The Eye Cannot See Itself

(Excerpted from THE LAST SAMURAI, wherein the American Soldier, Nathan Algren, discusses swordplay with the young samurai, Nobutada):

Nobutada: "Please forgive; too many mind."
Nathan Algren: "Too many mind?"
Nobutada: "Hai! Mind the sword. Mind the people watch. Mind the enemy. Too many mind. NO MIND!"

The Last Samurai
2003

PROBLEM: Monkeys...

In the wild, you'll find them Screeching, Swinging, Fighting, Eating, Throwing Stuff, Demanding center stage.

Or, in your head - you may find them making it impossible to concentrate for all the self-criticism, passing thoughts, persisting confusion, noise, doubts and fear that seem to comprise the character of the "crazy roommate with whom you share your mind."

For a very long time, there has been an awareness of the fact that there's more than one mind in most heads. Let's get familiar with the players:

1. The Doer/Observer
We suggest that this is you - the Individual - the one who decides to get groceries, and then gets into the car and gets to the store - picking up the goodies for dinner and the other essentials for the week. Responsible for all of the good work; this is the productive, creative, doer of deeds.

2. The Doubter/Critic
The "Other" who criticizes the getting of the ice cream and forgetting the toothpaste. This voice/chorus is engaged (seemingly endlessly) in letting you know that you don't stand up to examination, that the world knows how flawed you are as a human being, and devotes itself to reminding you of your multitude of failures. It may not restrict itself to you, it may actually devote a fair amount of attention to criticizing everyone and everything else in the universe as well - taking up valuable mental real estate in the process. (In some parts of the world, it's called "The Monkey Mind...") The phrase, "I'm of two minds!" doesn't begin to tell the story of this internal state of eternal contradiction - "the stalemated war of equal opposites."

"Most men lead lives of quiet desperation" is Thoreau's famous phrase articulating a uniquely American take on the internal dichotomy. This awareness is not the secret of any continent, historical era or particular school. At the outset of building any presentation, management strategy, new business plan, negotiation, or selling appointment; we once again become aware of the screeching monkeys as every effort at progress comes onto the mental stage complete with its own Greek Chorus of opposition... Imagine both parties and both Houses of Congress and the Chief Executive jousting for advantage inside your mind...

Shakespeare's Hamlet discusses the issue this way:

"To be, or not to be, that is the question:
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
or; to take arms against a sea of troubles,
and by opposing - end them?"


SOLUTION: Silence the Monkeys...

By what discipline does one "take arms against the monkeys" and silence the chatter?

Well, it begins by recognizing - as the Hindu Yogi's, Zen Priests in their temples, Taoist Monks in the wilderness, Christian adepts in Qumran and Tennis Captains at Harvard have over thousands of years; it's a riddle.

If you're seeing images in the mind - you are not the images.
If you're hearing monkeys in the mind - you are not the monkeys.
If you're listening to an internal dialogue - you are not the dialogue.

The "I" cannot see itself.

If you're looking at it, it isn't you.

You are the looker, the listener.

So maybe you can be less concerned about all that stuff going on in the mind. It may or may not be valuable...

Find out. Turn it off.

Some schools suggest medication. Some, religious instruction. Others, deep study of meditation. Some employ conscious relaxation. Some suggest Running, Tennis or Tai Chi.

In For Love of the Game, Kevin Costner's character Billy Chapel is a ball player pitching the last game of his career. He stares down the next batter, his final adversary, and uses the phrase "Clear the mechanism" to kill the monkey mind. He pitches the perfect game - and gets the girl!

Each approach has its own set of pros and cons, but we suggest that one simply look beyond the noise.

The natural state of a rational mind is "Silence, looking out."

Look out. Look through the movie in the mind. Look through the internal dialogue that isn't you and look at your audience. Look at your listener. Look at the goal of your new business plan. Look beyond the next five minutes and your chance for re-election. The mind goes where the eye focuses...

EXECUTION: Getting to the Silence

The riddle: the solution to too many minds is not to add more minds - but to make no noise, create no dialogue, allow no interference. Simply look, beyond, over, through and into what is out there. As you increase your confidence and interest, what's going on "in here" naturally subsides. So the answer to "too much going on in here" is to simply focus one's attention "out there."

