There is a wonderful story told by Nasreddin Hoca, a famous Turkish sage, that goes as follows:
One night, a man goes into the basement of his house, where there is no light, to retrieve something. Whilst there, he hears his wedding ring slip off his finger and fall to the floor. After vainly searching for a while, he then makes his way into the street outside his house, where he continues his search under the streetlights.
A neighbour friend of his sees him walking slowly up and down the street and goes out to see what is going on. “I lost my wedding ring,” said the man, to which the kindly neighbour immediately responds, “That’s terrible, here let me help you. Where do you think you might have lost it?”
“In the basement of my house” is the reply.
After a puzzled pause, the friend then asks, “But why then are you looking for it here in the street?”
“Well, this is where the light is” replies his friend.
Keith Coats, our director of Storytelling at TomorrowToday, often uses that story as an introduction to the work our team does as futurists.
We help leaders and companies ‘stay in the basement’ where there is no light and things are uncomfortable… but exactly where they need to be.
All too often, we gravitate to the ‘light’ of our experience, past successes, desire for certainty, and where we are most comfortable.
To engage and navigate the future, we need to be willing to go to the basement and not default to ‘where the light is’.
This is the thinking Keith brings to the keynotes and workshops that he facilitates with leadership teams around the world – helping organisations spend time where insight is harder but far more valuable.
Keith Coats helps leaders re-discover the art of learning, in themselves and in their teams.
Contact us to book Keith for your next leadership conversation and explore how curiosity and attention can transform your organisation’s future.