Navigating Complexity - Jennifer Sertlby beCause Associate Jennifer Sertl  

I am a pilgrim on the edge, on the edge of my perception. We are travelers at the edge, we are always at the edge of our perception. ~ Scott Mutter (Escalator ~ Copyright 1984 Scott Mutter used with permission from Bob Mutter)

The people I know in this impact community often do a great deal for others. As caretakers and as innovators, we need reminders to slow down and also take care of ourselves.  This message is particularly for all my colleagues fostering social innovation. Here are a couple of exercises I hope sharpen your senses and allow you more grace in the midst of the pressure that comes with being change agents.

There is a deli in my office building that has several Scott Mutter prints. Recently I was eating lunch and writing in my journal I had a visceral experience of feeling the water at my feet and the tug of the current. What is so poignant about Mutter’s image is that I believe we are all in an identity crisis: a crisis between nature and technology, a crisis between capitalism and collaboration, a crisis between big data and intuition, and finally, a crisis between influencer, seduction, and our own solo voice.

Poet E. E. Cummings says it beautifully: To be nobody but myself – in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make me somebody else – means to fight the hardest battle any human can fight, and never stop fighting.” In the midst of so many tugs of war, abstract thinking, critical thinking, and introspection have never been more important muscles to strengthen. A lot of money is being spent to have you feel emotions and buy things that have nothing to do with who you are at your core. In addition, as social creatures, we are deeply impacted by our fear of being judged or experiencing shame. Every choice you make, every word you use, every “like” or “RT” becomes a node on a grid telling a data story about who you are and what you care about. It is more important than ever that you know the story and claim it as your own.

Introspection is the sword you have to fight this battle. You must, by design, get to know yourself under the shell of saving face. There are many ways to practice and explore self-knowledge. The practice that has offered me the most personal insight has been keeping a journal. I have been keeping a journal since I was eight years old – so it is a well-worn habit. There are three exercises I give my clients to help them build introspection and begin the discipline of journal writing.

1. The first practice is called “Plus + / Delta Δ”.  The discipline of “Plus + / Delta Δ” invites you to write, once a week, a situation that you are proud of – where you describe the situation (context), the task at hand (what you were required to do), the actions you took (choices you made), and the result. In this exercise you also write, once a week, a situation that you wished for a do-over. Thus the delta Δ – which is the symbol for change. You follow the same formula of describing the situation (context), the task at hand (what you were required to do), the actions you took (choices you made), and the result. In addition you describe what you wished would have happened, and any choices that you could have made as an alternative, to create a different outcome. The premise here is that we are better and learning if we have a chance to celebrate and anchor what is working and why and also build in the capacity for scenario planning of alternative outcomes. Just because we have an experience, doesn’t mean we will learn from it. The discipline of “Plus + / Delta Δ” makes the learning explicit, accessible, and scalable for future preparation.

2. The second practice is called “Recalibration.”“Recalibration” is a writing exercise that I suggest to individuals and companies when they are going through significant changes, feeling lost, or feeling overwhelmed. Like arrows in a quiver, these questions can provide wonderful guidance on how to sequence events and how to establish priorities:
Where have you been?
What have you learned?
Where are you going?
What is required?

As you can imagine, these questions can be answered on a page or may extend into a two day working strategy session within a company.  For those of you who need more structure I offer this guidance:

Where have you been?(7 observations about past landscape)
What have you learned? (10 bullet point lessons/scars and what you hope to remember going forward)
Where are you going? (7 observations about current/future landscape)
What is required? (3 mental muscles you need to strengthen, 2 skills you must acquire, 3 resources you must engage)

  1. The third practice is called “Shadow Dancing.”“Shadow Dancing” is a discipline that requires a six week commitment to create 30 minutes a day of writing. The theory behind “Shadow Dancing” is that we each have very strong internal critics and we judge ourselves. Often what insights we may need or truths we may want to discover about ourselves may be deep, deep within our psyche. By creating a disciplined practice of writing over a long period of time – new thoughts, insights, and perspectives may come to the surface. In my post Individuation of Ideas I suggest that having insight isn’t so much about being intelligent as it is about being present. Even if you don’t know what to say and write – create the space and time anyway. Write “I am bored” or “I have nothing to say,” again and again. Just preserve the time and write. Perhaps, in the disciplined presence, a great idea will have the stillness required to land.

In this era of information overload and complexity — the one thing that will stay constant is who you are at your core, what you value, and your own discernment. Please take the time, by design, to strengthen your own voice so that you can hear the wisdom of your intuition, anchor and reinforce learning from the past, and support your personal resolve against the seduction of the macro.

Here is a talk I gave to innovators for global event called Hatch A Better World where I go a bit deeper on self-protection in the midst of macro seduction. Onward in the rigor,  Jennifer
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Jennifer Sertl, President Agility3R, is a recognized thought leader in the emerging field of corporate consciousness dedicated to strengthening strategic skills and helping leaders become more resilient, responsive, and reflective. This article was originally published on Huffington Post.

