78% of us say we get our best ideas doing one of these three things: showering, exercising and driving. But what if we were more deliberate about creating that time and space for us to be free thinking? For our brains to be relaxed and connect some dots on their own? To not act more quickly, but pause more deeply? That is the premise of the brand-new book The Pause Principle by Kevin Cashman, senior partner, CEO and Executive Development, at Korn/Ferry International.
He details a catalytic process to guide you to step back in order to lead forward in three critical growth areas: personal leadership, development of others, and fostering of cultures of innovation.
The goal? To learn to move from management speed and transaction to leadership significance and transformation.
“Pause powers purposeful performance.” That’s a tongue tying alliteration for sure, and one that Cashman himself had to be deliberate about delivering in his book launch party I attended this week.
Put another way, in the day-to-day rush to get things done, we are often too busy and too distracted to focus on what’s really important. We seldom take time to step back and reflect, and that process can often give us clarity about our work, our relationships, and maybe even our mission and purpose in life.
“How am I going to move from speed to significance?” Cashman asked the audience somewhat rhetorically, though of course had spent a year developing some of the answers to that question and others.
Kevin Cashman
Speaking of speed, at the start of his presentation, Cashman stated that one out of every three of us suffers from “hurry sickness.” That is we are always rushing to be everywhere and yet getting nowhere.
He also cited the statement of a CEO he coaches who told him about getting into the swimming pool with problems, and coming out with solutions.
“That’s what happens when we slow down and relax the brain. We have these a-ha moments.”
As much as we can probably all look back on times when we have solved problems exactly when we’re not trying to be intentional about it, Cashman says most executives only spend 5% of their time engaged in reflective thinking.
“The vast majority of organizations, 89% in fact, state innovation is their most critical strategy,” Cashman told the audience at the book launch event hosted by Navigate Forward, a Minneapolis-based executive transition and outplacement consulting firm. “Yet our research shows senior teams only spend an average of three-and-a-half days a year on it.”
“The vast majority of organizations state innovation is their most critical strategy. Yet our research shows senior teams only spend an average of three-and-a-half days a year on it.”
“Fast thinking is the domain of management transaction, while slow thinking is the leadership domain of strategic, innovative transformation…At the core of this transformation is the ability to pause. But for most, slowing down to drive performance is counter to instinct, especially when they have been rewarded for speed and action. But stepping forward to act, particularly in complex situations, without first stepping back for information, clarity, and connection to what is most important can be disastrous.”
What do you think? Does this make sense? Or is your reaction the same as one of Cashman’s CEO clients who said, “Hey, I need to do more work, not less.” Is being reflective the same as not working in your mind? Does your company culture allow a time and place for this kind of reflective thinking? Do you feel if you did more of this you might experience some sense of renewed purpose? Please share your thoughts.
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
I work in R&D and I agree with this 100%. I have gone through periods where I am getting task after task accomplished with little or no time to fully understand the results and I felt like I wasn’t getting anything done. Lately I have had more time to exercise and reflect, and while I am not crossing off as many tasks, I am coming up with ideas for new tests and solving more problems to move projects much further ahead. In an industry where one is expected to put in upwards of 70 hours a week in a high intensity environment, the concept of rest is completely alien to our corporate culture.
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I will be getting this book ordered as soon as I finish this response! Definitely agree! Thought time whether driving, mowing the lawn or bike riding always produces my greatest solutions or at a minimal my (and my staff’s) to-do list. There have been numerous times when my staff stated they did not like me driving to remote branch offices, because I then bombard them with projects. In the past 9 months been focusing on creating more thought time – and more projects are being solve due to it.
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At my previous job my boss had this very realization and regularly scheduled periods of reflection for the creative staff. What’s funny about that was watching how uncomfortable people were at first. They were so fidgety and clearly anxious to get back to “The Grind” that the reflection periods suffered. People had to almost train themselves to relax before there was any value. And even then, there’s always that little spot in the back of your brain that annoys you about that to-do list …
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Introspection is not something that comes easy or naturally to many, particularly in the workplace, and especially if an employer doesn’t make space for it, both literally and figuratively.
You are exactly on target Trevor with your insight that we have to work at relaxing, which sounds kind of crazy. Like most everything else, it does take practice and diligence.
I went to an early morning Yoga class today, the first one I had been to in six months. And you’re also right about our lists. When I first got down on my mat I was thinking about all I need to get done today. Thanks for the comment.