7. Developing courage, authenticity & creativity

“We are born into a world of comparisons

Our education is based on it and so is our culture

So we struggle to be someone other than who we are”

Krishnamurti

This is true for everyone. The impact of historic and ongoing cultural and social pressures makes developing courage and authenticity two of the hardest challenges we face. Similarly, cultural ideas about “creativity” is the reason most people believe they are not creative, nor is it actively encouraged in most businesses.

 The primary obstacle to developing these behaviours is “fear”. Not just fear of failure, but of many other things; fear associated with lack of confidence, aversion to risk, uncertainty, and the social pressure of being judged. A significant secondary issue is lack of trust in management.

All three behaviours are directly and closely interdependent. Their development is not something anyone can readily achieve in isolation. It requires collective involvement, support, and structure.

A “Mandelbrot” set

A Mandelbrot set is a fractal structure that is a simple yet when repeated produces stunning and complex outcomes. The proposed structural approach to developing courage, authenticity, and creativity, is based on such a structure involving three groups, each with three sets of three participants. This arrangement will rapidly deliver unexpected positive outcomes and inherently has the same successful functional impact of osmosis, hybrid vigour and natural selection explained in the previous article. This structure involves:

1.     Three groups of nine people

2.     Each group consists of three groups of three people, “Triunes”

3.     Each “Triune” involves a team leader or manager plus two others

4.     Each group of nine reflects a specific interest or cultural / neurodiverse group. The initial groups would be (1) nine women, (2) nine men and (3) nine LGBT representatives

Implementation

1.     Participation would always be voluntary

2.     Only “Early Adopters” are eligible

3.     A pre-qualification interview is mandatory

4.     Each Triune functions as a self-supporting unit

5.     There is a half day introduction

6.     Thereafter for three weeks, groups meet separately twice a week for two hours

7.     Meetings are face to face and may progress to online meetings

8.     Every “Triune” has access to online group mentoring five days a week at times of their choice

9.     Focus is primarily on experiences in the workplace but there will be training in use of specific tools associated with developing and applying intuition

10.  An evaluation method must be chosen in advance (e.g., Brinkerhoff’s Success Case Method)

11.  As the trial progresses, “Standards of Proof” will be recorded by participants which log experiences that support, beyond reasonable doubt, the effectiveness of behaviour changes they make

12.  Following a review, the programme may be extended by a further four weeks to give a total trial period of no more than seven weeks

13.  The timing, frequency and content of meetings must adapt, if necessary, to the participants needs

The Process

1.     This is a Discovery Process; the fundamental principle being to start, and follow what works

2.     Emphasis lies in reflection on daily experiences rather than, but is supported by, instruction

3.     However, essential instruction includes learning to:

a.     Consciously de-stress within minutes

b.     Identify and challenge the validity of limiting beliefs

c.      Discover alternative perspectives

4.     It involves exploring one’s intuitive skill set

5.     Plus investigating counter intuitive facts associated with personal reaction, judgement, and the function of negative emotion

6.     Within each “Triune” participants learn to fulfill the role of a “Fair Witness” – being able to observe and comment without getting sucked into the drama others may be experiencing

7.     Triunes and groups will experiment with different behaviour agreements plus agree on acceptable means of collectively and considerately ensuring compliance 

Key Considerations

• Contrast is essential to increase and provide greater clarity and understanding. Organising separate units of participants with common interests/ background highlights the views, experiences and aspirations of that interest group which can be compared with others to obtain a deeper understanding within an organisation

• Exploring counter intuitive ideas challenges conventional thinking and can lead to both creative breakthroughs and a greater understanding of complex issues

• The involvement of supervisors / managers is essential in increasing the probability of success. Professor Amishi Jha in training US forces prior to deployment to Afghanistan found that groups involving a team leader had a far greater uptake of ideas and a significant subsequent positive impact on sceptics

• The short initial 3 weeks period means evaluation is rapid

• The question “how can this be scaled up” should be avoided. The ideas and approaches that are discovered will offer opportunities to do so: the means, and what to scale up will evolve naturally. This fact is exemplified by the response I got from a world expert in his field of study when asked what it was, he did. He said:

“I don’t know what I’m doing – if I did it wouldn’t be research”

In the “publish or perish” competitive academic environment not knowing in advance what would work but instead trusting intuitive ideas, taking “the next step” and seeing what evolves enabled him to stay ahead of the game. This approach is a real life metaphone for business where the demand is to “improve or perish” and to discover new products or ways of working.  The point about gaining competitive advantage is that it comes from discovering what is not currently known. Achieving this requires employees to be more courageous and authentic which automatically leads to a creative and innovative environment. The structured approach described above, known as The Kronos Programme has evolved after over twenty years study of how logic (IQ), emotion (EQ) and intuition (SQ) are dynamically interlinked.

 I am happy to share what I know.

THE NEXT STEP

This very short innovative programme is guaranteed to produce rapid and unexpected positive outcomes. If you are interested in collaborating in a three-week (18 hours) trial at minimal cost (my expenses only) please contact me. This is a limited offer. If you wished to extend the programme after noting the results the programme has delivered, that extension would be subject to negotiated fees.

You coud also join me in my twice weekly group discussion via the link on my “Community” website page. 

 Let’s have a conversation on what might be possible - give me call or drop me an email

 Regards,

Pete