Escaping the gravitational pull of a flat world

“Thank you for your courage in presenting in this way”

So spoke a prospective client after a really rich hour of discussion about experiential learning.

Not the sort of courage one associates with acts of heroism or other heart thumping, air gulping moments.

More the use of a big word to recognise and value that something different had happened, something which required a thoughtful step away from “normal.”

Quite simply, the “normal” we had stepped away from was the use of PowerPoint.

It’s a flat, flat world. Or is it?…

Have you noticed how many workplaces are flat? Really flat? Devoid of vitality?

How many times have you sat on your flat chair at your flat desk looking at your flat screen, and then printed off flat papers to walk along a flat corridor to a meeting where you sit around a flat table in a room with flat, featureless walls onto which are projected flat images? What are those meetings like?

Even the word “meeting” is revealingly flat. There is very little expectation in the common use of that word of the rich possibility of people fully engaging with one another with all their powers of intellect, imagination, emotion, and bodily feeling. At home and at play, yes. But we call that living and loving – not “meetings”!

Walking the talk…

So, what was our courageous act? We didn’t use PowerPoint. We tipped out a box of artefacts and used them to share stories of past events and excite thoughts of future possibility, whilst frequently checking in to how we all were in the moment.

It wasn’t a meeting. It was a powerful experiential learning engagement. When we use the term “experiential learning” we simply mean engaging into our worlds with all of our senses and capacities. Simple really. It’s how we humans are built to thrive.

Dave

Dave Stewart
Director
The Fresh Air Learning Company Ltd

The Fresh Air Learning Company creates and supports game-changing leadership journeys for individuals, teams and organisations.

A few days ago I had lunch with a senior HR manager in a global consulting firm. I was struck by his rather joyless work existence.

Twelve-hour days are his norm. With commuting he is turning in around 14 hours per day. Five, six days a week. There was a sense of resigned grind in his words and demeanor. Sound familiar?

Things are looking up however. A new HR Director has arrived in post.

Under the cosh

The previous one was a “mission delivery machine”. A mask of pleasantness would slip at the first hint of pressure to reveal an unpleasant toxic side. My friend and colleagues felt “under the cosh”.

She got what she thought she wanted – answers, information, people walking on eggshells and jumping through hoops.

Yet she never got what she and the business really needed – passion, energy, commitment, and innovation.

My friend is loving the prospect of his new boss setting a new, affirming and motivating tone; one that will encourage him, and the rest of the team, to bring their whole selves to work.

Pink performance

Later the same day I picked up a copy of Daniel Pink’s “Drive” (2009).

Pink says, “Carrots and sticks are so last century….for 21st century work we need to upgrade to autonomy, mastery and purpose.”

How could you increase the autonomy you and your people have over task (what), time (when), team (who) and technique (how)?

How would it feel to get better and better at something you are passionate about, something that really matters to you?

How awesome would it be to exercise your yearning to do great things in the service of noble goals larger than yourself?

As a leader where do you sit on the “carrots and sticks” versus “autonomy, mastery and purpose” debate? Maybe there is an optimum, context dependent blend?

What fresh thinking is underway about motivation where you work? What is doable and desirable? How comfortable does all this feel? What help do you need?

Dave

Dave Stewart
Director
The Fresh Air Learning Company

The Fresh Air Learning Company creates game-changing leadership journeys for individuals, teams and organisations. We dare them to dream, to lead, to do. Bold, challenging, and sometimes uncomfortable!

Place and social setting have a powerful impact on how people behave and learn. Add expert facilitation and the outcomes can be dramatic.

Here are seven great reasons we have found that working outdoors works:

1. Clients’ experience
2. Changes in biochemistry
3. Burnout recovery
4. Boundary removal
5. Inspiring metaphors
6. Story creation
7. Cost effectiveness

Let’s look at boundary removal and inspiring metaphor.

Boundary removal

Have you noticed how many of the boundaries normally encountered in the workplace limit creativity and relationship building? Have you noticed how these are relaxed or removed in the outdoors? And what about that sense of freedom that is created which triggers shifts in perspective, and enriches the nature of conversations with one another? Just how many great conversations are you not having right now where you work?!

“I remember the moment clearly, the moment when I started experiencing my colleagues as real people; people I wanted to be with, to really engage with, to lead the business with. Up until then we had been kidding ourselves that we were a leadership team!”

Inspiring metaphor

We all speak in metaphor. How many times are you caught between a “rock” and a “hard place”? How often do you walk through “treacle”? What about those meetings that are “battles” where people take up “positions”? What would these be like if you used something creative like “dance” or “architecting” as metaphors instead?

The outdoors excites all the senses and is super rich in metaphor. With expert facilitation the outdoors can be a source of inspirational thinking, fresh meaning, revitalised relationships and transformative action.

“I forgot I was there….I was absolutely in the moment… It gave me powerful images and metaphors with which to develop and anchor my thinking….Really, really powerful!”

Go on! Get outdoors and have the kinds of conversations you will never have at work!

Dave

Dave Stewart
Director
The Fresh Air Learning Company

The Fresh Air Learning Company helps leaders realise game-changing possibilities. We dare them to dream, to lead, to do. Bold, challenging, and sometimes uncomfortable!

Experimenting with small changes can deliver great effect. Over time – incremental gains. Or in an instant – the tipping point effect.

I have a routine of writing blogs of a certain length, and always with two photographs. So here is my small change experiment. I am going to use fewer words and create the space for some short questions and two dares.

A dare to reflect, and a dare to act.

So:

• What is it like for you, right now, in your team?
• How far are you slipping into or away from really reflecting?
• What is your body doing, what emotions are you experiencing, and what words, sounds and pictures are forming in your mind as you reflect on this?
• How much of yourself do you really bring to your participation?
• What does the team you want to be part of look, sound, feel like?
• What does the you that your team wants look, sound, and feel like!?
• What will doing nothing give you; give your team?
• What small steps are possible, right now, to help create what is needed?
• How far are you slipping away from, or rushing towards taking these steps?

Feel free to share your daring.

Dave

Dave Stewart
Director
The Fresh Air Learning Company