We Are Swimming in a Sea of Invisible Resources
This brief article is part of a series focused on how our environment shapes us in ways we cannot see and the resources we need in order to create the change we seek. You can find more resources here and at the end of this article.
Question: Since everything needs to change, where do we begin?
Answer: We begin by understanding our own and others' Generative Fields
While doing research at the University of Michigan on how people and organizations change, I discovered what I call Generative Fields, a type of relational field that contains the essential energy, intelligence and resources people need in order to become our best selves and find our way in the world. On an individual level, our contact with Generative Fields helps us become more motivated as well as deeply connected to both ourselves and the world around us. The term “generative” is used because these fields are inherently resource-generating, they naturally create interpersonal resources such as purpose, resilience and creativity that allow us to be deeply focused, productive and purposeful.
You’ve already experienced these fields countless of times, even if you haven’t been aware of them. Since most people don't know these fields exist, they don’t know how to make use of them. The problem is that they are hidden. In any given moment, a human being is taking in up to 11 million stimuli but is only conscious of 40 stimuli, which means, most of what we’re responding to in life is completely hidden from us.
What Does a Generative Field Look Like?
You can begin to recognize these fields by noticing when people are "in their element" - doing something that immediately puts them in their Zone of Genius while connecting them to their right place in the world (e.g., watching LeBron James play basketball or Janelle Monae perform her music). For instance, whenever I’m leading a class on Generative methods aimed at helping people find the vast hidden resources they already possess, I enter into my primary Generative Field. As soon as I start teaching, I immediately become completely calm, present and grounded. I can begin a teaching session having the worst day imaginable - struggling with devastating emotions or even physical pain – and within a few minutes of starting to teach, those conditions completely disappear (for more on how I discovered this phenomenon and used it to heal from a deadly disease, see my Ted talk). From one moment to the next, I can seem like a totally different person. I shift into an extra, "higher" gear where I have more of my own resources available to me. I settle into myself and enter fully into the flow of life. I have endless energy and can handle whatever comes my way. I am filled with insights - one after another - that benefit those around me. Anything that is not in sync with my Generative Fields (fears, doubts, physical pain, etc..) recedes. Even if I'm feeling deeply challenged, I’m so focused and engaged that the stress of the situation doesn’t bother me. I become the best version of myself.
My experience is not at all unique, everyone has this extra gear. The reason I can shift into this "better" version of myself is because our Generative Fields exist in a place that is much deeper than our fears, anxiety, traumas and even physical pain. As a result, these fields not only help us meet our day-to-day challenges, but more importantly, they can also transmute the energy of those challenges into purposeful and creative action. When I teach, the energy of the fears and doubts I often struggle with become alchemized into concrete resources that serve others. That's why, by finding and following my own Generative Fields, I’ve been able to create tools and methods that have supported the transformation of thousands of people.
Through my research, I’ve discovered the following six facts about Generative Fields:
1. They are absolutely essential for people (individuals, groups and organizations) to experience coherence, purpose and direction.
2. They empirically exist, which means, they contain essential data and information that can be surfaced and verified.
3. They produce interpersonal resources (resilience, purpose, focus and creativity) and data regarding what individuals and groups need in order to learn, grow and transform.
4. Our brain, body and nervous systems were designed to register the resources and data they create.
5. Since they exist in our bodies, outside of our day-to-day awareness, most people don’t know how to access the life-changing resources they generate.
6. When people and groups find and “unpack” their generative resources, they become the best version of themselves.
How Do I Locate My Generative Fields?
For the vast majority of people, connecting with our Generative Fields is a completely relational process – it happens in response to others and to the world around us. Our brain, body and nervous system register these fields through embodied resonance - a subtle experience of energy and aliveness that moves through our bodies, often just outside of our normal awareness. This resonance automatically happens whenever we connect deeply with ourselves, nature, our "right" place in the world, or another human being. The more we learn to activate this resonance, the more we can access our own and others' Generative Fields and learn to decode the essential information they contain.
The problem is these fields are part of our embodied knowledge - knowledge that lives in the body. Typical modes of self-reflection, asking questions such as "What do you think?" or "How do you feel?"cannot reach this essential knowledge. We need another way.
I’ve spent the last fifteen years discovering the specific types of questions and methods people need in order to activate embodied resonance and identify their own and others’ Generative Fields. The easiest way to gain access to our own Generative Fields is to intentionally activate them in others. The basic steps (which will be covered in more detail in subsequent articles) include the following:
Recognizing Embodied Resonance
Decoding and Articulating Hidden Generative Patterns
Strengthening Generative Patterns in Everyday Work and Life