Stepping into a universe of possibility

1. The Art of Possibility Adapted from the book The Art of Possibility by Rosamund Stone Zander and Benjamin Zander Stepping into a universe of possibility

2. Stepping intoa Universe of Possibility • In the World of Measurement: • We understand things (and people) only in the context of how they compare to other things (and people). • It feels safer to deal with reality as though it were fixed, as though people, ideas, and situations can be fully known and measured.

3. Stepping intoa Universe of Possibility • From birth to death, we struggle to measure up…to our parents’ expectations, our friends’ expectations, our teachers’ expectations, our bosses’ expectations, our children’s expectations....and our own expectations.

4. Stepping intoa Universe of Possibility • In the Universe of Possibility: • Freed from the need to measure up, we find ourselves at liberty to imagine what CAN be...for ourselves and others.

5. The Art of Possibility Adapted from the book The Art of Possibility by Rosamund Stone Zander and Benjamin Zander it’s all invented

6. It’s All Invented • A shoe factory sends two marketing scouts to a region of Africa to study the prospects for expanding business. • One sends back a telegram saying, • SITUATION HOPELESS STOP NO ONE WEARS SHOES • The other writes back triumphantly, • GLORIOUS OPPORTUNITY STOP THEY HAVE NO SHOES

7. It’s All Invented • We perceive only the sensations we are programmed to receive and our awareness is further restricted by the fact that we recognize only those for which we have mental maps or categories. • If there are absolutes, we have no direct access to their existence.

8. It’s All Invented • We cannot do otherwise but perceive everything in life through the structure of our brains, the lens of our unique past experience, and our [necessarily] limited understanding. • What we know as “life” is, then, entirely a product of our own perceptions. • It is…all invented.

9. The Art of Possibility Adapted from the book The Art of Possibility by Rosamund Stone Zander and Benjamin Zander Giving an a

10. Giving an A • The practice of giving an A is, simultaneously: • the recognition of others for exactly who they are • And • the willingness to see in them everything they can be.

11. Giving an A • If a sculptor can look at a rough-hewn block of stone and see the grace and beauty it contains, how can we do any less for each other? • How much grace are you willing to grant those you encounter in life?

12. Giving an A • The practice of giving an A allows us to line up with others in their efforts to produce something great, rather than lining up with expectations against them. • The A is not an expectation to live up to; it is a possibility to live into.

13. The Art of Possibility Adapted from the book The Art of Possibility by Rosamund Stone Zander and Benjamin Zander being a contribution

14. Being a Contribution • The drive to be successful and the fear of failure are, like the head and tail of a coin, inseparably linked. • Unlike success and failure, • contribution has no other side.

15. Being a Contribution • To think of yourself and others as contributions takes you away from self-concern and creates the space for making a difference.

16. Being a Contribution • Declare yourself to be a contribution and throw yourself into life as someone who makes a difference, accepting that you may not understand how or why.

17. The Art of Possibility Adapted from the book The Art of Possibility by Rosamund Stone Zander and Benjamin Zander Leading from any chair

18. Leading from Any Chair • The conductor of an orchestra does not make a sound…his true power comes from his ability to make other people powerful.

19. Leading from Any Chair • It is the conductor who decides who is playing in her orchestra. • It is you who decides who the people are whom you encounter as you go about your day.

20. Leading from Any Chair • Ask yourself this difficult question: • How much greatness • am I • willing to grant people?

21. The Art of Possibility Adapted from the book The Art of Possibility by Rosamund Stone Zander and Benjamin Zander rulenumber 6

22. Rule Number 6 • The calculating self is that part of us that wailed and cried as a baby and later learned simply to smile coyly or stamp its foot to say, • “Pay attention to me.”

23. Rule Number 6 • The central self understands that control is neither possible nor necessary; thus, it freely joins the flow of life, reveling in the abundance of possibility along the way.

24. Rule Number 6 • So…kindly observe Rule Number 6. • “Don’t take yourself so damned seriously.” • There are no other rules.

