Symbiotic Relationship of Attention and Intention
Written By Natasha Dalmia and Mariska du Preez| April 11, 2022
Attention energizes, Intention transforms. — Deepak Chopra
Natasha Dalmia, based in Singapore, and Mariska du Preez, based in New Zealand, e-met each other attending Time To Think’s Thinking Partnership® Course hosted online by Khyati Kapai. The course allows for deep conversations, deeper thinking, and deeper relationships to be built. Leveraging on this opportunity, Natasha and Mariska, both ICF accredited Coaches, collaborated to write together this piece on Symbiotic Relationship of Attention and Intention. It centres on challenges faced by their clients who do not have time and do not know where to start for complex problems. Natasha and Mariska share 2 elements to address those challenges.
Natasha observes the element of attention that keeps popping into her awareness field and shares her thoughts -
“I do not have time.”
Year after year, I have witnessed my family members, friends, colleagues, clients, and contacts articulate their reality in a simple sentence, “I do not have time”, or in a simpler word, “busy”. Soon enough I found a part of myself drawn to this elusive attraction of “being busy”, forgetting in its wake to “being me”.
In my quieter reflective moments in the middle of a walk, or in the middle of the night, I stop in my tracks; literally and figuratively, pausing my train of thought. A hopeful thought quietly whispers within me. What if I say, “I have time”, does that make me perceive an expansiveness in my relationship with time?
I have found that that is not enough. A myriad of thoughts rise up challenging and contradicting me. The only time I could truthfully say, “I have time” is after a gruesome accident where I was lucky to be alive. That changed before I could even fully recuperate.
So, if we do not have time, what do we have?
My thoughts turn to super-heroes’ blockbusters where even the superheroes struggle with their relationship with time and timeline in epic ways.
Challenged by the VUCAH (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, Ambiguous, Hyperconnectivity) reality of our current times, the quest became real as the pandemic hit and clients across industries looked for answers for resilience, time management, energy management, productivity et al. Suddenly, a free and liberating assumption surfaced — What if the response is not the linear opposite of having more time, but having that which supports the use of the time we already have.
- Attention
“The quality of your attention determines the quality of other people’s thinking”, Nancy Kline, Thought Leader of Time to Think, Thinking Environment work.
Once we shift the focus away from time to attention, the paradigm changes.
In the same amount of time, for instance, 30 minutes, the quality of attention can create an experience of expansiveness of time, laser-sharp focus, deepening the quality of relationship with the purpose, the project, and the people. Contrast that with 30 minutes with total lack of attention in meetings to conjure up worse scenarios of unproductivity.
To cite an example, I work with organisations on bespoke solutions for creating a culture that would enable their purposeful journeys towards their Vision. Learning for their Managers and Leaders is key but the problem of not having enough time to learn or time to think exists. In a world where the assumption is that time is money, a client invited me to train their leaders on ‘How to become good Coaches’; in 60 minutes.
I shocked myself when I agreed.
I agreed listening to their challenges and knowing that a step would be a beginning.
Working on the principle of the quality of attention determining the quality of other people’s thinking, the leaders engaged with each other in practice and walked out of the session deriving meaning.
And wanting more.
Attention birthed Intention.
Mariska explored the element of Intention citing what she heard often -
“I don’t know what to do. Where do I even start?”
I am experiencing and seeing this notion more and more these days. Even now trying to get a cohesive start to this piece I feel like I’m walking through waist deep mud, making progress, although slowly, and with only mud in sight not sure if I’m even going in the right direction, or when the mud will subside to make space for something else. It feels frustrating, overwhelming and like the only thing I’m doing is busy work, with no actual point to it. But there is a point, right?
When things have a simple answer of how to navigate from point A to B we know what steps to take. When it becomes more complex or chaotic (as we are experiencing more these days) the next steps do not easily present itself, and we can start to stand in our own way when it comes to getting the solutions that are right for us.
Then, where do we look?
Inside, to clear thinking. Nancy Kline describes it beautifully when she notes “a thinking environment is by its very nature a respite from identity, from its imposition on our seeing of the ‘other’ and of the world. We are invited to think as ourselves so that we can think for ourselves.”
Bringing us to this case study that I think shows how we can gain that clarity by using intention as a valuable marker in our thinking.
2. Intention
My clients often come across situations that can feel overwhelming and unclear, impacting their work (and their functioning as human beings in all interactions).
I had such a coaching conversation just the other day.
My high achieving client asked me how they could be more productive while only having so many hours in a day.
Knowing my client, they already had a good number of productivity tools “googled” and were paying close attention to getting oval pegs to fit round holes.
My first question was: “What do you want to achieve with this productivity tool that you are looking for?”
Trained in engineering, my thinking normally first goes to intention. What do I want to happen here / the equipment/ to do /in this situation / from this interaction / from the direction I’m moving in / the productivity tool to give me.
Intention for me is also about what I don’t want.
And then being aware of and understanding the limits and boundaries I might be working with and if they’ve changed.
Exploring these elements with my client brought us to a whole different productivity tool than any they might have found on Google. Moreover, it brought them to one they were already using and did not consider for this application.
So once the intention of what they wanted to achieve became clear, they could pay attention to what they already had. And my client was able to find the right fit and appropriate solution to their vexing productivity problem.
So next time you feel like your attention is being pulled in a myriad of different directions, think; what is it that is needed (more off / less off)? What might be the constraints, if any? And now that you are more intentional, what do you need to pay attention to that might help you get there?
Another easy way to remember this principle is to think of it as an expedition, getting from point A to point B. (This is your intention)
The map, compass and mode of transport are your tools. And knowing where you are on your trip and that you are on the right course is determined by the attention you pay.
Intention grows Attention.
Originally published on linkedin.com.
