 ‘The simple process of focusing on things that are normally taken for granted is a powerful source of creativity.’ (Edward De Bono) Edward de Bono, the originator of lateral thinking, was convinced that creative thinking is a skill that can be learned. He introduced pioneering techniques to enable people to do just that. One of my favourites involves posing a challenge (e.g. how to achieve high levels of engagement in a team meeting), then selecting – or inviting someone else in a group to choose – a completely random object. This could be, for example, a biro pen. De Bono then invites the thinkers to pay no attention to the challenge itself and, instead, to describe anything they notice, feel or associate with the pen: ‘It has a tip – a point’. ‘The tip is sometimes outside and sometimes hidden inside.’ ‘It’s full of ink.’ ‘The ink is blue.’ ‘Blue reminds me of cold.’ ‘The cylinder holds the cartridge.’ ‘The biro is a means to an end.’ ‘It’s used for writing.’ ‘It can also be used for drawing.’ ‘The pen needs to be held.’ De Bono then invites the group to draw on those observations as a stimulus for thinking about the original challenge: ‘How clear and agreed are we on our point, our purpose?’ ‘Which (or whose) ideas are expressed in our meetings and which (or whose) are we missing?’ ‘Who feels involved and who feels left out in the cold?’ ‘What are the outcomes we’re working towards?’ ‘What other benefits could we aim for?’ ‘Who holds us to account?’ When have you used lateral thinking? How did you do it? What did it help achieve?
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 ‘Sometimes I arrive just when God’s ready to have someone click the shutter.’ (Ansel Adams) I was completely blown away this Easter weekend by a presentation by world-renowned Peter Caton: a ‘documentary photographer with a social conscience’. I found it incredibly inspiring to see a follower of Jesus using his gifts and talents so powerfully on behalf of the poor and most vulnerable people in the world. This was faith in action, love in action, hope in action. As Peter shared brief glimpses of his experiences over the years, ranging from gruelling days spent in crocodile and mosquito-infested waters in South Sudan to precarious hours in harrowingly dangerous refugee camps in Somalia, I felt myself gripped by his resilience and courage. I was moved and impressed by Peter’s personal ethics and humility too. He has no interest in parading himself before the world’s media. Instead, his goal is to raise awareness of the plight of those living, surviving, sometimes thriving in some of the most challenging of circumstances imaginable, to engender action. He always asks permission first, explains exactly how photos will be used, and avoids insensitive or intrusive images of distress. He builds authentic, caring relationships and takes his striking pictures from low-down, looking up at his subjects to preserve and reinforce a sense of human dignity. Peter calls each person by their name. Respect.  ‘Today is a day of shame. Shame on the perpetrators on both sides of this terrible conflict who have inflicted unimaginable suffering on civilians. Shame on the world for turning away while Sudan burns. Shame on the countries that continue to add fuel to the fire.’ (Erika Guevara Rosas) Two years to the day since the latest conflict in Sudan broke out with brutal ferocity, the UK and (some) other countries are finally paying attention to the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. It’s a complex picture on the ground with geopolitical and ethnic tensions that create a devastating mix. While the world’s attention has been fixated on Russia-Ukraine and Israel-Gaza, Sudan’s civilian population has suffered horrific atrocities at the hands of merciless armed groups. Conferences are too often a forum for noble speeches, hand-wringing and hand-shaking, virtue signalling on a public stage and, behind it all, a pathetic substitute for tangible action. (It’s as if talking earnestly about an issue makes us appear, believe and feel like we’re actually doing something). In the meantime, the violence continues unabated with no relief whatsoever for vulnerable people on the ground. Today's event must make a difference. Sudan needs action now. What can you do? *Pray for peace and hope in Sudan. *Contact David Lammy, UK Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs to urge follow-through from this Conference initiative. *Write to your local Member of Parliament (MP) to advocate for urgent and tangible action on relief, security and peace in Sudan.  ‘A good leader is not just a head full of knowledge but a hand willing to serve.’ (Jasmin, Philippines) I was inspired and challenged by this radical teacher’s short lecture to student police officers in the Philippines today. It’s a stark reminder and grounding of the Easter story. ‘If, when you graduate as police officers, you will stand at the side of the street waiting for the sun to rise to a 40-degrees heat, and you don’t help the elderly woman trying to cross the street or pick up the rubbish that’s scattered around, then you’ll be useless. Why would I say that? It’s because when we die, the account we’re going to give to God is of our character and how we spent our talents during this life on earth. Look at Jesus – he could have been married, have spent a luxurious life on earth because he’s the Son of God, but he sacrificed his own needs and prioritised the Father’s will. It led to his death. He didn’t try to protect his life. He walked the way of the cross and he sweated blood as he feared what would happen. He said, ‘Father, take this cup of suffering away from me – yet not what I want, but what you want.’ As he was hanging on the cross, his human nature spoke: ‘Father, why have you forsaken me?’ It’s the same for us. If we forsake our neighbour, if we forsake to have initiative, if we forsake cleaning our surroundings and just stand there without doing our work, if our priority is just to pose, look good and show people we are there – it’s your choice. And so, I’m reminding you: always make an impact and a difference with your lives – starting in your own life and in your family and in your neighbours'. Because Jesus is not in the clouds. He is in the sisters and the brothers next to us. This school needs people with initiative, who are willing to do, to serve humanity, because we already have a lot of police officers in the Philippines. But who will implement what is really just and right? The only thing that's practised continually is corruption. And I hope you will not become one of them because, without true character, your education will have been wasted.' This woman practises what she preaches. And that makes all the difference.  ‘Capabilities are freedoms conceived as real opportunities.’ (Amartya Sen) I keep coming back to this question: what is it that makes the difference? I’ve been drawn recently to reflections on this theme by Indian economist and philosopher, Amartya Sen. He distinguishes between capabilities, which are our resources (including our abilities and our potential), and conversion factors, which are influences on the real opportunities we have to use and fulfil them. Sen focuses his work on wellbeing and on the kinds of lives people and groups are effectively able to lead. He moves on to questions of what people, groups and societies need. Sen offers some interesting illustrations. Two people have the same resources. One is able-bodied and the other has physical disabilities that confine them to a wheelchair. All else being equal, the able-bodied person has more net resources because the person with disabilities has more related expenses. The former may also have greater net opportunities in society because the latter may be limited to places that are wheelchair-accessible. This could lead us to the conclusion that the person with disabilities should be given more resources to ensure equity. Sen then asks, what if the able-bodied person is hard to please and needs more resources to achieve a sense of wellbeing? What if the person with disabilities is content with their life and needs fewer resources to achieve wellbeing? If the goal is wellbeing, should we therefore provide more resources for the able-bodied person? Sen poses two challenges before we leap to this conclusion: sometimes disadvantaged people lower their expectations as a coping mechanism; and society has a moral imperative to support the disadvantaged and vulnerable. Sen provides another example of a person who owns a bicycle. The bike is a means to an end, to ensure mobility rather than an end in itself. Yet to convert the potential of bike ownership to greater mobility, certain conditions need to be in place. These could include, for instance, the physical ability to ride a bike; a social-cultural context that allows the person to ride a bike; and environmental conditions such as safe roads or suitable bike paths that make using a bike feasible. It’s a combination of capabilities and conversion factors that make this difference. So, what does this look like real situations? As far back as 2003, I wrote a research paper as part of an organisation development (OD) masters’ degree that aimed to identify and address common factors that influence engagement and effectiveness in organisations. I proposed that culture, complexity, capability and climate were critical variables. It’s about releasing and harnessing individual potential on the one hand, whilst creating the conditions in which people thrive on the other. This is, in my view, where coaching, action learning and OD intersect. What do you think?  ‘Extraordinary people are ordinary people making extraordinary decisions.’ (Sharon Pearson) Who’s in the driving seat? It’s an important question in coaching and action learning. After all, the client or presenter chooses the direction, speed, route and destination, even though we travel together. As a coach, if I find myself taking the wheel consciously or inadvertently, I would need to pause, take a breath and rethink or recontract our roles. Too much control risks distracting or disturbing the client’s own insight, potential and agency; a loss that would outweigh a gain. So, what does this look like? The client decides their own starting point, their desired goal and how they’d like to get there. I help facilitate the journey insofar as the client finds this beneficial, and offer silence, questions or reflections, or signal signposts in the road, as minimal prompts. The client navigates their own way, discovering or creating solutions to any challenges they encounter on route. I travel alongside to offer support and challenge, to sharpen awareness and skill. What have been your experiences of working with a coach? What made the difference for you?  ‘An all-or-nothing approach usually produces self-limiting or self-damaging outcomes – especially in complex situations.’ (Michael Pohl) A novel experience this week was to co-pilot a new Masterclass in Action Learning Facilitation with Charlotte Snowdon of Action Learning Associates. It was great to work alongside someone with a very different background, style and approach in order to co-create an optimal range of insights and ideas. In planning and preparing the event, we decided to pool our ideas rather than to attempt to harmonise them. This would enable different participants with different interests and preferences the opportunities to draw on whom- or whatever they found most useful. This both-and approach is illustrative of a solution reflected in a Tetralemma, a helpful tool for breaking out of polarised, either-or thinking. The tool itself depicts a simple grid, with 'Option 1' at one end of a horizontal axis and a (perceived) opposite 'Option 2' at the other. On the vertical axis, 'Both' is at one end and 'Neither' at the other. This creates a possibility matrix in which instead of just Option 1 or Option 2, we can consider Option 1 and Option 2; or Neither of these options by e.g. reconsidering or reframing the situation or the issue we want-need to address. I especially like this tool for four main reasons: Firstly, it can help clients break out of an unhelpful polarity where they have become trapped by their own either-or thinking. Secondly, it can provide stimulus to create new Both possibilities that they may never have considered. Thirdly, it can draw on and preserve diversity, avoiding over-compromise or blending into boring blandness. Fourthly, it can challenge clients to reflect more deeply on whether they are focusing on or addressing the most important issues or dilemmas in the first place. What do you think?  ‘Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the rest.’ (Winston Churchill) I sat at a table yesterday with a group of people in Germany who definitely don’t always see eye-to-eye on critical issues facing people and the world today. At times, the conversation flowed freely and easily with relaxed smiles and laughter. At others, passions burned, words felt strained and the room temperature markedly increased. As I looked at the faces and imagined my own, I could see we were all grappling inwardly and between us with how to be authentic and speak whilst, at the same time, how to avoid hurting one-another. Listening and hearing can be hard when beliefs and values are feel challenged, especially on people and things that matter most to us. It was, for me, a microcosm of democracy: a dance of dialogue and debate in which diverse views and lived experiences are shared, sometimes elegantly and sometimes (especially for me, with my limited German) awkwardly, sometimes hoping to influence yet without forcing views on others, that feels both difficult and healthy. By contrast, I look with near-despair at the state of polarisation in public discourse across the world today; a black-white, win-lose, zero-sum game with little desire to listen or learn. Echo chambers reverberate loudly and seek to drown out all other voices – and the UK government’s reactive response? To clamp down on free speech.  ‘Trusting blindly can be the biggest risk of all.’ (Pru Hobson-West) Health and social care professions in the UK and beyond are facing unprecedented challenges. Time and again, I hear from clients – from senior leaders through to frontline staff – how they are struggling to cope with increasingly unrealistic expectations combined with hopelessly inadequate resources to meet the demand. The most common underlying questions they raise are, ‘How can I, we, sustain this?’ or, in a weary voice, ‘Is it possible to sustain this?’ There are multiple and intersecting underlying causes including political shifts in policies and priorities, underfunding in critical areas and significant staff shortages, including a shortfall in those entering the nursing profession. This is compounded by stress and burnout, leaving vacancies that add to the pressure on those needing to cover, creating a cascading effect. Add to that an ageing population with complex needs and escalating public demand. That’s the macro-systemic level. Imagine now your friend, or relative, is admitted to hospital. You want to believe they are in safe and competent hands. Everything within you tells you to ‘trust the professionals’. It’s partly a learned cultural narrative. It’s also a way of defending ourselves against anxiety. After all, to consider the alternative is terrifying. It relieves us of responsibility and places it squarely in the hands of a system. That helps us to sleep better too. So, I ask the professionals – ‘What do you say?’ ‘Firstly,’ they advise, ‘Show professional respect: staff often have years of studies, training and experience behind them.’ ‘Secondly, show human empathy: we’re often working long hours, understaffed and exhausted.’ ‘Thirdly, show personal agency: don’t imagine we’ll always know, notice and do everything that’s needed – that’s naïve. Work with us. Advocate for your friend or relative. That’s what we need too.’  ‘Whatever status or power you have, use it for those who are vulnerable; whatever money you have, use it for the poor.’ (Jasmin, Philippines) We face a global paradox. Some reports show that the wealth gap between richer and poorer countries is narrowing and, at the same time, the wealth gap between the richest people and poorest people within those countries is widening. The reasons behind these changes are dynamically complex and, as a non-economist, well beyond my ability to grasp. That said, I’m interested in how, psychologically, we make sense of and respond to such phenomena. Deutsche Welle (DW) produced an interesting documentary in 2024 that showed how the wealthy often attribute their success to their own personal qualities such as their attitudes, abilities and hard work. By contrast, the poorer often attribute their poverty to environmental conditions that lay outside their ability to control. It’s an example of attribution theory, a way of explaining (and, sometimes, rationalising or justifying) our varied human experiences. In my work, I see the polarity itself is too simplistic. I do see individuals who stand out from the crowd in their own culture and context, shattering the mould and breaking free from apparent constraints to achieve success. I also see individuals who possess similar qualities yet fail to make headway because they simply don’t have the same opportunities. It’s as if the cultural and contextual tide they are born into is way too strong to swim against alone. At the same time, I see individuals who become wealthy in spite of demonstrating little effort or aptitude on their own part, as if the inherent benefits of their background, context or connections naturally sweep them upwards. I also see individuals who possess everything it would take to become successful in their own context yet, for whatever reasons, don’t grasp the nettle or take the plunge. At times, it’s just that different people have different priorities. The counter-example that inspires me most is Jasmin in the Philippines. She grew up among the poorest of the poor where, contextually-speaking, the odds are absolutely stacked against her. Yet by power of prayer and determination, she defies a universal human instinct for acquisition and achieves the most incredible things. As far as personal wealth is concerned, she refuses to swim upwards and, instead, uses everything she has for the benefit of the poor. I want to be more like her. |
Nick WrightI'm a psychological coach, trainer and OD consultant. Curious to discover how can I help you? Get in touch! 
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