The book “The Art of Possibility” by Rosamund Stone Zander and Ben Zander had a great impact on my life. Today I want to share with you a little story taken out of this book and then discuss the idea:

Strolling along the edge of the sea, a man catches sight of a young woman who appears to be engaged in a ritual dance. She stoops down, then straightens to her full height, casting her arm out in an arc. Drawing closer, he sees that the beach around her is littered with starfish, and she is throwing them one by one into the sea. He lightly mocks her: “There are stranded starfish as far as the eye can see, for miles up the beach. What difference can saving a few of them possibly make?” Smiling, she bends down and once more tosses a starfish out over the water, saying serenely, “It certainly makes a difference to this one.”

The chapter in the book has the title “Being a Contribution”. I once was in a stressful situation and if I had not read this book and this particular story of “being a contribution”, I might not have mastered the situation. I was working together with two very experienced, professional and wonderful coaches, when I was still feeling like a “greenhorn” in the field. We did an offsite for a large corporation in Canada and I felt intimidated by the skills of the other two coaches. While flying over to Canada thoughts like: “the people will see right away what a difference in ability and quality there is … I will make a fool out of myself … who do I think I am?..”, went through my head.

On the plane I read “The Art of Possibility” and suddenly became very calm. My thinking shifted from “success and failure” to: “all I have to do is be the best contribution I can be”. Judgment gave way to possibility. Comparing yielded to contributing. While under stress I would have focussed on doing the job right, however by feeling at ease, I was able to pay attention to the people around me and cater to what they needed from me and what I had to offer. Instead of having daunting “internal conversations” or critical voices in my head, I was open to meeting the participants and connecting on a much deeper level.

What changed in how I view myself in the world and what my role is, has also changed how I value others. Instead of judging what they do, I see the capacity of what they can contribute in the moment. If we pay more attention to what we can contribute, we start to collaborate, be more relaxed and playful, and new possibilities come up with every interaction. How can you be a contribution this coming week?

Quotes

Your sole contribution to the sum of things is yourself.

Frank Crane

What we need to do is learn to work in the system, by which I mean that everybody, every team, every platform, every division, every component is there not for individual competitive profit or recognition, but for contribution to the system as a whole on a win-win basis.

W. Edwards Deming

I have never been especially impressed by the heroics of people who are convinced they are about to change the world. I am more awed by those who struggle to make one small difference after another.

Ellen Goodman

Movie

Ted is great! Ben Zander is an interesting and very entertaining speaker who moves many people with his style and his message. See for yourself!

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