Be Prepared to be Amazed

"I keep my mouth shut as often as I possibly can,
I keep my mouth open,
and I'm always prepared to be amazed.
And I'm never disappointed."

-Celeste Headlee in her TED Talk: "10 ways to have a better conversation"

I highly recommend this 11-minute video by an expert listener on listening. In this presentation, Celeste talks about what it really means to be a good listener, taking all that "repeat what you're hearing, make eye contact, sit up in your chair" stuff and throwing it out the window because, as she says, "There is no reason to learn how to show you're paying attention if you are, in fact, paying attention." 

I work for the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection. Where I work, there is plenty of work to be done, and the work is such that, if you do it well enough, you will be able to actually affect the kinds of change that you care very deeply about. While this type of work environment and opportunity for change fosters workhardedness in those of us who enjoy having plenty to do and improving the world, it does not necessarily foster great listening skills.

We DEP employees like to focus on facts--not only because they are awesome and totally true, but they are safe. We like programs like Microsoft Excel, we enjoy sports (laden with rules) and amateur painting classes (getting things just right). When it's conversation-with-a-person time, and when sports or facts might not be part of that conversation, we can balk. Moreover, when a conversation is going to seemingly take away from the important facts we're poring over, or the facts we're stuffing into a report, we would often just rather not have it. 

But we can do better. We can rediscover the art of conversation at work--a conversation that refreshes your thinking, opens you up to ideas your own brain hadn't pondered, gets a coworker to laugh about something that had been stressing them out. A meaningful conversation results in better understanding a fellow person, which teaches you something you didn't know before, which can change your whole outlook, which in turn affects how you see the work you do. 

The beauty of a conversation is you never know what's going to happen or where it's going to end up. Let's be brave, get into conversation, keep our eyes and ears open, and "be prepared to be amazed."