Why did the bird cross the path?
Walking on the paths near home you come across two sets of bird footprints in the concrete. One going from the creek further into the park and another back to the creek. Or at least that is what it looks like.
My first question was why didn’t the bird fly to where it wanted to go. With the realization dawning that it was feeding and was looking for what tasty morsels that it could find. You can’t find them when you are dashing past everything.
The first lesson for me was there in the footprints. We are often in a hurry and as a result miss out on what would be there for us to enjoy if we take a methodological approach.
The second lesson is that sometimes we see things in our path that cause us to pause and reconsider rather than just keep on going. The same result is we miss out. The bird didn’t let a bit of damp concrete stop it.
The third lesson was around intention having a mission and a plan to execute. Admittedly the bird might just have been doing what birds do, but it was clear that it wanted to go and get some tasty morsels and had a plan to go out into the park, which it put into effect.
I have walked and cycled that path and not seen the tracks in the concrete but on that day, I was in a place where I was ‘there’. My mental state open to what was around me.
A fourth lesson is about being open to the environment and context and being aware of what is happening. A bit like my first lesson in but different in that our headspace is cluttered and we block out information that is actually relevant.
I have a little more time to have a walk in the area as I had an oops moment on my motorbike where I ended up dropping it and its in the shop. I stalled it on a hill start and, in the moment, I didn’t react appropriately in time and stabilize the bike. I got caught up in analysis of the problem and did not act on the solution, putting my feet down.
A further lesson of ‘just do and work it out later’ which is the antithesis of the lessons above but with a high order law taking effect of ‘keeping safe’. Risk management thinking has its place where we have to have it hard wired in our response to a number of situations that occur.
When we take time to reflect we can see and learn from what is going on around us. Its easy to rush and be busy but harder to take the time to observe and learn. Sometimes some external help is required that causes us to pause and reflect (a friend, consultant, a book or an article) but we have the power to do it ourselves if we understand that it is a better way.
So why did the bird cross the path? Only the bird really knows. Why do we do what we do? Only we know but hopefully there is a reason which, in the end, might only be to enjoy the experience.
Take time to reflect as you go about your day, you never know what insights might come out of it. Happy to help you draw them out, stratergise and develop them.