Mastering the art of understanding...

Yesterday, during practice 21, we started off with 7 good minutes understanding another. We broke into six teams of two, as always with the goal of becoming more all one. The aim of 7 good minutes, remember, is to master the art of being curious about what makes another human tick. The curious questions are seeking to understand your teammate. Yesterday, while talking through our version of an after action report, one teammate told the entire team that he and his partner had stuck to the discipline. He believed what he was saying. He was inaccurate and I corrected him. Instead of telling what I heard, I asked him to recall some of his questions. As he rolled through them, about the third question in he revealed where he had gone off script. Instead of staying curious about his target, he made it about him. He began asking his teammate questions that were not about his teammate. Nope, they were not. He began asking questions about his favorite subject - himself. He didn’t even notice. Natural. Remember, 7 good minutes is not natural. Nope it’s not. We are building a second nature and it takes a ton of practice. 

Do not become disheartened. Keep working...

Mastering 7 good minutes is a worthy aim. You see, friend, as you work toward mastering the art of understanding another you will freakin’ magically get more clarity on understanding yourself. Normal humans can’t get out of their own head long enough to do either. Your brain loves to get inside another cranium and go exploring. We are made for deep connections, really, we all are. Even the most a lone, introverted, and satisfied with themselves kinda folks, will eventually go nuts without at least one other to deeply do life with. 

A lone to all ONE - one L of a difference. Of course, the L is love. One of the best ways to communicate love is to say nothing and hear everything, even what isn’t spoken. Master the art of tuning in and listening like an animal being stalked. Get out of your head and lost in another. Yesterday a team of twelve became more all ONE, less a lone. Yesterday, Rob was on fire, Michelle was FM (freakin’ magic), Tony was terrific, Casper was calm, Gray fox was optimistic, Casey was getting some shoot, Tommyc led with more curiosity than inquisition, and Bennywassomekindabelievable. I’ve pushed this team hard and they are beginning to respond. Soon, they will be pushing each other out of belief not frustration. Progress. Progress through practice.

Keep working. Good...