Know Thyself

A couple of months ago I posted a quote on this blog; it dealt with knowledge of the past and of the future and somebody asked me "what if you want to know who you are now?". Well, that's a bloody good question; one of those questions humans have been working on for ages and quite frankly I don't know whether there is only one way to do this, nor indeed whether this target is achievable in "just" one lifetime.
The oracle of Delphi has been known to provide wise insights to Ancient Greeks on a range of matters of interest to them. At the entrance of the temple of Delphi, there was an invitation and perhaps a warning for visitors: "know thyself". That sentence can be interpreted in many different ways:

1. the oracle was willing to handle all sorts of questions except those dealing with the bottomless pit of the (sometimes troubled) human soul, perhaps a warning to psychologists, analysts and psychotherapists of our times



2. knowledge of oneself was considered a basic prerequisite for visitors to be able to deal with the impacts of the revelations made by the oracle, perhaps a warning to those of us who are on a quest to accumulate knowledge, expertise and experience (evolution may also stem from shedding knowledge, habits, fears, "truths", values, rules, obligations...)



3. the endeavour was considered as the boldest that a mortal could undertake, definitely an interesting insight for all those who think of walking their personal path and perhaps living their own personal legend as Coelho might put it

The challenge of self-knowledge is huge both because in our universe change is the only constant (and that applies to our souls, minds and bodies) and because there is a large chunk of who we are that can actually escapes the span of attention of our conscient selves. Carl Gustav Jung left an invaluable legacy of wisdom with his work on the self, the inconscious, the social ego and the shadow, which I am currently studying as part of my personal R&D.
I personally used some of the concepts Jung studied and in particular methods presented by Jean Monbourquette in a great book I recommend to anyone interested in the discovery of herself. I must warn you though: if you do it properly the results may rock you a bit, so make sure you have someone to guide you or to support you in case of weakness. And there is no shame in weakness; in fact strength lies within weakness, a wisdom present in the words and thoughts of many great thinkers.
Now to use my NLP skills a bit, let me see whether the goal of achieving self-knwoledge is a "good objective" to pursue for me, that is an objective that is compliant with the conditions of proper formulation of objectives:

1. positive formulation: "I want to know who I am now" - that will do it



2. under my control: I feel it is, even though I know I will not achieve it in one day



3. can be tested: by drawing a diagram showing the different aspects of myself and listing the attributes of my social self as well as those of my shadowy side I will be able to test my current knowledge of myself



4. in context: here and now, all contexts of my life



5. ecology: I don't see any disadvantage in achieving this goal, but to be frank there is no way I can know whether there is any; it's a leap of faith.



6. ultimate objective: harmony, evolution, growth



7. price to pay: I will spend time to investigate, invest energy in facing my fears (see the prayer of the Bene Gesserit of Dune) and devote attention to the subtle messages of my unconscious part



8. coherence for me: knowledge of myself is definitely in line with who I want to be in the life



9. does the achievement of the goal eliminate the problem? - what was the problem agin? No, just kidding. For me it definitely does and I don't see any other more suitable, elegant or short way to do it: I don't want to spend the rest of my life with someone I don't know, and who I am spending most time with but my self?

So, yes, this is an objective for me. Actually I think it is a fundamental prerequisite for just about every single aspect of my life, whether it is dealing with people at work, hopefully someday raising children, perhaps coaching individuals to the achievement of their full personal potential, writing, painting, meditating or "simply" being a citizen of the universe. And I do think it is a path to personal harmony, even though there may be a few quite intense moments of unexpected discovery... But then again, if everything that happens was to fall in the "expected" category, life would not be quite as exciting to live. Enjoy your path, whatever you choose to let it be.

On heart power, brain power and brute force

Back in 1948, when President harry Truman was signing the Foreign Assistance Act, he was simultaneously taking America on a bold route nobody had explored before, that of true compassion and human care. Indeed, through what is best known as the Marshall Plan, the United States of America spearheaded European and global economic recovery at a time when the disastrous effects of World War II were being felt in every corner of our continent, Old Europe. This was perhaps one of the boldest initiatives undertaken by any US Administration on such a scale.
A bit more than 47 years after it was initiated, as the free world is facing a challenged never equalled since the end of the cold war, I was wondering what the dollar value of the Marshall Plan had been and how much this could be worth in 2005 dollars. After all, this is a time when America is spending over 200 billion US dollars to wage a war that does not seem to be bringing the rosy results promised by President G.W.Bush's Administration: a world free from terror, complying with the ideals of the western model of modern democracy and as a direct consequence of "action" democracy and stability in the Middle East.
Truman's plan for European economic reconstruction was worth 13 billion US dollars in 1948. Condisering the US inflation rate between 1948 and 2002 (for details please click on picture at the left of this text), I calculated the compounded rate of inflation (706%) and was able to determine that the Marshall Plan would be worth slightly more than 104 billion US dollars in 2002, or slightly more than 107 billion US dollars in 2005 (inflation rates for 2003 and 2004 taken from the web site of the US Bureau of Labor Statistics). Dear reader, that is 50% less than what the Bush Administration is spending on waging its war in Iraq. The tragedy of it all is that with an action plan based on brute force America is damaging its image possibly beyond repair. And I am sure President Bush and his team had the best of intentions (Someone I know says that the road to hell is paved with best intentions) as they chose to use violence instead of putting together a plan for...

