This winter holiday has seen many people laid low with some bug or other: not surprising after all the lockdowns meaning that we have not built up immunity. But is that the only thing that is going on here?
Alongside whatever bacteria or virus might be involved I have felt a lot of depression and fear, and these seem to be in a vicious circle with the illnesses. When I am at peace with myself the symptoms disappear, when I am struggling to come to terms with the reality of today's world, that is when I cough or my IBS kicks in. 'As above so below' perhaps... As 2023 approaches we can't how about wonder what next, pandemic, Ukraine war, major climate impacts, not to mention mental health and equity issues all around us. I think it is time but we faced the fact that humanity really is on the brink. The way we used to do things, pre-pandemic, just do not work and cannot work any more. Let me give an example of how we can change. Many of a struggle with our time management. So much to do, so little time to do it in. The old way of responding would be to try to control what we do and when we do it. The old way, the colonial way. Which just builds up even more pressure and stresses us out even more. The alternative is to step back a bit. To allow things to happen more. To get into the flow. This is ancient wisdom, the Tao Te Ching ... as adopted by sports people as they get into the zone, or artists who are ever present with their subject and materials. For the sake of our own mental health, of our planet and actually also for the efficiency and effectiveness of our organisations, we have to stop trying to manage time and instead make friends with it. Like it or not, mankind is evolving and needs to evolve. That means working with the flow of life . . . not continuing our failed attempt at controlling it!
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So, a little virus has brought mankind to its knees. Over the Christmas and New Year break many of us will have been reflecting on the extent to which the pandemic has changed our lives.
As we contemplate, perhaps even dare to plan, the year ahead, the wise amongst us will be wondering how we can take this opportunity to make long-term and meaningful changes. Changes, for example, that will enable us to address mental health issues and improve our quality of life; day in, day out. How many of us survived the last 9 months is not sustainable, is it! Changes too that will help us manage the climate emergency. Just as we are having to accept that we cannot control the coronavirus and it’s mutations, so too do we need to understand that we cannot control the climate. That, at best, what we can do is find better ways of working with the Natural World; listening to it deeply, connecting, tuning in . . . And to do that will help us to be more present, more connected in all that we do; our paid work included. For example, I happened to be having breakfast as the sun was rising over the rooftops that I can see from our dining table. During the time between spreading my first dollop of marmalade to finishing my last spoonful of nut clusters, the sun had progressed noticeably. Or rather, the Earth had revolved. The earth had revolved. To be reminded that we are on a spinning planet in a middle of an expanding solar system was a bit of a wake-up call. It reminds us that in the cosmic scheme of things very little that we do as humans has any impact what so ever. . . That humble position strikes me as a wonderful one from which to start 2021. Sunrise. Sunset. One planetary revolution at a time . . In this era of instant communication and everyone being in a rush to do everything, the quality and effectiveness of e-mails has, all too often, suffered. But it needn’t. With a bit of mindful presence whilst ‘doing our e-mails’ it’s possible to combine both the convenience and speed of electronic communications with a deeper, meaningful (and thus more effective) means of engaging with our fellow human-beings.
