The Paterson Podcast

Ever wish you had more insight into how you think? Or how those around you think? Maybe you wish you better understood your partner, or your manager or one of your kids.

This week we kick off a fun mini series exploring one of the most beloved tools we use in the Paterson process: the Thinking Wavelength. Today we explore the history of the tool and hear how it works. If you’d like to follow along and apply the tool in your own life, listen in as you’ll get the chance to evaluate your own way of thinking and understand better how that informs your contribution and the contribution of those you intersect with on a regular basis.

The Thinking Wavelength tool has impacted thousands of individuals over the years. Often times when we facilitate this tool for a team or group of leaders, people’s eyes light up and there’s an audible “aha” in the room as this simple yet profound tool is so clarifying for individuals and teams. Everyone here at Paterson would tell you how we have each been deeply impacted by this tool and we are excited to share it with you today. Listen in to find out more!

Today we are excited to share a conversation we had a few months ago with David Kinnaman. David is the President of Barna Group and author of the recently published bestselling book Faith for Exiles.

Barna Group is a leading market research and communications company serving leaders in a variety of industries, including churches, non-profits and businesses– from film studios to financial services firms. A lot of Barna Group’s work focuses on using social research to translate faith trends; and using quantitative and qualitative research to help leaders make better decisions, to better understand their customers, donors, and audiences.

So what patterns and trends should we pay attention to? How do we better understand our world today?

“We live in an age of disintermediation… Amazon is a great example of that. Everything in our society is going through a pretty significant re-plumbing and re-wiring,” comments David. “We must be good listeners and leaders; humble enough to admit there are more blind spots than we could know.”

Listen in to hear David’s thoughts on the mega trends impacting society today, on why no one predicted Brexit or Trump’s election, and how we should consider understanding our the world around us today.

This week we enjoy a conversation with returning podcast guest Sam Donnelly. If you haven’t listened to our first conversation with Sam, you can scroll back to episode 29 and listen there. It’s one of our favorite episodes.

We love and appreciate the wisdom and depth Sam’s life experience brings. “If there is something not being done with excellence, it’s usually because I’m not saying ‘no’ enough,” comments Sam.

From the military to for-profit to non-profit, Sam has had the opportunity to lead and cultivate organizational culture in a variety of contexts. “Creating [organizational] culture is doable, stewarding it is hard work and changing it… that can be really difficult,” notes Sam. So how do we create, steward and change culture with poise, humility and effectiveness?

Listen in as we explore themes around leadership and culture as well as “addition by subtraction,” sacrifice and surrender.

“We can’t always predict the future but we do have a hand in creating it.” — Tom Paterson

Today we wrap up our mini-series on the Paterson Way by exploring the principle Make the Vision Clear.

“Make the Vision Clear is about helping ourselves and others see the possibility of the horizon; understanding that while we may not always reach it, it’s no less essential to set the path towards the horizon,” says David. Strong vision naturally stretches us, creating some tension and activating action. Of course, getting to clarity of vision can be complicated. When clarifying vision – be that for one’s self, or for an organization, it’s important to first get clear on our heart — the mission of what we’re about — to ensure that our vision is rooted in truth. We’re pursuing vision that is rooted in the truth of mission.

Furthermore, we know that casting vision comes with its own set of risks and dangers. If we are not careful, we can create a vision that is not rooted in truth; a vision that is, in reality, a delusion. So how do we create strong, compelling vision that feels challenging but not impossible; exciting but not too overwhelming; and most importantly, that’s rooted in the truth of reality?

Where am I in my journey? What is the landscape of the reality I’m facing today? Where are the cliffs I need to avoid and where are the places of rest and replenishment?

Today we continue with our mini series on the Paterson Way, exploring the principle of Perspective Before Planning. “In our western culture, we tend to focus on very speed driven solutions. However, speed based solutions run the risk of coming up with the right solution for the wrong problem, which is, ultimately, the wrong solution,” says David.

Proper perspective can unify and empower teams. Often times we know intuitively that when we are in a place of confusion, the invitation is to find a higher point. We intuitively know that we need to be able to ascend upwards so that we can actually see more clearly from a higher vantage point. But how do we begin the ascent?

Tom Paterson was fond of saying “If we don’t find truth, the truth will find us; and when it does, it will bite us in the behind.” We are kicking off 2020 with a mini series on what we call the Paterson Way. The Paterson Way is a set of principles and a way of thinking that undergirds everything we do here at the Paterson Center, informing how we come alongside individuals and organizations, and embodying all that we have received from Tom. In today’s episode we explore the Principle: The Truth Sets Us Free.

