How can we bring fresh eyes and ears to a project or to our loved ones, friends, clients, co-workers, and to our growing and changing selves? Basically what we need to do is to keep looking for new things, keep discovering – even in the routine – a new way of looking, seeing and being.
I know this and still was fooled recently. There was a report I was working on with a friend that included two very important dates. Now these dates hadn’t been updated and that meant we had to attend to the resultant issues and so whipped off an email or two to follow-up. And, there was more work to do to correct the situation, but the time was late, so we decided to come back to it the next day.
The following day we took a look at the report we’d printed prior to beginning this project. Note that this was the same document we worked with the day before and we were stunned – because the dates were absolutely fine – they were up-to-date. There was never any need for follow-up at all. We had been reading, hearing and seeing the incorrect dates despite what was actually written on that report.
It was a bit embarrassing. I felt somewhat better because I wasn’t the only one to do it. I’ve wondered since if perhaps one or the other of us mis-read the dates at the beginning and inadvertently primed not only each other but ourselves to NOT see what was really in of front us.
There are many ways we leaders can learn to see with fresh eyes and ears – with our senses. Here are some playful examples:
- Perspective, editing and proofreading
- Animal Play – a tool for growth and creativity
- Tree Play – a personal and professional play and project management tool
And, we can pay attention to our stories – like I did to this one – what’s the learning? The perspective? What’s new? And if all I see is what I saw before, can I go deeper or is it a story I need to let go of or change? This particular one though lies on my invisible bookshelf so that I can be reminded now and again to open my eyes and ears.
Enjoy the stories and have a playful day,
Mary
I celebrate typos typos here!
