After a quiet weekend of writing and watching the world cup rugby, I thought I'd share a few thoughts on the power of the spoken word when one is attempting to find new meaning amongst a collection of apparently disparate thoughts.
I'd got to a point with my writing where instinctively I knew there was a common thread appearing but just couldn't put into words what it was. I did the usual things like walk away from the computer and make a brew. I even did something completely different (put some plaster in a hole in my wall) but still my thinking didn't reveal the insight I knew was waiting to emerge.
By chance, a friend sent a text to say they would be in Starbucks in half an hour and did I fancy a coffee and a catchup. I don't need asking twice and I was in the car in minutes.
After commenting on how shabby the local Starbucks was beginning to look, the conversation turned to the piece I was writing. Within 5 minutes of articulating the content and my thinking to that point, wouldn't you know it, the insight I was looking for came right out of my mouth in clear and concise form. Brilliant! I love it when that happens. Just articulating my thoughts through the spoken word was enough to move my thinking to a new place.
This reminded me of a conversation I had recently with a fellow L&D professional who is looking to utilise the concept of The World Café in her organisation. I revisited the book last night and found the following few words that seem to sum up this type of experience. One of the book's authors quotes her 84 year old mum who shared this insight:
"You see, conversation is action. You can think things and you can feel things but it doesn't become 'real' until you express it. Then it begins to germinate."
The World Café by Juanita Brown and David Isaacs - definitely worth a read. Starbucks, Macclesfield - could do with a good clean.
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