Process Jolt #15 - Comprehend with direct knowing, not just data

Welcome to our Conscious Innovator® process!

Are you ready for a new, insight-provoking “Jolt” … something designed to “rearrange your molecules” as it elicits your unique, innovative potential in life and work?

Jolts wake us up. They spur new self-awareness, new capabilities and values, and new actions. Paradoxically, we don’t learn from each Jolt – rather, each Jolt “learns us”! That is, a Jolt sits in the background of our consciousness and then prompts new insights and energy over time. 

Jolt #15: Comprehend with direct knowing, not just data

There’s a lot to learn about “comprehending” from the 1960’s, starting with the hit song from Kenny Rogers with the theme, “I just dropped in… to see what condition my condition was in.”

Before generating creative ideas, we need to know “what condition our condition is in.” Said another way, we need to “grok” the situation.

Grok is a word invented by author Robert Heinlein in his 1961 novel “Stranger in a Strange Land.” Various dictionaries define grok as the ability to understand something “profoundly and intuitively… intimately and completely… and by empathy and rapport.”

The use of “grok” has been especially adopted by computer programmers. The Jargon File, a self-styled “Hackers Dictionary,” says: “When you claim to ‘grok’ some knowledge or technique, you are asserting that you have not merely learned it in a detached instrumental way but that it has become part of you.” 

To grok something, you step into its reality. You’re touched by it. You experience it directly, rather than just as an observer. In fact, grok means to understand something so completely that the observer becomes part of the observed.

This aligns with the principle of quantum physics that the data we record, and how we interpret it, depends on the mindset and methods we have for observing. As articulated by Werner Heisenberg in his 1958 classic, “Physics and Philosophy,” we are never really separate from what we think we’re observing “objectively.”

You must “become” something to fully know it. Paradoxically, when you grok a situation, you know it from the inside out, more fully and objectively than any observer could know. It’s an intimate, deep, direct kind of knowing that transforms you.

This was the experience of George Hutchinson when he was a volunteer for 2 years in the US Peace Corps.George needed to understand and co-create change with the village people he lived with in Burkina Faso:

“My life vibrated between unexpected learning experiences in the course of working, living, reflecting, and conversation. It’s enough that I made a difference for a few years, while that work – that life – made a difference in me that reverberates in everything I do.”

To grok a situation, begin by accepting "what is”: what condition your condition is in. This gives you direct access to the raw material that informs and guides your journey as you create innovative solutions.

And… even more boldly, if you want to “go where no one has gone before” (thanks, Star Trek!), try loving your condition unconditionally!

-=-=-=- Now it's your turn -=-=-=-

Being a Conscious Innovator® has a 3 phase cyclical process: become aware, capable, and versatile. Try on this Jolt in your life and work, then take self-reflective time to engage in the process:

-=-=-=- An invitation to join our process and share your insights -=-=-=-

If you haven’t already, we’d love for you to join our process and share your own experiences, while learning from the experiences of others! We appreciate what one person said about the Jolt process itself:

Innovation is a world by itself. It can change lives and help people become more positive. Doing a Jolt is already something! A new habit that promotes innovation and reflection.

It’s totally FREE to participate. To sign up and join us, go to this link and follow the easy directions: https://innovate.vci.global/p/the-conscious-innovator. 

Even if you haven’t participated up to this point, it’s never too late to start the process! It’s like a concise gym workout that provides an insightful “pause that refreshes” and evokes your unique, innovative potential in life and work.