The trap of clarity!

I was at a day long walkathon once, the route of which meandered through villages. In the evening leg and on what was going to be a full moon night, a participant ahead of me had his headlamp on proactively. We were coursing through a field and I noticed there was a low tree ahead of us, looking all ghost-like.

I adjusted my speed and length of stride in anticipation of people ahead of me slowing down due to the upcoming tree. Strangely though, the participant ahead of me kept forging ahead with a confident stride and steady rhythm. And before I knew it, he went and crashed straight into a tree branch that hit him just above the eyebrow and below the headlamp band.

What had happened was that the bright light from the headlamp created a very clear area ahead of him which was very well-lit. But the area outside the coverage of the headlamp was pitch dark due to the contrast. And so, under the illusion of visibility, the participant walked confidently into the low branch of the tree.

For some of us who hadn’t turned on the headlamps, we were acclimatized to the natural light that was still prevalent due to the dying rays of the sun, and the emerging glow of the moon. In such a setting, absolute light wasn’t a requirement, just being able to distinguish the shape of distant objects was adequate.

In the world of business, being quick in grasping the bigger picture is often seen as an imperative to being decisive. There is sometimes a rush to connect the dots and make sense of the bigger picture. In my work in coaching, I have noticed that the rush can lead to a picture that doesn’t fully give clarity, but rather gives an incomplete understanding of the situation.

Instead of “interpreting” the dots, I am in favour of letting the picture emerge, not based on my own experience or judgement, but based on what is being revealed. Again, not based on what I think the dots show, but letting the dots speak for themselves. And that requires listening, but also the discomfort to not know or remain confused. I have often stayed on a bit more with the itch of “not knowing” only to see that a different picture emerges than the one I was forming in my understanding.

Seeking clarity is a good thing, but it cannot be for the sake of it. And like creativity, clarity must also emerge organically. This is where listening helps, but not just the ordinary kind of listening. Actors are trained in doing listening exercises, where they start by focusing on the sounds from outside the room, they are in. Then they focus on the sounds inside the room, and finally they tune in to sounds of the body.

In a similar vein, in business (as well as in other aspects of life), listening must be at multiple levels and from different perspectives. This means, really focusing on the intention and concerns that are put forth in points of views that are coming from others, from their world view. And in doing so, one can develop the ability to appreciate the full range of dots that will help reveal the picture of that issue or situation you are faced with.

The world isn’t as finite as we would like it to be, so clarity can be mistaken for a two-dimensional cutout of reality. Like the situation with the blind men and the elephant though, a tail, or an ear or a leg, isn’t the entire elephant.

Being comfortable with not knowing and listening from diverse perspectives are the two hands we must use to take off the blindfold of our assumptions and the rush for clarity. Only then, can the dots connect and perhaps the elephant will emerge!

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I teach what I have covered in the article, in a 12-week course called the “𝐍𝐋𝐏 𝐅𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞”.

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