The « Art of Becoming »

Who are we? Why and how do we behave? What is defining us? And where are we regarding to others?Joanne Scott arrived with a big and honest smile, radiating the room with an energy that electrified us all. She briefly introduced herself, and then started right away on the topic of the morning: The Art of Becoming.This is an infinite topic, with no right or wrong so she humbly explained the results of her research, from personal experience and relevant literature, synthetized in seven concepts:

1. Love & Loneliness: how do we connect to others? How do we manifest our presence among, people? It can be through several means like pure presence, connection, dancing, talking in a crowd, singing, etc. On the other hand, we all need personal (lonely) time, away from others to reconnect with themselves, different activities are then preferred such as reading, cooking or walking alone. Where is the slider? When do we move it and why?
2. Opposites Attract: the surprising link between opposites like “Logical/Sequential vs. Intuitive”, or “Space vs. Business”. Infinite factors can be described, we just need to question ourselves on which ones define us, how they are translated in our life and their consequences.
3. Energy Signature: the energy flow between humans, we all experienced an external negative or positive energy affecting our own mood. Energy signatures are the new CV!
4. Be Edgy: society and its norms, what is “normal” and what is “marginal”. Have we ever appreciated the extreme? How to be edgy? This can help to develop our creativity, but also our openness.
5. Finding Balance: which sides of our personality do we want to show? Joanne expressed some examples such as feminity, curiosity, sharing. From my understanding, this is a tool to know ourselves.
6. The Paradigm of Timeless: judging a book by its cover is not the right way. The capacity of finding value in the personality, actions, behavior and attitude of a person is far more essential than merely looking at their status, diploma and look.
7. Resumé Virtue vs. Eulogy/Legacy Virtue: how do we want to be remembered? I guess a family picture is not enough… memories matter! This raised the topics of “doing the right thing”, “saving the world” and “being good for others/the world”.

Following this dense introduction, my brain has turned to mush. Grasping the idea behind each concept was hard because of the philosophical level. Joanne gave some concrete examples, but assimilating the information was a challenge. That’s why we were asked us to take few minutes to write down a personal experience depicting each concept before sharing with others in groups. We eventually switched the vantage point when asked to apply these concepts on collaborative work.The report out was extremely rich; every group took pleasure in their discussions, the results mattered less than the past hour spent connecting with teammates. One group even created another concept: the Red Line, illustrated by someone struggling to find balance on a rope while crossing a pit.Joanne has obviously become expert in applying these concepts in her daily life: her “way of doing” is shaped by her “way of being”. She succeeded in onboarding us on the exploration of different perspectives on our behavior toward others, and toward our self. This helped in asking the right questions, which would improve our behavior while collaborating. Every one of us learnt something different; we probably cannot express what it is yet. And it seems to be ok that way...Thanks to Joanne Scott for her sharings!Thanks to Alessandro Attanelli for the scribing, and to Hervé Bouchet for the picture.Report out proposed by Solange Merienne participant of the Codesign University Diploma.

Cette œuvre de Codesign-it! est mise à disposition selon les termes de la licence Creative Commons Attribution – Partage dans les Mêmes Conditions 4.0 International.