The Capacity to See Openings and New Possibilities

Photo by Clem Onojeghuo on Unsplash

A few years back, with the help of some good leadership coaches, I became aware of personal blind spots that were holding me back in the change I hoped to create while consulting to teams and organizations.  Just as important, these same blind spots were preventing me from fully enjoying my life.  Through embodied learning and practices, I have confronted these blind spots and it has opened many desirable new possibilities and generally a greater appreciation of life and work.  

Seeing openings and new possibilities for action is a capacity that can only be built through practice.  We’ll come back to why I think this capacity is valuable shortly.  There is nothing I can describe here that would produce that capacity in others, however, it is possible to describe what it is like when this capacity begins to emerge for you.  My purpose here is to give you a sense of what this is like.

Growth through embodiment is a process, not an event.  So, I continue to use embodied practices to work on various things I want to improve in.  One form of embodied practice I’m using is a Filipino martial art called Balintawak.  In this art, one or two solid sticks about 20 inches long and about one inch in diameter are used to attack and to defend.  The sticks are standing in for machetes which are a common tool, and if necessary, weapon in many regions. The sticks themselves can be quite lethal, but in controlled conditions, with a qualified teacher, opponents can engage safely and build a variety of skills.

One of the basic things practiced in most martial arts is staying grounded and centered while under pressure (while attacking or while under attack). As a beginner, as you are focusing on wielding your stick, or your opponents stick that is attacking you, it is quite easy to break your own structure (losing your ground and center). However, if you persist with the practice and have some coaching, you will begin to notice that this is happening less and less.  Keeping your structure intact under most engagement circumstances will start to feel like second nature, enabling you to focus on other aspects of the art.

As you get a bit more advanced, there is a controlled close-range practice called cuentada (which means “to counter”).  In this practice, one person is the attacker and the other is defender.  There are programmed sequences of attacks that make it manageable for the defender.  As you practice more, additional attacks are added, until you get to a point where the attacker can freestyle any combination of attacks and the defender is learning to fend off the attacks even when they don’t know which attack is coming next.  The next step after that is for the defender to turn the tables - to move from defense to offense.  And this is where there is a connection to the capacity to see openings and new possibilities.

I can still recall clearly the first time my teacher was attacking me aggressively (and safely, he is a master) and I was able to go from defender to attacker.  I had been intending to make this move for weeks, but I didn’t have enough confidence in my defense.  But with enough practice, I got to the point where defending against all combination of attacks was second nature, and now, while still under attack, I was free to look for an opening to attack.  I remember feeling an intense presence as I let go of worrying about getting whacked, and instead searched for any opening in the oncoming attack. Moments later, I had made my move and my teacher was on defense.  He also knew it was the first time, and he acknowledged the accomplishment, as we continued to practice.  That shift from concentrating only on my defense to shifting my focus to the larger picture is an example of what it is like to be able to see openings and new possibilities.  It is a shift in how you are seeing and making sense of the world.

The capacity of seeing openings and new possibilities is more and more critical to leading others in a world of frequent disruptions and high uncertainty.  It is one of the capacities that are necessary for being able to lead into an unknown future, that so many teams and organizations face these days.  If you view what I described earlier metaphorically, building this leader capacity is about having the day-to-day business of leadership (holding the vision, cultivating commitment, helping the team navigate breakdowns) become second nature. Only then can you simultaneously lead (defend) and be sensing into the future for openings and new possibilities.

The same applies to how we lead our lives.  If we get emotionally bogged down in the drama of personal relations, world politics and general breakdowns, we will not have the energy or wherewithal to look for opportunities for bringing about the change we desire.  Seeing these opportunities plus the capacity to boldly act on them can make life a much more satisfying adventure.  Are you open to this new possibility?

Thanks to my Teacher of Integrated Martial Arts – Master Peter Hill.