• global education,



• access to potable water for millions of humans,



• fair trade giving underdeveloped countries a fighting chance in world trade,



• a cleaner environment and sustainable development



• ... anything smart, generous, bold and truly compassionate that helps build a better tomorrow

Perhaps it is time to do something different. Again one the things one hears a lot in NLP seminars: "if what you are doing is not working, try something else. More of the same tactic brings more of the same results". Perhaps there is no clash of civilisations, perhaps violence breeds violence, Perhaps bombs actually strengthen terror, perhaps the world is not as simplistic as conservative US think tanks depict it, perhaps it is time to use brain power...

Certified NLP Practioner

I am very proud and pleased to inform you that I earned my certification as NLP Practioner on 13 July 2005. It's been an intense, interesting, challenging and deeply human experience for me, for which I thank the people who put together this training programme, namely Alain Moenaert and Anne Piérard at Ressources.
Over the course of the past 6 months, we have been challenged to understand and immediately apply the tools of neurolinguistic programming; and to apply them on real-life cases. So I also wish to thank from the bottom of my heart all my classmates who provided real cases from their lives as I provided cases and issues from my own. I thank those who helped me discover and learn as well as those who helped me develop new ways of seeing. From a systemic standpoint this group was just fantastic. At the same time I feel for those who did not earn their diploma this time and wish them lots of progress and discovery until their next attempt at something as challenging. I am a believer in one of the basic tenets of NLP: "there is no failure, only feedback". And I know from my life so far that feedback can sometimes be expensive, painful or dreadful... I believe there is a reason for everything that happens in our lives though.
NLP provides a framework for understanding human behaviour, emotions and thought patterns. I consider that NLP has brought unprecedented discipline and structure to psychology. The framework makes it possible for practioners to use tools developed in other branches of modern psychology in a very operational manner. What I really like about it is that systematic exploration and understanding of the way an individual human being "functions" leads almost immediately to actions that can be taken to achieve desired results. For more about NLP, please visit Wikipedia.

Sadness and hope

I feel deeply sad for the people of London, for those who lost their lives too early, for those wounded who suffer and for those in pain for the loss of a dear one. Let us have a thought of compassion and love for all of them.

Fear, anger and violence have been plaguing our world for a long time. Far too long. When the soul, the mind, the thoughts, the words and the actions of humans are corrupted by these poisons, the world becomes a less pleasant place to say the least. This, I am convinced, is the deep spiritual and psychological root cause for dreadful events orchestrated by terrorists of all sorts. And the seed for violence are distance, judgment and blame: when I feel distant from someone and find a reason to blame them I am being violent. Interestingly, when I blame someone I am in fact blaming myself. I believe in the power of Life and Light and I fail to see how Death and Destruction can serve any superior purpose, let alone any religious purpose. Perhaps political agendas, but no cause worth to be called that way. And I think it is pointless to examine whether Death and Destruction materialise as a genocide in the pre-Colombian Americas, a genocide in Rwanda, a devastating world war, a terrorist attack on New York, Madrid or London, or indeed as an ill prepared and badly managed costly intervention in Iraq, or a colonial war in Vietnam. There is no just cause that can be served by fear, anger and violence. None. Not in any environment: not in family, not in business, not in society, not in politics, not in world affairs... None. Period.

The fact is that we have the resources that are required to make the world a better place and bombs are not the way to do it. Perhaps it is time to think how many "Marshall plans" we could have conducted with the budget spent for the war in Iraq. Perhaps it is time to assess the cost the western world is now paying for its myopic handling of former colonies and underdeveloped countries in the past; after all did we not allow Sadam to come to power and once he was in power tolerate his presence for 30 years before suddenly realising we had to bring him down? Did we not protect dictators like Mobutu? Did we not bring down democratically elected leaders like Salvador Allende? Did we not allow extremists in Algiers to prevent women from attending university?

At the same time, I feel sadness and sorrow for the shadows that drive
human behaviour in our world. They are our collective shadows. My neighbour's weakness is my own. I know I
have felt anger, violence, desire for revenge and a couple of other of
these negative energies. How else could I possibly recognize (that is
re-cognize) them? Perhaps we humans have made a lot of progress with
technology and science and medicine and management and arts and... but
the point of the matter is that our behavioural patterns are mostly
identical to what they were in prehistoric times. Progress as we
conduct it just gives us means to "perform" on a larger scale.

