Growth, Success, and Solutions in JUST ONE WORD…
Growth, Success, and Solutions in JUST ONE WORD…
Can we boil 100% of the principles governing growth, success, and problem-solving down into just one, potent, highly meaningful and insight-producing word?
I think we can.
Not long ago I listened to an episode of a podcast that I found captivating. The host described ideas by the 20th century thinker Gilles Deleuze. Like most great philosophers his vision and influence is wide-ranging, taking into account a great many data points.
And the result of this process, among other things, was the reduction of reality into one central concept.
Any idea what it is?
Want to guess?
What is everything doing, in all times and places, including yourself, every part of you, everyone else, every part of them, every part of everything?
What creates and sustains every organization?
What governs motivation, information, results?
What characterizes mental processing, communication and influence?
Give up?
I LOVED the answer. It helped me to look at everything differently.
It is…
Flows.
Yes, flows.
Deleuze looked around at the world and saw everything as an interconnected system of agents and substances flowing from one place to another at different speeds, intensities, and levels of energy.
You do it. The fluids in your body do it. Other people do it. Money does it. Communication does it. Influence does it. Time does it. Even space does it.
Flowing from one place to another 🔀
There’s not much more to reality than that.
Our motivations and results govern flows of many kinds. When we improve our results it means we have recognized with greater clarity and exercised greater influence over the flows within our personal domain. Money flows bigger and faster. Teammates flow more freely and happily. Customers flow more readily and with greater satisfaction. Communication flows more easily and effectively. Information flows to more of the right places and less of the wrong ones. Our lives flow more gracefully and happily. Value and vibrance flow through our organizations at every level.
Since learning of this concept the world appears different to me. It feels simpler, more straightforward and easier to shape. Problems are clearer and solutions more obvious. Just look for where the flows meet resistance and figure out how to clear it, even partially. All improvement accords with this pattern and process.
Do you have problems and frustrations? It simply means that something or somethings are not flowing as you would hope. And I can help you to see what they are, how to make them flow better. Because, as Deleuze knew, your life, your organizations, your values even, are merely a set of flows. Nothing more, nothing less. Help things to flow better, and your results will improve.
Need help finding and facilitating the right flows? Let me know.
Want to hear the episode about Deleuze? Check it out!
