irrational

I watched ‘The Colbert Report’ recently (see below video). He had this guy on named Jonah Lehrer who wrote the book “How We Decide”. Ohhhhh, we are so fooled by our own rational mind. You know, that tough guy part of us who thinks its in control when instead its his sister, the emotional/intuitive part of our brain, that is really running the show. “”Pure reason is a disease”, says Lehrer. Ha! It’s certainly done a good job for us so far, hasn’t it? NOT! How naive we are to think that we can conclude from ‘logical evidence’ what decision we need to make. And how different the decision that we end up making is from what we may have needed to make.

I suggest that, in our righteous stance, we have mostly been wrong and completely unaware of the fact that most our decisions are made based on irrational reason. Especially when it comes to making choices on how best to serve the human condition. The planet and our human (or should I say inhuman) state of being is busy tearing down our own life support system (called the planet’s ecosystem). And do you know what is finally making us take a different form of action? It’s the shear panic and fear that we feel from what we maybe have done. Thank God for the weird weather patterns so that we could question the scientists predictions.

Sure the scientists data is rational, but our ability as a collective to act on it is not. We have made our choices based on the emotional baggage that comes with old expectations and assumptions; things we don’t dare hold onto any longer. Our decision to change course is coming from an emotional response that’s way more potent than any logical one could ever consider being. Otherwise, we would have made different decisions, different choices, a long long time ago – wouldn’t you agree? (Beeeee careful! Notice where your decision is coming from as you choose to either agree or disagree with me 🙂

So, the next time you “think” that you are making logical choices about hiring or firing, creating or destroying, going to the meeting or not going, loving or hating, etc., know that your emotional state is probably in the drivers seat. The next time you’ve got something to decide about want to make, finish, stop, or start, give yourself permission to see that part of you which you are not in control of. Then practice taking a breath before you respond to your business cohort or your family loved one. What will happen if you do this? What will happen if you allow your rational mind to dance with its non-rational partner? I assure you, that the overall decisions you end up making will be far more supportive of your own well being, of others lives, and of the planet’s sustainability.

Now then, here’s the link to ‘collaboration’.

Once you enter this personal dance between your rational and emotional mind, begin to watch how your relationships with others change. Yes, that’s right. Watch how you relate, how you listen, how you support and encourage, and how you begin to allow others to become a part of ‘YOUR’ decision-making process. It’s at this point that the ‘WE’ emerges. Watch how you come to realize that their level of participation and commitment to getting the work done is directly related to your old unconscious ways of ‘thinking’ that you have to get input from them, make the decisions on your own. As you awaken to this, your unconscious emotional fears will no longer have the power to kill of staff individuality. You will come to recognize that you’ve been missing insights from them, and as a result, deeper levels of participation. All of which feeds your company’s or team’s choices and decisions. When the group begins to choose together, to make decisions together, your organization’s intuition will come alive. It will help to steer you though a maze of (shall we say) irrational logistics that the rational mind just can’t handle. And what will happen when your team is empowered to do come together like this? … Ohhhhh, just you watch.