A response to a crisis follows three phases:
Phase 1: Looking backward – this begins with denial and continues into argument, anger and bargaining.

Phase 2: Looking lost – when anger and bargaining with what was and is no more has been used up, it gives way to confusion. The reference that was used as an anchor is no longer there, and there isn’t a new point of reference yet.  Confusion leads to feeling and looking lost which gradually may lead to surrender.

Phase 3: Looking forward – If the second phase has led to surrender it opens a way up into a third phase. From surrender and acceptance there is a shift toward looking forward, to identifying new opportunities and to adaptive emergence.

Some never go past the first phase. Some stay at the second phase for far too long. Resilience is being able to metabolize from phase one through two and quickly move into the third phase.

© Aviv Shahar

Aviv Shahar :: Nov.03.2008 :: Innovation, Organizational Development, Personal Growth, Reflections, Tough Times :: No Comments »

Watch this Charlie Rose discussion with Dean Ornish, George Church and David Agus.

My response: The bigger news in recent genetic breakthroughs is not that you will be able to know your medical future, but the knowledge that you have the power to determine which part of your genetics get expressed. This is the important stuff!

60 years ago with the development of antibiotics, medicine went through an arrogant phase. Medical doctors at that time believed we were just a couple of decades away from a disease free world. Few people contemplated then the unintended consequences of antibiotics. It would take a couple of decades for super resistant bugs to appear. I still remember the series of penicillin shots I got 44 years ago. My immune system is even now still recovering from that event.

I admire these brilliant doctors. It’s great that the medical field generates such excitement and new possibilities. But there is a caution toward some humility and wisdom in our next steps. Please don’t tell us personalized gene therapy will eradicate disease. And do tell us more about the preventative choices we can make in our daily lives. We now have a society, mostly in the West, which believes that genes contain a person’s unavoidable destiny. Based on the recent genetic breakthroughs, let us hope that the educational efforts of the next decade help us to understand that we have all the power in the world to determine which part of our genetics will get expressed. Let’s realize we have a part to play in how our destiny and our health play out.

© Aviv Shahar

Aviv Shahar :: Aug.15.2008 :: Future, Reflections :: No Comments »

1.    My first visit to Berlin. We arrived in Berlin on Monday morning. Nine minutes after the pilot parked at the gate I was sitting in a taxi heading to the hotel. This is by far the fastest I have ever been facilitated in arrival to my destination.  Customs, immigration and luggage pick-up are all dedicated to the gate. Never before have I seen such efficiency, or something that comes even close to it. Wow!

On the afternoon I visited the Brandenburg Gate and the Reichstag. Great energy here. Lots of young people. This place feels very green and quick silver.

If Berlin was a person what would they say? Here are the first words I hear: “I am alive! I am together! I will embrace life fully! I am not going to miss out on anything!

My first impressions of Berlin - beauty, pride, pain, remembrance, confusion, hope and a search for a new identity. Berlin is a gate. It is a gate to the past. It is also a gate to the future.

Berlin - More Impressions

2. The history of a place is built like sedimentary rock, layer upon layer. Berlin has many sedimentary layers. The Prussian Empire, Industrialization, the making of Berlin into the capital of the German Reich (1871), early Twentieth Century and WWI, the Weimar Republic, Hitler’s rise and WWII, the Cold War and the construction of the Berlin Wall (1961), a divided city that became reunified,  and now the newly rising Berlin with multi cultures and immigration. Each of these layers is recorded here and is felt. This place is an epicenter. Uncertainty, excitement, anxiety and hope converge in the vortex of Berlin.

3. My German friends educate me regarding the word leadership which is problematic here. Since I am a leadership expert and coach, here to facilitate a leadership summit, they take the time to explain that the German word for Leader is Fuehrer. We converse about this, exploring the themes that can help reframe the past into an elevated future. Healing of the past can be found in new, higher and evolved expressions into the future. Can Germany and Berlin be a laboratory place for future type leadership? Could we practice here “facilitative leadership”, “enabling leadership”, “collaborative” and “co-creative leadership”? These are some of the cutting edge trends in 21st century enlightened leadership. Can Berlin be one of its laboratories? Perhaps it can. It will help to give Berlin the new identity it desires.

As this city becomes the center of contemporary art and culture, where you can party 24/7, Berlin may also evolve to be a laboratory of the future for the new emerging field of co-creative leadership. Such is the leadership that energizes both business and social entrepreneurialism.

