You and your co-authors have written a book about something everyone wishes they could master: deliberate calm. How do you define it?
As our world becomes increasingly volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous (VUCA), we are facing never-before-seen challenges without an established toolkit to rely on. Deliberate calm is about recognizing what an external situation is demanding of you and being intentional about your response to it, so that you remain emotionally present under pressure. At its core, achieving this requires a synthesis of four skills: awareness, adaptability, learning agility and emotional self-regulation.
Why is this such a difficult ability to master?
As we navigate life today, circumstances that push us beyond what is known, safe and predictable are often perceived as a threat. We are biologically wired to react in such scenarios by clinging tightly to our old ideas, beliefs and habits — which are not likely to work in the new situation. When things start to go wrong, we blame the circumstances or other people for our problems and expect them to change, instead of looking at how we can open up and adapt to the new challenge.
To solve the world’s most pressing problems, collaboration, creativity and learning are all in extremely high demand. But these things are the hardest to accomplish when people are under pressure in high-stakes situations. The human brain is actually wired to contract under pressure and react to such situations with the exact opposite of collaboration, learning and creativity — which undermines our performance precisely when it matters most.
Thankfully, it is possible to experience these situations very differently.
Once you master Deliberate Calm, you
