Hanuman, the god monkey, print from West Bengal
Do you remember the feeling of vague unease when you were offered a lucrative business deal or interviewed a brilliant CEO candidate? From my own mistakes, I've come to this conclusion: what makes you uneasy during a deal or interview is what will get you out of the partnership and get the candidate fired a year from now.
Words, like contract terms or resume clauses, are tangible and explicit — you can pick them up, double-check and evaluate them. The same cannot be said for voice and facial expressions, whose effects are implicit within us. Like the wind, they leave a slight ripple on the surface of the water, just for a moment. But it would be naive to deny the existence of the wind, wouldn't it? Especially if there is a possibility that it will be followed by a hurricane.
It is customary to contrast the explicit and the implicit, logic and feeling, reason and instinct. This seems to me to be a big mistake. It is necessary to get out of the "either-or" dilemma by choosing the alternative path of "and-and." Swedish film director, producer, and playwright Ingmar Bergman famously said: "I throw a spear into the dark. It's intuition. Then I send an army to find it. That's intelligence." In a situation of high uncertainty, it is equally important to trust your "stomach" in its ability to spot an important mystery and your "head" in its ability to solve it soon.
Yours sincerely,
-Alexander
Kyiv, 30.03.22
Support Ukraine in any way you choose here
As a business therapist, I help tech founders with rapid business transformation. My specialty is accelerating decision-making at the intersection of business and personality.