Spoiling the magic

Went out on the river for my daily dose of nature wonderment: water, sky, woods, are always soothing and beautiful, familiar, yet slightly different every day. Yesterday turned out to be one of those days when the river is really magical. Maybe it was something about the angle at which the sun hit the water at this time of the year, maybe the air temperature, or something in the life cycle of the river creatures... I found myself gliding on an opalescent mirror reflecting hundreds of flickering silver dots jumping out of the water, a river version of exuberant fireflies. In the distance now and then a massive fish would pierce the unctuous liquid mirror without disturbing it and then fall back with a satisfied resounding splash. What a show!

Today I went back for an encore to the same place, at the same time of the day. The magic was gone! How could this be? Looked around, all the elements were there, but no live silver dancing above the water, no big fishes in sight. I finally realized that one element had been added to the mix: an ever so slight breeze was streaking the water surface creating tiny ruffles. Seems the presence of these tiny imperfections was all it took to blur small fishes’ vision, enough to make them stay put. The magic cycle of life was interrupted .

Today small and big fishes remained hungrier.
I was left wanting for the magic to happen.
The flies will live to see another day.

A case of mind over matter?

“Yes, absolutely: If you don’t mind, it does not matter!’ replied Reuben, the Dolphin Club’s boat captain, who was giving me a tour of the swimming and boating club in San Francisco Bay. What a treat! The visit to the Dolphin opened my eyes to a whole new level of physical and mental fitness needed to swim in the Bay waters and the harmonious cooperation between people who love making headway (moving) in or over the water.

At the end of a business trip to San Francisco, I decided to see if I might be able to row at one of the local clubs. One of the wonderful things I had discovered about becoming a rower is that it creates an invisible but real connection with many other like minded people worldwide. I have yet to find a place that would not extend the invite to visit and possibly row at the local facilities. Googling “rowing in San Francisco” brought up info on several Bay Area clubs. The closest to my location carried the additional designation of “swimming” in its name. I had seen boating, sailing, paddling, and kayaking added to the rowing, but the notion that rowers and swimmers shared a club was puzzling to me. While the e-mail reply warned me that I won’t be allowed to row because I could not claim open water experience, I was nevertheless cordially invited to visit the club.

On a beautiful but chilly early November morning I eagerly walked down Nob Hill to the edge of the Bay. I found myself in front of a building that from the street looked itself as a large white and blue boat. Once inside, I was transported in time! The club, founded in 1877, (see history) boasts in its great wood paneled room a full size wooden bar similar to those I’ve discovered in the old boat houses of Philadelphia – apparently a feature required by boaters till the 19th century… A fleet of large, carefully maintained, wooden boats still used for open water rowing reminded me of other antique boating equipment I had used at the Roskilde Roklub, that is built on a fjord next to the Viking museum in Denmark. Many pictures and trophies documenting a long and proud history were also on display. However, the most impressive discovery occurred when I exited toward the water side of the boat house: people, several older than me, in their bathing suits cheerfully greeting each other while coming out or waddling into the frigid water. My feeling of confidence, gained from sporting only a light leather jacket that morning when most passersby were shivering in puffy jackets and huddling paper cups of hot coffee, quickly gave way to humility! A stunning view of the bay with pink fog rolling in and out over the Golden Gate Bridge added to my awe. It turned out to be a very good day to observe these people whose determination made them not only able to but actually willing to brave the chilly open waters of the Bay. I was shown pictures of 80+ yo members who still swam the Golden Gate Bridge route or had crossed the English Channel.

I asked Reuben what it takes to be able to brave the cold open waters of the Bay? He told me about needing to persevere to gradually withstand water’s low temperature, having the metabolism to sustain the swim, and staying fit into old age. And I learned that this club holds… hypothermia classes. Above all, I was told it’s about a state of mind. As Reuben put it, “We do not have to swim in these waters, we chose – and love- to!” My visit was a revelation. When swimming clubs will be mentioned from now on, I will not automatically picture a pool, inevitably limited in length, with water warmed at a comfortable temperature. I now understood why I was not allowed to row: I needed to be able to swim in those waters should the wake of a passing tanker flip my boat.

