What actually happens to the projects we’ve always wanted to do? What happens to the business idea that has accompanied us for so many years but has never been implemented? You know the answer: probably nothing. But then, other people just put it into practice. That is why I like the motto “Doing is stronger than wanting to do”.
However, there is no need to always take big steps – those that turn your entire life upside down. It is enough to train your skills of improvisation. For improvisation has a lot in common with “Just do it!”. Both call for knowledge, skills, competencies, confidence, and courage. The bigger our toolbox, the easier it is for us to start working. What, then, should we do to “Just do it!” ever more often?
People who proactively embrace change, deal with it, and make the best of it are those who develop something new. This always reminds me of the recent German past: the fall of the wall. It was an incredibly special time full of surprises. Life was turned upside down; there was a spirit of optimism, and Berlin, at least, experienced a kind of anarchy. An enormous amount of creativity was unleashed during this time. People had an almost unbridled desire to try something new. In line with the motto “Just do it!”, they created projects, companies, and ideas.
Half your life is improvisation
No matter how well we prepare and examine our own thoughts and feelings, life always gets in the way somehow. However, you still need to decide how to put the different pieces of your life puzzle together and what kind of signature to develop in the process. This is where improvisation comes in: a fine art based on sound knowledge, expertise, and experience. Catching the right moment, improvising if necessary, and giving space to the new and unforeseen also has to do with trusting the world – a concept that is relevant in existential analysis and logotherapy (as promoted by Viktor Frankl, Alfried Längle, and Christoph Kolbe).
Personally, I associate trust in the world – also known as basic trust – with being able to let things flow and giving time and space for new things to emerge. For new space, I must be able to let go of old things, including existing texts, ideas, and thoughts. Only when you leave something behind is there room for something new. I call this “cleaning up the hard drive”.
I take what I need from my various training programmes and methods and “garnish” it with something new. This can perhaps best be compared to developing your own culinary creations from existing recipes by varying the ingredients. The most important spices for me are curiosity and a thirst for knowledge as well as a willingness to continue learning – in short, a certain fundamental openness to everything that life has to offer. This, then, goes hand in hand with recognising the right moment: when to use which spice, or, in my case, which method to employ at what time.
The “Just do it!” approach has helped me in developing my freelance career and as a manager in multinational companies. After all, work life is always “just” about contributing ideas and trying them out, convincing people and supporting them in their further development. Here we go, then: Just do it!
Do you need support with defining your vision or honing a new idea? Or are you looking for a sparring partner when it comes to implementing your idea? Please, write to me!
Photo © Pexels-itsmicheal
There is hardly a dance that can boast the improvisation potential of an Argentine tango. Here, the leader shows where he wants to go and, at the same time, empathetically engages with his partner.
He (or she) who wishes to learn how to lead or is pondering what leadership actually means, should try out dancing the Argentine tango. For there is hardly a better way to explain the concept of leadership than with this dance metaphor. That impression is confirmed whenever I slip into my tango shoes to conquer the dance floor together with my partner.
So why is the Argentine tango such a good metaphor? It is here that both partners need to sense what the other wants. The idea is for each partner to listen with their body to their partner’s needs. The Argentine tango calls for plenty of creative and communicative interaction – filled as it is with steps and movements that come into being through mutual improvisation. Just as in real life, the dancers have to respond, develop ideas, find solutions whenever something unforeseen happens.
Dancing the Argentine tango, you will, again and again, discover new figures and common pathways – even with a relatively small repertoire of steps and movements. In business jargon, this could be referred to as a “toolbox”: a set of devices used to respond flexibly to different situations. Such a procedure presupposes that the partners listen to each other, ideally sensing – or even knowing – the other’s next step rather than just dancing away.
Apart from listening with their bodies, the partners need to sort out the respective roles. If you decide to lead, you need to know the way. You need an attitude and posture that the other can understand and sense. Those who wish to lead, whether in a company or on the dance floor, have to rest in themselves, developing an inner attitude that shows the way. Only then can the partner know which step to make next and which figure to dance. Only then can both partners trust each other. Dancing is a dialogue where you sense what the other wants. Yet, at the same time, you can rest completely in yourself at every single moment.
A good, a decisive tango dancer is the ideal leader. Good leaders do not try to convince their employees of anything, without listening to them beforehand. For disregard is the best way to lose those that are supposed to follow you. Good dancers rest in themselves and still send signals that can easily be understood. If they then dance also with enthusiasm, they can be sure of a trusting partner who will do what they want them to do.