(Click on images to enlarge):

© Aviv Shahar

Aviv Shahar :: Jul.19.2008 :: Reflections :: 2 Comments »

This week, with Bill Gates’ last day at work, every respectable magazine made an attempt to summarize his legacy. Here is something that was not covered in any of those articles.

That morning John (63), the manager at the auto shop had a large elastic bandage on his hand. “What’s that for?” Sara asked.

John: “Yesterday I fell and hurt myself badly, and a major swelling developed under the wrist. The doctor said nothing was broken but the swelling put a pressure on the nerve, and my brain got confused. As it sometimes happens with computers, my brain misread the signal and thought the nerve was telling it that all my fingers were broken. That was why it was so painful. The doctor gave me cortisone shot to reduce the inflammation and swelling, so the pressure on the nerve would be removed, and this would help my brain get the correct read on the situation”.

15 years ago you wouldn’t have heard a doctor giving such an example; and even more surprising, you would hardly expect the patient (unless he worked in IBM) to understand the metaphor and its exact context.  PCs on every desk have not only changed what we can do; they have changed our minds and how we use language.

Metaphors and imagery always originate in the obvious, the easy to grasp, local environment. Long ago, it was the forest, the sea, the mountain, the desert; then it was the plants, the animals, the mustard seed, the beast. Later still, the machines, the conveyor belt, the assembly line. Today, metaphors and imagery are fashioned by a global-computerized-internet environment because this is such a central part of our experience.

Can you estimate how many times a day you use computing and Internet metaphors to explain relationships, nature, your body and brain, organizational issues and more…

Our experience of our environment fashions our minds and the language we use to frame our communications which then inform our sense of meaning and purpose. Bill Gates’ legacy stretches beyond the PC – he helped reshape our perception and language.

© Aviv Shahar

Aviv Shahar :: Jul.08.2008 :: Reflections :: 1 Comment »

Prague, the Golden City, is filled with colors—pink, yellow, turquoise, green, amber and gold. I am here to facilitate a strategy summit. It’s a good idea to assimilate the character and nature of the place prior to engaging. Understanding the history and character of a place helps me to be more effective in my communication. One of the best ways to learn about the character and energy of a city, a nation, a region is to observe both its young and old inhabitants. The elderly reveal the feelings about the past of the city they live in. The young people broadcast their sentiments about the future. I look at how each person walks, how they carry their sense of self, the dominant expression on their face, and whether there is hope or despair in their eyes. Are they tidy or loose? Are they engaged or disengaged? and much, much more.

In my first three hours in Prague - in the airport, the taxi, and the hotel, I interacted with seven people in their 20s. They were all bright, energetic, tidy, looked me straight in the eyes with confidence and energy. It told me more about Prague and its current conditions than reading five newspapers about what’s going on here. There is something vibrant and hopeful about this place and its future.

A few days later, thousands gathered in the old square to watch their soccer team beat the Swiss team on large outdoor TV screens. Prague is not dilapidated and suffers no vapidity. It is a vibrant city but is not as prurient as New York or London. It has a unique power and pride. Layers of old and young histories, one on top of the other conflate and build a great compound of power. Its beauty has been preserved and now the city is emerging to embrace a bright future for its people. Prague.

Here also, is the famous Jewish cemetery where twenty generations back, my great, great, great, great grandfather, the renowned Rabbi Maharal is buried.

© Aviv Shahar

Aviv Shahar :: Jun.14.2008 :: Reflections :: No Comments »

Learning something unique from the participants who attend my seminars is the best part of the work I do. I get to see and experience the world through their eyes. In my recent seminar in Chapala, Mexico we explored the Three Pillars of Trust. This is a powerful module in which we unlock the anatomy of Trust and translate it into practical and pragmatic behavior.

Here is a learning that surfaced in our discussions.  Managers in Mexico shared with me that from their perspective, Latin America is more communal and family oriented than the United States. Therefore, it’s harder for people to trust each other. It sounds counter intuitive but here is how they explain this phenomenon. The US culture promotes independence and individualism where it is clear that each person is in what they do for their own good.  The greater the independence the more critical it is to develop trustful terms of engagement. Developing a culture of trust is in the highest self interest of the individual to be able to transact business and to enable collaboration.

