Using Humor to Achieve Better Results. At Work. At Home. In Life.
The book Iconoclast by Gregory Berns takes a look at the creative process from a neurological perspective. Using recent advances in neuroscience, Berns disproves previous assumptions about creativity and describes ways that we can all learn to think differently. A great book both in terms of content and style of writing, definitely worth the read for anyone looking to be more creative in their work.
Buy Now | Creativity and Improv (A look at the adaptation by FastCompany)
With the release of Watchmen this weekend comes a lot of hype and anticipation for the graphic novel turned movie. The graphic novel, originally published as a series in 1986-87, has long been heralded as the best novel of its kind. Time Magazine even listed it as one of the 100 Best Novels.
I recently read the book and must admit that there is a reason there was so much hype around this story of “superhero” characters. Watchmen changed a genre and turned superhero comics into stories of real-life with real life lessons.
Storytelling has long been an effective means to affect people in profound ways, from the days of Homer (the Greek poet), to the days of Homer (the Simpson). Watchmen is no different of a story, with compelling life lessons in the story, hidden (or maybe not-so-much) in between the gritty, dark journey of the characters.
Before going on, I do want mention a few things. First, Watchmen isn’t a kid’s comic and therefore some of the themes and images aren’t exactly G-rated. With that in mind, I’ve tried to keep this post mostly suitable for work (MSFW), and all of the life lessons that I saw were positive–it’s just the context from which they came may not be seen that way.
Second, I cover the whole gamut of the story, so you can probably piece together the story through the lessons. If you haven’t read the book or seen the movie, continue reading at your own risk (aka this is a “possible spoiler alert”).
“Don’t Tell Me They Didn’t Have a Choice.”
Chapter 1, Page 1
Rorschach’s first journal entry states it plainly: everyone has a choice. Whether it’s to be involved in a nuclear arms race, or to be stuck in a dead-end job, people make a choice to be where they are.
While many people wait around for something to happen, the people who find success are those that decide they will go out and get it. As Eisenhower said, “The history of free men is never written by chance but by choice–their choice.”
“Gettin’ old, you get a different perspective.”
Chapter 2, Page 2
While the particular incident Sally Jupiter is referring to is quite extreme, her point-of-view is still valid and one that many people don’t realize until they get older. Whatever your age is, think back 10 years ago and think about what you thought was important at that time. Is it still important? If you were in high school 10 years ago, was it really important what clothes you were wearing or even whether it mattered that you got a 95% instead of a 97% (yes I got upset about that).
In the long run, when lying on your death-bed, no one wishes they would have spent more time at work or even made more money, they wish they would have enjoyed life more and spent time with their friends and family. Why wait until death to wish that? Start doing it now.
“Nothing is hopeless.”
Chapter 2, Page 25
As long as there is life, nothing is hopeless. Certainly there are times we all reach rock-bottom, where things seem insurmountable, but that’s the amazing thing about the human spirit. Even when we’re down at the bottom, there is always hope. We can make changes, we can take the action necessary to move in the right direction.
Just look to a number of inspirational stories such as the “Miracle on the Hudson” where Pilot Chesley B. “Sully” Sullenberger III safely landed a plane on the Hudson River, saving all 155 passengers. Look at the “comeback” stories of high-profile celebrities like Mickey Rourke. Or even look at leaders such as Martin Luther King, Jr. He must have known that he wasn’t going to end racism by himself, but he still dreamed, and he still took action to make it a reality.
“I feel as if I’ve been here all the time.”
Chapter 4, Page 13
Though Doctor Manhattan is also referencing his metaphysical sense of time, his view on having “always been here” is an accurate one. Janey Slater suggesting that “he’s arrived” because he now has fame and notoriety is inaccurate. People hold certain accomplishments up on a pedestal thinking they will only be successful when they reach that step, but success is different for every person.
Becoming CEO of a company doesn’t mean you are more successful than a stay-at-home Mom that has raised 3 children–the measures of success are different. The key is to define your vision of success and work to achieve it. And specifically on the concept of fame, recall that Ralph Waldo Emerson observed, “Fame is proof that people are gullible.”