I had to leave to catch my return flight, but I had trouble extracting myself from the scene. I had taken dozens of pictures (still hard to find one that does justice to the real thing). One last look: wide sky above blue and gold open waters. Pink fog. The Golden Gate Bridge, Sausalito, Angel Island and Alcatraz. Tankers passing and honking in the distance. Boats and flocks of swimmers crossing in various directions. The smell of bacon. What a morning!

Start with the end in sight

What is your system for accomplishing something you do not enjoy doing or simply find really hard to do? Just in case this reminds you somewhat of one of the "7 habits of highly effective people" (begin with the end in mind), this is not a repeat! This is a personal insight about practical ways to achieve that goal in mind, which came, again, from my athletic endeavors. In this case I should rather say my efforts to keep my commitment to stay healthy though daily physical activities.

It’s too cold again to row outside so I am back to the rowing machine (!!) I do not enjoy using the erg (rower's slang for rowing machine), but I do want to stay healthy and in shape. So I promised myself that no matter how much I hated it, I will use the erg for 35 min (yea, all you serious athletes can have a good laugh!) in the morning, several times a week. When I can row outside, on the water, an hour flies by easily, but I have to drag myself to get on the erg… It has helped that I finally developed the capacity to relax my brain while I use it, which in turn allows me to... think, something which came spontaneously when rowing outside. This might be my first erg-inspired post!

So this morning, when I forgot to set the timer to count down from 35 min as usual, after two minutes of trying to achieve my daily goal, I realized I will not be able to do it this way around, i.e., with the timer counting up! The odd discovery that I was able to make myself erg if the timer is shaving off from my goal (I can see the end), but not if I had a seemingly open-ended task ahead of me (psychologically, each move adding to it), set in motion my thinking about the process that allows me to accomplish goals through tasks I do not enjoy.

If I need to do something I do not like, the first effort is getting my brain engaged to make the commitment to the goal, then the brain will drag my body into it. And should the smallest thing come up, my brain tends to immediately find any excuses for which I should quit… On the other hand, when I enjoy doing something, my body does not need my brain to get engaged. My brain only jumps in should something that threatens to require me to quit; only then my brain finds all kinds of reasons (excuses?) for which I should still persist. Thus, I need to set a worthy mental goal and a concrete end for the task needed to achieve it. If the goal has value to me then I will just “suck it up” and go through the motions to accomplish it. I believe some may define it as “keeping the eye on the ball.” As a tactic, translating the goal into a concrete target, i.e., setting the time, distance, or number of repetitions, helps keeping me focused and makes it more manageable – then I can actually enjoy the feeling of “shaving off” my task: I have the end in sight.

The sports-inspired strategy works in life in general and business. First, defining a goal that is meaningful or a clear vision is essential. Then, translating them into tasks that are measurable and keeping count makes it doable. New research http://bit.ly/4sHSM indicates that “grit”, defined as perseverance, may be more important than intelligence or native talent to succeed. Not surprisingly it was found that it was essential to find a goal that can motivate us and sustain our interest long-term to summon up the grit… Where there is a will for an end in sight, there is a way!

Added note: Erg-ing after posting this got me... thinking: "what might I be losing by using this method?" The first thing that came to mind was limiting my goal. Of course, I am used to always exceeding them! What is the possibly I might go beyond 35 min counting up? Slim, I really tried several times. So, instead I started the process of talking myself into setting the timer to 40 min as one of my goals for the new year...
I also included a gadget to the right side - you can set it for your own challenge and see if my countdown tactics works for you!

There is no sparkle without ruffle…

Aghhh, the beauty of contemplating calm waters: you can see far and wide, you can see deep inside… You can also see images reflected on top of smooth water– although they are just a rendition of reality… Yet, the water only catches on fire on the crests of ripples and waves!

It was while being out rowing when I got the realization: the collision of water waves and light waves was necessary to obtain the mesmerizing effect of jumping sparkles. Crests form as a result of the phenomenon know in physics as “constructive interference”, when the amplitudes of two or more different water waves are adding up. Add the interference with the light waves and you can now observe the miracle of a sparkle!