The Latin American culture is not ready to support such independence. The family value structure is strong and the communal bond has great prominence. The inverse (or shadow) side of this is that people are more likely to second guess, distrust and try to manage each other. “The people in logistics try to tell the finance people how to do their job; the finance people try to tell supply chain people how to do their job; supply chain tries to tell marketing how to do their job; marketing tries to tell logistics how to do their job…” and on it goes, instead of trusting that everybody knows their job best and are doing their utmost.

Further, inefficiency, wasted time, bad service, blame and confusion are often the consistent byproducts of lack of trust. As decisions are often being challenged and have to be explained or justified, the workload for all is doubled, more obstacles are placed between deciding and taking action and it takes twice as long to arrive at the desired outcome.

What is the insight about the culture factor of trust? The higher you climb on the development spiral of society and culture the greater the independence and with it the level of trust.

What culture do you work in? Is it trusting or lacking trust? There is no greater multiplier for teamwork effectiveness and speed than a high level of trust. Building a culture of trust in your organization is the transformational key to your competitive advantage and success.

© Aviv Shahar

Aviv Shahar :: Feb.24.2008 :: Organizational Development, Reflections :: No Comments »

Greatness is found in embracing our limitations and then transcending them. This is what defines courage and where beauty is to be found. This amazing dance is inspirational in that it shows each of us that we have the ability to not only overcome our limitations but lift others up by our example.
© Aviv Shahar

Aviv Shahar :: Feb.22.2008 :: Reflections :: No Comments »

1. I meet the first EVA airline representative and she makes me smile. I board the plane and the flight attendants each welcome me with a smile, one by one. It’s my first trip across the Pacific. I decide to pay attention to the insights that turn up. I sense that the desire to delight customers has a unique expression and depth in the Chinese culture. You can find many places in the US with extraordinary customer experience and service, mostly when you are ready to pay. In the US it’s a culture of excellence. Excellence and the desire to delight may produce similar results but they get there differently and the after taste they leave is different.

2. There is nothing wrong with wishing to delight. The West has thrown this baby out with the bathwater in the name of liberation. There is something natural about the desire to delight customers, to make things as pleasing as can be. It’s natural to take pleasure in making other people happy and comfortable. But this was not part of the culture of Israel and of being raised in a Kibbutz. Part of me is still learning that it is okay to enjoy delightful service.

3. When I arrived in Taipei, my suitcase was still being held in Seattle. The TSA found something suspicious. Perhaps it’s the rice milk I carry for breakfast. It gives me an opportunity to practice what I preach. No point in getting upset. Getting angry with the airline is a total waste of time and energy. I travel heavy because I like having everything I need in hand for my seminars. In the first 24 hours in Taipei, I discover again that I can manage with little. The suitcase arrives the following morning at 9:30am when we are already in session.

4. Coming down the elevator in the Agora Garden Hotel in Taipei, the notice says “10 people; 700 KG”. We often talk about “thinking outside the box” and even “thinking anew inside the box”. It’s more important to think about what defines the box. Perspective defines the box. For a start, this elevator size in the US would be considered sufficient for three people perhaps four if they are willing to squeeze in. So how, in heaven’s sake, will 10 people get in this small elevator? Second, where in the US will you find 10 people with the average wait of 70 KG (154 lbs) or less? Our frame of reference defines our perspective and the perspective defines the box.

5. The Agora Garden Hotel is quite international. I counted more than 10 apparent nationalities including: Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Dutch, Swedish, German, Italian, French, Spanish and an Israeli. What do they all share in common?
a. They all have breakfast which is how I hear the languages.
b. They all want to improve their opportunities.
c. They all hope for success and for a better tomorrow for them and for their families.
We are not so very different after all.

6. I perfected the jetlag free method (I’ll write about this in the future), so I don’t have jetlag. I just wake up at 3:30am. It’s a great time to clear my mind and collect my thoughts for the strategy meeting that will begin at 8am. Working away when a large part of the city is asleep provides me an entry into the unconscious life of this place.

