Business lessons from the AT

?Wrapping things up, A conversation in three parts, part one

We’ve reached the end of the trail so to speak. For the past 5 months we’ve been talking about business, and life, and comparing it to a walk in the woods, the differences, the similarities, and the things which persist regardless of where we find ourselves. What follows is a recap (in three parts) of the most salient takeaways from each Business Lessons from the AT article and what they might mean to you, along with a few convening thoughts and final trail stories.?I encourage you to follow the links provided if you haven’t read these previous articles , there’s a lot of material in them you won’t read here, as well as original content in these closing articles you won’t read there, each one can stand on its own or together. Though this is the end of the road in terms of our talks I hope it represents a new trailhead for you, a new beginning.?My sincerest wish is these discussions about life set to the backdrop of what’s an alien world for most, the wilderness, help you strip away the shiny veneer of the familiar, pulling back the veil, and exposing a truer, even brighter reality than the one you’re currently in, and one to which you can reset your compass, navigating a better life.?At your next opportunity, get out into the woods, and see what’s real.?Incidentally, a recent study in the Journal of Molecular Psychiatry suggests that even an hour of walking in nature reduces anxiety in the stress centers of the brain. ????

Article One

In article one we talked about the hemispheres of the brain, rules encountered on the trail and rules to navigate life by. ?How would you characterize balance in life??I like to use the metaphor of surfing a wave in the ocean and so does researcher Iain McGilchrist.?Dr. McGilchrist thinks that the balance (and growing imbalance) of life is found first in the hemispheres of our mind and that there has been a troubling tilt in the direction of the left hemispheres’ way of thinking, when the true measure of intelligence and clearest picture of reality, resides with the right hemisphere, and the cooperation between the two, I agree.?I ‘d even go a step further to say that this is one of, if not “the” biggest battle humanity has ever faced, the struggle to find a sustainable and healthy balance between two ways of thinking and views of the world each of our hemisphere’s paint.?Ironically, this battle to grasp and manipulate a world from opposing sets of blueprints remains hidden to most of humankind. What are these two perspectives of life each side of the brain prefers? Let’s take a look.

?According to Dr Mcgilchrist, the left hemisphere of the brain (what we might call our rational side) sees a world which is decontextualized and abstract, it has a disposition for the mechanical (as opposed to the living), and it is the side of the brain where language resides and in which tools are coded for use.?Based on diminutive language, the left hemisphere yields clarity and power to manipulate things which are known, fixed, static, explicit, isolated, and general in nature.?To the left brain the world becomes an assemblage of parts, and it has the advantage of perfection because it operates in a closed system (under a microscope), advocating for that which is known.?As a result, the argument of the left-brain is a very convincing one because it shaves off everything from its model that doesn’t fit.??

By contrast, the right hemisphere (what we might call the intuitive side) doesn’t have a voice (a language), or, if it does it can be heard in things like music, art, or poetry. The right hemisphere is comfortable with the unknown, and is content in a divergent, creative, and intuitive side of reality.?It sees things in context, has a disposition for the living, a bigger picture, and in an individual, changing, evolving, interconnected, and incarnate world in relationships which are never fully graspable.?Implicit in nature, it prefers metaphor, making connections, broad vigilance, openness, and newness.?What does this mean? One thing it means is that these two sides have very different views of our world, and surprisingly, each could operate independently of the other.?But perhaps more importantly it suggests that the two sides are meant to work together, I see the relationship happening something like this.?We experience life as it unfolds before us, and the intuitive right hemisphere of the brain “takes in” the entire scene in its environment and context first (this happens very quickly). The experience then is sent to the left hemisphere where it’s taken apart and analyzed (rationalized), compared to past experience for similarities, turned into a model or process or checklist as appropriate, and we probably draw some early conclusions and judgements about it and perhaps how we could interact with it or use it to our advantage, but the process is not meant to stop there, this left-brain analysis is only meant to be an intermediary step.?After that it should be reassembled and viewed again by the right hemisphere back in its environment, taking in the picture once more reflectively after the left brains’ unique observations.?Unfortunately, according to Dr McGilchrist, humanity too often stops at the left hemispheres assessment and acts upon a world with conclusions drawn from this intermediary step.?It’s not surprising to know that our intuitive right hemisphere can incorporate and accommodate the rational left world view within its own but not the other way around, the left cannot tolerate the view of the right.?Furthermore Dr McGilchrist, a psychiatrist by trade, shares something I find remarkable, and a telling clue to this mystery.?He says that patients suffering from severe Schizophrenia have not lost their rational, logical left hemisphere faculties, on the contrary this is all they have left, where they have lost (suffered damage) is in the right hemisphere of the brain.?Hence, this is often why intricate elaborate conspiracy theories seem to be the only logical explanation for random occurrences to schizophrenics.?And what if the two sides of the brain don’t get along very well? Refer to the picture above and if you’ve never seen an episode of the American TV sitcom All in the Family from sixty years ago its suggested watching, the hemispheres struggle might look a lot like actors Carol O Conner and Rob Reiner’s TV relationship.?Catch Dr Gilchrist’s captivating series of articles outlining his breakthrough research in his book The Matter with Things here .