How to 1. So let’s assume that we’re about to e-mail a particular individual. The first thing is to ascertain if it’s worth our effort. Engaging consciously does take time and focused intent: if that is unlikely to be reciprocated, why bother? Discernment is a useful ally here: but that’s a blog for another time. 2. Next, what sort of a message? Most of us seem to be fairly well conditioned to ‘dash off a quick e-mail’, and sometimes that’s appropriate: e.g. to confirm some practical arrangement. But, if the topic is something with a deeper significance, concerning personal feelings, for example, does that not require a bit more attention? Just because the recipient will not receive it as we write it (if only my a few seconds) doesn’t mean feelings can be ignored! 3. In might thus be appropriate to consider the e-mail as a carrier for, or indicator of a heart-felt telepathic communication. And this can be as relevant in a message to a loved one as to a customer who’s just complained about your product or service! 4. But how? I would adapt the process I teach for ‘distance healing’:
6. Read the message back to yourself (and edit for legibility if required): how does it feel? Does it feel ‘right’, ‘appropriate’? If not, take a few moments to get into a state of mindful presence and tune into the recipient and the topic again. Reread their last message to you: could it be taken another way? Is there another facet to it that you’ve previously overlooked? Have you considered all the points they raised? 7. Once you’re reasonably happy . . . sleep on it. Allow other deeper nuances to the situation to emerge and update your draft accordingly. 8. If, as you begin this process, you realise that there are many factors which you need time to reflect on, consider sending a short response in the meantime: “Thank you. Much to reflect on! I’ll get back to you when I’ve had chance to think this through and get a better feel for what’s really going on”. Yes, it takes time. But by adopting this approach, misunderstandings will be minimised. The recipient will appreciate that their perspective is being considered. In the long term, it is a much more effective means of using e-mails . . A conscious e-mail!? The title of this piece is quite deliberately open to interpretation: do I mean that the writer of the e-mail is more consciously evolved . . . or the e-mail itself? Both! Obviously if the individual who’s drafting or responding to an e-mail is more aware and ‘connected’ as they create their message then they will be demonstrating a level of consciousness beyond the usual mindless, uncaring, reactionary string of text. But if an e-mail (or even a text or social media chat/message) is created from a deeper connected place, then does not the message itself become imbibed with depth and meaning? Most definitely! All communication is a form of energy exchange. Just as radio and TV content is transmitted as energy pulses via radio waves, so all electronic content is transmitted (typically via WiFi, fibres optic cables and/or satellite). The content isn’t just the 1s and 0s that are converted into words and pictures, it is also the emotional energy conveyed in the tones, gestures and yes, even in emoji or emoticons :-) In face to face communication or over the phone, those who make the effort and have a degree of evolved consciousness, are able to pick up nuances in what’s being said, or read between the lines of a letter. All of this is at the non-literal and usually sub-conscious level: it’s energetic, happening within a mode of consciousness beyond our rational thoughts. And that’s the point: this energetic communication transcends all boundaries of location and time. If a writer/speaker is present when they write their e-mail (or record their webinar) and the listener/viewer is wholly present when they read or watch it back those inner, deeper, meanings will still be present: even across continents, even if separated by hours, months or even decades. Content without heart and soul has no power, no energy and is thus unlikely to make a lasting impression. But when we put our creative energies, our inner sense of purpose and compassion into our e-mails, that will be transferred over the internet . . . so long as the recipient has a sufficiently open, receptive and aware state of mind as the receive it. It is really our choice: to perpetuate dead, soulless e-mails or evolve them into a new electronic art-form; where an open-mindedness, compassion and desire to engage as fellow human-beings is propagated in all our digital dealings.
Working with Wisdom is about being aware and truly engaging. Nowhere is this more true than in our dealings with others over the internet. But when our connections with our customers, collaborators and suppliers are virtual, unreal, how is this possible?
It is all about Being Present: As robots and artificial intelligence or, more likely, their sponsors, seek to take over more and more human jobs it's timely to ask: what role for humans then?
We can thank the IT industry and the entrepreneurs behind it for prompting this very important question. If we, humans individually and collectively, no longer have to do any boring, hard or dangerous work, then now, as at no previous time in the history of our species, we have an amazing opportunity to do work that matters. How many of us are currently genuinely interested in the work we do? it is hard to quantify but from what I hear and sense, very few. The number of employees who would rather be doing something else, something more rewarding, something more 'them' is probably huge. Now is the time to recognise this and to use this shift (to robots and to AI) to seek careers and employment fit for the breadth of human capabilities and that fulfils the depth of the human spirit. What does it mean to be fully human in a wise workplace? There are probably two facets: Firstly, there's our own unique personal reason d'etre: a deep inner calling, the difference between a career and a vocation. It may be a particular sporting or artistic ability that needs to be pursued. Or perhaps a need to work in a particular part of the world or with a given group of people. For these we need to listen to our inner voice, to tune in to whatever is driving us . . . and act on it. The second facet is one that applies to us all. What gives meaning and purpose to any of us? As we seek a more worthwhile career, and indeed life, it is important that we ask ourselves this question. Rather than filling in boxes and following procedures don't we need to be engaging, with each other? It is not so much what we do as a job but how we do it. Isn't any job not just more effectively done if those involved are engaging with each other as fellow thinking, feeling human beings, but also more rewarding and more enjoyable? And isn't such deep engagement precisely the skill that we humans have that robots and AI just don't? The failure of Carillion we can hope, like the financial crash of 2008 and the Grenville Tower tragedy, be seen as another, much needed, wake-up call: that the way much of society has been ‘working’ doesn’t actually work.
