This essay,
Nothing
Else I'd Rather Be Doing,
is the second in the ninth trilogy
Questions For A Friend:
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The first trilogy Questions For A Friend is: in that order. |
| The second trilogy Questions For A Friend is: in that order. | The third trilogy Questions For A Friend is: in that order. |
| The fourth trilogy Questions For A Friend is: in that order. | The fifth trilogy Questions For A Friend is: in that order. |
| The sixth trilogy Questions For A Friend is: in that order. | The seventh trilogy Questions For A Friend is: in that order. |
| The eighth trilogy Questions For A Friend is: in that order. | The tenth trilogy Questions For A Friend is: in that order. |
| The eleventh trilogy Questions For A Friend is: in that order. | The twelfth trilogy Questions For A Friend is: in that order. |
| The thirteenth trilogy Questions For A Friend is: in that order. | The fourteenth trilogy Questions For A Friend is: in that order. |
| This essay, Nothing Else I'd Rather Be Doing, with Performance Artists, is the prequel to Approximations. | |
| 1) |
Transformation,
which is essentially a
conversation,
has a profound physical effect on people. That much is
obvious. If you look at people's before and
after
photographs,
it's readily apparent. In the "afters" you can see
years have
fallen from their faces.
With the responsibility that comes with
transformation,
I notice I've spontaneously become
interested
in and
committed
to maintaining a higher level of
health
and physical fitness than I have before in ways I never did before.
First question: "You recently turned eighty. To look at you, you're ageless. To watch you in action, you're unstoppable. Do you adhere to any physical health regimens? If so, which ones?" |
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| 2) |
Staying with the theme of
transformation
as a
conversation,
I've often
wondered
if it's possible for people to get
transformation
from a
conversation
which is conducted in a
language
they don't
speak
ie in which they're not fluent. It seems to me that
something becomes
presenced
with
transformation
which could indeed enable this, regardless of which actual
language
is being
spoken.
Second question: "It's a matter of legend (which means it may be true or it may not be) that a Japanese Zen monk who didn't speak English, participated in your training. At the end, he came up to you, put his palms together, bowed, and said 'I gaht it!'. Does language have the power to communicate transformation in the absence of an accurate translation of what's being said?" |
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| 3) |
As you've
sourced,
developed, and
led
The
Leadership Course
since its inception, I
imagine
you've personally had discontigous
breakthroughs
in
being a leader,
simply congruent with the
actions
of bringing forth the material.
Third question: "What discontigous breakthroughs have you had in what it is to be a leader, out of sourcing and delivering The Leadership Course?" |
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| 4) |
The way you work
is always evolving.
Nothing
stands
still around you for too long. Staying with
your ever evolving
work
and The
Leadership Course
in particular for a moment, I can't help but think of it (in some
sense) as the harbinger of what's to come - in the same way as what
came before it,
led
to it. From the very
beginning,
everything you've ever done has evolved, attained
critical mass,
then blazed the trail for the
next
thing.
Fourth question: "What will be the next major iteration of your work following The Leadership Course?" |
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| 5) |
Something
happens
for us as we take on
honoring our word
as
who we are.
It fundamentally shifts
who we are
in
action.
As a
writer,
my
word
shows up
on
paper
(so to
speak)
even more than it
shows up
in my
speaking
and in my
actions
(and it
shows up
there too). I have a special admiration for people (and
performers
in particular), specifically for those whose entire profession is
given by their
spoken
word.
Fifth question: "Given who we are is our word, the four performers I admire most are (in this order) Landmark Forum Leader / Seminar Leader, stand up comedian, stage / film actor, rock star. Who are yours?" |
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| 6) |
My three children,
Alexandra,
Christian,
and
Joshua,
are all
graduates
of the
Landmark Forum for
Young People and Teens.
Although none of them have (yet) gone on to
participate
in other
programs,
it doesn't seem to matter. The genie is out of the bottle, and I
speak
with them in the way I would
speak
with any other adult
graduates.
