Directed Dreaming - Tumblr Posts
The problem of the uncomfortable!
The problem of the uncomfortable, is not the goal, it is the journey. Even in project management, there is a lot of energy put towards identifying risks and mitigating them. Another metaphor for this same journey is a Dungeons and Dragons quest.
The Man Kind Project looks at the uncomfortable through many processes, but one identified in the article is "Stretches". Stretches, or SMART Goals, are the steps in the project plan to walking the journey and achieve the goal.
Specific Measurable Attainable Realistic Time Bound
While these steps, ask you to look at the best case scenario outcome, we often forget to examine the worst case scenario outcomes, that most project managers look at on a daily basis.
Dependencies Risks Issues Assumptions Unknowns
For many people, the only worst case scenario they consider is, "Being hit by a train!" They never consider that they might be hit by a body part of someone else's worst case scenario. Or even worse, someone's best case scenario being to push someone into their worst case scenario. (- Sorry, it's a little gruesome for role playing effect! -)
"No strategy survives contact with the enemy.", Helmuth von Moltke the Elder. It is only in recognizing patterns that we find the path of least resistance to the goal. Many Jujitsu students study how to navigate their partners counters to eventually submit them. Chess students also study chess patterns to build strategies.
Like Jujitsu students, members of the Man Kind Project, study processes that help men explore their worst case scenarios. Processes for looking at risks. Holding men accountable to agreements. Ways to cleanly express upset and wants, while acknowledging why those things are important. Seeing judgement and beliefs for what they are .. walls. Understanding that sometimes we have to give up something to get something. and more ...
A process I use and can share from Directed Dreaming, is this: What is the issue? What is causing the issue? What are solutions for this issue? How do I feel about this issue? What do I do when this issue comes up? Can I live with this issue? What am I getting now with things unchanged? What would I get if things changed? What would I have to give up if things changed? What do I want?
The Journey. Not the goal is where the uncomfortable lies. Crossing the mountain through mud and snow. Over treacherous bridges and glide lines. Climbing sheer faces with 1000 foot drops, or being chased by a bear. These are all possibilities on a journey through a mountain pass. Until you meet a troll under a bridge. Or come a cross a home that smells of candied cakes. Or maybe a something else from the Grimm Fairy Tales.
Face your fears and you will conquer the world.