Article Two

“Clark Griswold hasn’t heard a single word I’ve said!” ?In article two we faced struggles, people, and persona.?I complained about the hiker ignoring me in an exacerbated tone to my son as he quickly hiked away from us, loudly jabbering away all the while having no idea he was effectively only talking to himself now because he was so far from us.?My son could tell I was frustrated, of course Anthony’s cool demeanor wouldn’t let himself catch my emotional cold. Clark Griswold wasn’t this guy’s real name, or even his trail name, but perhaps it should have been. The real Clark Griswold was the main character in a series of iconic vacation movies in the 1980’s created by National Lampoon magazine, what Clark’s character lacked in common sense and good judgement he more than made up for in confidence, energy, enthusiasm, and ignorance.?What made trail Clark so frustrating? Perhaps It was the messages his thoughtlessness was sending his kids.?

It was another long hiking day for Anthony and me.?But we were getting conditioned quickly and working together well, and so we were used to it. With over thirteen miles planned and a stretch goal of a few more, it was one of our longest days, if things didn’t look great at the shelter where we were planning to stay, we were ready for any possibility, moving on if necessary.?We had paper maps, but my son had also told me to download an app called far-out (I had never heard of it), and to purchase a section of trail we were hiking for a few dollars, it turned out to be an indispensable resource.?We relied on it heavily, referring to it several times a day to look at everything from elevations to water sources to good camping and shelter locations.?Being a virtual luddite (a caveman) compared to my son I was grateful for the education, and it didn’t take me long before I was navigating with it like a pro. Anthony, and I had settled into a collaborative rhythm on our days on the trail that I enjoyed.?Each day we set out, we would periodically stop to confer and discuss any potential changes to our plan based upon what we learned, knew, and felt.?A planner, Anthony loved digging into details, and he was good at it.?He seemed to enjoy calculating and tracking outcomes and provisions on a spreadsheet and I was grateful for that. ?Those were things which, while I cared about them, periodically taking cursory looks, and running calculations in my head, I preferred to use a method of Kentucky windage and spit balling if I?could get away with it; Anthony afforded me that luxury.?I did however possess talents he cared less about which I felt helped me to pull my weight. It’s hard for one to know their own talents so perhaps Anthony would have different insight, but I felt like I was good at seeing a bigger picture faster and at suspending judgment to action, holding Anthony’s detailed scenarios in abeyance until the time (and scenario) was right.?Often, when we got around the next bend on the trail or down to our last rations, we knew exactly which scenario to execute and what to do next, we had a plan ready and had discussed it.?Our new friend Clark however had a different approach to life for himself and his rag tag band of beleaguered travelers.?

When we met him, he hiked up fast with his two kids who appeared to be between 8 and 12.?These carpet kids looked like they’d be more comfortable with game controllers in their hands than hiking poles.?Red faced, sweaty, huffing under heavy packs, and silent, I felt a little bad for them. ?Suddenly Clark spoke; “how much farther is it to Vandeventer shelter” he asked, “do you know?” I pulled out my phone and looked at my Far-Out app, “about another mile and a half” I said. Then he asked, “is there water at the shelter?” I told him Anthony and I had filled up on water a few miles back because we read comments from hikers that the water at the shelter was a treacherous hike and the source unreliable, eyeing me suspiciously, he said “how do you know that?”?I told him about the app and that my son taught me how to use it, I then extended my phone showing him the trail we were on and offered to show him how to use it, his kids silently watching with inquisitive upturned faces.?“No thanks,” he boomed “I liked to wing it! After pausing for a brief moment, he asked, “how much further is it to the next water source after that one?” and “what’s the next shelter past Vandeventer, how far, and what are the elevation changes like?” ?Incidentally while researching this article, I went back to Far-Out looking for the original comments about the water trail and laughed aloud at what I read in current comments.?People are funny and indomitable, even in the face of adversity and pain, here’s a few of them:?

?“Got the holy hell stung out of me by wasps a half mile down the trail, maybe a ground nest, all of a sudden there were 20 of them on me!”

?“Very steep, very far, very buggy. Do everything in your power not to get water here. If you must, do yourself a favor, bring all your shit and build a cabin at the bottom. It would be easier than hiking back out!”

?“I hiked all the way down and got water. The hike up was so exhausting I drank all my water and had to turn around and get more, this happened five times. I feel like I’m stuck in Groundhog Day!”

?It’s probably a good thing Clark and the kids didn’t get water there.?Bottom line kids: nobody “wings it” without a great wingman.?Clark, you’re welcome, Anthony, thank you son!

Dr. Zabiegalski is available to talk to your organization or venue about ambidexterity research or speak informatively and eloquently about organizational culture, leadership, strategy, learning, complexity, business neuroscience, creativity, mindfulness, talent management, personal success, emotional intelligence, Action Learning, and storytelling. Contact Eric about a talk, keynote presentation, hike, or workshop today!