The Art of Possibility

The book my group selected to read was titled The Art of Possibility, written by Roz and Ben Zander. Overall, I found it to be very interesting book, as it presented several ideas that both challenged and supported my current ideas of leadership (if that makes any sense?). One of the authors, Ben Zander, is a conductor for internationally known orchestras, and I found it neat that ideas he discussed were easily traceable to his daily work and life experience. It gave him credibility – and plenty of stories to back up his sometimes-radical proposals.

The overarching themes of the book are centered around three main ideas: the transition from I to the WE, the revival of dreams, and “designing the stage to let life play out.” Most prevalently, The Zanders suggested that you should be the board in the game – if you set yourself up in the right context, your dreams will unfold in the way that they are supposed. At first, this was difficult for me to relate to. I am a very objective-driven person (or, as referred to in the book, the calculating self), so the thought of giving up meticulously calculated goals in order to just let things happen was overwhelming to me. I understand their viewpoint, but I think that this approach to life may work better in some situations than others. Although there is usually always room for creativity, some professions and dreams do not coincide with the idea of just “letting it happen.”

In contrast to this criticism, however, reading the book has caused me to entertain the thought of setting myself up for success and trusting that through preparation and unleashing my passion, I will eventually reach my goals – even if it is not through the means that I originally planned. I also liked the idea of being happy in the present. (That statement sounds a little obvious doesn’t it?) The example the Zanders give is when a man asks young girls how she is doing, she replies, “Perfect!” This a little bit of an unusual response. Not often to we think our life is perfect, but why not? This idea of perfectionism doesn’t mean that no challenges exist or that things haven’t gone awry, but instead, it refers to accepting the imperfections as part of the process in unleashing our dreams. The first practice introduced in the book is that “it’s all invented.” Everything we observe is a result a result of how we perceive it. They even quoted Einstein, when he stated that it was nonsense to found a theory on observable facts alone:

“In reality, the very opposite happens. It is theory which decides what we can observe.”

Hmmm… I like that idea.

One of the more lighthearted ideas that I found myself in total agreement with was “don’t take yourself so g– damn seriously,” (also referred to as Rule Number 6). Zanders told us to coax our calculating self to lighten up. This is something I definitely can relate to, but I have serious problems following this sometimes. I agree wholeheartedly that there is room as a leader (even necessary) to laugh and include humor. The Zanders state that when one personal peels away the layers of opinion, entitlement, pride, and inflated self-description, others instantly feel the connection … Wow, that sounds familiar to our class book, doesn’t it? It is completely true though. This exactly correlates to my past experiences in an organization, where one of the first things we do upon meeting new members is “break boundaries” so that these new connections can be made. 

One of most applicable ideas that I found in the book was the contrast between the downward spiral and possibility.

              Downward Spiral                   Possibility

The downward spiral tends to lead to falling down a slope of negativity and criticism. Conversely, possibility is about being “with the way things are.” This can be done by:

• Clearing “shoulds"
• Closing the exits: escape, denial, and blame
• Clearing judgments
• Distinguishing physical from conceptual reality

By following these, the Zanders suggest that the world of possibility will emerge and you will be able to see the opportunities, rather than the shortcomings of everything. As a leader, I think this is a powerful message. One of the roles of a leader is to encourage and empower the participants. This model is a great way to do that; by implementing it, perhaps we can allow ourselves to open each other’s world of possibility and begin feeling “perfect.”