Break from the herd with Thought Dynamics

In the Chinese Zodiac Year of the Horse - 2014 - I decided to become a unicorn. Here’s why...

The horse is beautifully dichotomous - it is majestic, strong and free-spirited yet affectionate, playful and sensitive, the latter characteristic central to its basic instinct for survival as a herd animal.

In business, you can be part of the herd - just another choice in a long line of similar products - or you can differentiate yourself so that you become the product of choice in a cluttered and noisy market place.

As principal of a public relations and marketing agency, I was searching for “that special something” that would help make my business zig while the others keep zagging.

As described on the Thought Dynamics, “Thought Dynamics is a revolutionary approach to success, leadership and business challenges. At the core of the approach is the Thought Dynamics Diagnostic Tool and consulting program, both underpinned by the ESIP (Environment, Structure, Implementation, People) thinking model.

Quite simply, Thought Dynamics is developing the best world’s best brand in coaching and consulting methodology. “Well, you’d want to be part of that, wouldn’t you?”, I said to myself at the Meta Dynamics 1 training in June, just over a month ago.

I was booked to deliver a series of training programs for volunteer-based, community groups and organisations in July. While the training course was already set, I challenged myself to apply the ESIP thinking model to my public relations and marketing system so I could start using the language and practise asking quality questions based on the four areas of E, S, I and P.

Well, the feedback from the training was the best I have ever received and was, indeed, transformative for a number of the participants.

Rather than launching into a situation analysis to determine what the organisation currently does well, what it could do better, how it compares to competitors, what its clients / members think and what opportunities could be capitalised upon, we began the training with each participant reflecting upon the culture of their organisation.

After all, an organisation’s culture - including its vision, mission and values - will, to a large extent, determine whether or not people will want to become a member, volunteer or attend its programs.

“And I thought our purpose was to manage weeds in local bushland reserves”, the president of a land management group exclaimed. “Now I believe our purpose is to work together to create a healthy and thriving environment now and for future generations to enjoy”. This revelation was profound on two levels. Firstly, the participant’s way of thinking had shifted from below the line (Implementation level) to above the line (Environment level), and I clearly observed the power of ESIP in adding so much more value to my training program.

It was then my “unicornification” began.

ESIP is no mythical construct yet it’s power is as undeniable as the unicorn’s.

For me, it is the ease with which ESIP can be applied to existing systems and processes (it is logical and sequential), it is the applicability of ESIP to both individuals and organisations, and it is the adaptability of ESIP to a myriad of situations.

In the five weeks since my first exposure to ESIP, I have applied it to many facets of my personal and professional life including:

• language and conversation
• coaching
• mentoring
• decision-making
• training delivery
• meeting facilitation
• business proposals
• funding submissions
• project management
• team development
• budgeting
• time management
• learning

...and the list goes on.

So, with a pioneering spirit, I feel privileged to be on the ground floor of Thought Dynamics, the champion of the ESIP model. The Thought Dynamics community is amazingly supportive, dedicated to the highest standards and has an open culture of sharing knowledge, experience and resources so that everyone benefits and grows.

Of course, as the law of cause and effect applies, there is no doubting that what you put into Thought Dynamics is exactly what you will get out of it. The choice is yours.

And what an exciting choice it is!

Thought Dynamics IS destined to become the world’s best brand in coaching and consulting methodology.

In time, just as we say, “I Googled it”, I believe we will be saying “I ESIPd it!”.

Mid YEAR Springboard

I find the middle of the year an opportunity to reflect, redefine and reset my goals for the year. It’s the gift I give myself. I assess how I’m travelling. I reflect on where I’ve been. I get very clear on where I’m heading.

And sometimes I realise I’m heading in the wrong direction and have to self-correct.

I had (as always) the year’s goals laid out ahead of me. They’re documented. They’re communicated (where appropriate). They’re clear in my mind.

Then something happens that makes the goals look… what was I thinking?

This year was exactly like that.

There is a professional relationship I thought I could always count on. I don’t know why. There was no evidence that I could count on it. I had just assumed.

That was my first mistake.

My second mistake was building a goal around something I could not control and influence.

My third mistake (yes, they’re mounting up) was to assume the relationship would cope with some strain.

So I arrived near the middle of the year. What I’d counted on, was… wrong. The decisions I’d made until then were based on some very poor thinking on my part.

What’s a girl to do?

I could get down on myself. I could get down on them. I could complain. I could worry.

Instead (and I’m not saying this because this is what I always do – there are times I do respond poorly!), I saw the opportunity to represented.

In only three days the goals had been redefined and reset to take into account not just the changed relationship, but also to make the most of the opportunity it could represent, if only we saw through the disappointment.

I’ve done exactly that. It’s been a liberating, exhilarating and amazing time of self-realisation.

I had been compromising myself for this relationship. I had been hiding my true self to keep things on an ‘even keel’. I had suppressed my natural style for their way. None of that was ever going to last. (Yes, what was I thinking!)

But what’s even better is that by realizing this, and walking away, I can already feel my natural energy and certainty returning. It’s like a cloud has lifted (cliché, I know). It’s as if the world has returned to normal focus, instead of the muddy focus I’d been viewing it through and hadn’t even realised.

What could have been seen as only lose has actually become… freedom.

There is already even more of a buzz about the place as we quickly adjust to the change. It’s more than that, though. It’s like we’re really discovering who we are, rather than who we were according to how others defined us.

I’m not sure about the direction we’re heading completely. I do know it’s within our control. I do know it means we are now setting our own sails and that no one else can set them for us.

The relationship is nine years old. I’ve been in business for 11 years. That’s a long time to be involved. The ‘breakup’ should perhaps have been more challenging. But I think we broke up a while ago, and just didn’t know it.

So now, with our goals redefined, we are spring boarding into the new opportunity this represents to us all. We’re spring boarding towards a different future than what we thought we had planned.

We don’t know if it’s better. We do know it’s different. And we do know it’s up to us.

Sometimes the midyear delivers more than expected. Sometimes it gives us the gift of the ‘reset’. And sometimes it gives us the opportunity to let go.