How are you framing it?
?? Michael Bungay Stanier
Change Signal pod & newsletter ? Author of *The Coaching Habit* (1.5 million+ sold) & other books ? #1 thought leader on coaching ?Top rated keynote speaker ? Rhodes Scholar
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This piece of art sits right in front of my desk.
Which means I’d stopped noticing it.
But as I sit here, a couple of months into the new year, reflecting on how things are unfolding, considering how I want to navigate the next little while, writing in my journal (yes, the one that came out in January!) and answering the daily question, “What do you notice?” … well, there it was.
Right in front of me.
What do you think is going on?
I love it for two reasons.
First, because it’s both rough and delicate. It’s old metal, with figures made (I think) from soldering iron. It’s a bit rusty, a bit battered, but somehow also precise and timeless.
Second, because the two figures are beautifully and ambiguously balanced.
Are they wrestling, or are they dancing?
Are they embracing, or are they turning away from each other?
Are they loving or fearful?
The piece is called “Wrestling.”
But mostly, I see dancing.
How about you?
Language shapes our experience
I’ve been working on a new project.
It’s been exciting and also hard work. So, in other words, the best kind. It’s ticked the boxes of a Worthy Goal: thrilling, important, and daunting.
What’s helped during the hard times has been choosing how I frame the experience.
I could have been battling, wrestling, struggling, frustrated with some of the working moments.
Or, in those same moments, I could have been dancing, exploring, emerging, playing.
Most of the time, I took Option B, and it seemed to help.
Let me know—what’s something you’ve recently reframed in a way that’s helped?
wrance!
Perspectives and insights on Middle Management Development, Leadership, Diversity Equity & Inclusion (DEI), Organisational Systems Change and Coaching for a world in transformation.
10 小时前I love using objects in my coaching work, it's such a great way to engage people; to take them out of their heads and work with potentially difficult topics. Interestingly, the first thought that came to mind for me was not dancing or wrestling but 'embracing' and then then 'compassion'. The figure on the right with their head slightly bent is about to be embraced by the future on the left who's pulling them into a hug. Having lost my dad recently perhaps that's why I'm seeing one individual approaching another in love, support and compassion.
Instructional Designer | Award-winning Educator | Award-winning Speaker | Qualitative Researcher | Conversational Designer/Chatbots | Education Consultant
13 小时前I enjoy your point of view. It reminds me of the act of seeing challenges as opportunities instead of barriers.
Executive Coach | Leader & Team Development
1 天前My question in reframing is what else is true.
CEO Coach, Keynote speaker, Author, Board member
1 天前I am such a huge fan of reframing that I even created a game called Multiple Meanings with my kids to help them reframe everyday observations and build that muscle. Love the idea of seeing this piece of art ?? Michael Bungay Stanier from the lens of wrestling and dancing and noticing what that evokes in us.