“We can’t solve our problems with the same thinking that made the problems.“

Someone recently asked me why I still take classes and work with a coach even now, after years of experience in my field.

There are multiple reasons, all of which connect to my deeper values. As a life-long learner I am committed to growing, and growing for good. This means that I am always changing and welcome my changing so that I can be wiser, do better, and make a contribution.

I want to have an impact. At the same time, I am curious, and my curiosity fuels a dynamic process of discovery.

Progress is a series of experiments in which I learn, apply what I’ve learned, and then make adjustments while learning more. All the while paying attention to what the process is resulting in.

We can’t solve our problems with the same thinking that made the problems, so Einstein is often quoted.

He was talking about how we must be if we are going to survive as a species. The atomic bomb had been created, with the power to decimate entire cities instantly. He was calling on nations to involve humanity – all of humanity – in making choices for peaceful resolutions in the face of this new threat. You can actually read the New York Times article that he wrote in 1946 here.

But what does that have to do with us on a daily basis?

Habits and mindsets maintain problems. Of the individual and of the collective.

That’s why I engage a coach when I need to make a shift. So that I can work with an experienced person – experienced in listening and asking questions – to help me to see my mindset and perspective, then begin taking steps to shift that mindset, and back up the shift with action steps. This is a feedback loop, and seeing a different perspective, is what kicks off the process.

By having different thoughts, followed by different actions, I can experience different results, which then means that I will have new information to help me think differently.

If I want to have an impact, to be a visionary for change, it is essential to have a practice to support change. Because we’re surrounded by challenges that demand we think bigger, with radical imagination.

I still take classes, and still have a coach because there is always another angle that is important for me to understand that will help me get to the next level, to have a bigger view.