Seeking and pursuing truth often involves risk. Truth calls us forth and calls us to a newer reality, but seeking truth – be that individually or as a team, regularly involves painful vulnerability and fear. So how do we learn to recognize those fears, set them kindly aside and not allow them to dictate the direction of our pursuit?

“We want to be men, women, teams and leaders who go after the pursuit of truth, not because we are on a witch hunt to try and bring about more fear and judgment but because if we do not know truth- both in our lives as individuals and within our teams and organizations, then we are by nature operating under delusion and falsehood,” comments David. “What we are going after is freedom. And truth is the doorway to that freedom.”

With the end of 2019 just eleven days away, it’s a time of year where many of us are taking time to pause, reflect, and make plans for the new year. A common challenge I feel this time of year (and I imagine I am not alone in this) is considering what needs to change and what needs to stay the same as I contemplate living out my calling in the coming year.

Change happens. It could be a test, a challenge, a surprise, a vocational shift, a geographical shift, a relational movement; but change — be it internal or external — is a given. We have to develop a healthy relationship to change or it will control us.

The question is how do we respond, reorient and realign ourselves to keep our calling and purpose clear?

Today we are excited to talk about the fifth and final phase of the Journey to Live Life’s Purpose: Adapting and Renewing. As Tom Paterson wrote “Adaptation is the conscious management of fate.” Join us this episode as we consider how to consciously manage, adapt and renew in the face of a new year.

“What am I supposed to say yes to? And what do I say no to?” I don’t know about you, but I know I struggle with this one.

Today David and Stephen discuss Phase 4 of the Journey to Live Life’s Purpose: Filtering and Focusing.

“The Phase of Filtering and Focusing is about facing distractions in light of a clarified purpose. It’s about accepting fuller ownership of your responsibility to chase after your calling,” says Stephen.

It’s easy to get stuck on the question “Is this the right thing to do? Or is it the wrong thing to do?” The Phase of Filtering and Focusing is where we move past that stuck point and start asking “What is the best thing to pursue?” This is where our posture shifts from being afraid of saying no to looking for the beautiful opportunities of where to say yes.

With the business of the holidays in full swing, today’s conversation is a refreshing invitation to recenter a little; getting clearer on our ‘yeses’ and giving ourselves gracious permission to kindly say ‘no’ where needed.

“Surrender is not giving up…Ownership always follows.”

Today’s subject might sound a little abrasive or strange. We get it. Oftentimes we associate surrender with giving up, quitting, and defeat. It’s rare to see surrender as a good thing. It’s even less common to think of it as something to embrace.

But what if surrender is actually the space where we face our fears and find new freedom?

In today’s episode, Stephen and David explore the hidden beauty of surrender — as a space of release; where we find greater liberation and freedom to be ourselves and to do the things that come most naturally.

In order to respond to the call of surrender and move towards a new reality, we are forced to come face-to-face with fear. Fear shows up when we chose to release things: fear of losing control, fear of failure…What does it mean to face the voices of fear and how do we do that in order to move into greater freedom?

Listen in for more!

Have you ever had the sense that there was something more? It’s that sense that we need to taste something we haven’t before. We don’t know what and we don’t know why…we just feel more and more aware of the need to live into something we haven’t yet. It’s like a seed of curiosity growing inside of us asking “Why? What now? And what for?”

In today’s episode, Stephen and David are back together diving in to Part 2 of our mini-series on the Journey to Live Life’s Purpose. Today’s conversation centers around what we call the “Search and Discovery” Phase. If you haven’t done so yet, we encourage you to jump back and listen to Part 1 before diving in to today’s episode.

“If Awakening and Awareness is an encounter with something we hadn’t known about ourselves before, Searching and Discovery is about looking for the answer. It’s about exploring and asking: How do I find answers, grow, and leverage that growth?”, says Stephen.

Searching and Discovery produces movement. We begin to pursue people differently, seeking out mentors and people who are a little farther along the journey, regarding that thing that’s begun to awaken within us. But Search and Discovery mode also has inherent risk; we find answers and sometimes the answers can be scary. It can be turbulent and stressful if not navigated with wisdom, patience, and guidance.

How do you identify that season within your own life or the lives of others? And what can be done to navigate those questions well? Listen in as Stephen and David share some thoughts around this and also explore what this season has looked like for them personally.