Things were quiet the morning after coaching and volunteering at the 2025 Move NYC event. Coffee. Chill morning air. Sun rising through the trees. A snapshot to remind myself that sometimes I do get the rare privilege to be able to literally address the sun with sun salutations. And although I can stare at anything while meditating, when I find moss-covered balanced stones also in the direction of the rising sun… sublime. Thanks Ruby and Jesse!
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Be patient. You’ll know when it’s time for you to wake up and move ahead.
~ Ram Dass
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“Know thyself” is a piece of advice which is as old as civilization, and probably a great deal older. To follow that advice, a man must do more than indulge in introspection. If I would know myself, I must know my environment; for as a body, I am part of the environment, a natural object among other natural objects, and, as a mind, I consist to a great extent of my immediate reactions to the environment and of my secondary reactions to those primary reactions.
~ Aldous Huxley
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How can curiosity and conversation techniques enhance personal and professional dynamics?
This conversation explores how curiosity fuels both learning and the sharing of insights in professional settings.
My brother used to tell me, ‘They asked you, just say you don’t know,’ and I was like: What? No! I’m going to look for the Answer.
~ Lorraine Margherita (3:11)
The discussion begins with reflections on curiosity and its role in personal and professional growth. Lorraine shares her passion for learning and how this trait influences their consulting and podcasting work. The conversation goes into how decision-making frameworks like flat or teal organizational models can benefit from fostering a culture of curiosity.
Attention shifts to techniques for facilitating meaningful interactions, with a focus on balancing agenda-driven sessions and the organic needs of participants. Tools like the talking stick and the deliberate use of silence are explored as methods to enhance communication and collaboration. Lorraine and Craig also examine the challenges of creating space for authentic dialogue while maintaining productive boundaries.
Takeaways
Curiosity and learning — Curiosity can drive personal and professional growth by encouraging exploration and sharing of knowledge.
Facilitation techniques — Tools like the talking stick and controlled silence can significantly improve group dynamics.
Balancing structure and flow — Effective facilitation requires adapting to group needs while respecting time and objectives.
Decision-making in organizations — Frameworks like flat or teal models benefit from creating spaces for open dialogue.
Silence as a tool — Silence can deepen conversations and encourage thoughtful participation.
Storytelling in consulting — Sharing relatable stories can spark curiosity and engagement among clients.
Resources
The StrengthsFinder test — A tool to identify personal strengths, particularly for learners.
The Little Book of Circle Processes — A method for collaborative conversations without hierarchy.
The Co-Dynamics podcast — Focused on decision-making in organizations, particularly flat and teal
(Written with help from Chat-GPT.)
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If someone were to ask me to identify the single primary quality that an artist or entrepreneur should cultivate in himself, I would say depth of commitment. Because depth of commitment either embodies all the other virtues or establishes the fertile field in which they can take root and grow. Depth of commitment presupposes courage, passion, recklessness, capacity for self-discipline, and the ability to have fun. It implies perseverance.
~ Steven Pressfield
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It’s easy to think negative thoughts and to get stuck into a pattern with them. But forcing myself to take the time not only to think about something good, but write that thought down longhand was a kind of rewiring of my own opinions. It became easier to see that while there certainly was plenty to be upset about, there was also plenty to be thankful for. Epictetus said that every situation has two handles; which was I going to decide to hold onto? The anger, or the appreciation?
~ Ryan Holiday from, One Day Of Thanks Is Not Enough: Gratitude is a Daily Practice – RyanHoliday.net
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The idea that there are two handles to every impression is a blazing reminder that impressions are neither inherently good nor bad. It is our own reasoned choice which adds that evaluation.
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Arbitrary milestones are just as useful as nice round numbers. This morning I decided I’d take some time to reflect on blogging.
I love grammar. I wonder if you thought that I meant this blog post would be my reflections on blogging? No, I took some time to reflect on my own. Today I’m yet again beating one of my favorite drums: It is life-critical to intentionally take time to reflect on the things one is doing.
What am I actually doing with my time? What is doing me benefit? What, harm? What things do I believe I must do? Why do I believe those are necessary? What promises have I made? …to myself, to others? What actually happens if I break one of those promises? …would anyone even notice? What could I do if I stopped everything and did some other thing with incredible focus? Why does that other some thing interest me? Could I more simply change what I’m doing to make a little room for it now? If I awoke to find all the things in my head, and on my lists, were done what would I do? …would I rush to add more things to do? …would I work on something new? …would I want to re-do something I’ve done before?
Discovery. Reflection. And then, go be efficacious.
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Today, two thoughts popped into my head in rapid suggestion: “Self-esteem box,” and “I’ve never pull-quoted Movers Mindset.”
Craig: So for me it’s I know if I go for a walk that’s almost, not always, almost always enough to make it so I can go back into the cave of ugliness and get back to work kind of thing. So what are some things that will help you turn that corner, brighten you up or energize you?
~ Brandee Laird from 46’30”, https://moversmindset.com/72
Brandee: Yeah, that’s a great question, because I do get very dark moods pretty often actually, because with compassion comes the pain of caring so much about all these people and all this situation, it feels very futile a lot of times, like what can I do to change this. Yeah, I get there and I have a few tactics, I basically build protocols for myself for when I get in those moods. So one of the first things I go to is my self-esteem box.
