From Bankruptcy to Abundance

I recently read Rose and Benjamin Zander’s book The Art of Possibility: Transforming Professional and Personal Life and I strongly recommend it. To me it was a book full of stories about mindset management, all primarily set in the wonderful context of music. Much of the book described techniques for moving from a mindset of bankruptcy to a mindset of abundance.

That’s something that I can relate to in my current role. There are times when I find myself trapped in that mindset of bankruptcy. The narrative in my head goes something like this: None of the teams I work with is doing what I hoped they would. We’re not agile enough. We’re not innovative enough. Our culture is all wrong. We can’t get there from here. We suck.

That’s the mindset of bankruptcy talking. There’s never enough. We’re never good enough. It’s a pretty bleak place. I know I’m not alone in living there from time to time. I work with people who come to me with this narrative all the time. What do I tell them?

Well, first of all, I have to check in with myself and see where I’m at. If I’m in the same place as they are, then this conversation isn’t likely to go well. The best I can usually do in that case is to commiserate with them.

But there are times when you are in the place abundance. There is another perspective that allows a much different interpretation for the same set of circumstances. I find that talking with folks from a variety of different backgrounds helps. They’re the ones who will look at me and say, “Wow! You guys are awesome! I hope we can get there one day!” At first my reaction is to deny what they are saying. We aren’t that good. You don’t really get it. But then sooner or later it dawns on me that although we have many things to improve on, we also have managed to achieve amazing things along the way. Things that we now take for granted.

The difference between those two mindsets is that one has room for new opportunity and the other leaves little room for any opportunity at all. I loved their expression when something fails, “How fascinating!” Using a phrase like that suggests curiosity and an openness to exploration. I love it.

I don’t know if I have the kind of temperament that would enable me to live in this mindset full time. But I sure would like to visit it more often and maybe even share the trip with a friend.

#Agile #abundance #attitude #perspective #mindset #management #bankruptcy