Friday, January 16, 2009

Being Fully Engaged

How do we best create results? How do we best train? Do we do so by observation or action, gazing or stillness? These question arose for me in a discussion just beginning on Tom Peters' blog where the question arose if young people, fully engaged in the digital age, are gazing less out of windows, enaging instead in continous actions.

The premise is that perhaps young people engagd in the digital age are lacking in some essential skill. But what is gazing? Is the process of gazing akin to reading where moving images evolve out of gazing, creating the aha moment--action that evolve from stillness? (Philosopher types whose gazing result in writing - an action. How do we know what we are gazing at? Does gazing require a focus?) Is the reverse possible, stillness evolving from action? (Scientist types whose experiments result in theory – a non action.)

Window gazing for some young people fully engaged in the digital age just may be different. My guess is they are reading less and this requires gazing (Reading may largely make gazing possible, evolving out of thoughts.) But then again, this action of reading, a movement line by line, requires a kind of gazing. Does action require gazing? Action and gazing may be possible simultaneously. These are just thoughts that evolved from writing which came from a kind of gazing.

The gaze seems always present in action or stillness. For example, young people fully engaged in the digital age, looking at a moving screen, may perhaps be gazing differently. These thoughts for me also focus on how we lead others; the processes by which we allow others to create and innovate, without stifling thereby not insisting upon a certain way of thinking or doing a thing just so long as the essential elements of both action and stillness are present. (This is determined by results.) Action and stillness seem essential in any age.

This is being fully engaged. Can we ask for anything more of anyone?

2 comments:

CJ said...

Dang, Judith, I laughed when I read what you said about turning the party around without turning themselves around.

Seems that they have not learned a single thing from November 4, 2008. If they don't, they can expect another beating in 2010, and, even worse, 2012.

It is the height of hypocrisy to talk personal responsibility and then indulge themselves at the expense of the weak and the poor.

So what we see is a total breakdown of trust by the American people for the Republican Party. I don't hold them totally responsible for the recession of 08-09, but I don't see a willingness on their part to concede that, at the very least, it happened on their watch.

You know, I heard a lot of talk during the campaign about the Republican brand not being popular.

As a freelance journalist, if I am constantly failing at selling my writings, I must see what the problem is, and I must try to sell to my client from a different angle. Or I will continue to fail to sell my work. That's all there is to it.

So the Republican party must repackage its message.

Judith Ellis said...

"As a freelance journalist, if I am constantly failing at selling my writings, I must see what the problem is, and I must try to sell to my client from a different angle. Or I will continue to fail to sell my work. That's all there is to it."

CJ - I love this. Thank you.