In the last post, I thought aloud why innovations often come hand-in-hand with unintended consequences. For the creators, it may feel overwhelming to tend to additional things when one is already struggling to create meaningful momentum in early-stage work. We might be able to take inspiration from standing balance poses in yoga.
Yoga teachers often invite students to fix their gaze on a single steady point while doing any pose that requires balancing on one leg. Doing this often stabilizes the body instantly. While fixing the gaze allows us to gain stability in difficult poses, we are also reminded to stay tuned in to the rest of the body. Even while the gaze is fixed, we are nudged to keep a micro-bend in the standing knee, tone the muscles of the leg as if they are hugging the bones, and not jut the pelvis to the side so there is symmetry. The macro goal for all physical postures (asanas) is to cultivate a sense of nonviolence (ahimsa) in body and mind. We are offered a vision for the pose and its benefits, but then we progress intentionally at our individual pace to ensure there is stability and ease at every step of the progression. Since the goal is to create no harm in the process of that progression, we stop to make adjustments at the first hint of pain.
What would it look like in business if we were to hold the steady gaze of ambition while also staying tuned-in to the downstream impact of that ambition; essentially zooming-in to seek the goal and zooming-out to feel the outcome simultaneously?
Customer feedback loops (where we tap into ideally a diverse customer set to get real-world pulse checks), are already a part of modern business ethos. How can we take this further to gather the uncomfortable feedback around the unforeseen negative effects of our work? Could we get comfortable creating pauses in our workflow to retract and recreate our steps vs. blindly blazing through milestones? It’s possible; but perhaps a different way of structuring the work, the organization and expectations.
Business, like standing poses, is an example of complex and compound movement and focusing the gaze of ambition while staying tuned-in to impact may create strength, stability and ease as we scale and grow.
“We can’t impose our will on a system. We can listen to what the system tells us, and discover how its properties and our values can work together to bring forth something much better than could ever be produced by our will alone.” ― Donella H. Meadows
