(#1) Why the "obstacle is the way" and other steps moving forward | Coffee Break Reflections by Costin Ciora

Hello,

I'm starting this newsletter to bring some insights from my experience so far, but also by reflecting on some very interesting books that I read.

One of my favorite books is Ryan Holiday's "The Obstacle is the Way: The Ancient Art of Turning Adversity to Advantage"

In this book, the author brings a famous quote by Marcus Aurelius

The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way.

When facing an obstacle, I've noticed that people tend to complain, get more stressed or freezing. Of course, obstacles are seen as possible danger and the flight-fight-freeze response is activated.

Some obstacles are really though, so we might even challenge this idea of "obstacle" as being the way. How could a disease become the way, right? Or the loss of a loved ones. I will let you go deeper into this topics by reading the examples of Ryan Holiday.

Here, I would focus on business related things. For instance, an obstacle could be not having the skills to work on a project. If we apply "the obstacle is the way", the actual obstacle can be seen as something that blocks us or the other way around, a push towards building the skills required.

A business challenge, like revenue drop, could be seen as an obstacle for growth, or if we apply "obstacle is the way" idea, it could be a good moment to reframe and change the old way of client acquisition.

A team not performing, could be seen by the manager as an opportunity to help them and celebrate later the success.

It becomes eventually a mindset change. The obstacle is not a blockage, it is the way. It is there to change something. To embrace change, to adapt and to innovate.

If we embrace this simple question "Could this obstacle be the way?" then we might be surprised by the answers. And then we embrace this full idea of "obstacle".

Taking a step back will help us to do this and move beyond the obstacles.

Take care,

Costin