Do we know this already? Is no Monkey Mind our natural state of being-ness? Haven't you had a moment when you were so thoroughly focused on what you were doing that you lost track of time? When you were so engrossed in doing a thing that you found yourself "in the zone" and "out of your mind"?

The simplest of training, which has been at the center of our work for nearly thirty years, is to stop talking, stop worrying and, instead, focus on your objective and your listener to the exclusion of all else. Don't bring a mind with you - or allow one to show up! No Mind!

Applications:

Personal:
In the words of Baba Ram Dass... "Be Here Now!" Allowing the internal dialogue to go quiet is all about not being anywhere else, but allowing yourself to simply Be. Here. Now. Our day-to-day world is full of noise, distractions and input from electronic communication channels. Turn it off.

At Home:
Be at home when you're home. Be with your partner when you're with your partner. Be completely with your children when you're with your children. Look at your spouse. Look where you intend a connection to appear, then wait quietly for its appearance.

At Work:
Leave the personal issues out, leave the kids at school, leave the spouse on their way to their own destiny, and focus on the single issue at hand. Look at and into your colleagues and clients. Recognize that "Multi-Tasking" is an impossible contradiction in terms. In spite of the 24/7 bombardment of multi-channel communication, we are (at our best at least) single focus creatures.

To make the Monkeys stop, start looking and allow the minds to fade away.

Try it. Silence the Monkeys. The noise isn't you.

The "I" cannot see itself.

Words, Glorious Words

"The beginning of wisdom is the definition of terms."

-Socrates
Greek Philosopher who wrote nothing down
but was immortalized in Plato's dialogues
(470-399 BCE)

"So difficult it is to show the various meanings and imperfections of words when we have nothing else but words to do it with."

-John Locke
Philosopher
(1632-1704)

"Words differently arranged have different meanings, and meanings differently arranged have a different effect."

-Blaise Pascal
Philosopher & Mathematician
(1623-1662)

"It depends on what the meaning of the word "is" is..."

-William Jefferson Clinton
42nd President of the United States
(1946-

"Difficult to speak of tomorrow's ideas with the words of yesterday. Haven't we always migrated to the future on a highway paved with fresh new words?"

-J. R. St John
Executive & Counselor
(1952 -

Words. Fail.

Has our forest of quotations made the point? Words (and language) are slippery. Getting a "grip" on meaning requires nerves of steel and a clear intention. Insight, reflection and careful planning are required to craft a workable Presentation, Conference Call or - Wedding Vow.

In our experience, people both presume and assume too much; believing (erroneously) their own private definitions and perspectives to be completely understood and accepted by everyone else in the wider world. It's only in the silent self-review after the misunderstandings, upsets and arguments that one stops to ask, "I wonder what they thought I meant by the word 'Obey?'"

Applications:

1. Personally
Hit the dictionary every so often, or Google a word and check out its origins and the evolution of its meaning. You'll be surprised, entertained and perhaps expanded as your command of the language grows.

2. At Home
* "What do you mean by that?" may be the most powerful phrase a family member can voice. Allowing kids to define their intentions, interpretations and terms gives them permission to "stake out their territory" in a discussion. Nothing matures a teenager quite so quickly as having to think through their meanings before they denounce everyone over twenty...
* The fatal mistake: assuming that just because you live "together," that you actually share the same universe...
* Be careful with "Obey" - people are touchy...

3. At Work
* Fusion's Law: "Departmental Intelligence is inversely proportional to Interdepartmental Understanding & Co-operation."
* The larger the vocabulary over in IT; the greater the likelihood of being misunderstood. (Do those guys relish leaving mere mortals in the dark?)
* Portfolio Teams are universally ungrasped and therefore, undervalued behind the walls of their analytical jargon.
* Lawyers and Doctors have made a fetish out of their unique language, culture and terminology. But if the PhDs have walls, the JDs and MDs have moats - and alligators. Do they do it on purpose - to create a "Union Shop?"
Be the hero at work! Deploy that magic phrase; "What do you mean by that?" The walls will come tumbling down!


Misunderstood words construct the linguistic and cultural "walls" that enumerate and reinforce the differences between our separate universes. Words fail. Though we grudgingly respect our experts and specialists, love is hard to muster. Yet, it is the "expert who appears ordinary" through the artifice of common language, who restores the gift of our shared humanity. Words fail. But the sharing of our evolving meanings is the beginning of wisdom and the force which creates our combined universe.

