I was early for a meeting so I could take my time and see what was around the place I was going too. Always far more rewarding than rushing in with seconds to spare and rushing out to our next commitment.
It was a cold and very sunny morning and I came across this obstacle area for children shown in the picture. It was very well kept, all of the equipment seemed in top condition. As it was early in the morning, icy and a school day I was not surprised to see little activity.
The thing that struck me straight away was how similar it was to many such courses that are used for management development and leadership development. Many has been the time that I have either undertaken exercises of put others through their management development paces.
It also made me smile that so often we forget what was learnt at such times, only to have to scamper over the obstacles again.
We so often forget what has been learnt and decide to get from A to B by making ourselves climb over the same obstacles in our work, in our life, in our career………that really should be avoided.
On this day it would have required careful footwork to avoid slipping on the icy steps. Our hands would need to be well gloved to avoid the biting cold as we held onto each piece of equipment. Our attention would be focussed on the detail of where next to put our feet and hands. Our concentration would be needed to avoid being distracted and falling over.
Now:
- How often have we needed to tread carefully for fear of upsetting things?
- Had our hands so well gloved and lost the ‘feel’ of what was needed?
- Focussed on the detail when the big picture and far vision was required of us?
- Concentrated so hard that we failed to notice the important distraction, and fallen over anyway?
And perhaps the biggest question – how often have we chosen to look at everything in our line of sight, only see the obstacles, then start to tackle them like some sort of new assault course………..when we could and should have looked wider and taken the easy path around the obstacles?
So….
- Are you only seeing obstacles and don’t have confidence in what you already know?
- Who are you asking to help you, or are you that ‘lone ranger’ tackling the obstacles when someone could help you see the easy and faster path?
Now these ARE two interesting questions to help you…..or you could choose the obstacle course after all!
My best wishes,
Peter
