I have a practice of taking my dog for a walk every morning. It is an opportunity for Zoe and I to get some exercise and gain a perspective on the day. Zoe finds interesting things to sniff as we walk. I prefer to read.
On the morning of Sunday, February 7th I was looking forward to our walk and to continue reading “The Necessary Revolution” by Peter Senge, et.al. Unfortunately I had forgotten to recharge the battery in my book reader and didn’t have enough charge to read while on the walk. I thought of taking my radio and listening to “Speaking of Faith” on NPR but wasn’t really interested in the topic for the program. I realized I had a need for audio stimulation while I walked. General rule: a need for diversion is an active avoidance of something. I left the house with pockets empty of electronic devices.
I had only walked a little way before I heard a woodpecker in a tree to the southeast of our house. I had no idea woodpeckers are in my neighborhood the first week of February. As I walked the neighborhood I was able to get a sense of where the bird was. There was only one woodpecker in the neighborhood and it seemed to be content to stay in one place. I have since heard (what I assume is) the same woodpecker on a regular basis.
The woodpecker acted as a reminder to be present to the sounds and smells of the neighborhood. I became very aware of how little I know of the patterns of migratory birds. I welcome them as a sign of winter’s passing and the coming of spring but I don’t know which will stay with us for the summer and which are on their way to the north. I’d guess woodpeckers are territorial but I’m not sure. I also noted a conspicuous absence of smells. The winter still had a firm hold on the ground. The smells of spring were still a ways off on February 7th.
By the time Zoe and I got back to the house I had resolved to make our Sunday walk a time to give the electronics a rest. I found the direct connection to my surroundings refreshing. It was also good to let my mind wander freely rather than to focus on a pre-determined topic. I am eager to find what the spring will bring to the neighborhood and what will come of taking time to reflect without a specific focus.
Lessons learned:
It was by chance I found myself on a walk without an agenda. I had forgotten how much I enjoy the opportunity to be outdoors in the early hours of the day. While I am not oblivious to my surroundings when I read while walking, I clearly place a secondary importance on the feedback I receive from my surroundings when my primary focus is on reading a book.
I have no doubt I would have noticed the sound of a woodpecker regardless of the book I might read while walking. Whether I would have noted my surprise at the presence of a woodpecker in February is questionable. I am sure I would not have taken the time to reflect on what I miss by dividing my attention.
This simple experience served as a reminder of how much I miss as a result of taking my surroundings for granted and focusing my attention on more immediate priorities. The take-away from my walk of February 7th is recognition of the value of taking a step back from normal activities for the sole purpose of unstructured reflection.
Applying the lessons:
As Zoe and I walked on Sunday, February 7th I realized I had placed such a high priority on taking advantage of a good opportunity to enrich my life through reading I had forgotten about how enriching it can be to be present to my surroundings. Ironically, I often use my morning reading time for learning how to foster creative thinking in myself and others.
The most important thing is to make the time for unstructured thinking. In our personal live this is fairly simple to do. In our organizational lives we need to set aside unstructured time for brainstorming. This could be done as a part of a general meeting or in a periodic gathering dedicated to freethinking. The key is to allow enough time for ideas to come to the table. Fifteen minutes of brainstorming time at the end of a long meeting is unlikely to provide useful insights.
Here are a few ideas to take advantage of time set aside for letting ideas come to you and the teams you participate in:
- Don’t expect a break-through idea to jump out and grab you. The best ideas often arrive unexpectedly.
- Use thought joggers to generate ideas. “Finish the sentence…” is a good tool; the most innovative thing I’ve seen lately is… “It would be really great to”… “I’ve always wondered how”… etc.
- Avoid judgment of the ideas generated in an open-thinking session. Focus on possibilities, not limitations.
- Allow for unrelated and incomplete ideas. Observations of fascinating things don’t need to be directly related to the organization.
- Make note of good ideas and allow time to develop the ideas that have promise.
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