Thoughts at Power Lab 2012

 
Loose says “Yes,”

Tight says “No.”

Loose says “Take it,”

Tight says “Take Nothing.”

Loose is good,

Tight bad;

One is Liberal,

The other Conservative,

One kind-hearted

the other miserly.

So different

Yet the same,

Two forms of

no opening,

no conversation,

no exploration

no possibility.

 
The power choice lies in

Neither yes nor no,

Neither giving nor withholding.

Power comes from

seeing the possibility for you

in this tense moment:

It’s clear what they want;

Now,

Take a deep breath

Get clear

how can you leverage this moment

for your purposes?

 

 

Comments

[tilly pick]

That "take a deep breath" thing is so important to figure this out, I think, and we can give ourselves permission to do it. There's no rule that says you have to answer, engage, react immediately. This might sound silly, but I sometimes look out the window for five seconds when I'm in a conversation so that I can fully take in the situation, then speak. It does feel somewhat strange to me at times, but I also notice myself participating with a more open and thoughtful perspective. Odd, isn't it?

[Barry]

Thanks, Tilly. That moment of "looking out the window" just might make it possible to shift from seeing that request or demand as a problem for you to seeing it as an opportunity.