It’s quite simple: making decisions on a purely financial basis fails to address the fact that society is made up of thinking, feeling individuals. What is the benefit to society as a whole if a few organisations or individuals become hugely wealthy if the bulk of the earth’s population are, in some way or another, struggling? We are in this together. Nobody is separate from the suffering of over-stressed staff, or ignored citizens: even if these individuals are not vocally complaining, their discomfort and distress is being reflected in the state of the world: in the growing health issues such as obesity, diabetes, mental health issues, for example and in Climate Change and it’s increasing violent effects on our weather. It is time for us all to Wake Up to our inherent need to relate to each other as caring, sensitive, human-beings and to our planet as our support system. By being wise in this way, and aware of our deeper needs, so relationship, both personal and professional, become far more meaningful . . . and thus effective. For too long ‘emotional’ has been seen as a weakness. But is it weak to cry when we see or feel others suffer? No! It’s being naturally human, expressing our intrinsic ability to empathise and care. Of cause, it’s not usually helpful to be overly sentimental, nor to allow emotional attachments to get in the way of our interactions. Again this is where wisdom comes in: being able to tell the difference between a genuine plea for help and human need . . . and emotional blackmail or ‘baggage’ – chops on shoulders for example. We can only do this by developing our Emotional Intelligence. We can only do this by acknowledging our own emotions and working through them. This is what we need to wake up to: that the emotional needs of so many individuals humans have been ignored for too long. We’ve had enough! Wake up . . . and express how you’re feeling. You don’t know how to? Another indicator of just how far we have come from our natural expressive human natures. I’ll be happy to help. I belong to a wonderful on-line forum which aims to explore “the role of contemplative teaching and learning in higher education”. Over the last few days the Contemplative Pedagogy Network has been sharing our response to the question of a “definition of contemplative pedagogy/pedagogy”. My own contribution was this:
For me, the question “How do you define . ..” immediately highlights the key issue (or threshold concept perhaps): Conventionally, education, particularly in HE, has been about pinning down an idea or topic in definitions, theories and pre-defined practices. By contrast the key ingredient of Contemplative Practice (embracing mindfulness and reflective practices) is an intent to rise-above the need to define and pin things down. What sets contemplation apart from conventional pedagogy is that it is a state of mind beyond the rational. Thus, for me, what’s we’re interested in is anything that encourages and enables this ‘consciousness beyond the rational’ (which includes being able to integrate the different forms of mental activity). Unless this key point is acknowledged in our practice and interactions with others, contemplative pedagogy risks becoming yet another exercise in box-ticking conceptualisation. Or put another way . . . “How do you hold a moonbeam in your hand?” Many other excellent contributions explored similar ideas along the lines that whilst our discussion on definitions can help us to understand each other perspective, contemplation is one of those ideas that cannot be pinned down in a set of words . . . and if we insist on trying to, we’ve missed the point . . . just as you’d fail totally to grasp a moonbeam in your hand. But we can allow that moonbeam, or piece of poetry, or feelings for someone going through a difficult time, to resonate with us. We can be present with it, enjoy the sensation. Isn’t a contemplative state of mind a key part of being a wise human . . . in any scenario or situation? Yesterday the British Government launched Thriving at work, The Stevenson / Farmer review of mental health and employers. To me it was a rare piece of positive news: finally a top-level yet practical initiative that could really make a positive difference to so many ordinary people. Ordinary thinking, feeling, individuals.
