This is episode-2 of the calm conversation with Josie Gibson from The Catalyst Network, inspired by Robert Poynton’s book “Pause – You are not a To-Do list“. The approach is simple: we both read chapter-2 of the book and highlight three sentences, and mark the words that resonate most. These sentences and words are the triggers for a very slow-paced conversation on whatever comes our way. No tricks, no gimmicks, just a gentle and calm wandering and meandering of minds.
Here are Josie’s three sentences:
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It is an opening which allows, enables, permits or invites all sorts of other possibilities.
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It (pause) has more to do with rhythm than pace, it is more a question of timing than time.
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‘How you pause says something about who you are.
And here are my three sentences:
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These are very gentle, generous verbs: allow, enable, permit, invite.
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When you press the pause button on a machine it stops. But when you press the pause button on human beings, they start.
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At the end of a talk or meeting, instead of hammering home his ‘message’, he will ensure he leaves a space, which he gives back to the room, so that someone else can have the final say. This is an act of openness and generosity that people notice and appreciate. A pause can be a gift.
We covered a wide range of topics from grace, protocol, courage, bravery, expansion, and building a time-space machine, to Designing Freedom – Stafford Beer (PDF), the Overton Window of freedom, the Nooscope (Knowledge Scope device), comparing human and machine pause and activity, and even the 5 gaits of the Icelandic horse.
We ended with a discussion on Rhythm, Pace, and Tempo, and that’s where will pick up in episode-3, in 3-4 weeks from now.
Episode-1 is here.
These are very calm conversations; so best is to take a pause, install yourself in a quiet corner, and enjoy!
Peter & Josie
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