“Things have their shape in time, not space alone.”
Chapter 4, Page 24
George Bernard Shaw said, “You see things and say ‘Why?’ But I dream things that never were and say ‘Why not?’” Doctor Manhattan’s observes that what is now just a block of stone can one day be the Statue of David.
The same is true for people. Every person has the opportunity to do something unique, something powerful. And while it may not be that way right now, hard work and perseverance can make that change; it’s hidden underneath the stone, just waiting to be chiseled into the next masterpiece.
“Even the word ‘gone’ would be gone.”
Chapter 5, Page 12
Bernard’s first thoughts when thinking of a disaster turn to the obvious of people, cars, etc. But then he has a realization that bigger things, like the construct of language and that of societal interaction would be gone as well, and that’s the bigger disaster. This is much the same as how many people view life–they think of the material things and material girls. But rarely do we step back and appreciate something as simple as social interaction–friends, family, community, and even enemies.
Similar to Sally’s observation above, what’s going to be more important to you as you get older, and therefore, what is more important for you to focus on now?
“My Perspective.”
Chapter 8, Page 14
Whenever Rorschach speaks, it is short and to the point. Here, in the face of what seems to be an impossible situation, he has two things on his side: perspective and confidence. And these two things are often what will allow people to succeed in the face of adversity.
Based on your experiences, you have a unique view of every situation, and that perspective is what makes you different from everyone else out there. Whether it’s as a writer, actor, project manager, or barista, your perspective will be different. Combine that with having confidence in yourself and your abilities, and just as Charles F. Kettering said of the Wright Brothers, you can fly “right threw the smoke screen of impossibility.”
“You could say that about anybody in the world.”
Chapter 9, Page 27
The thermodynamic miracle referenced by Laurie Jupiter is that of birth, and Doctor Manhattan has realized that the odds required for people to get together and have this child or that child is a miracle; a miracle that is true of anybody in the world.
Sometimes it’s easy to lose sight of the miracle of life, and as cheesy as it sounds, every person does have the opportunity to make their own unique impact on the world–the question is what will yours be?
“Offices below, headstones marking daily graves of thousands.”
Chapter 10, Page 22
In Rorschach’s final journal entry, he shares again a different perspective (both literally and figuratively). Literally, up above the city, the skyscrapers and buildings do look something like tombstones in a cemetery. Figuratively, living only to work may not be physical death, but is it really living? Is working 80-hour weeks, neglecting friends and family or unique life experiences, really the Hokie Pokie (that’s what it’s all about)?
Burg’s Philosophy holds true for the time you spend at work, as well as in life: “It’s not the time you put in, but what you put in the time.”
“No time like the present.”
Chapter 11, Page 4
Perhaps, like Ozymandias, you have a plan or idea of something that you want to do, but have been waiting for the “perfect” time to do it. Well the perfect time was yesterday, so you might as well do it today.
People will find all kinds of reasons to procrastinate (“the timing’s not right,” “the weather is gloomy,” “‘The Hills’ is on”), but you only need that one good reason to do it, that one reason that starts you on your new plan or idea, and that reason is: there is no time like the present. After all, it is called the ‘present’–it’s a gift for us to use. And it may not turn out perfect, or you may not know what will happen, but don’t forget…
“The excitement of not knowing.”
Chapter 12, Page 7
One of the scariest things about trying something new–acting on a plan or idea you had, or moving in a different direction–is the uncertainty of what will happen. But that’s also part of the excitement.
If you had the option to see the future, would you want to be able to? As Doctor Manhattan discovered, it takes the fun and surprise out of living. It’s like knowing the end of Sixth Sense, The Usual Suspects or Watchmen before even seeing the movie–sure you can watch the movies and still be entertained, but you won’t get that same sense of enjoyment and satisfaction when the twist is revealed.
“Nothing ever ends.”