What's resulted from this is a quality in our
relationship
(not to mention viable and level-headed directions in their
futures)
which is arguably the envy of all
parents.
The
conversations
I have with them
work
well, given they're grounded in and launched from their
participation
in the
Landmark Forum for
Young People and Teens,
and what that's made available for them (and me) in everyday life.
Without this platform, things may have gone another way (and
probably would have).
Sixth question: "If I'm going to start a conversation for possibility with children, teenagers, and young adults, particularly those who aren't graduates of your work, what's an effective opening line of questioning to pursue?" |
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| 7) |
My
writing
is inspired by you - which is to say it's inspired by your ideas
and by
your speaking and by your
listening and by your conversations,
by our
friendship,
and by
who I am
in our
friendship
(which is to say by the way I'm
empowered
to
show up
in our
friendship).
This is the way it
works
best, and I'm quite content to be continually
re-creating
who you are
this way - which is to say I'm quite content to continue
re-creating
my experience of
who you are
this way. So while the distinctions I may
re-create
in
these essays
are mostly yours and not my
originals,
the format, style, structure, embellishment, and execution of
each finished piece are all my own. And then every once in a while,
I will come up with something that really is a
spontaneously
original
work.
Seventh question: "I wrote an essay in which I asserted (quote unquote) 'Transformed people are just ordinary people who happen to have access to extraordinary distinctions.'. Do you have anything to add to my assertion so that it's completely accurate?" |
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| 8) |
Dave Logan, Associate Dean and Executive Director of Executive
Development, and Associate Professor of Clinical Management at
University of Southern California's Marshall School of
Business,
said
"Werner's
thinking - I don't know any nice way of saying it - is just out
there in
the world.
You can't have a
Master's
Degree in organizational development or human resources without
picking up some of it. And it's usually not credited back to him.
His stuff is just out there.". Even without being credited, I
suspect you know you're on target - even though I don't know
how
you know you're on target if you're not credited.
Eighth question: "Business coaches and commentators say your ideas are everywhere. Yet you're not always credited as their source. For me, you model 'creating simply to create' with no attachment to being acknowledged. I'm also 'creating simply to create' but acknowledgement tells me when I'm on target. Without acknowledgement / feedback, how do I know I'm on target?" |
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| 9) |
Staying with the theme of not being acknowledged for your
business
ideas, it's probably all done with mostly good
intentions
when people post
your materials
(old and new) to the
internet
without your permission. They want to share you and the value they
get from you. That said, there's no escaping the fact that such
postings are clearly in violation of copyright. Given the easy
access to the
internet,
and given people's enthusiasm for posting
your materials
for others to experience, without considering the impact of
copyright violation on the
integrity
of the pieces, it's a problem which isn't likely to go away any
time soon.
On the other hand, many of the websites on which your materials are posted, will remove these materials very quickly if we prove they're posted in violation of copyright - and that's not difficult to prove. Another perhaps more pragmatic solution would be for us to take the offensive and post all your original tapes and videos to the internet ourselves. If we made them all officially available, the rate of unauthorized postings would rapidly diminish, we'd have a handle on exactly what's out there, and the breach of integrity resulting from copyright violations, would be quickly stanched. Ninth question: "So much of your work has been posted to the internet without your permission that I'm concerned about the breach of its integrity which results from copyright violation. On the other hand, having you available to a worldwide audience via the internet is a boon. At what point do we cry 'Foul!' and at what point do we let it go?" |
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| 10) |
The
truth
for me is I
love
being around you - that is to say I
love
the experience I have being around you. When I look closer at what
might be the
source
of this experience, it's
clear
there's a shift in the quality of my experience when I'm around you
given the way you are with me.
Given who you are, the way you are with me is the way you are with everyone. Clearly the way you are with people, is valuable. This initiates an inquiry for me as to how I can also be that way with people. Tenth question: "You never relate to me as my 'stuff' but rather as who I really am. Always. Every time. No exceptions. Ever. If I'm going to do the same for others, what ball (so to speak) should I keep my eye on?" |
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