IntroSpect -- an Important Concept for a People in Crisis

I have been looking at things that go wrong for almost all of my adult life, and I have been drawn deeper and deeper into this fascinating field almost daily.

Looking back, however, I think the most significant thing I've learned as I've confronted the many issues surrounding the "failures" of our lives is the need for:

INTROSPECTION instead of BLAME

As you continue reading, imagine a world where everyone looked at themselves as part of their problems instead of blaming other people and things.

Let's say something goes wrong in your life.  It could be anything.  You could be involved in trying to launch a space shuttle, and it exploded in mid-air causing 7 people's death.  You could be mayor of a city with staggering murder statistics.  You could be a hospital administrator who has just been notified of a medication error that resulted in a death.   

Or you could be a homeowner whose new drone crashed-landed.  That's what happened to me, and I'll use it as an example of what IntroSpect asks people to do.

I received a new drone for Christmas. 

A month or so after I got the drone, an incident occurred when I was flying it.  One of the propellers suddenly broke apart when it was flying and the drone crash landed.

In trying to understand the causes of my drone failure, the first thing I did was to gather a lot of evidence.  I'll not say anything more about the evidence-gathering process -- that's a subject for another blog.

After gathering all the evidence, the next thing I wanted to know was HOW the propeller broke.   They key word is HOW – a focus on the PHYSICS, or MECHANICS of the event.  

I determined that a shroud that normally protects the one of the propellers had flexed too much while aloft and came in contact with the propeller – shattering the propeller.

Please note that this would be the same step no matter what the incident:  a space shuttle explosion, a murder on the streets of a city with staggering murder statistics, a medication error in a hospital that led to a death, or whatever.  I've learned the importance of UNDERSTANDING THE PHYSICS (or how) FIRST.

Now here is where it get’s REALLY interesting.

Now that I’ve understood the PHYSICS (or the HOW), I’d now ask:

What did I do that ALLOWED OR ENABLED the Physics?

Another way of asking this question is:  who did what wrong that allowed or enabled the physics?  

In the case of the drone failure, sure at this point I could stop and simply BLAME the incident on the manufacturer.  After all, they DID have a role.  But what good does it do ME to merely BLAME the manufacturer?  Is that why this incident happened to me -- to teach me to BLAME other entities for my problems?  Am I to take no ownership whatsoever for the problems in my life?

In the case of the shuttle explosion, "who did what wrong within the shuttle launch organization?"  In the case of the murder in a city with high murder statistics, "who did what wrong within the city (administrators, police, or whoever)?"  In the case of the medicinal error in the hospital," who did what wrong" that led to this error?"

Getting back to the drone, what did I do that allowed or enabled the physics?

Well, I'll admit that I flew the drone in wind conditions that were too high! That was my role.

These kinds of "admissions" are always a part of the IntroSpect process.  And there is always more than 1 person that needs to make this kind of admission.   As I suggested before, if I involved the drone manufacturer in this process, they might have admitted “we manufactured our drones with protective shrouds that are too flimsy.”

But let’s focus on me right now so I can show you the POWER of what’s next.  Remember, I flew the drone in wind conditions that were too high!

Now here is where it get’s REALLY, REALLY interesting.

Why did I do what I did?  Why does anybody do anything?  Isn’t it true that everything we do is caused by the THOUGHTS going through our mind at the time we did it?  Think about that, and you’ll see how simple all this really is.  

So “what thoughts WERE going through my mind when I decided to fly my drone that windy day?”  Well, something like: 

I’ve been waiting to fly this drone on the Blue Ridge Parkway to get some spectacular shots ever since I got this drone.  THIS IS THE DAY!  It’s a bit windy, but this is a good drone.  It can handle it.

Think about where this would take YOU if you did this on a problem that occured in your life.  Think about the space shuttle example, the murder in the city, the hospital where the medical error occurred -- in ALL these cases there were people who did something because of specific THOUGHTS that went through their minds at a particular point in time.

My next question will take me to another place – it will be a major step towards personal growth, because now I will ask myself:  

What thoughts SHOULD have been going through my mind that would have AVOIDED this incident in the first place?

I guarantee that if you ask yourself this question as a result of something that has gone wrong in your life where you, yourself were part of its causes, this question will cause you to STRUGGLE!  Things that go wrong in our lives should always cause us to STRUGGLE.

In the case of my drone, I struggled and struggled and finally realized that I SHOULD have thought:

Although I’ve been waiting since Christmas to fly this drone on the Blue Ridge Parkway, it’s a bit too windy to try it today -- and it’s probably even more windy aloft.  I think I remember reading that we’re not supposed to fly it in high wind conditions, so I’ll wait for a better day.

Now it's time for me to reflect on 1) what I ACTUALLY thought, versus 2) what I SHOULD have thought.

Actual thoughts versus desired thoughts -- actual thoughts versus desired thoughts.  I need to DWELL on this, and then move on to answering…

What is it about the way I am that is evident in these thoughts?

Imagine doing this every time something went wrong in your life!  Imagine what would happen if EVERYONE involved asked these kinds of questions, each time something went wrong -- over and over.

Imagine an organization that launches rockets into space doing this, and the city that is experiencing high murder statistics, or the hospital that is plagued with medical errors.  Imagine your family doing this.

We are a people in crisis -- a crisis of blame and misunderstanding.  No-one is listening to one another.  We all have our own agendas.  

Things that go wrong are the ONLY phenomena of life that are capable of prying each of us out of our own biases -- as long as we're willing to abide by ONE GOLDEN RULE:

Let's all stop blaming other people and things, and instead started looking at ourselves as part of our problems.