Navigating Complexity -Sertl2015 -2
{ 18 comments… add one }
  • Nadine B Hack January 31, 2016, 5:24 pm

    Jennifer – I love E. E. Cummings poem you quoted, “To be nobody but myself – in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make me somebody else – means to fight the hardest battle any human can fight, and never stop fighting.” It perfectly captures a guiding aspiration as do all your practical tips for how to practice and achieve that.

    Reply
    • JenniferSertl February 1, 2016, 5:16 am

      Nadine,
      I wish our culture focused more on “practice” vs “performance” as the rub is having personal discipline.

      In the practice of the practice,
      Jennifer

      Reply
  • Andrea Learned January 31, 2016, 6:46 pm

    I so appreciate your point about recalibration, Jennifer. Even just thinking to yourself… “I need to recalibrate”.. can break through an old pattern and empower you. Sometimes a word or, even better, your guiding questions, is all it takes to remember: I AM in control of my own responses and can shape my own path! And the light returns…

    Reply
    • JenniferSertl February 1, 2016, 5:18 am

      And Andrea I close my day with your inspiring words…”and the light returns”
      Lovely,
      J

      Reply
  • Susan Goldsworthy January 31, 2016, 7:05 pm

    Thanks for an insightful and mindful article Jennifer – with simple steps to help us all on our daily journeys.

    Reply
    • JenniferSertl February 1, 2016, 5:05 am

      We really need more ritual in our daily experience. Thank you, Susan for taking the time to read and comment.

      Reply
    • JenniferSertl February 2, 2016, 3:42 am

      Thank you, Susan.

      Cheers to your journey.

      Jennifer

      Reply
  • Kazuma Tanaka January 31, 2016, 9:53 pm

    Jennifer – I appriciate your your insightful and mindful tips. I think that it is necessary that we should study and work hard. We must try hard and ask myself to the end. People are either living honestly with my own feelings or repeatedly ponder to myself. Before you put the blame on others, you should ask yourself whether you are not at least partly to blame.

    Reply
    • JenniferSertl February 1, 2016, 5:07 am

      Kazuma,
      I so agree with you. People are mirrors and introspection is rigorous work.
      Cheers to your practice.
      Jennifer

      Reply
  • Peter Cook (@AcademyOfRock) February 1, 2016, 12:20 am

    I think I use music as a recalibration tool. I also use writing a lot but not as systematically as you suggest. Excellence is a habit and I have learned from your insights here. Thank you so much

    Reply
  • JenniferSertl February 1, 2016, 5:21 am

    Peter,
    What I enjoy about your messages about introspection is the fun you catalyze. Joy is an important ingredient you add to this dance.

    J

    Reply
  • David Hain February 1, 2016, 11:37 am

    Jennifer
    What a great piece, full of advice, simulation and wisdom in equal measure! I chant daily as part of my practice, but I think the writing exercises are particularly valuable as something I rarely take time to do. Thanks for the inspiration, you are so right about taking of the masks and cloaks we wear and listening to who we really are!

    Thank you!

    Reply
  • Cortney February 1, 2016, 12:02 pm

    Loved and voted for this piece in the December “only dead fish” contest… :)

    The greatest tools in my journey to Self re-membrance have been Morning Pages (originally inspired by Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way) and the practice of stillness.

    There’s a Zen saying: “It’s the space between the bars that holds the tiger, and the silence between the notes that makes the music.” Thanks for the reminder. :)

    Reply
    • JenniferSertl February 2, 2016, 3:34 am

      Thank you, Cortney, for taking the time to both vote and comment.

      Yes, Julia Cameron has been a voice of inspiration.

      I had never hear the bars that keep the tiger in. I’m wrestling with something and that is a helpful metaphor.

      Best,
      Jennifer

      Reply
  • Ravi Chaudhry February 1, 2016, 1:50 pm

    What a beautiful piece of thoughtful writing, culminating in the noblest aspiration: “strengthen your own voice”.
    As I focus on this aspect, I can relate it to the voice of one’s conscience, but remembering at the same time that the voice of conscience is so feeble that it is easy to strangle it, but it is always unmistakably clear.
    I quite agree with your clarion message that our ability to shape our own future squarely depends on our ability to listen to and follow our own conscience. It is, as you put it across so crisply, ‘about being present,’ being aware – starting NOW.
    Thank you, Jennifer.

    Reply
  • JenniferSertl February 1, 2016, 10:11 pm

    Ravi,

    I have so much to learn from your work as well.

    Jennifer

    Reply
  • Maria Wilhelmsson February 2, 2016, 9:26 am

    Thanks Jennifer for this inspiring and at the same time very practical piece. It strikes me how names or how we frame things can make a difference. Shadow dancing sounds much more appealing to me than “journaling”. I guess that says something about my shadow too.
    Maria

    Reply
  • JenniferSertl February 2, 2016, 10:52 pm

    Maria,

    Marion Woodman has been a wonderful teacher about the shadow -if you haven’t yet perhaps her work might be beneficial.
    https://mwoodmanfoundation.org/media-store/

    Shadow Dancing,
    Jennifer

    Reply

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