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Breakthrough
"Productive insight; clear (often sudden) understanding of a complex situation."  Free Dictionary

Pop the bubble of conditioned thinking and emerge into the creative realm of "no absolutes," continuous change, uncertainty and unlimited possibilities.

Then, there can be innovation, adaptation and optimal performance.
Performance and Open-minded Mindfulness
Open-minded: questioning everything, accepting diversity and uncertainty.  

Mindful:  consciously aware; concentrated. 

Foundation for blending process, project, engagement and knowledge management into a cohesive approach to optimize performance.

Breakthrough
Newsletter
VOLUME X ISSUE NO. 8  | AUGUST 2018 
Humility and the Power of Criticism
George Pitagorsky


Criticism may at first seem like a destructive attack, but with the right view, it becomes an opportunity for personal growth and optimal performance. 
 
Thanks to my friend Jerry for sharing the following piece on humility. It brings out the multiple levels of mind and personality that come into play when faced with criticism. It offers a method for using the experience to gain greater insight into the way one relates in the world.
 
"Humility as Nothing to Defend
I find truth in anything anyone ever says about me, so nobody can be my enemy.
Call me a fraud, I can find it.
Call me a liar, I can find it.
Call me a failure, I can find it.
Call me unreasonable, irresponsible, ignorant, deluded, full of ego, totally unenlightened, the worst being in the world, I can find all of it.
As consciousness, I can find anything.
Like you, I have nothing to hide, nothing to lose, and no image to protect.
Every possible facet of human experience is available here.
This is truly the end of war.
It is the end of protecting and defending a mirage called 'me'.
So, next time you get triggered by something someone says to you or about you,
ask yourself this: "What am I defending?"
This inquiry is the key to unimaginable peace.
Deep gratitude to anyone who has ever given me any kind of feedback."
by Jeff Foster
 
Humility brings a method to the work of cutting through the resistance to criticism so you can take it in and learn from it. Going beyond humility, acknowledge that there is nothing to defend, seek self-transcendence. Maslow in his hierarchy of needs first recognized self-actualization (fulfilling one's potential) as the highest level need. Later he added self-transcendence (going beyond self as the center of it all).
 
The humility to accept that "I can find all of it" - the ignorance, the liar, and fraud, is key to not getting caught up in thinking thoughts of unworthiness and failure; thoughts that create self-doubt and lead to depression and inaction. The attitude of humility opens the door to improvement. When the cracks and blemishes are ignored and suppressed, the door remains closed. When they are exposed and explored, there is the possibility of correcting them. Humility fuels self-actualization.
 
Self-transcendence comes when there is the realization that "protecting and defending a mirage called 'me' " is an unsustainable effort. Asking the question "What am I defending," one finds "unimaginable peace."

© 2018 George Pitagorsky
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Performance and Open-minded Mindfulness

Open-minded: 

questioning everything, accepting diversity and uncertainty.  
 
Mindful:
 consciously aware; concentrated. 

Foundation for blending process, project, engagement and knowledge management into a cohesive approach to optimize performance.

  Learn More

New Book:
Managing Expectations: A Mindful Approach to Achieving Success   provides a compassionate, practical process for satisfying expectations in any situation. Essential reading for leaders seeking to ensure expectations are rational, mutually understood, and accepted by all those with a stake in the project. 

Managing Conflict in Projects
By George Pitagorsky
Managing Conflict in Projects: Applying Mindfulness and Analysis for Optimal Results by George Pitagorsky charts a course for identifying and dealing with conflict in a project context.

Pitagorsky states up front that conflict management is not a cookbook solution to disagreement-a set of prescribed actions to be applied in all situations. His overall approach seeks to balance two aspects of conflict management: analysis based on a codified process and people-centered behavioral skills.

The book differentiates conflict resolution and conflict management. Management goes beyond resolution to include relationship building that may serve to avoid conflict or facilitate resolution if it occurs.

 

Read More
The Zen Approach to Project Management 
By George Pitagorsky

Projects are often more complex and stressful than they need to be. Far too many of them fail to meet expectations. There are far too many conflicts. There are too few moments of joy and too much anxiety. But there is hope. It is possible to remove the unnecessary stress and complexity. This book is about how to do just that. It links the essential principles and techniques of managing projects to a "wisdom" approach for working with complex, people-based activities.

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