Words can separate. Words can integrate.
Words can wound. Words can heal.
Words can bring us together.


Your choice: Define your terms.
"Obey!"

Mission Statements: Missing in Action

"But enough about me, let's talk about you...
What do YOU think of me?"

Bette Midler as CC Bloom
"Beaches"
1988

The term "Mission Statement" originated in military and spy jargon, e.g.:

* Here's the mission, Captain: "Take hill #403 and exploit the advantage to shell the enemy from the heights!"

* "Your mission, Jim - should you decide to accept it..."

These days, everyone from the ballet company to the multi-national corporation and the local plumber proudly displays a "mission statement" and a custom designed logo on their ubiquitous polo shirt. "Branding 101" tells us that a uniform display of marks, statements and perhaps plumage is required to suitably differentiate your enterprise from the one down the street. Of course, there are a plethora of brand consultants out there who will - for a cool million or so - go off and create the entire "Brand Identity Package" for you - complete with a three ring binder of appropriate use examples and guidelines for the "Brand Police."

We know... we're part of the "story industry" too. But, before you dial up a brand consultant, or swear off the entire undertaking forever, allow us to suggest a nuanced middle way of thinking about the subject.

Any group enterprise has an embarrassment of missions: "To survive! To compete! To win! Next quarter break even! To expand! To dominate! To be Cool! To make obscene profits! To Rule the World!" You may have noticed that each of these statements emanates from the company's own point of view. Trouble ahead!

Exhibit A:

While waiting for the elevator in Manhattan, I noticed a Formica plaque by the call buttons: "Mission Statement: To become the biggest financial services provider in the industry!" Someone had scratched a response with a key, "On our backs and out of our pockets!" Mission statements can call forth some powerful responses!

We suggest that a little forethought might be in order. Before ordering the polos, why not assemble the team, marshall your thoughts and define your terms:

* What is a mission statement?

* Why do we want/need one?

* What will it do for us?

* What will we do with it?

* Who will see it?

* How will our promises and practices prove it to be true?

* Shall we tell the market our goal, or help them achieve theirs?

By getting your intentions, ideas and approach clear from the start, you can avoid many of the pitfalls that riddle the brand business. The most significant of which is: "Talking to ourselves, about ourselves." Many of the so called "Missions" we've been seeing lately fall into the trap of being "by us, for us and about us" - with no focus on the connection to a customer base.

Exhibit B:

On a visit to the East Building of the National Gallery, I was awestruck by the scope, simplicity and elegance of the architecture. The art was wonderful, but the building itself was ART of another category altogether - a massive demonstration of its creator's graceful vision.

Making my way out, I came upon the "Credit Wall," where the names of all those involved in the project were memorialized in Roman letters, chiseled deeply into limestone. Names at the top like "Reagan and Mellon", were not surprising but underneath "Architect of Record," the entire stone panel had turned a soft uniform beige - obscuring the ten inch high letters from view. Marveling, I stepped aside and watched. As people came near, one after another, they reached out and reverently touched the deep letter-forms, each hand leaving a small impact on the stone. After years and hundreds of thousands of gritty caresses, the words "I. M. Pei" had become one with the stone - deeply etched but nearly invisible - an obscure but profound testament to the affections of the visitors.

Here's the ultimate test of a mission statement: Do you feel confident enough to chisel it on the cornerstone downstairs? Have you done your homework - gotten out of your own head and focused on the customer, the client, the investor, the constituent? Great! The ultimate test is not whether it pleases you but whether it pleases the customer. You'll discover the response soon enough... Done well, your market will confirm you with more business and warm referrals. On the other hand, you may need to go back to the quarry...

Applications:

1. Personally

It's one thing to have a life dedicated to personal endeavor and accomplishment. But can you enlarge the game by also serving others?

2. At Home

Who do we hold dear in our hearts? The individual who talked about their challenges and victories at work? Or the one who said, "Tell me about your day, dear. How did that double date go?" Hey, maybe it's not about you.

3. At Work

Be careful of the desire to build a Mission Statement. It's dangerous, but potentially rewarding. In our experience, the best advisors won't do it for you, but will assist as you argue and ultimately define and craft your own unique statement of service - your "raison d'etre." Hold out for a counselor, not a polo shirt hawker.

But enough about us! How can we help you?