A
few weeks ago we had a joint session of our Structural Consulting Certification
Program (SCCP) and our Advanced Structural Consulting Program (ASCP) here in
Vermont. The SCCP is a two-year training program for consultants, coaches,
managers, and those in other helping professions that use structural thinking
and structural consulting in their work. It is offered to our students who have
already taken our Fundamentals of Structural Thinking course. The ASCP is the
advanced group that has gone through the two-year SCCP training process and want
to continue advancing their skills.
One of the major themes was how the mind works, and what
it takes to achieve the proper discipline to understand the underlying
structures that cause behavior in individuals, relationships, teams, and
organizations.
And before you think this is another one of those
"the power of the mind" rhapsodies, in fact, while the mind is capable
of extraordinary things, it is also capable of some rather sloppy and
ineffective things as well.
Of course, on the one hand, we have the deeper scientific
studies such as neuroscience and brain research, areas that equate the physical
makeup of the brain to its functions. So much is going on that is breathtaking
research, forging truly new frontiers. This path is especially useful in
understanding and perhaps curing or preventing Parkinson's disease or
Alzheimer's.
On the other end of the spectrum we have the age-old
"new age" idea that thought is creative, and the power of the mind is
found in its ability to manifest your wishes. This is from the school of
positive thinking, affirmations, programming the subconscious, belief forms
reality, and on and on. Here the mind is thought of as a magical and mystical
instrument that, if treated properly, will bring you anything from spiritual
enlightenment to material wealth.
So when talking about the mind, there can be a lot of
confusion about just what we're talking about.
Now, the discipline we were working with last month was
different from the extremes on the continuum from pure science to pure mind over
matter. It was to notice how the mind has a few very bad habits that make
observing reality difficult.
One habit comes from the structural principle that
structure (including the mind) seeks equilibrium. This principle is at the root
of structural dynamics. Once you understand this principle you will begin to
appreciate why structure, not only does determine behavior, but why it must
determine behavior.
At its essence, equilibrium means that everything within
a system or structure is equal to everything else. All contrasts are ended. If
hot is contrasted with cold, the tendency of the structure is to combine hot and
cold into one single temperature where everything everywhere is lukewarm.
Another way to say this is that everything is of equal temperature. That is the
goal of structure.
Of course, most things in the world are not equal. And
the move to attempt to end differences or contrasts is why tension seeks
resolution in any structure.
But, back to how the mind falls prey to this structural
dynamic. There is a lot we don't know. I am sure this fact is not a surprise to
any of us. But the mind is in the business of ending contrasts. One major
contrast in our lives is between what we actually do know, and what we don't
know.
Mostly, we know enough to get along fairly well. We can
manage to feed ourselves, get where we want to go, understand road systems, use
a GPS when we can't, etc. So, even though we don't know many things, it doesn't
really matter as long as we know the things we need to know to accomplish our
aims and be functional.
But the mind is not satisfied with the contrast between
knowing and not knowing. That creates a state of non-equilibrium (a tension)
that is unacceptable to the mind. The mind attempts to resolve the tension and
establish equilibrium by a number of very bad habits. The first is, in light of
not knowing something, the mind will fill in the space with speculation,
concepts, theories, past experience in similar seeming situations, and so on.
If fact, it is hard to stop the mind from doing this.
Even as you are reading these words, your mind is chomping at the bit, wanting
to comment on the ideas.
What the structural consultants did during the workshop
was to manage the mind, especially the verbal mind that wants to comment on
everything. So one exercise was simply to watch the mind in action. Become aware
of the inner chatter, what it was doing, why it was doing it, how much it was
doing it, and just what the mind's tendency was.
Most people were shocked to see how their minds were
running amuck. While they were supposed to be listening to someone else tell a
story about something in his or her life, they watched as their minds were doing
running commentary that jumped from subject to subject, from past, present and
future, from theory to speculation about what really happened in the story. They
thought they were listening. They only heard a small part of what was being said
because their mind was doing a duet with the person speaking.
If I'm listening to music, it is hard to hear it if at
the same time my mind is generating other music that interferes. Most people
think they are good listeners. Most people, when tested, miss a large percentage
of what's been said. They often miss information that contradicts their minds'
impressions. They add information that is not true. They miss the differences
between what might have been said and what their past experiences were.
The mind will do this until you actively get it to stop.
But, you can train the mind. This training is from the tradition of the arts
rather than from New Age or Eastern Traditions. In drawing classes, the student
needs to train the mind to look and see exactly what is there. This level of
observation is not natural. It is a discipline. And, of course, all disciplines
are not natural. It is natural for your mind to "run its
mouth," so to speak. It is not natural for it to be quiet while you observe
something or other. It is natural for your mind to jump to conclusions. It is
unnatural for your mind to hold onto a state of not knowing and not
understanding, and be happy to do so until true understanding emerges.
One of the exercises the structural consultants did, and
did more than once, was to pick some physical object – a flower, a stone, a
tree, a chair – and observe it. That might seem pretty easy, until you have to
do so without the mind's constant chatter. First they could do it for seconds on
end, perhaps 10 to 20 seconds. With practice, they were able to extend that
time.
This type of exercise is a bit like learning how to play
scales in preparation for playing Mozart. After a few days, the structural
consultants began to increase their level of awareness of what was around them.
They were able to listen better and more accurately. And most importantly, they
were able to process the information that came from their observations with more
rigor and precision because their minds were not clamoring for quick resolutions
based on the minds attempt to create equilibrium based or synthetic information.
I'm reminded of a passage in Evelyn Waugh's Brideshead
Revisited, when Charles, the protagonist, hears the word Brideshead years after
his youthful experiences there.
"'What's this place called?' He told me and, on the
instant, it was as though someone had switched off the wireless, and a voice
that had been bawling in my ears, incessantly, fatuously, for days beyond
number, had been suddenly cut short; an immense silence followed, empty at
first, but gradually, as my outraged sense regained authority, full of a
multitude of sweet and natural and long forgotten sounds: for he had spoken a
name that was so familiar to me, a conjuror's name of such ancient power, that
at its mere sound, the phantoms of those hunted late years had began to take
flight."
©2010 Robert Fritz
Updated: 10/24/10