For whilst mental health may be a serious medical condition, such as Schizophrenia or PTSD (Post-traumatic stress disorder) for example, to a far greater number of us it is more likely to be concern over a close friend or relative or a general feeling of depression or anxiety at the state of the world. Don’t many of us feel unwell, through some non-physical cause on a fairly regular basis? It probably goes with being creatures that care, that have strong emotions and, dare I say it, sensitive natures? If our emotional state and resulting mental state can be fragile, if it’s perfectly natural to feel ‘out of sorts’ for all sorts of reasons (such as a favourite uncle being close to dying, or there’s been a terrorist incident in your nearby centre) then it is only natural and reasonable that we need to talk about these feelings: we need somebody to listen, to empathise and to show they care about how we’re feeling. In any situation where we’re rubbing shoulders with our fellow man and woman. For too long ‘hard’ business and ‘objective’ academia has ignored these realities, treating every staff member the same way it see a financial statement or business plan. And look where that has got us! How many work places do you know that are not characterised by glum faces and excessive stress? Where’s the wisdom of that? Or the common sense? Finally, in this report, we’re reminded of what we all know at so many levels but have been discouraged from saying through fear of not being ‘professional’. Being professional means caring about our colleagues, being willing and able to actively listen to their concerns, to share as a fellow human-being. This is not only good for us, individually, as human-beings, but is also good for business: when we feel cared for, we’re more likely to feel valued. When managers listen to our concerns we’re more likely to respond to particular business-related concerns. It’s common sense, it’s win-win. This is wisdom at work. Whatever job we're doing, whether in a large organisation or small, one simple practice illustrates the gist of Working with Wisdom.
Say, for example, you're undertaking a minor household repair or bit of DIY. Here's how NOT to do it: something that happened to me a few years ago: Having had some carpet replaced I was fixing the metal strip to hold it in place in a doorway. Power-drill with masonry bit to get through the concrete floor: no problem. First couple of holes drilled, raw-plugs fitted. Third hole started then . . . HISS - S- S- SS! I'd only drilled though a gas pipe! Job suspended, gas turned off at mains, Gas Emergency team called. Gas pipe eventually plugged and its course carefully plotted before continuing the job. If only . . . If only I'd taken a few minutes to really look at and tune-into the job before I started. There's many levels of tuning in, each worth spending some time on: 1. Before you do anything, look around: notice, for example, where gas meter, appliances and any fittings may be: they have to be connected by pipes, which are probably buried under or within the floor. 2. Take your time and check all is well before starting any irreversible operations such as drilling: is the cat likely to pounce and make you jump? 3. Take an extra moment to tune in and allow your 6th sense to kick-in, if it needs to. One moment of intuitive warning can prevent many hours of hassle . . . Yes, it's all common sense. But are not common sense and wisdom very similar? Both are about not making assumptions, both are about being aware . . . and tuned in. Whilst much is spoken about collaboration, in the business and academic worlds true collaboration is rare. All too often competition for limited funding and other narrow or vested interests prevent a true spirit of co-creation, shared ownership or genuine joint venture. But there are a few examples. And from these we can tease out the essential ingredients.
