Via Negativa or The Beauty of No

I hate the term productivity

But I also find it seductive.?

The seduction lies in the macabre contest I have with myself in how I can I do more, fit more in, do it all ‘efficiently’, keep everyone happy etc

Lately there's been this constant feeling of overwhelm. And after some reflection, it comes down to one thing: me getting excited and saying yes to too many things. Those decisions would be easier if it was a decision between good and bad but often it's a decision between good and good. Then the game becomes about how I can add more, be more efficient, get things done quicker etc

In a glorious coincidence I was reading a book by the poet David Whyte and came across the phrase Via Negativa, ?which also coincidentally was briefly described by Nassim Taleb in his book Antifragile

The term Via Negativa owes its origin to the Eastern Orthodox theological traditions where the process of defining God was not in what God is but listing what God is not and proceeding by a process of elimination.?

A more literal translation of Via Negativa is ‘negative road’ ..not to be confused, however, with negativity or pessimism.?

Via Negativa is the discipline of saying no when we have yet no clarity about those things to which we can say yes. Or as Taleb describes it “In theology and philosophy, the focus is on what something is not, an indirect definition. In action, it is a recipe for what to avoid, what not to do—subtraction, not addition, say, in medicine.”

As Taleb says, the greatest and most robust contribution to knowledge is removing what we think is wrong. When Michaelangelo was asked by the Pope the secret of his genius particularly how he carved the statue of David, his answer was “It's simple, I just removed everything that was not David”

We take the Via Negativa when there is not any sign of the Via Positiva. In the continuous utterance of no we need to harbour a profound faith that the yes will appear. As Whyte writes

[The discipline entails] Saying no again and again to the false seductions that lead us off on the path of fear and material aggrandisement. If we have little idea of what we really want from our lives or what a Soulful approach to our work might mean then often the only entrance we have into soul comes in the ability to say no to those things we intuit lead us to loss of vitality… We create in effect a kind of energetic vacuum into which something we recognise can appear….eventually appearing like an old and loving memory, it becomes all the more recognisable and real for its long absence. One way to come to yes is to say no to everything that does not nourish and entice our secret inner life out into the world

Author and entrepreneur Derek Sivers has a simple, though very subjective heuristic: When faced with a decision it's either a Hell Yes? Or a NO - as he says in his book

We say yes to too many things that we are half hearted about. So we're too busy to react when real opportunities come our way. We miss out on the great because we were busy with the mediocre. The solution is to say yes to less? ?if you're not feeling hell yeah that would be awesome about something, say no? ?It's an easier decision to say no to almost everything. This starts to free your time and your mind?

We need to give ourselves space to determine who is at the centre of what we are trying to do. Or as David Whyte?says:?We say no in order to bud and blossom in our own time.

We need to take a breath and ask ourselves: Who is speaking? Who came to work today? Who is working for what? What do I really care about? What do I feel deeply inspired by? What meets a significant need in the world that only I can provide right now??

We need to find someone within ourselves who can yes and at the same time be truly wholehearted.?

Derek Sivers again:

When you find something you're actually excited about you’ll have a space in your life give it your full attention. You'll be able to take massive action in a way that most people can't because you cleared away your clutter in advance. Saying No make your Yes more powerful?

A Simple tool for a Path to Yes

What is important is seldom urgent and what is urgent is seldom important.

-Dwight Eisenhower

Dwight D Einsenhower was the 34th President of the United States, a role he occupied from 1953 to 1961. During his time as President of the US, he launched programs that directly led to the development of the Interstate Highway System in the United States, the launch of the internet (DARPA) and the exploration of space (NASA)

Before that he served as Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force in Europe and led the D-Day invasion of Normandy. He was also the President of Columbia University and first Supreme Commander of NATO.?

So he know a thing or two about productivity

The crux of his decision making process came down to his distinction of what is urgent vs what is important?

Urgent tasks put us in reactive mode, raise our cortisol levels and put us in a narrow focused mindset. They scream NOW??

Important tasks contribute to our long term mission, our goals and what is in concert with our core values and who we are as people *

Stephen Covey, in his book 7 habits of highly effective people, took Eisenhower’s principles in put them in a matrix as below:

The matrix is divided into 4 Quadrants:

Quadrant 1: Important and Urgent: These are the tasks to do immediately

Quadrant 2: Important and Not Urgent: Tasks to schedule to do later

Quadrant 3: Not Important and Urgent: Tasks you can (hopefully) delegate

Quadrant 4 : Not important and Not Urgent: Tasks to eliminate

Quadrant 2 is the Quadrant of Hell Yes! This is where ideally we should be spending most of our time. Q2 tasks need to be blocked out in your calendar before anything else. This is where we broaden our minds, improve our skills, build real relationships, empower others, strategize and prepare for important work. Ignoring this quadrant increases the tasks in Quadrant 1 creating stress, burnout and deeper crises. Investing in Quadrant 2 shrinks Quadrant 1. And the way to find time for Quadrant 2 is minimising or eliminating Quadrant 3 and 4. Take the Via Negativia for those Quadrants

In Conclusion

To quote Steven Covey

Our struggle to put first things first can be characterised by the contrast between two powerful tools that direct us: The Clock and The Compass. The clock represents our commitments, appointments, schedules, goals, activities - what we do with, and how we manage our time. The compass represents our vision, values, principles, mission, conscience, direction - what we feel is important and we lead our lives. The struggle comes when we sense a gap between the clock and the compass - when what we do doesn't contribute to what is important in our lives.?

A meaningful life is not a matter of speed and efficiency. It's much more a matter of what you do and why you do it, than how fast you get it done.

References:?

Hell Yeah or No by Derek Sivers

Antifragile by Nassim Taleb

The Heart Aroused: Poetry and the Preservation of the Soul in Corporate America by David Whyte

7 Habits of highly Effective People by Steven Covey

First Things First by Steven Covey

* This section adapted from: The Eisenhower matrix by Brett and Kate Mckay

Rahul Soans is the founder of The Disruptive Business Network. Please sign up by clicking this link