11:11 Waves Blog 36: Unknown

Every Monday, I share 1 question for you to contemplate, 1 idea from me, 1 quote from others, and 1 inspiration for us.

This week’s topic is: Unknown

Few weeks ago, I found a new YouTube Channel featuring the adventures of Noraly, a Dutch geologist who is passionate about motorcycles, travelling and adventuring. Together with her loyal companion Alaska (a Honda Rally with lots of modifications) she has ridden over 140,000 km solo around the world. Her vlogs are always so inspiring, filled with stories, history lessons and ventures into unknown territories. While she is very organized and follows an informed plan, Noraly loves to get outside the GPS route and takes the paths less travelled; because of this, she often finds herself riding on unpaved or dirt gravel roads that lead to incredible new hidden and unknown places. Her approach to travelling made me think about how, in today’s society, we tend to be addicted to “knowing” because we think that it is important to know and to have everything figured out. However, when we are knowing we are trying to hold tight to our current sphere of knowledge. When we explore the unknown instead, we are seeking to expand our sphere with new possibilities, new understanding and new depths. By relinquishing our attachment to the known and stepping into the unknown, we can step into the field of all possibilities.

One Question for you

One can learn nothing except by going from the known to the unknown.

Discuss the question here.

One Idea from me

This week I invite you to participate in a challenge, reflect on a concept and explore a practice related to the concept of the unknown.

The challenge: This week I encourage you to give up knowing and take up discovery. Knowing the route on your personal GPS can offer safety, comfort and predictability. At times, following this knowing can be limiting and keep you away from discovering new hidden gems along the way. My challenge for you this week is to actively leave the familiar, select few uncertain situations and replace the fear of the unknown with curiosity and discovery. For example, notice when you’re in a knowing vs. discovery mode in conversations. Once you have developed an awareness, try shifting your attitude from knowing to discovering by asking yourself questions like “what else might be discovered about this?” You might also start to notice when others are in a knowing mode and engage them with questions to shift their mode to discovering as well.

The concept: While working with companies to design and launch innovative products, Founder of Prototype Thinking, Tom Chi, discovered an important insight: knowing makes learning impossible. A brain in knowing mode is distinctly different from a brain in learning mode. As Tom explained: “It’s hard to do any two verbs at the same time - think playing the violin and riding a bicycle. It’s even harder to be knowing and learning at the same time.” And yet, we very often blend our experience of knowing and learning. Knowing only helps in solving problems for which the solution is already known. Tom encourages people to work to free the brain from knowing so the learning engine can start up and discover unknown ways. A tip to do this is to think about how something or someone is nuanced. In his TED Talk, Tom shows the image of a fork. According to Tom, we reach a conclusion about a familiar item in 1/10th of a second and then we are done thinking about it. Tom invites people to ask themselves “how is it nuanced?”. Considering how something is nuanced may lead to unknown revelations, the recognition of new solutions or even the realization that what we knew before was blocking our understanding and preventing a useful path forward.

The practice: In a world filled with continuous unprecedented changes, the ability to navigate the unknown is becoming an essential skill. This week I invite you to learn more about how you related to the unknown by exploring the following questions: Do you see the unknown as something to be feared, challenged or overcome? Or is it something to be navigated, cultivated and embraced? When you think of facing the unknown in your work, what thoughts, emotions and metaphors come to mind? What would it take for you to push past what you already know and confidently navigate the unknown? How can you intentionally do this more of the time?

One Quote from others

“Being at ease with not knowing is crucial for answers to come to you”. Eckhart Tolle

One Inspiration for us

As this post was inspired by the adventures of Noraly and her motorbike Alaska, this week I am sharing with you the link of her YouTube Page called Itchy Boots. In this page, you can find almost 600 vlogs filled with known and unknown ventures in Africa, India, Asia, Europe, South America and North America. Enjoy!