“There’s a physics equation for that”.
There are times in our lives that are accompanied by total, absolute clarity, uninterrupted by anything other than the experience of the moment. It’s fashionable today in organisational life to talk mindfulness as a means to achieve clarity, wellbeing, and experience the moment, live in the present etc. And of course there is the inevitable plethora of solutions packaged as an App, a workshop or several. Often packaged to the smallest amount of time possible by the way.
Solutions and apps have their place. Of course they do. But. And there is always a but, or at least there should be if you really care about the impact your work has on others. In a field that is still described as fluffy or woolly it’s critical that we can make a case for our HR & OD offerings. That means having a sound understanding of the theoretical basis for our work and the skill, wisdom and judgement to apply what theory tells us to the dynamic, challenging, inspiring, infuriating, maddening, often inexplicable places that we work in.
I’m not sure we spend enough time on the science. We’re excited now about neuroscience but neuroscience has been around for millenia. Our amazing occupational and organisational psychology colleagues have had to spend way too long convincing us of their value too. Safe to say human beings aren’t the early adopters we’d like to think.
I’m also not convinced that we look as wide as we can for what science can offer us in our quest to better understand people, genuinely harness our talents and provide us with opportunities to learn, develop and really thrive at work. For some the science of behaviour is too ‘hard’, it denies the magical, often mysterious connections between people and events. But perhaps it doesn’t have to be one or the other.
“Magic is science we don’t understand yet” is attributed to the late, great Arthur C Clarke. I love this, it speaks to me deeply. It recognises that science has it’s place but that magic does too. It moves me to explore the visible and invisible connections between human beings within and across organisations.
And this is where physics comes in. My memory of physics from my secondary school years was dissecting a bulls eye. Not the most pleasant memory imaginable. Together with the endless equations, it’s safe to say that physics was not my favourite topic. Years later however, quantum physics would become the gateway to magical explorations about the human mind, human behaviour and soul/spirit that I expect will continue until the day this life ends. And who knows after that.
It’s hard to know quite when I started to love physics again and think about how it applies to life and organisations. A car crash nearly 25 years ago was a definite start. An evening drive back in the middle of January from a 2 day workshop in Birmingham turned out to be much longer thanks to really bad weather outside the city.
Stay overs were not my first choice in my consulting days if they could be avoided and it was safe to travel. I love night driving, there is a peace to it and much less distraction from other drivers. It offers safe space, peace and time to process everything that close working with colleagues brings. This particular client was in the midst of an acquisition-merger which was, in reality, a complete takeover. We were wrestling with all sorts of silly bullshit stuff around operating models and business process re-engineering when what the programme team (and HR) were crying out for was us to focus on the people. It’s always the people stupid.
This particular night found me listening to Alanis Morissette and looking forward to the last five minutes of the drive so I could get home and use the loo. I was thinking how quickly I could get out of the car, open the front door and why is it that you always starting thinking about how much you need a widdle when you are so close to home. And then of course, it happened.
Because things always happen when they are inconvenient or you have something else on your mind (or at least that is how it is for me).
I hit black ice.
Two miles out from the village at midnight in Winter is stunning. Breathtaking really. It is pitch black, but if you are lucky the sky is filled with more stars than you could imagine, never mind count. The shapes of trees, ancient hedges and farm buildings loom large and demand attention. The sounds of nature echo eerily but in a way that captures, humbles and profoundly moves the soul. Alanis Morisette’s ‘Thank You’ blaring was pretty magical too, and apt as it turned out.
I knew as soon as I hit it that I had totally lost control of the car. I remember thinking very clearly that I should turn the steering wheel the other way but my hands lifted off the wheel completely. Definitely not what your driving instructor recommends. I remember feeling profoundly curious and utterly detached watching my hands come off the wheel and me wondering why on earth would I do that? Everything, until I hit the verge on the opposite side of the road was mesmerising, slow motion. I could see lights coming in the other direction and I knew with absolute certainty that if that car came around the corner as mine was veering on the wrong side of the road I would be dead. And I remember feeling how sad it would be if someone else was hurt; and how bloody typical to have an accident so soon after I had moved into my home.
