Finally, as usual, my appreciation for your emailed comments. [Or phone me personally, anytime - my phone number is at the bottom of this message. It's an in-service thing]. Enjoy... David.

NEWS & EVENTS

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THE MESSAGE BOARD FEATURE ARTICLE

CLOSED OR OPEN

Introduction
Isn’t it interesting to notice that we are mostly very aware of someone else’s closedness (or openness, for that matter)? When it comes to ourselves however, being aware that we are closed is a different matter. That may puzzle us... or we may view it with sheer wonderment! Before we explore the nature of closed and open, let’s look at an aspect that most people have little understanding about...

All human beings think.

This human capacity is so natural that we literally forget we are doing it. We are more able to see other's judgements, opinions and views of life before we see our own (if at all). For PiB, this capacity to create judgements, opinions, views, etc. in our minds, is the PRINCIPLE OF THOUGHT.

The following outlines the three Principles:
One being the PRINCIPLE OF THOUGHT, working in partnership to create our personal experience of life. The PRINCIPLE OF CONSCIOUSNESS, on the other hand, is our capacity to experience our life and, simultaneously, be self-aware of our state of mind. MIND, the final Principle, is an intelligence that is found in all LIFE.

When we are closed, we are not aware of the impact of our state of mind and the thinking that we have at the time. We tend to feel misunderstood, affronted, accused, stupid, ignorant... the list of feelings is endless. Feeling this way, we tend to be defensive, angry, annoyed, argumentative, ashamed... and again, our responses can constitute a very long list. In the following figure we see that in this state of mind, we are taking life personally - our emotions simply a barometer to the state of mind that we have at the time. However, the tendency to take life personally means that we may be closed to new ideas and suggestions. Additionally, our listening is significantly diminished. We are not CONSCIOUS or self-aware that our thinking is closing us down. Although, when the event is past, we usually become self-aware or CONSCIOUS enough to know that we were not listening well or that we were 'closed' to the feedback we were receiving.

Life Taken Personally: what I think is the way life is

• Give me a break! You're telling me...
• Yes, yes! I already know that...
• Look I'm sorry but...
• No! No! This is how it's done...
• Rubbish! Give me one good reason why...
• You just don't get it do you?...

The PRINCIPLE OF CONSCIOUSNESS is our capacity to see that we think: an awareness of our state of mind. This seeing is an opportunity to respond differently in that moment, rather than reacting from a 'closed' state of mind. Moreover, our capacity to access our own commonsense is diminished and the potential for sound actions and decisions.

"Consciousness is the gift of self-awareness & new possibility"

© David Bodman March 2007.
Permission to copy for personal use is granted. For other publication rights please contact the author.

WE ARE WHAT WE DO

"You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete." Richard Buckminster Fuller

Recently, I was listening to a CD on leadership and the commentator spoke about the 'trim tab factor'. Having no sailing experience to pull on, the term was new to me and I went on the web to explore its origins. In this exploration I came across an article by Justine Willis Toms who explained the trim tab in this way: "The late anticipatory design scientist R. Buckminster Fuller often talked about the trim tab factor. To understand this phenomenon, imagine a large ocean-going ship. In order to turn this vessel in a new direction one must first adjust the trim tab, which is a miniscule rudder on the larger rudder. This smaller rudder, which runs the length of the main rudder, is turned first and the larger rudder then follows. In fact, there are no mechanics yet devised that could turn the larger rudder against the momentum of such a massive vessel without it breaking off. Only by first applying pressure to the smaller rudder will the larger one even begin to move, thereby changing the direction of the ship."

This phenomenon brought to me the reflection that some of my 'negative' attitudes are so big [similar to the large rudder] that it would take enormous mental effort to change direction - and it has been my experience that no personal inner effort has afforded such change. What has brought change is the little trim tab moments when I have accepted my conflicted state of mind and the associated feelings with humility. The trim tab factor in this case is my willingness to accept that my distress is all about my thinking and nothing else. I mean nothing else. This allows for me to SEE THAT I THINK and that is all that is required at this moment.

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