Perhaps the next frontier is in ourselves and in our selves. That is where progress is now required. Perhaps the next step is to educate and to re-educate people. To help achieve a higher level of conscience on a larger scale. It is in the power of each individual to create their personal heaven
or hell out of the exact same material: our world, our common
"reality".

31.82%

I went to the movies a couple of days ago. Before the picture started there was the inevitable string of ads. So I watched, trying to figure out how the creators of those ads came to producing them. What was their intention? What is the message? How creative is the ad? How fun is it? Will I remember the product? Will it be like those really smart, funny, nice ads that are actually so enjoyable that I forget the product that was advertised?

Well, out of 22 ads, 7 were really original, relevant, clear, fun and had impact on me. The remaining 15 lacked character or were plain stupid. 31.82% real good stuff; 68.18% crap. And I trust crap will sell just as well in many cases.

Actually I have a few friends who work in fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) and they say that in some of those companies the consumer is considered as no more intelligent and independent than the famour dog of Pavlov... No wonder some ads really suck big time! Oh, and while I am at it, if there are any Nestlé people reading this blog, please see what you can do to stop producing idiotic films like those in the latest Kit-kat campaign.

Good questions and well-being at work

I am a big believer in the power of (good) questions. Actually I have not really come across "bad" questions so far. Yes, there are questions that bother me or questions I cannot answer or questions that are indiscrete... however that does not make them "bad" questions. Let alone that the sheer fact of dividing the world in "good" and "bad" is seldom a source of harmony in my opinion, for there is always one within the other in our world. Of course, the question begs: why should there be peace and harmony in one's life and especially their professional life? Let me renew a promise I made onthis blog: I will write something about the importance of harmony (even in business), as soon as I feel ready to do it.

Anyway, here are three questions asked by Ricardo Semler, a highly successful business manager in Latin America. He shares his experience in Maverick! and The Seven Day Weekend and I think both are worth reading. Now the questions:

1. Why do we think that the future is in God's hands and
then pre-plan every moment of it?

2. Why do we think intuition is so valuable and unique - and find no
place for it as an official business instrument?

3. Why do we agree that living well is living every moment, without
reinforcing past of future - but then spend most of our work lives
dealing with historical data and future budgets?

It's interesting food for thought and I realise that the more I read, think and write about those aspects of business that I experience, the more I come to ask questions that cannot be restricted to business life.

So perhaps after all life is One and the distinction between principles that would be applicable to my business life and principles that I choose to apply to my private life, is essentially artificial. Perhaps it is even detrimental to an individual's well being. Perhaps it is fragmenting that which is One, ie an individual's higher self. Perhaps thinking, saying and doing something about the well being of people at work is substantially more powerful as a means to improve the odds for a business than rigid procedures, ill-formatted templates and cost cutting programmes.

But of course, we may feel uncomfortable considering a different path from the obvious and established one. Do we feel uncomfortable doing something for its own sake and because we (not other people) feel it's the right thing to do?

To conform or not to conform?

Found on the site of the University of Michigan, this text is quoted from The Corporate curmudgeon (Dale Dauten). Quite interesting and thought provoking...

"A university once was thought of as a place for
freethinkers. Not now. The thinking is never free; it is expensive and shackled.
In the absence of freethinking, college has become a vo-tech for bureaucrats. A
diploma proves that you are a card-carrying bureaucrat, that you are willing to
do what you are told for years at a time. thus, you are qualified to work for
major corporations.

And when you go to the placement office, think about the
sort of companies that would want to come to a university to hire employees. Ask
yourself: If these corporations are such great places to work, why are they the
only ones other than the Army to have 'recruiters'?

If you want to live your own way, it is important to understand
that those who make a difference are nonconformists, rugged individualists. What
school prepares you for is a life as a hard-working non-individualist, a rugged
conformist.

You arrive at graduation ill-prepared for the life-long struggle
against conformity. Refuse to concede. Start by refusing to take the obvious
job, the one that pays the most. You've heard that old lie about 'He who has
the most toys when he dies wins.' Change the 't' in 'toys' to a 'j' and you'll
be closer.

And if you have to give up a few thousand dollars a year to join
a small, lively organization, remember that each $1,000 in salary is only about
two dollars a day, take-home. Would you leave a $5 bill on the dresser every
day to have a lively, energizing career?

So, if you want to have a chance to slip the bonds of bureaucracy,
you will have to look beyond the placement office.

You will have to search among the oddballs and black sheep, among
those whose shoes aren't shined and whose smiles aren't rehearsed..

No, do not go in search of a job, but an inspiration. Find a
leader, a guide. Find friends. Look until you discover true individuals and
then plead with them to take you in."