25. The Art of Possibility Adapted from the book The Art of Possibility by Rosamund Stone Zander and Benjamin Zander the way things are

26. The Way Things Are • Acknowledge the way things are, and acknowledge your feelings about the way things are. Then, ask yourself, • “What is here that I can do something with, and what do I want to do with it?”

27. The Way Things Are • When we dislike a situation, we tend to put all our attention on how things should be rather than on how they are. • When our attention is primarily directed to how wrong things are, we lose our power to act effectively.

28. The Way Things Are • A canceled airplane flight is neither good nor bad. It may wreck our schedule and bring us face to face with our future spouse in the waiting area. • When a splendid osprey eats a beautiful fish, it is neither good nor bad…or, it’s both good for the osprey and bad for the fish. • “Good” and “bad” are categories we impose on the world—they are not of the world itself.

29. The Art of Possibility Adapted from the book The Art of Possibility by Rosamund Stone Zander and Benjamin Zander giving way to passion

30. Giving Way to Passion • Suppose for a moment that vital, expressive energy flows everywhere, that it is the medium for the existence of life, and that… • whatever keeps us from participating fully in that flow of energy lies within ourselves.

31. Giving Way to Passion • Notice where you are holding back, and let go. Release those barriers of self that keep you in control. Then, participate… • and hold nothing back. • Your passion is what makes you who you are. It is the very essence of your specialness.

32. Giving Way to Passion • “There is a vitality, a life force…that is translated through you…, and because there is only one of you in all of time,…if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and it will be lost.” • Martha Graham, quoted by Agnes DeMille in • Martha: The Life and Work of Martha Graham

33. The Art of Possibility Adapted from the book The Art of Possibility by Rosamund Stone Zander and Benjamin Zander lighting a spark

34. Lighting a Spark • “Certain things in life are better done in person.” • Walter Zander

35. Lighting a Spark • Enrollment is the art and practice of generating a spark of possibility for others to share. • We have at our fingertips an infinite capacity to light a spark of possibility. Passion, rather than fear, is the igniting force. Abundance, rather than scarcity, is the context.

36. Lighting a Spark • The life force for humankind is, perhaps, nothing more or less than the passionate energy to connect, express, and communicate.

37. The Art of Possibility Adapted from the book The Art of Possibility by Rosamund Stone Zander and Benjamin Zander being the board

38. Being the Board • To the extent that I blame others for the way things are, I lose my power. There is nothing I can do about their mistakes – only about mine. • I am the framework for everything that happens in my life.

39. Being the Board • In the fault game (a manifestation of the world of measurement), your attention is focused on what was done or not done by you or others. • When you own the risks in your life, your attention turns to repairing relationships.

40. Being the Board • Grace comes from owning the risks we take in a world largely immune to our control.

41. The Art of Possibility Adapted from the book The Art of Possibility by Rosamund Stone Zander and Benjamin Zander Creating frameworksfor possibility

42. Creating Frameworks for Possibility • The abundant universe of possibility exists in an environment of conversations dedicated to the notion that no one will be made wrong, people will not be talked about behind their backs, and there will be no division between “us” and “them”.

43. Creating Frameworks for Possibility • The foremost challenge of today is to stand confidently as a relentless architect of the possibility that human beings can be.

44. Creating Frameworks for Possibility • In the pursuit of objectives under a vision, playing is relevant to the manifestation of the possibility, winning is not.

45. The Art of Possibility Adapted from the book The Art of Possibility by Rosamund Stone Zander and Benjamin Zander telling the we story

46. Telling the WE Story • The WE story points to relationship rather than to individuals or objects. It attests to • the in-between – • the unseen threads that connect those who make up our company, our community, or our group of two.

47. Telling the WE Story • Each of us has an ongoing choice: • to tell the story of the WE • Or • to tell the story of the Other.

48. Telling the WE Story • If we describe revenge, greed, pride, fear, and self-righteousness as the villains — and people as the hope — we will come together to create possibility. In the universe of possibility, we need never again name a human being as the enemy.