Adapted from the book The Art of Possibility by Rosamund Stone Zander and Benjamin Zander The Art of Possibility

STEPPING INTO A UNIVERSE OF POSSIBILITY

Adapted from the book The Art of Possibilityby Rosamund Stone Zander and Benjamin Zander

The Art of Possibility

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.


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.


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.

IT’S ALL INVENTED



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

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.

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.

GIVING AN A



Giving an A

The practice of giving an A is, simultaneously:

the recognition of others for exactly who they areAnd

the willingness to see in them everything they can be.

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?

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.

BEING A CONTRIBUTION



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.


To think of yourself and others as contributions takes you away from self-

concern and creates the space for making a difference.


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.

LEADING FROM ANY CHAIR



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.


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.


Ask yourself this difficult question:

How much greatnessam I

willing to grant people?

RULENUMBER 6



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.”

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.

Rule Number 6

So…kindly observe Rule Number 6.

“Don’t take yourself so damned seriously.”

There are no other rules.

THE WAY THINGS ARE



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?”

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.

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.

GIVING WAY TO PASSION



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.


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.


“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 inMartha: The Life and Work of Martha Graham

LIGHTING A SPARK



Lighting a Spark

“Certain things in life are better done in person.”

Walter Zander

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.

Lighting a Spark

The life force for humankind is, perhaps, nothing more or less than the

passionate energy to connect, express, and communicate.

BEING THE BOARD



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.

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.

Being the Board

Grace comes from owning the risks we take in a world largely

immune to our control.

CREATING FRAMEWORKSFOR POSSIBILITY



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”.


The foremost challenge of today is to stand confidently as a relentless architect of the possibility that

human beings can be.


In the pursuit of objectives under a vision, playing is relevant to the

manifestation of the possibility, winning is not.

TELLING THE WE STORY



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.


Each of us has an ongoing choice:

to tell the story of the WEOr

to tell the story of the Other.


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.

Documents

Adapted from the book The Art of Possibility by Rosamund Stone Zander and Benjamin Zander The Art of Possibility