Nick Stagg Therapy

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Messy

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The world is complex, therefore they way we need to respond will most likely look messy.

Intriguingly humans often wish to tame the complex & make it simple.

Sadly what normally happens is that a simple solution only fits a very narrow problem & only for a few people.

We need to get better at appreciating the world is complex & working with that.

Not trying to fight the complexity into tight & neat order. It’s a losing battle.

Embrace variety & diversity.

Not because it’s “in” to do so, but because it’s so valuable to do so.

The beauty of working with those around you, be it a team at work or friends & family, is that each person brings their own skill set & ideas.

These can combine to create ideas & outcomes we couldn’t do alone.

Learn that you & those around you have the skills to tackle the unknown.

There’s no need to tame & constrain our world.

Learn to enjoy & be inspired by the complexities of life.

Think of those you most enjoy spending time with, they’re most likely to be a complex person with lots of ideas & insights.

We can learn to enjoy being challenged, to consider different viewpoints. To be stimulated by other ways of doing things.

Accept that humans are generally messy in their own ways & celebrate it.

Diversity

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I want to use “diversity” in it’s most encompassing meaning.

To acknowledge that like our fingerprints, each of us is different, unique & diverse.

It intrigues me how in lots of ways we celebrate this, yet in many other ways we look to reduce diversity.

We often stick to what and who we know. In practice, we seldom spend time with those that are that different from us.

This generally feels comfortable, no need to explain ourselves, to have effortful conversations.

However, this then reduces our ability to learn new things and expand our experience of being human.

I’m using diversity in this instance to go beyond the biographical data it normally covers and to consider the way we think and act too. Right/Left, Young/Old, Introvert/Extrovert. In all parts of life there is diversity.

The more we open ourselves up to at least hearing what other people have to say and what they do, the more we can decide what fits us best.

We can collaborate with a wide range of people and reap the rewards of a collection of different minds.

We can free ourselves up to explore new ways of doing tasks and leading our lives, be that work, personal or any time.

Let yourself be as open, curious and willing to see life from diverse perspectives as you can. It could be extremely invigorating.

Diversify

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Following on from June Sarpong’s book of the same name, I wanted to reiterate the need to utilise all of us.

We need to ensure we collaborate with everyone we can.

It’s the best way to ensure we don’t miss any really useful inputs and ideas. The danger of only mixing with one group of people is that we don’t get to benefit from new insights, perspectives or different life experiences.

It’s tempting to stick to our “own group”, it’s an evolutionary trait, stereotypes are useful shortcuts. However, what was once useful, may not be so useful now. In a far more globally linked World we need to learn how to get the best from each of us, in all contexts.

The more we interact with “others” outside our usual group, the more the others become “us”. Then with a more diverse “us” we can get a much broader view of the World. We can start to ensure what we do as a collective suits us all.

The more cohesive we are in work, at home, at large the less discord there is. This can only be a positive thing.

There’s no need to fear that by doing so, we lose ourselves. Already our tastes and interests are shaped by a wealth of influences from around the globe. We can incorporate more things we like whilst allowing the things we’re not keen on to fade away.

We still get to be individuals yet by collaborating we get to be much more.