“And don't throw the past away/You might need it some other rainy day…
When everything old is new again.”
–Peter Allen, Singer/Songwriter
Not that VIM Executive Coaching wants you to waste away your work hours, but you might easily find the television quiz show Name That Tune online. The program is sort of iconic. The original Name That Tune, was first aired in 1952. Over the years, the program has been erected, resurrected, thrown of the air, erected and resurrected multiple times. It has not only been aired in the States, but around the world.
We won’t spend much time discussing the premise of the show (the title is self-explanatory) and over time and many gimmicks, contestants have not stopped competing in order to figure out any song in as few notes as possible. In other words, though the format has repeatedly changed – and the level of gadgetry, from ringing bells to electronic to digital has complied, the objective remains the same.
Name That Tune, is more than a simple metaphor for executive leadership and mindfulness; in some ways, one is the essence of what we try to achieve in the teachings of mindfulness.
How far back do we go?
The pursuit and study of mindfulness is ancient. It remains and talks to the desire of people to reach a state of uncluttered awareness. Far from the impression that the pursuit of mindfulness is “philosophical” or “mumbo-jumbo,” the study of mindfulness was always intended to get to the essence, the root, or – if you prefer – the least number of notes to solve the problem in front of a person.
We live in times where mindfulness is often not valued. Why should this be? Clearly, there are all kinds of forces and conflicting opinions that surround executive leaders to force those same leaders from developing a sense of authenticity. It has gotten worse and more burdensome with the advent of AI.
A funny example. Our great-grandparents had no trouble buying a banana that was ripe! Yet, if we encourage you to go online and ask the question: “How can I tell if a banana is ripe?” you will find a hundred burdensome, answers and explanations. AI, in turn, will agglomerate all those answers with pros, cons and other extraneous information.
VIM Executive Coaching is not anti-AI for many applications, however in a societal or workplace sense, why are executive leaders attempting to solve problems through a maze of unnecessary clutter (an entire musical) when they can authentically understand the problem or question in “three notes?”
The subtlety of self-reliance
The art of authenticity, of being one’s authentic self, requires only a true, simple response to what is fully seen, heard, understood and reflected. It is coming down to the essence of the problem; a self-reliance anyone can develop for seeing the situation.
Yes, it is possible (and all-too frequent) that in the present day, to turn to the digital world, ask questions, get “a hundred opinions” from “a thousand experts,” allow AI to lump all of it into an easy to digest package and react to the situation. Invariably, the answers given to such problems, especially human resources or work place difficulties, are close enough, fine enough, but “not us.”
Does it matter? “Not quite me” decisions, aside from being inauthentic, lead executive leaders to get farther from core values, true compassion and the inability to identify what was once reliable from a standard reaction to clutter.
Truth is, through mindfulness, executive leaders see and hear the tune for what it is; the whole symphony needn’t be endured to determine the notes are off-key.