Silence: Uncomfortable and necessary

"That's when you know you've found someone really special, and you can just shut up for a minute and comfortably share a silence." This sentence, taken from the movie Pulp Fiction (1994) by Tarantino, can go far beyond personal relationships. For example, how do we deal with silence in our professional life?

This discomfort isn't exclusive to just two people but also exists in the business world. And that doesn't mean something is wrong.

We're used to the noise of the movements that keep our professional engines turning. The sound of the social media and email notifications. When it gets silent, even for a minute, there's a perception that the “machinery” has stopped. We often confuse silence with inertia when we're not in a dynamic flow of new partnerships, sales, and investments.

Noise has never been synonymous with progress. But due to our immediate culture, where everything must happen at once and under the spotlight, we fail to notice that, yes (believe it or not!), things are happening during the silence.

In this moment of quietness, we turn to strategic planning, ways of achieving our objectives, and analyzing a potential change of course.?

In silence, we look at the details that go unnoticed amidst endless commitments. We can also observe what's missing to establish more balance between our personal and professional lives. How many opportunities do we let slip away because we're consumed by the noise pulling us in so many directions?

In silence, we continue to open “the door” of our business every day because we never know when the next customer will walk in.?

Today, considering all my professional experiences, as well as, of course, my personal growth, I can clearly say that many important decisions were made in moments like these, when the "tide was low", when I could see the sea in its entirety, without the rush of the waves.

Returning to the phrase from the movie Pulp Fiction, contemplating silence can be the path to finding special people, incredible opportunities, and endless possibilities. Only, if you share a comfortable silence with yourself.?

Maria Paula Murad, Founder and President of Studio DMLA