A sense of community, for example: a deep and meaningful sense of belonging to something bigger than oneself or one’s department. When did you last feel that within a work situation? That is a serious and important question that I’d like you to reflect on: when did you last feel anything in a work situation, other than overworked and stressed? But why shouldn’t staff and customers be happy and feel valued? Indeed in Higher Education, for example, ‘Student Experience’ is a key driver for many initiatives. But what do we been by involvement? Are we, in providing an organisation’s culture and ethos, really getting to the heart of engagement? But meaningful involvement can and does happen and is, I would suggest, essential if those involved in a collaborative project are to feel secure and relaxed enough to engage with each other as fellow human-beings beyond personal goals and expectations. Belonging in the workplace I've been lucky enough to experience such a sense of community in a number of work settings. As an electronic and quality engineer I felt it at Plessey Research Caswell. The result of this atmosphere was a world renowned centre of excellence and innovation, as I describe in this article. A second example was the Experience of Worship, a major UK Research Council funded action research project, led by Prof. John Harper at Bangor University. Acknowledged as an exemplary example of practice-led research (similar in approach to Action Research or Participate Enquiry) the participants from a number of universities and from across a spectrum of disciplines (including History, Musicology and Liturgy) each, in their own way, engaged fully in an enactment of a medieval worship. The impact was both academic and personal (see, for example Beasley, Aveling & Moss, 2016). As the founders and proponents of Action Research and Participate Enquiry emphasise (e.g. McIntosh, 2010; McNiff, Lomax & Whitehead, 1996; Reason, 1994), when research concerns human subjects, what those humans sense and how they feel is every bit as important to understanding the situation as is the factual evidence. (Likewise in teaching & learning where experiential and embedded learning requires the active participation of the student). Whilst hard, objective, data is still vital, the full picture usually requires an awareness of the subjective evidence. Humans are, after all, thinking, feeling, beings. In business as in academia, soft-skills are being increasingly valued. How can any of us engage in meaningful collaboration unless we are willing and able to acknowledge, for example, that a partner is struggling emotionally with some aspects of our shared work? This is Emotional Intelligence in practice. 17 years in Quality Assurance taught me that how we feel affects how well we do our job, whatever that job is. No amount of detailed processes, procedures or systems can make up for a working environment in which an individual feels ignored or under appreciated. There is no alternative to caring for our colleagues and about our project. What these two, very different examples have in common is that those working in both situations felt able to be and express themselves as individuals and that their unique contribution was valued. Because of this, and because of a shared passion for the intent of the projects they were involved in, a shared commitment to the ‘greater goal’ was enabled. So, how can such a sense of community be enabled? That really is the point: it is not a ‘thing’ that can be planned or controlled. It has to come from the heart. In these two examples the people in charge recognised this important point and demonstrated it in their interactions with those who worked for them, authentically, naturally. Being wholly human It is perhaps a matter of stepping back from ‘being a researcher’ or being an historian or an administrator and remembering that first and foremost we are all fellow human beings (see Beasley 2012). Collaboration requires a sense of community and community requires a deep and meaningful engagement. There are no quick fixes, no box-ticking techniques to make this happen. It has to come from within. References Beasley, K. (2012) ‘Beyond ‘isms & ‘ologies: Being a Researcher, Being Human’, Beyond the Field Conference, Aberystwyth, November 9-10 2012 (See abstract; See presentation slides) Beasley, K., Aveling J. & Moss, J.F. (2016) 'Reflections on the Enactments: Voices from the Nave' in Harper, S., Barnwell, P.S. & Williamson, M. (eds) The Experience of Late Medieval Worship, Ashgate, 2016, pp259-269 McIntosh, P. (2010) Action Research and Reflective Practice, Abington: Routledge, 2010. McNiff, J. Lomax, P. & Whitehead, J. (1996) You and Your Action Research Project, New York & London: Routledge, 1996. Reason, P. (1994) Participation in Human Inquiry: Research with People, London, Sage, 1994. Dr Keith Beasley is co-founder of Working with Wisdom |
Dr keith beasley
As an engineer turned life-guide and Quality Assurance expert who did his PhD on 'Transcending Thought', I've seen life from many perspectives. We need them all to even begin to make sense of life . . . ARTICLES LIST
DECEMBER 2022
2023: There's no going back... DECEMBER 2020 2021: Begin the new normal today! JUNE 2018 How to write a consciously evolved e-mail 6/6/18 MAY 2018 Web Presence 25/5/18 JANUARY 2018 Working with Meaning 19/1/18 Wake Up Calls 16/1/18 NOVEMBER 2017 Beyond Definitions 5/11/17 OCTOBER 2017 The Wisdom of Mental Health Awareness 27/10/17 Tuning In 26/10/17 Collaboration and Community 19/10/17 AUGUST 2017 From Know-lede to Know-ing (Part 1) 13/8/17 JUNE 2017 The Wisdom of Multi-tasking 30/6/17 Grasping the nuance of efficiency 08/6/17 MAY 2017 KISS in Education 12/5/17 Keep it Simple, Stupid! 12/5/17 APRIL 2017 Wisdom . . . at Work 24/4/2017 Reflection on Reflective Practice 21/4/2017 Engaging with Engagement 21/4/2017 |