Chapter 12, Page 27
I know plenty of people that believe if they just get a certain job, or make a certain amount of money, or even buy a certain gadget, that they’ll be happy, that everything will be perfect. But “in the end,” nothing ever ends. Even if you get that job, life continues on after. You’ll have new adventures and new challenges, but not everything will perfect. But who would want it to be? Our failures lead to successes, and we appreciate them more.
Life is not just about the awards, statuses, or objects we obtain, but the journey we took to obtain them–we will spend much more of our time on the journey than on accepting the awards. So as you work toward your goals, hopes, or dreams, make sure the path you take is one you enjoy. Thomas A. Edison knew this well: “I never did a day’s work in my life. It was all fun.”
Source
Watchmen is a great story with compelling characters–there’s a reason it’s one of the top 100 novels. If you’re interested in reading the book (which you should), you can pick it up at Amazon.com.
Watchmen. Moore, Alan and Dave Gibbons. New York, NY: DC Comics, 1986, 1987.
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Watchmen, by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons, is the first fiction book on the list and it is a good one. I recommend it for a few reasons: 1) It’s a great story with compelling characters, 2) It’s a graphic novel which is a different medium than most books (and something we could all learn from–imagine a training guide in this format), and 3) There are a number of valuable lessons hidden in the fascinating story. I will make a bit of a disclaimer in that this book is not for children and contains some adult language and situations
In Troduction
The Inner Game of Tennis is subtitled as ‘the classic guide to the mental side of peak performance.” It has been in publication for more than 30 years and has been followed by a number of highly successful professionals in the tennis, football, music, and corporate worlds. I decided to read this book for two reasons: 1) A good friend gave me the book and spoke of it highly, and 2) Improving mental performance would seem to be beneficial in any activity, whether it’s tennis, work presentations or stand-up comedy.
Selfish Thinking
The entire book is based on the premise that there are two “selves.” Gallwey names them Self 1 and Self 2, where Self 1 is the ego-mind or “teller” (“Hit the ball like this”) and Self 2 is natural ability or the “doer” (the actual movement of the muscles to hit the ball). In order to achieve peak performance, one must “quiet the mind” (Self 1) and let Self 2 do what it knows how to do.
At a high-level, this makes sense–stop thinking so much and just do it. In improv, you’re forced into situations where you don’t have time to think, you just have to open your mouth and hope a logical sentence comes out. Think back to the last interview you saw of someone doing something incredible such as saving a child from a fire or helping a drowning man. Some reporter inevitably asks them “what was going through your mind?” and the typical “boring” response is “I don’t remember. I just reacted.”
Sure, stop thinking, just do it, sounds easy enough right? Go ahead and try it now. Stop thinking…. I said stop. You can’t do it. The brain naturally thinks of something (such as the Stay-Puft Marshmallows). So Mr. Gallwey, how are we supposed to quiet Self 1 if it’s impossible to stop thinking?
“The best way to quiet the mind is not by telling it to shut up, or by arguing with it, or criticizing it for criticizing you. What works best is learning to focus it.”(pg 82) Ah, so “to still the mind, one must learn to put it somewhere.” (pg 83) But what does it mean to focus the mind? Focus means picking up only “those aspects of a situation that are needed to accomplish the task at hand.” (pg 84) So if you’re hitting a tennis ball, all you really need to focus on is the ball. That’s it.
Changes
Getting out of the way of Self 2 makes a lot of sense–if Self 2 knows the right thing to do. When you present in front of a client, you don’t consciously tell yourself to look down while talking, or to say “uh” to fill pauses. You just do it. Neither are particularly beneficial to your presentation, but how can they be corrected if Self 1 has to stay out of it? How do you fix a bad habit if you can’t tell yourself what to do?
“There is no need to fight old habits. Start new ones.” (pg 74) In order to “fix” a bad habit, you don’t actually have to fix the habit. Instead just start working on a good one. The bad habit doesn’t necessarily disappear, you just stop doing it. Gallwey edifies this point with the analogy of babies: just because they learn to walk doesn’t mean they forget how to crawl.
Theoretically this makes sense. Hey stop doing A and start doing B. Magically, A disappears, hooray. But we return to the above problem: how do you start doing B if you can’t tell Self 2 what it means to do B (doo bee doo)?
