What are you pretending not to notice?

Noticing

All leadership acts, from the smallest to the boldest, begin with it.

We are sensitive, intelligent whole human beings – with a great capacity to be tuned into our internal and external ‘environment’ at any moment. Awareness is the core of our being. Even if we usually notice things that confirm our beliefs, values, interests and discard things that don’t match – we still have this innate ability of a broader perception.

Yet

Sometimes we just pretend not to notice. We ignore that thought, feeling, perception, that stirring within us. Because if we didn’t, it would mean that we may just have to do something about it. Accept it or confront it. By giving it attention, we may need to have some ‘tough’ conversations with ourselves or another. We may have to change our deeply held views of the world. Or we may have to make courageous decisions. It may mean we need to get out of our comfort zone. Or retreat. Maybe let go. Or dig deeper. Oh my gosh,  collaborate.

By pretending not to notice, we miss opportunities to liberate truth and transform.

Organisational pretending

Certainly as organisational mindfulness experts Weick et al. (1999) point out, organisations are defined by what they ignore. Complex human factors theory will tell us that disasters will result in the accumulation of small moments that build into something. Small moments that often go undetected or ignored. Often it is because we are unconscious of our behaviours or what drives them. We remain fixed in our own beliefs, thought patterns and behaviours and filter out ‘evidence’ that contradicts our view of the world.

We may pretend not to notice for a multitude of reasons, usually grounded in fear and ego. As Gopalakrishnan highlights, “the spectra of authority and the trappings of power conspire to plug the leader’s ears” (2009:234). And we have seen it has disastrous consequences.  From climate change to that over-budget project.

The sacred pause

So it starts off with you taking a sacred pause, coming into the present and asking gently…

What am I pretending not to notice?

Inside of me and outside.

With stillness,  notice the response.

By doing this, we are acting from a place of awareness, consciousness, not of automaticity. From such a place, we have more control and choice of what we do next.

And there is always the chance

If we miss that chance, the opportunity to explore our ignorance remains. As philosopher Søren Kierkegaard wisely said, “we can only understand life forwards, but we have to live it backwards”.  Our past, our learning journey is full of moments of not seeing clearly, of not knowing and sensing, of remaining numb. Where truth and perspective can only be unveiled by hindsight. And if we have the willingness to go deeper into self-inquiry, we open to a fundamental source of healing and growth.

This is what B.Lorraine Smith is doing as she courageously and compassionately reflects on working as an industrial treeplanter in the 1990s with her ongoing unlearning in international corporate sustainability.  It is beautifully touching to hear what was calling her to pay attention, in bug, heat and barrenness.

That is the thing, life was, is and always will be, inviting us to pay attention.