Is it time to take the next step?
It’s time to step into the light. Two major projects are coming to fruition right now and I want to share what that feels like.
First, a book I coauthored with David Boje, titled Managing Fractal Organizing Processes is complete. We have turned in the manuscript and are entering the editing phase with the publisher. For me it’s a huge step and, not unlike when it was time for me to defend my doctoral dissertation, I needed a little push in the form of a deadline. That said, it’s done. There will be editing, to be sure, but the book now exists. It is real, not just a pile of notes and references and a nagging “should” on my calendar. It has transitioned from labor of love to being almost ready to push out of the nest, staying connected and wishing the best for it… not so different from sending a beloved son away to college.
Second, I recently booked my first workshop for Management on the Mat. (Details are under the events tab on this web site.) For over a year I have been experimenting with ways to bring together my research into organization development and the practice of yoga.
It’s exciting! It feels bold… and a little scary…
And yet it’s a perfectly natural next step. I get to help people better understand patterns of behavior in their work environments while introducing a gentle yoga-inspired practice that engages all of the senses! The ideas are fairly new in some circles, yet consistent with some very ancient lessons passed down from Patanjali.
Take awareness, for example. Yoga really helps us to improve our situational awareness both on and off the mat. Yoga sutra 1.2 teaches us that yoga stops the mind from chattering, something anyone with a regular practice will attest to. Taken in a business context, it is pretty plain to see that if you are busy spinning your wheels over too much stress or perceived wrongs, you are missing the bigger picture. When we let our minds run in circles, we observe very little and create problems that often grow far bigger than the ones we were worried about in the first place. We need to settle down in order to focus properly.
The term “yoga” is loosely translated to mean “union.” We become better masters of ourselves, our impulses, judgments, and mental chit-chat so that we can better engage with the world. This brings us to the relational view of business. I teach a concept called relational introspection that is all about creating awareness so we can see what’s really happening. These days we hear every other scholar and consultant say, “It’s all about relationships!” The more I learn about marketing and sales the more I believe that to be the case. The best salespeople are not “selling” at all. They are helping potential customers solve problems, whether directly or by offering referrals to others who can help. They are building and strengthening relationships.
Such obvious connections...
Yet I have hesitated to take this first step to share them in my own, unique way.
Why?
For a long time, I felt the need to do more research, to strengthen my resolve that a fusion of these ideas made sense.
It felt like I had too many, varied interests to bring together a cohesive picture! I had learned about leadership in the US Navy. Years in the defense industry taught me how to coordinate groups of people with very different ideas about how things should work, something I expanded on when I went back to school. Management ideas grounded in complexity theory taught me about patterns in social systems and how they unfold. I did my doctoral research in that area and have continued to explore it with the help and mentorship of more experienced scholars. Changes in my own life, how I think, and how I cope with stressors were learned on my yoga mat, under the patient and gentle guidance of several inspiring teachers. It felt like a lot to swallow, even for me!
There were many different signposts, all leading me in the same direction! This was not a problem at all! It was simply a wide variety of lenses through which to examine the world of work.
After all it’s what we’ve done that makes us what we are- Jim Croce
At the end of the day, it takes a lot of different colors of thread to make a tapestry and it’s the variety that makes the most beautiful designs possible. You don’t hear a skilled weaver saying, “There are just too many colors of thread here!”
(Maybe you do. I don’t really know any weavers per se. So if you are a weaver and say that on occasion, I owe you a cup of coffee!)
One would presume that having much to choose from is a good thing that makes some really wonderful combinations possible. More importantly, there is the joy of choosing the threads of one’s life one by one, bringing in the one that fits a particular situation at just the right time, as E. Alana James once told me.
Yoga + complexity + management= an intuitive, engaging way to tackle problems in business. The combination makes for versatility, warmth, and a unique way of seeing the world. Now that I live and think this way, it seems selfish not to share the lessons and the experiences.
So here I go! I am ready to share this with the world. After all, many years ago an old friend used to tell me, “No guts, no glory!”
So how about you?
Is it time to take the next step for a big project?
Maybe it’s time to start something new! Are you ready to unveil something you’ve had in the works for a while?
Why not join me and take your next big step too?
(Deep breath)
Let’s go for it!
Copyright Gly Solutions, LLC 2015