A Thousand Words
The trick is that you can communicate with Self 2, just not in the traditional sense of “Hey head. Yeah, you up at the top. Don’t look down while presenting to clients.” But in the sense of imagery, or rather sensory images. Gallwey refers to this as heightening awareness. Become “aware” of important aspects of whatever you are working to improve, get an accurate image of the correct action, imagine you doing that action, and then let Self 2 do the action.
Suppose you could use some improvement in your typing ability. You always seem to struggle to find the ‘.’ key quickly and it slows down your typing when writing multiple sentences. You know from your study of the “home row” that the ‘.’ key rests on the lower right of the keyboard, next to the ‘,’ and ‘/’, and that you’re supposed to hit the key with your ring finger on your right hand. How would you fix this?
Gallwey’s four step process is defined as:
It’s important to note his use of the word “nonjudgmental.” When observing your own behavior (becoming aware of what is happening), you must do it without judging your behavior as positive or negative, right or wrong, good or bad. This type of analysis of the situation is Self 1 talking, so let it go. Instead you just observe the behavior as it is, indifferent to whether it’s “good” or “bad.”
So you nonjudgmentally observe yourself typing a few sentences. You notice that whenever you need to hit the ‘.’ key, you move your hand down and hit it with your middle finger. After hitting the key, you find that you have to move your entire hand back to the home row to get ready for the next sentence. Now that you’ve observed this action, you picture the correct behavior, that is, you picture your ring finger hitting the ‘.’ key. In fact you may even hit the ‘.’ key a few times, each time bringing the ring finger down to hit it and returning it back to its starting position, just noticing how it feels to bring the finger down, and letting Self 2 feel what it’s like. With all the information it needs, Self 2 is ready to go. You start typing again, observing what your fingers are doing. You don’t make a conscious effort to hit the ‘.’ with your ring finger, you just observe which finger is doing it. If the Gallwey’s Inner Game theory works, you’ll observe that you were hitting it with your ring finger.
(Note: I purposefully gave this as an example because it’s something that I need to work on. While typing the above paragraphs, I observed where my fingers were, but refrained from thinking “hit it with your ring finger.” Based on the above results, it does seem that I am more consistently hitting it with the right finger and speeding up my typing.)
The Inner Game of ?
The concept of mastering Inner Game is certainly an interesting one, and it seems pretty obvious that it can be applied to other areas of your life. However, what are its limitations? Does it only make sense in sports? Sure it can help the golf swing, but what about the business world?
To me it seems that Gallwey’s theory works best for actions that are physical, those using muscle memory (such as a tennis swing or looking down during a presentation). But how would it apply to the cessation of smoking cigarettes, saying “uh,” or asking for a raise? How does Self 2 learn/imagine a desired outcome of not standing there with a cigarette in your mouth, the lack of a verbal tick, or asking for more money?
For the more cerebral, verbal, theoretical circumstances, Self 2 doesn’t get much of a say. If Self 2 is out of the picture, then that means Self 1 is the only one available. And while a lot of Gallwey’s tips are dependent on Self 2’s presence, I think the underlying concept of increasing awareness, focus and observation can help with the less physical actions. Being aware of the smoke filling my lungs might lead to a more pressing desire to quit (I can’t say as I never started). Focusing on the words I’m saying could help me limit the number of “uhs” that creep out. Observing my managers body language, as well as my own, might help me be more confident and self-assured when asking to get paid what I deserve.
In Conclusion
At 134 pages, the The Inner Game of Tennis is a quick read. The concepts within are thought-provoking and applicable to a number of areas (plus I have a head start if I ever want to pick up the game of tennis). If you found any of the above thoughts interesting, I highly recommend you pick up your own copy. I barely scratched the surface of its big picture concept, and Gallwey does a great job of providing details and examples to further your comprehension of his ideas. Of all the words in the book, I think my favorite might have been the following, found on page 127:
“Maybe wisdom is not so much to come up with new answers as to recognize at a deeper level the profundity of the age-old answers.”- W. Timothy Gallwey
