This program weaves together the critical skills for optimal performance, across weeks or months to enable measurable improvement. It consists of six segments that stand alone as well as build on each other.
"Productive insight; clear (often sudden)
understanding of a complex situation." Free Dictionary
Pop the bubble of conditioned
thinking and emerge into the creative realm of "no absolutes," continuous
change, uncertainty and unlimited possibilities.
Then, there can be innovation,
adaptation and optimal performance.
Performance & Open-minded Mindfulness:
Open-minded: questioning everything,
accepting diversity and uncertainty.
Mindful: consciously aware; concentrated.
Foundation for blending process, project,
engagement and knowledge management into a cohesive approach to optimize
performance.
This Newsletter
Our aim is to stimulate the kind of thinking, dialogue and understanding that leads to optimal performance.
"Dispassionate objectivity is itself a passion, for the real and for the truth." ~ Abraham Maslow
It strikes a chord of fear and anger in me when I hear people in influential positions lie to make their argument and support their side.
Is there any less danger if people knowingly distort the truth or whether they simply act out of rhetoric and blind belief or they fail to continue to question scientifically?
Has Lying Become an Accepted Means for Influencing People?
The head of the Republican National Committee reportedly said that the war in Afghanistan was started under President Obama. Either the man is delusional or a liar whose purpose is to sway the public to vote for his party.
A member of a team charged with selecting a vendor says that the vendor has a stellar track record, when in fact the vendor has failed to satisfy large numbers of its customers. The person may have been led astray by sales literature that he has failed to validate or he has some ulterior motive to lead others to believe that the vendor is a good one.
Reportedly there are some 40% of the people polled throughout the US who believe that President Obama is not a natural born citizen, even in the face of documented evidence showing that he was born in one of the United States. Who started that rumor? Who keeps it going? Why?
Recently an out of context quote by a government employee came close to ruining that person's career and pandered to racism. In this instance, the truth was revealed relatively quickly, yet there was no real public outcry regarding the perpetrators of the lie.
Countries have gone to war based on logical arguments and rhetoric that were at odds with the facts.
The Nazis had the notion that if you tell a big enough lie frequently enough people will believe it. They did and it worked, even before TV and the internet. Have we simply accepted lying as a reality?
Don't Believe Everything You Hear - Question Everything
We need people to care about whether what they are hearing is true or not. Each of us is responsible for taking the time and effort to cut through the rhetoric to explore facts and logic. If too few of us do this we are at the mercy of those who distort the truth either out of ignorance or intentionally.
If we are to be successful in organizations, in families and communities, we need to open our minds and take responsibility for discerning the truth, checking the facts, not blindly trusting people in influential positions just because we like what they say. The truth is often less appealing than the delusions we are fed by those who seek to persuade us. We often believe what makes us feel good in the moment.
Belief is very powerful. Blind, unquestioned belief is dangerous. People kill based on their beliefs. Before you believe anything make sure you have tested the belief to make sure it is based on something substantial. When faced with a blind believer, ask the questions that will cut through to the facts of the matter.
There is no less danger if people knowingly distort the truth than if they simply act out of blind belief born of ignorance and a failure to question in a scientific sense.
Rhetoric, Facts and Logic
In debate there are three principle elements that are used together to make the point. They are logical argument which examines consistency to an axiom, factual argument which examines what is or isn't the case and rhetoric which is the use of language to persuade or convince.
The expert communicator using rhetoric can convince the unwary of just about anything. Unfortunately there are many people in our lives who have either become deluded into thinking what they say is true even when it is not or who are simply dishonest and are willing to say whatever is necessary to get their way. They ignore logic and facts and rely on emotionality and misinformation to get their way.
What is the Truth?
Protagoras: Truth is relative. It is only a matter of opinion. Socrates: You mean that truth is mere subjective opinion? Protagoras: Exactly. What is true for you is true for you, and what is true for me, is true for me. Truth is subjective. Socrates: Do you really mean that? That my opinion is true by virtue of its being my opinion? Protagoras: Indeed I do. Socrates: My opinion is: Truth is absolute, not opinion, and that you, Mr. Protagoras, are absolutely in error. Since this is my opinion, then you must grant that it is true according to your philosophy. Protagoras: You are quite correct, Socrates.
When you are convinced of something what does that mean.
Does it mean that what you are convinced of is 'true' or does it mean that a set of assumptions are well enough founded on fact and logic to make it seem as if they are true."
In the material, relative world we live in we are not usually able to find the absolute truth. We are not so much about philosophy as we are about practicality. Often the best we can do is to test our assumptions and beliefs and be ready to change our minds as the situation and its facts evolve.