This beautiful visual illustration of the phenomenon made me realize that sparkles only occur when distinctive waves interact constructively. The stunning visual cue also helped me crystallize the thoughts I have had about life and work circumstances that reproduce the “constructive interference” effect. This phenomenon I believe is a key driver for innovation. It was then and there when I also decided this should be the title of my blog about innovation.

While it seems that we are constantly on a quest for consensus and we generally avoid direct disagreement, throughout my life and career I have observed and appreciated many times the positive effect created by the mixing of between different opinions and schools of thought. While mixing people and activites, sometimes created "ruffles", it always resulted in something fresh and valuable. As a fitting example, my outdoor physical activity, allowing me to marvel at the beauty of nature, engendered thought clarity and the focus I had not achieved earlier while apparently fully engaged in a mental activity (sitting in front of my coputer). I might have exercised harder if I had been solely concentrating on rowing, but I felt more exhilariated gaining my insights in the same time. Once again my rowing it’s not all play, it is also my high quality thinking time as well…

Putting it all together – the “renaissance” competitor

The other weekend I went to cheer for friends (and secretly figure out if it was something I should consider…) participating in a “mini” triathlon that includes swimming (0.5 mi=750 m), biking (12.4 mi=20 Km), and running (3.1 mi = 5 km). The display of human determination and energy was amazing and inspiring. So many things blew me away that it was hard to rank them, so here are some in no particular order:

• Each of parts taken separately is a challenge in itself to the average person. All these people – and there were a few hundred - had been willing to train for and able to compete in all three of them.
  
• Beyond the energy expenditure needed, the mini-triathlon requires also the willingness to deal with the unpredictable – weather/water conditions - and the predictable discomfort. They not only had to bike and run after swimming, but they also did it in wet wear!
  
• Most people I talked to at the end of the race appeared to be competing against themselves, foremost keeping track of their own progress: some had competed previously, many were planning to train and come back within the next months. While there were enthusiastic cheers for every one crossing the finish line - indeed a major achievement, no prizes or trophies were distributed…
  
• Some of the people did not fit the “image” of the athlete, some appeared to be overweight, some had some sort of clear movement impairment, most were beyond the age associated with physical prowess. I was reminded again how misleading the appearances can be.

Moreover, I could not help but admire not only the technical excellence and endurance, but also the overall preparedness and the ability to think clearly under stress of these athletes. In fact, if I had to pick one thing that was the most amazing to me while watching this challenge – it was the “behind the scenes” competitors’ ability to manage the “transition time”. I understand that the times needed to don the biking gear after getting out of the water, walk the bike to the start line, then shed it all for the running shoes, were all added to the overall time. No doubt a lot of preparation went into having just was needed in terms of different gear pieces. Add to that laying down all these items and then donning or shedding them in the right order, when tired and with the clock ticking, was nothing short of a major tactical system. Way too cool, I just discovered a check list for triathlon transitions ! I’d say the handling of the swift and efficient transition from one challenge to the next under stress is one of the most difficult to find, but probably most useful abilities in the business world these days.

This made me think that the tri-athletes would likely do very well in whatever they put their minds to. No matter how these people appeared at first sight, they all had determination, endurance, versatility, clarity of mind under stressful conditions and used these qualities to constantly challenge their own abilities to get better. I wonder how frequently such transferable skills are taken into account when people are assessed for hiring or assigned professional responsibilities…

It's a mental thing: Just keep going

Just this past weekend, several friends ran a mini-marathon (half marathon) among 35,000 other people!!! I could never do it myself, but I do have one good excuse: I row instead! I asked my friend Mihaela why she does it. She said it’s because of the positive effect of pushing herself beyond what seemed to be her limits (the competition against oneself!). She does it because it means getting involved in something that allows her to stay healthy, happy, and sane, to be in good company of other like-minded people, and last but not least, because of the joy and pride of succeeding… Mihaela, the long distance runner, added: “In the end, life itself is a marathon, we need to stay in shape for it!”

