In this conversation, we take a closer look at what’s emerging and what’s changing in our experience of a familiar environment – the workplace, or career – however those may be defined in a world still responding to a global pandemic. What quickly arises is the idea that we don’t want to be locked into just the academic or theoretical approach to things, but rather be able to respond in real time to the needs of the moment. And it may just turn out that our ability to be in flow and with the way things are changing has a lot to do with the inner frameworks we rely on to navigate our world. Join us as Aviv Shahar and Ariel Levari explore the struggles of the new workplace in an evolving world, with an eye to finding joy in the processes and challenges therein in Part One of Sensemaking for Life and Career.
In this conversation, we take a closer look at what’s emerging and what’s changing in our experience of a familiar environment – the workplace, or career – however those may be defined in a world still responding to a global pandemic. What quickly arises is the idea that we don’t want to be locked into just the academic or theoretical approach to things, but rather be able to respond in real time to the needs of the moment. And it may just turn out that our ability to be in flow and with the way things are changing has a lot to do with the inner frameworks we rely on to navigate our world. Join us as Aviv Shahar and Ariel Levari explore the struggles of the new workplace in an evolving world, with an eye to finding joy in the processes and challenges therein in Part One of Sensemaking for Life and Career.
02:10 – Ariel Levari joins the show to share his background in organizational psychology and his thoughts on today’s fascinating topic: Sensemaking for Life and Career, Part One
10:02 – Ariel expounds on the difference between the free-flow process of framing and the structured process of framing
13:29 – Aviv breaks down the Universal Operating System and the Mental Bungee Jump
22:01 – The Intention-Action Gap explained
24:55 – Specific steps for developing an inspired agenda for yourself as an individual
29:12 – The importance of finding a support circle of friends, mentors, and colleagues
32:49 – The Solo Hero Myth and balancing the individual and the collective
“I think having a couple of key theories, a couple of mental models in your back pocket does a whole lot to build up your self-efficacy and your confidence when you’re going into a professional setting.” (08:27) (Ariel)
“In terms of actually engaging in the process of framing, or of sensemaking, within the corporate world, it's much less me applying specific theories - that I learned previously - to current challenges, and much more about catalyzing an inner state that allows me to respond to challenges as they arise and do so in an adaptive way.” (09:33) (Ariel)
“[Flow state processing] is more of a sense of looseness and a sense of freedom and joy that you can tap into. And there’s lots of ways that you can get to that state. But, once you’re in that state, the process of framing becomes totally different. You’re not trying to box in ideas with things you learned from long ago. You’re more looking for what the emerging possibilities might be within a given problem or challenge.” (11:54) (Ariel)
“The key insight here, you can lead from the unconscious when you consciously see the unconscious diligently and with discipline.” (19:30) (Aviv)
“You also have to be aware of how likely it is that you are going to go into a new environment and have that environment change you, in the sense that it isn’t the company’s goal at the end of the day for you to be a self-realized and self-actualized person. So, there’s a lot of forces that, if you’re not careful, can make you forget about that second vector of growth.” (24:06) (Ariel)
“It feels like I’ve been asleep a bit this last year and I’m waking up to that fact right now.” (31:59) (Ariel)
“We can no longer afford to shift from one polarity to the other given the amount of existential risk and exponential power that exists in this world. So, what you’re saying of having the individual and the collective both existing at the same time in balance, it’s critical right now.” (36:28) (Ariel)