Art of Possibility

Transforming Professional and Personal Life

By Rosamund Zander and Benjamin Zander,
Published by Penguin Books, 2000
ISBN: 0-1420-0110-4
211 pages

You’ve probably heard of all those self-help books that boast of transforming your life. Well,
this is one book that teaches you to do that and more. It is riddled with numerous accounts from
authors Benjamin and Roz Zander about their separate experiences that set the over-all tone of
the book. You will find that in order to effect changes in your work environment, you have to
start with pretty simple yet life-altering paradigm shifts within yourself. This book offers 12
Practices that take you through the whole process.

Practice One: It's All Invented

The best way to practice "It’s all Invented" is to ask yourself this question: "What assumption
am I making, that I'm not aware I’m making, that gives me what I see?" And when you’ve
answered this, ask yourself: "What might I now invent, that I haven’t yet invented, that would
give me other choices?"

Practice Two: Stepping into a Universe of Possibility

Considering that the practice entails moving out of the world of measurements into the universe
of possibility, you must continually analyze yourself, asking whether your thoughts or
reflections are indicative of the measurement world. Eventually you will realize that there is no
escaping the confines of this world without having to find something to compare yourself
against. You will then have to accept what you have and appreciate it. In that moment, you
would have stepped into the universe of possibility.

Practice Three: Giving an A

This practice of giving someone an A has far-reaching effects. When you start giving out A’s to
people, they naturally feel good about themselves and would want other people to experience
the same thing that they have. When you treat someone right from the start, this carries over to
the next person, and the next, and the next, until suddenly you find yourself in an "ideal" world
where every input is important and every accomplishment is treated as a cause to celebrate. It all
starts with giving someone an A.

Practice Four: Being a Contribution

In life, you are always in pursuit of goals to achieve. It can sometimes be frustrating when you
do not always succeed in your mission. It is the general norm that to define yourself a success,
you equate yourself against other people's standards of expectation. If you begin, however, to
see yourself as a contribution, the whole perspective changes. With contribution, there is always
a sense of peace in your accomplishments. Everything is a gift to others. You do not fail!

Practice Five: Leading from Any Chair

A good leader is someone whose ability lies in making other people powerful, so much so that
their talents and creativity are utilized to their fullest potential. He values the opinions and
advice of his peers, as well as those under him, and incorporates these throughout his work. This
acknowledgement of their importance and the respect he shows for their craft enables the leader
to establish camaraderie among the group.

Practice Six: Rule Number 6

The Calculating Self is a term which denotes that part that developed in the competitive
environment of the "measurement world". It is all about taking yourself too seriously. To release
yourself from the grip of your calculating self, you need to let go of your pride, and to be ready
to admit that you are fallible. When you have achieved this, other people will instantly feel the
connection and will reciprocate correspondingly. The key is to ask yourself, "What would have
to change for me to be completely fulfilled?" In this new world, you see things with an open-
mindedness of a child embarking on a new adventure.

Practice Seven: The Way Things Are

Dealing with the way things are involves dealing with the facts on hand. You focus your
attention on coping with the present situation while trying to avoid being high strung with
anticipated problems. Other practices, such as the following, involve distinguishing your
feelings about events instead of about the events themselves.

Practice Eight: Giving Way to Passion

The essence of this practice is to do things wholeheartedly. Half-baked efforts are not enough to
fully appreciate what life has to offer. Your passion for what you're doing must shine through
otherwise you're just trudging on with your dreary routine.

Practice Nine: Lighting a Spark

In the previous practice you are told to give way to passion. In this practice, you are the catalyst
for another person to experience his own form of passion. The key to this is the "art of
enrollment", where you carry the spark that will ignite another person’s passion - allowing
yourself to be triggered by it as well. It initiates a sense of well-being and generosity between
you and other people. Through this kind gesture, you are transported to the world of
possibilities.

Practice Ten: Being the Board

Blame - the easiest route to shifting responsibility for your own actions. It is usually the gut
reaction when faced with seemingly hopeless situations, where not even one of the practices so
far discussed is helping. This is the opportune time to "be the board". To "be the board" means
you take responsibility, at least to a certain extent, about events and situations that happen to
you even when another party is at fault. This practice give you the power to take charge of
things that are within your control.

Practice Eleven: Creating Frameworks for Possibility

True leadership lies in bringing possibility into the world. He ignites that spark of passion in
each person and draws people together through affiliation and compassion. He is the one that
perseveres in the face of fear, ridicule and resentment. He may be you.

Practice Twelve: Telling the WE Story

"WE" is a new entity that embodies the togetherness of any two people, in any setup or
organization. The practice is about developing a relationship based on the courage to speak on
behalf of "WE" and not "US" and "THEM".

You are most probably used to the concept of "WE" as "You and I". In this case, to get what you
want, you have to compromise so that the other party gets what he needs as well. Unfortunately,
if either one party feels he is short-changed, the scenario results in the issuance of an ultimatum
or the zealous guarding of your turf. The "WE" approach tries to appeal to the mutual
connection between people. At the heart of "WE" is the sense of belongingness, a part of "US".

Key thoughts:

"Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because character is what you
really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are."
– John Wooden, college basketball coach

"Although they only give gold medals in the field of athletics, I encourage everyone to look into
themselves and find their own personal dream, whatever that may be - sports, medicine, law,
business, music, writing, whatever. The same principles apply. Turn your dream into a goal and
learn how to attack that goal systematically. Break it into bite-size chunks that seem possible,
and then don't give up. Just keep plugging away."
– John Naber, swimmer, four-time Olympic Gold Medalist