And what does it take? Obviously, if you decide to do something apparently extreme for your age, abilities, etc. - we are not talking only about an athletic endeavor - you will need to prepare mentally and physically: it will be… hard! If it were easy, anybody could do it, and then there would be no challenge to feel and speak about proudly for years to come. Then, you… “just do it!” Along the way, you have to be really diligent to distinguish between the real reasons for which it may make sense to consider giving up reaching the goal from the likely many clever excuses disguising themselves as important to us. Our brains are really good at making believe! Especially once you find yourself at the start line, you should not allow yourself to entertain the idea of not finishing your “race,” whatever that might mean in your case, except for a medical or technical emergency or some major disaster. Finally, do your very best!

If there is only one piece of good advice I would like to pass on, it’s the one I got myself from my aunt, ex-European rowing champion, when I finally found myself on the eve of my first 5K rowing race at the tender age of 40. I had watched with fascination her and her brother’s (my mother’s younger siblings) endeavors on TV. Both elite rowers, National and European champions, from my child perspective they both looked impossibly tall, strong, beautiful, young, and energetic, hero-like figures. Except, I also knew they were very human, ravaging our fridge at every visit, as they were eternally hungry! It may be this early deep admiration that made me eventually take up rowing after so many years…. my mid-life crisis? (I’d say it was a positive way to spend the surge of extra mental and physical energy.)

So, I called up my aunt and asked for her expert advice: “What secret tip do you have for my first 5 K race?” After what seemed a long silence at the other end: “Did you say this was your first? I assume you have no idea how hard this is going to be…” I panicked for a second (“Am I crazy to try this?”), then she continued: “That is OK! At some point it is going to start feeling hard, REALLY hard...” I plastered my ear closer to the receiver, expecting her to whisper some magic formula... “You will see no reason to continue the race… then… you will just need to KEEP GOING, just don’t stop!” I was stunned; “That’s it?!?” I was very disappointed, I had expected some major insider revelation from my extremely successful advisor that would give me the competitive advantage I so desperately needed. The answer came back, simple and practical: “Yes, that’s it! Just keep going, go through the motions, even if your brain will tell you to stop – it’s just lack of oxygen! That’s pretty much the major secret in a long race!”

P.S. As much as I did not think at the moment that I had gained any new competitive advantage, during that race and many others that followed in rowing and in life, I had plenty of opportunities to remember my coach’s advice… it works!

Oxygen finally gets to my brain!

I read about research showing that when confronted with stress such as that created by a great dilemma or a difficult problem, the best way to find the answer is to... forget about it. Not really, but you'd do better putting all your worries aside while purposefully engaging in a physical activity. There were technical details showing that when stress hormones reached their peak in the brain they were actually blocking mental capacity, while redirecting all attention to a physical activity such as golf, allowed the brain to work at full capacity in the background. There are several theories trying to explain why regularly performing physical activities has extremely positive consequences for your brain. The Romans knew it already and had captured the concept in their typically concise fashion: “Mens sana in corpore sano” (healthy mind in a healthy body). J.F.K., a promoter a physical and mental fitness, paraphrased that to: “Physical fitness is not only one of the most important keys to a healthy body, it is the basis of dynamic and creative intellectual activity".

I have been using my early morning rowing as my best time to think and get my “aha” moments for the past several years. Many of the most interesting solutions for my work and the big decisions came to me effortlessly while rowing (that is if I do not take into consideration the effort to power the boat!). I concluded, maybe too simplistically, that due to the heavy breathing during rowing probably enough oxygen was finally reaching to my otherwise poorly ventilated, thus starving brain! So, at some point after spontaneously and repeatedly experiencing this benefit, I made the conscientious decision that I would not waste any more time trying to desperately think through the most important issues during work hours, or lose any sleep over them. I would simply formulate the question and then put it away into my brain, expecting to get the answer during my early morning row. It then started to happen without fail: I would spend half of my on-water time going down the river concentrating on the rowing drills. I would then turn around and start the long steady row back, and the solution would just come to me. Of course, my die-hard athlete friends had commented that “while on the water one should only think rowing”. Yes, I agree, that would be best for my rowing performance, yet, what’s best for me, the whole person, is that great body-mind connection I get while rowing. OK, also consider that many times I actually rowed much harder on my way back to the dock, in a hurry to capture in writing those great ideas before they would soon dissipate upon re-immersion into the daily grind chatter.