By Chris Cloud
Have you gotten your MBA? Not the traditional one, but the new MBA – Management by Absence.
Yvon Chouinard, of Patagonia fame., coined this term in Let My People Go Surfing.
Yvon noticed that he did his best thinking while out climbing mountains, absent from his day-to-day work. He gained perspective, and the freedom allowed his mind to wonder and explore. He would always come back with newfound clarity and ideas after “getting his MBA.”
This kind of “MBA” isn’t just a vacation. It’s an intentional unplugging, a real disconnecting from the wired-up world.
I recently experienced this on a trip out West climbing in the mountains of California, and was able to gain perspective on my business as well as ideas around how to better help my clients. All while being “absent” physically but fully immersed in nature and present in the moment.
What’s particularly interesting about this approach is that it’s not just a novel idea from an eccentric hippy entrepreneur, there’s some interesting science to back this up:
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Trusting the Inner Mind: When your mind is wrestling with a problem, challenge, or opportunity, one of the best things you can do is set the issue down while your resting mind searches for answers. This is why going to sleep before asking yourself a question is so powerful.
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Hidden Benefits of Renewal: Not only does “Management by Absence” give you access to parts of your creative mind that you otherwise might not tap into, the primary and most powerful benefit may be healing. Renewal activates the Parasympathetic Nervous System (PNS) which is the healing mechanism of your body. The PNS reverses the ravages of chronic stress.
In a state of PNS Renewal your neurons begin to regenerate, you are more creative, more hopeful about the future, have a higher capacity for compassion, increase in resilience and even increased immune system function. Renewal can only come through putting our work down, and stopping the “Stress” cycle that so often leads to anxiety and burnout.
All of us need habits of regular Renewal and regeneration. It’s an amazing hidden grace, if we’ll tap into it. I like to imagine that’s part of why Jesus went into the wilderness so often.
Here are some other activities that are proven to activate the healing power of the PNS:
> Playing an instrument
> Meditation
> Prayer
> Being present with a small child
> A walk in nature where you are tuned in
Oh, and Yvon recently also gave Patagonia away, a company valued at over 3 billion dollars.
How might you benefit from getting your MBA, today?