7. I have an extra day after the strategy summit to explore Taipei. Taipei is a place full of contradictions:
- Lots of fast movement and inside it, there is something slow
- welcoming hospitality and a sense of alienation
- ancient beauty and modern industrialism
- roughness together with softness and friendliness
- struggle and fortitude
- generosity and self preservation

8. According to the National Geographic Traveler, about 85 percent of the people living on the island of Taiwan consider themselves Taiwanese, or benshengren (“this province people”). Two million people who followed Chiang Kai-shek’s Nationalist government to Taiwan when it evacuated from the mainland in 1949 are referred to as daluren (mainlanders). Taiwan’s indigenous minority are called yuamjhumin. The history of Taiwan is multilayered. Indigenous people lived here for centuries. The 15th century saw Chinese immigrants from the province of Fujian. In the 14th through the 16th century Japanese and Chinese pirates used Taiwan as a stronghold. The Portuguese established a trading settlement in 1590. They were followed by the Dutch in 1622 and later the Spanish. The Island continued to experience much strife and struggle as one wave of occupation followed by another. My short experience here is of an intense vortex of many influences. Like the Yin and Yang, they each appear to be gathering for a fight before they collapse into each other and mesh inside a swirling embrace.

Here are some shots from the National Palace Museum, including a large picture of the Taj Maahal.

These are shots from my room on the 11th Floor of the Agora Garden Hotel, looking at the Taipei 101 tower, the tallest building in the world.

© Aviv Shahar

Aviv Shahar :: Feb.20.2008 :: Reflections :: No Comments »

(My mother wrote to me that this blog is becoming too sophisticated that it’s a struggle for her to read it. My guess is that she meant she cannot feel me or my thought process in what she reads here. Mother, this post is for you!)

We are back in Real de Chapala near Guadalajara, Mexico to teach the Keys2Greatness seminar. Coming here from Seattle in February is like coming out of a dark room or a cave into the light. I love the February sun in this part of Mexico. It’s soft, warm and caressing. I begin to thaw. The speed is different here. It’s slower. People don’t seem to be worried about what the stock market will do tomorrow or the Super Tuesday’s winners.

I like to arrive a day before each seminar begins. It gives me a chance to breathe in the nature of the place and its energy and to calibrate my speed. Relaxing in the sun is so very peaceful. I look out on the lake. Last summer when we were here for a leadership program the lake was out from shore about 200 meters or 600 feet. The water level had been down for a number of years and the local talk at that time was all about an imminent ecological disaster and how it might impact the area. Today the lake is back. The water comes right to the edge of the resort’s soccer field. Seeing the return of the lake causes me to reflect on the nature of human perception and awareness.

We live in times where “today” or this week is all the mind can hold and there’s a good reason for that. The intensity of impressions, the non-stop news cycle and the dynamic shape-shifting situations of life don’t allow us to process much more than this very moment. It’s curious. The Western mind has come full circle only to find itself right smack in the middle of the Buddhist idea and teaching that NOW is all that there is; that yesterday or tomorrow are only an illusion of the mind. All you really have is this moment; and when the future is actualized it becomes the present. The Western mind is not pressed into this through emptiness or meditative clearing of itself from any thought. Rather it is forced into it as a result of the over fullness or having too much to handle. Being in the now, in this very minute then becomes not some New Age idea but the only personal management strategy that works. Worrying about the past or having anxiety about the future tires your mind, weakens your immune system and robs your energy.

Yesterday is no more, it’s gone. There is absolutely nothing you can do about it. Tomorrow may or may not come for you. It will be here with you or without you. So all you really have is today. The future is the moment by moment discovery of what happens now and then in the next now.

What all this has to do with the lake? Well, the lake is back. It doesn’t worry about its yesterday or its tomorrow. It is being and doing what it is and does today. For the lake there is no yesterday or tomorrow. Time is a continuum and the lake lives in the moment, inside that continuum.

Can you be fully present in the conversation you are engaged in? Can you live in the moment inside the continuum of your life and its unfolding story?

© Aviv Shahar

Aviv Shahar :: Feb.07.2008 :: Reflections, View :: No Comments »

These are snapshots of Mount Rainier as my plane was taking off from SeaTac airport. I usually prefer to sit by the aisle but on the flight to Houston last week I sat in the left window seat and took my digital camera.

Mount Rainier makes me wonder about latent power…

Power that has not been applied and is being contained has a greater impact than power that has been released. The energy potential is greater before usage. Think about the big guy who does not need to use his power and can be gentle, because his presence alone is a reassurance of threat.

Look around and see that when individuals, groups or nations are forced to use their power they are weakened. The energy potential is diminished. How about this as a mindset when going out into the world? How about appreciating that the power you contain is greater than the power you use? Imagine relationships where people appreciate each other’s presence and power and have no need to apply and use it

That is what Mount Rainier is like. It contains its power. It would be a much weaker mountain if it exploded.

© Aviv Shahar

Aviv Shahar :: Jan.24.2008 :: Reflections :: No Comments »