Craig: This sounds like a good idea.
Brandee: And my self-esteem box is digital, it’s a digital self-esteem box and what I have done, is I have taken screenshots and copy/pasted and just dumped in all kinds of nice things that people have said, either to me or about me over the years.
So I have this file that is just full of gratitude and compliments and just stuff that I have had to read over and over and over in order to actually believe it. So that’s actually more like last resort is the self-esteem box. If nothing else works, open the self-esteem box, look through here.
Craig: In case of emergency, break glass, right?
Brandee: Totally. Totally. So that’s something I think everyone could and should do that. I guess I’ve never really told anyone about that. But it’s a nice thing.
Craig: I think that’s a really good tactic. People talk about doing gratitude journaling, but the gratitude journaling. I mean, I know that you know what it is, but gratitude journaling is a process which you have to execute on the spot when you feel like you’re having a bad mood. But the idea of having a self-esteem box is a clever one.
Brandee: Why, thank you.
I think these two thoughts popped into my head as the photo-frame on my wall changed. One of the smartest things I’ve ever done is set up a digital photo-frame. I email it photos of things—you know, all those digital photos you never do anything with. :)
Anyway. I love love LOVE my photo-frame. It’s chock full of hundreds of great photos. It’s not quite a self-esteem box. But it generally has the same effect. Every single time I glance at it it makes me smile.
Meanwhile, ever since I had that conversation with Brandee, (in September 2019,) I’ve been toying with the idea of creating a self-esteem box. I’m not quite sure where to put it [digitally] though; Also, I really do not need to make up yet another system for myself for organizing and storing things.
But the idea keeps calling to me.
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Martial art is not merely the physical act of filling time and space with precision-like movements. Machines can do that, too. As he matures, a martial artist will realize that his kick or punch is really not so much a tool to conquer his opponent, but a tool to explode through his consciousness, his ego, and all mental obstacles. Indeed, the tools are ultimately a means for penetrating the depth of his being so that he will restore the equilibrium of his inner center of gravity. With this vital inward loosening flows his outward expression of his tools. Behind each physical movement of an accomplished martial artist is this wholeness of being, this all-inclusive attitude.
~ Bruce Lee
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The above quote is take from Lee’s typed essay entitled “Jeet Kune Do—Toward Personal Liberation,” circa 1971. I’d also like to extend a hat-tip to the book, Bruce Lee: Artist of Life by J Little, 1999, which was recommended to me by S Foucan. And…
Apparently, there’s nothing new under the sun. This sentiment fits perfectly with my concept of what my Art du Déplacement practice is. In some respects my ten-year-ago self is an unrecognizably different person. I’m only able to remember and reconcile who that person was thanks to my journals. There are many threads to the story of that decade. But if I had to point to one thread, I’d point to my practice, and I wouldn’t disagree that “vital inward loosening” is a fitting description.
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Martial art is not merely the physical act of filling time and space with precision-like movements. Machines can do that, too. As he matures, a martial artist will realize that his kick or punch is really not so much a tool to conquer his opponent, but a tool to explode through his consciousness, his ego, and all mental obstacles. Indeed, the tools are ultimately a means for penetrating the depth of his being so that he will restore the equilibrium of his inner center of gravity. With this vital inward loosening flows his outward expression of his tools. Behind each physical movement of an accomplished martial artist is this wholeness of being, this all-inclusive attitude.
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Another finding suggests that Geminiani was onto something. All of the violins included in the study displayed some sonic overlap with the sung vowels. But in the 1570 Amati and the 1560 da Salo, “every violin note appears to carry some degree of human vowel character,” Tai et. al. write in the paper. “This may have been one of the … goals implemented by Amati” when he was inventing and perfecting his design: to make the violin literally sing.
~ Cara Giaimo from, The World’s Best Violins Sing Like Humans – Atlas Obscura
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I don’t know why this struck me as amazing. I mean, sure, violins sound amazing, and playing them is subtly difficult. But the idea that someone sat down — in the 1500 — and said, “How do I make an instrument that sounds like a human voice singing.” Mind blown.
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If you have to understand the law to read a book, we have failed. If you have to enter into a contract – any contract, even a ‘‘good’’ contract – to read a book, we have failed.
These are cultural, not industrial activities. It’s insane to ask people to sign contracts to read books. Seriously, who actually thinks this is a good idea?
Maybe we do need rules for culture, and maybe we even need laws for culture, but they shouldn’t – and can’t – be the rules we designed for industry.
It’s not always easy to tell the difference between culture and industry, but there are plenty of cases where it’s totally obvious. For those fuzzy cases in the middle, come up with some guidelines and let the courts apply them.
It’s a wildly imperfect system, but at the very least, it isn’t the grossly Kafkaesque idea that you should have to enter into a 22,000-word agreement with Apple, AT&T, and Random House audio in order to listen to a 15,000-word novella.
~ Cory Doctorow from, Cory Doctorow: A New Deal for Copyright – Locus Online
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Every pro was once an amateur.
Every expert was once a beginner.
So dream big, and start now.~ unknown
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