What is it about the way I am that contributes to the problems around me: Part 2

In my last blog post, I told you a story about my DELAYED and almost TOO-LATE decision to install a standby generator for our mountain home.  My wife had experienced a serious loss of power in sub-zero weather that was life-threatening.  We had similar experiences in the past, but never with such potentially disastrous consequences.

In trying to "practice what I preach," I tried looking at myself as part of that problem and I did not like what I saw.  I shared my conclusions about myself in the last blog post.

In this article, the story continues.  

We picked a contractor to install the generator, and together decided that the fuel for the generator would have to be propane.  The installer suggested to obtain a second, dedicated propane tank for the generator.  We already have a propane tank that supplies fuel for heat for our home, but this propane thank would have to be located in a different area -- an area near the new generator.

Both my wife and I didn't like the idea of an above-the-ground tank located so close to the house (and also close to a road where hunters sometimes get rambunctious with their guns,), so we decided to bury the tank.

I remember thinking:

I'll use my backhoe to dig the hole and save some money.  Besides, it sounds like fun.  It's supposed to be 6 feet deep, 8 feet long, and 3 feet wide.  I've never dug that big a hole before.

I told the contractor that I would dig the hole.  We brainstormed and decided on the best location for the tank.  I marked the area.  The contractor then told me I'd better call "Miss Utility" to mark any power or phone lines in the area -- even though we both knew that those lines were far from the intended dig.  We also looked around for anything else that might be buried underground.  The only thing we could think about was "sewer lines."  I remember saying aloud, to the contractor:

Why would a sewer line be located in this direction when the septic tank is in the opposite direction?

The contractor agreed.

As requested, I scheduled Miss Utility to come to the site.  They marked the public power and phone lines.  As suspected, the lines were far from the dig.  We were totally safe.

The next Saturday, I started the dig.  But on the second draw of the bucket I saw a grayish-looking "hose" emerge from the ground.

Nuts.  I have placed garden hoses in this area before when we used to have a vegetable garden.  It's probably a garden hose.  But I'd better stop and make sure.

I turned off the backhoe, got off, and carefully examined the "hose."  It was not a hose.  It was plastic conduit!  As soon as I saw that it was conduit, I remembered thinking:

Oh no!  That's the line to our satellite internet connection!  I forgot that they ran that line right through this area!

The satellite internet system is very low voltage, so I was not too concerned about myself or someone else getting electrocuted.  But this was our satellite line!

I hope I didn't sever the satellite internet line!

I ran inside the house and looked at my smartphone.  NO SIGNAL. 

Gees!  I severed the line!

I told my wife what happened.  She was annoyed.  I guess I don't blame her.

Didn't you remember that they buried the line right there?   Didn't you see the Satellite Dish?

But the dish was behind our blueberry bushes and could not be seen from where I was.  "Out of sight, out of mind."  She helped me uncover the conduit until we found the severed line.  We pulled it out of the way and I continued digging.

I'll deal with the severed line after I dig this hole.

About 30 minutes later, and about 4 feet down after another pull, I saw pieces of a large, white PVC pipe that I had apparently broken.

Good grief.  That looks like a sewer line!  But it can't be an active line.  Look how far away from the house it is!  I'll bet it's from the old septic system.

I got off the backhoe again, and went into the house and asked my wife to flush a toilet.  I ran outside to look at the severed pipe, and about a minute after she flushed the toilet the water ran out of the pipe!

What!  It's a live line?  What in the heck is the sewer line doing all the way over here!  I'm going to have to stop everything and repair that line or we won't be able to use our bathrooms!

Three hours later, after a frantic trip to town to buy materials, and after a messy, sloppy, disgusting repair job, we called it a day (yes, my wife was out there with me for moral support). 

Now, to practice what I preach.

What follows is an application of our Investigative process to this real-life problem at home.  Some of the terminology might be foreign to you, but most is self-explanatory.  

Actual Behavior:  When digging with a backhoe, I hit a satellite cable and sewer line.

Desired Behavior:  When digging with a backhoe, I avoided the satellite cable and sewer line.

Sequence of Events Leading to the Actual Behavior:

• Decided to install a standby generator at our home.
• Decided to bury the propane fuel tank.
• Before digging, I had “miss utility” map out public power and phone line.
• I could not think of anything else, so I dug.

Triggering Situation:

• When I was planning to dig the hole for the propane tank.....

Actual Thoughts While Planning:

• I’ll get “miss utility” to come in and map the power and phone lines, even though I already know where they are.  The sewer line couldn’t possible be this far away from the house.  I can’t think of anything else.

Desired Thoughts While Planning:

• I’ll have to determine where there sewer line is, and also make sure there’s nothing else I’m not thinking about.

What is it about the way I am that is apparent in the above thoughts?

• I tend to not research things as thoroughly as I should when I want to do something.

What do I intend to do about this?

• When I am about to do something significant, I will intentionally get other people’s inputs – especially those who might see things differently.  I will tell my wife of my intentions tonight, and ask her to help me do this on home-related issues

Drip-by-drip, over and over, I am seeing myself as part of the problems that occur in my life.  On one hand, this type of exercise saddens me.  

On the other hand, it liberates me.  After all, I am the only person I can change.

Why in the world do most people insist on AVOIDING this kind of introspection as part of their "root cause analysis" efforts?  Isn't it true that ALL our problems can be traced to people, just as in my backhoe example?  Isn't it "the way we are" that needs to change?