently, I’m into the newest pearl of wisdom from Adam Grant, Think Again, which invites us to continually interrogate our assumptions about the “truth” of our opinions. According to Grant:
"What we want is confident humility: having faith in our capability while appreciating that we may not have the right solution or even be addressing the right problem. That gives us enough doubt to reexamine our old knowledge and enough confidence to pursue new insights."
Personal truth, unlike facts, is subjective. In the service of growth and connection, how might we challenge (and even change) long-held beliefs and practices in the face of new information and perspectives?
So yes, I have "thinking" on the brain! I’m intrigued with how we can give equal – or appropriate – measure to the intelligence that resides in our mind, in our gut, and in our hearts. To the inherited and the newly arrived. In my clients, I often see real greatness when a leader balances her empathy with her experience and skillfulness. When instinct is allowed to rise to the surface, aided and abetted by strategy and a willingness to try something new. When we take a leap into the unknown (which feels almost like a daily occurrence right now) with the strength of conviction that we know enough to get going.
It’s that spirit of enoughness – we know enough, have enough, are enough – that springs from the quiet, confident, individual, and collective past. I invite you to allow it to meet the present in a space characterized by curiosity. It may seem paradoxical, but if we are willing to be both guided and to be wrong – that is, to change our minds based on new data, interpretations, and perspectives – I believe we can make better decisions. For ourselves, our teams, and society at large.
