Adaptation As Innovation
By Les Mottosky
The loss I heard in her voice was palpable; "I didn't even get to have a single chicken wing." This was heartfelt sacrifice.
Because I wasn't the one in the crisis, I could discover the other message in her words. I heard the victory. Not even one wing. Do you know how difficult that is? It's infinitely easier to refuse a plate, pound or platter full of deep-fried deliciousness. Saying no to 'just one' indicates a new level of awareness that all dietary change hinges-on: 'Feeling good feels better than any yummy toxin tastes.'
The chicken wing insight was that the truer – more permanent - power doesn't always come from discipline. It can also come from being undisciplined. Not in action, but thought. Specifically letting go of the exclusive meaning given to a belief. This can turn a perceived loss into a personal win. Instantly.
So what other aspect of life could we apply this lesson to? One that all of us seem to struggle with: forgiveness. To hold onto a transgression requires remarkable discipline. We deny every possible alternative story to maintain the one that hurts us.
Forgiveness ultimately provides us greater mental and emotional clarity which can generate freedom. This is the benefit. But the feature, the power, the leverage comes from releasing energy that froze us in the past. It's not the person or act we release, but the narrative we hold about it.
Two examples allow us to reconsider the value of a grudge. Neither of these focus on the object of our forgiveness, but the subject. The first is primarily attributed to Anne Lamott: "Forgiveness is letting go of all hope for a better past." The second concept, from Byron Katie: "Forgiveness is realizing what you thought happened, didn't." This one is a little less straight forward. The essence is noticing that we've placed specific, subjective meaning on something that wasn't personal. Hence, the thing we're upset about never occurred. (At least not the way we're telling ourself it did.)
Both the above quotes urge us in a counter-intuitive direction; forgiveness is coming to an understanding about ourselves, for ourselves.
Real freedom isn't holding onto our opinions, but in challenging them.
And the result is nearly always finger-linking good.
TAGS: #Adaptation As Innovation #Radical Reframe #Cultural Creativity #Courage Is Our Nature #Wisdom In Leadership
Les Mottosky
Adaptation Strategist // I help organizations turn creativity into their competitive advantage by aligning leadership, culture and strategy to unlock adaptive innovations.
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