Reflection: through the looking glass

As I close out a couple of existing engagements and prepare to start a new one, I am reminded of the Alice in Wonderland series, mentioned several times by Saqib Ali, a frequent commentator on this blog.

Through the Looking Glass is an apt description of what it feels like to enter into a new organization. With every organization you  step through the looking glass, into a world that is defined by its own set of rules. Sometimes the rules make sense, most often they don’t – that is until you have a better understanding of the system, and how it relates to the world around it.

I find myself asking “whose mind is mirrored inside this looking glass?” What minds, or aggregation of minds have created this world? And always, always, the questions — what is the game, what are the rules, who are the players? It’s in my nature to not just try and understand systems, but to try and change them. To find the places where you can shift the game to a new level — the leverage points or “magic key to the secret door.”

My problem is that I get so excited and awed by this new world, that I forget to ask the basic questions about the game. I forget to remain in that place between believing and non-believing, between being a dancer and watching the dancing from a higher ground, between playing the game and playing the rules. This time I’ll try to remember.