As I hit the verge on the other side of the road I remember being acutely aware of a presence surrounding me – a force between me and the steering wheel. And a knowing that I would be ok even as I was hurtling towards huge oak trees in front of me. I remember my glasses flying off my face. They flew over my left shoulder and I remember turning my head to watch them and listening to a voice saying in my right ear:
“There’s a physics equation for that”.
Seconds later the car had taken out several oak saplings, but it caught on the saplings underneath and turned 90 degrees. Thanks be to the Gods I say. The passenger side of the car caught the Oak trees full on and completely shattered the back window. If it hadn’t turned, I would have been head on in those oak trees. Then silence. And then Alanis singing her heart out God Bless her. I remember thinking I’ve got to get out because I didn’t know what damage had been done to the petrol tank. And I remember thinking why the hell hadn’t the air bag gone off and then of course, a memory – forces unseen protecting me. The invisible air bag.
The shortsighted amongst us will know that pitch black is something else when you don’t have your specs on. I remember being able to open the back door and feeling my way through shattered glass and picking my specs up. Not a single damned scratch on them. At all. All these years later I’m still taken aback by that.
Call it fate, call it synchronicity, call it whatever. The fabulous lady driving towards me had seen the accident, stopped and found me dazed and muttering about my specs and the back windscreen being completely shattered. The whiplash would kick in the next day and last many months. Apparently that day the weather had been awful and there’d been multiple accidents round and about. She called 999.
I sat in a police car with a wonderful police lady until the recovery chap came. She told me about all the road problems that day, so some comfort that it wasn’t shite driving. She sat with me whilst I shook uncontrollably as I recited what had happened. I remember her laughing as I asked her if she’d mind if I widdled in the hedge – a wrecked pair of tights a small price to pay. She said to me that I was looked after that night. When the recovery chap came he said I know I’m not supposed to say this but that car is a write-off. He too said that I was lucky to be alive.
Lovely WPC got me home and lovely best friend forced me to drive her car on the same road the next day. I drove to where the car crashed and we could see the damage and the front headlights and other bits of car. I can’t remember how I got to see the car again. I must have taken a cab to the recovery garage but I remember I had to collect log book and Alanis and other CD’s. I remember feeling horrified and deeply shocked at the damage – the left hand side of the car was destroyed, front left bumper crumpled, neither passenger side doors could be opened, axle ruined and God knows what else. There are only so many times it’s good to hear that you are lucky to be alive. That car, my first wonderful car saved my life. As did a good bit of magic – forces unseen.
And the point of this story?
It’s in the detachment; the power of observing with absolute clarity unencumbered by anything else. The insight that comes from total attention given to a situation, or a person. The total lack of control but the empowerment that trust offers when you can separate yourself from knowing what an outcome might be. That distance is a powerful mediator in how we see things. Lifetimes seemingly lived in moments. And the profound transformation that often happens at the very edges, in places we don’t often find ourselves. The invisible is as powerful a force in our lives as the visible – and worthy of exploration in our working and private lives.
The Future is Quantum is a contribution to that exploration.
Extras
Neuroscience rightly, is being explored further in our HR & OD practice. It’s a much broader discipline than you’d think and it’s origins much much earlier too. Eric Chudler, PhD sets out an amazing history for the University of Washington.
The lyrics to Alanis Morissette’s Thank You can be found here at Genius. It’s a beautiful song I think. And it will stick with me forever. I have a lot to thank forces unseen for. There’s a brilliant and very moving explanation of the journey that led to her writing that song in India. It resonates I think with the challenges that many of us experience between outward signs of success versus the experience of our inner life.
I’m going to be writing much more about Quantum stuff. But a brilliant starting point is What the Bleep Do We Know. The link takes you to the website behind the film. I can’t recommend it highly enough, it is one of the most inspiring films I have ever watched and I’m pretty ancient these days and have watched alot of films. It’s a gateway to some of the most extraordinary thinkers around these days and a fabulous introduction to quantum physics.
thefutureisquantum 