The Art of Possibility | Book Review

“Now colleges and universities, along with the military and
private corporations, are systemically integrating character
assessment and development into how they select, educate,
train, and develop their students and employees (p. 5).

 Book of the year.

Subtitled Transforming Professional and Personal Life, Rosamund Stone Zander (RIP) & Benjamin Zander's seamlessly flowing stories may be the best work advocating for an abundance rather than scarcity mindset penned.

"Our premise is that many of the circumstances that seem
to block us in our daily lives may only appear to do so based
on a framework of assumptions we carry with us." (p. 1)

Read the Coda first, starting on page 199. As with the nine dialogue skills forming Crucial Conversations, we may study and implement among the dozen most relevant practices.

Both authors, at their core, are deeply thoughtful coaches. This review groups the Zanders' twelve practices into four categories which may guide us from initially developing an improved mindset to becoming an effective coach.

Abundance Mindset

Stepping into a Universe of Possibility

Life in the measurement world seems to be arranged in hierarchies: some groups, people, bodies, places, and ideas seem better or more powerful than others (p. 19). We may think of the measurement world as a worldview endlessly comparing one thing, or ourselves, to another. This leads to the assumption is that life is about staying alive and making it through -- surviving in a world of scarcity and peril (p. 18).

It's All Invented

It's all invented is the most fundamental
of all the practices we present in this book.

Every problem, every dilemma, every dead end we find ourselves facing in life, only appears unsolvable inside a particular frame or point of view (p. 14). This reminds us of the fool's choice from Crucial Conversations, when we are pressured to unnecessarily choose between two widely different outcomes, or accepting...

The Way Things Are

The authors offer an antidote to hopeless resignation. It is to be present to the way things are, including our feelings about the way things are (p. 100). Let's think of our feelings as our perceptions, and how we may select a role, or story character based on our feelings, rather than actual reality.

So, this part of the practice of being the way things are is to separate our conclusions about events from our description of the events themselves, until possibility opens up (p. 106). The result: You are more likely to extend your business and have a fulfilled life if you have the attitude that there are always new customers out there waiting to be enrolled rather than that money, customers, and ideas are in short supply (p. 21) 

Personal Leadership Philosophy

Giving an A

An effective Personal Leadership Philosophy, or PLP, envisions a positive, unifying future we are drawn to. In the absence of a vision, we are each driven by our own agenda, finding people whose interests match ours, and inattentive to those with whom we appear to have little in common (p. 36). Giving the A connects others to our PLP. It both invents and recognizes a universal desire in people to contribute to others, no matter how many barriers there are to its expression (p. 39).

Being the Board

This practice is similar to an After Action Review (AAR), for both corrective actions and for continuous improvement. Choosing the Being the Board approach opens the possibility of a graceful journey, one that quickly reinstates us on the path we chose before the fateful collision intervened (p. 143). Avoid playing the blame game. Rather than assigning blame, get back on track, and resolve to improve together...

Telling the WE Story

Another successful PLP attribute is language that unifies teams, usually creating a powerful group identity. By telling the WE story, an individual becomes a conduit for this new inclusive entity, wearing it's eyes and ears, feeling its heart, thinking its thoughts, inquiring into what is best for US (p. 183).

Motivational or Instinctive Needs

Rule Number 6

The best leaders understand our fundamental, or instinctive needs. When these needs are not met, the calculating self is concerned for its survival in a world of scarcity (p. 81). As leaders, we should establish mutual purpose based on abundance and opportunity. We might want to steer away from a hierarchical environment of scarcity and deficiency and toward an attitude of wholeness and sufficiency (p. 90).

Giving Way to Passion

If we think of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, with survival conditions forming the base, all growth and development stops until our primitive needs are met. Accordingly, this practice has two steps: First to notice where you are holding back, and the second is to participate wholly (p. 114). We may then ascend to success and self-actualization. Life flows when we put our attention on the larger patterns of which we are a part. Life takes on shape and meaning when a person is able to transcend the barriers of personal survival and become a unique conduit for its vital energy (p. 117).

Lighting a Spark

The authors description of enrollment is much like Gallup's definition of engagement. Enrollment is the art and practice of generating a spark of possibility for others to share (p. 125). The better we know others, the higher chance of a successful outcome. So, the practice of enrollment is about giving yourself as a possibility to others and being ready, in turn, to catch their spark (p. 126).

Leader as Coach

Leading from any Chair

If we're helping someone, we're likely acting as a coach, even if we don't see ourselves as a leader. I had been conducting for nearly twenty years when it suddenly dawned on me that the conductor of an orchestra does not make a sound (p. 68). When we support and positively influence, we are leading. Leadership is a gift, shining silver, that reminds people huddled nearby  why each shimmering moment matters (p. 74).

Creating Frameworks for Possibility

The most powerful coaching is based on abundance. Ask great questions. The foremost challenge for leaders today, we suggest, is to maintain the clarity to stand confidently in the abundant universe of possibility (p. 162). Avoid comparisons and us versus them mindsets. This new leader carries the distinction that it is the framework of fear and scarcity, not scarcity itself, that promotes divisions between people (p. 163).

Being a Contribution

Coaching is focused on positive growth, providing any tools or resources necessary. Unlike success and failure, contribution has no other side. It is not arrived at by comparison (p. 57). Encourage journaling. I explain that they should jot down anything they said or did that they are willing to call a contribution (p. 61).

Summary

At the core, leadership is about energy.

"The life force for humankind is, perhaps, nothing more or less than
the passionate energy to connect, express, and communicate." (p. 139)