We’ve all heard the story that if you throw a frog into a hot pan it will jump out, but if you put a frog in a pan and turn the heat up it will sit there and be cooked. Why? Well, for those of you who haven’t heard the story it’s because the frog knows when something is hot or wrong, but if it’s gently warmed, it won’t realize that he’s sizzling until it’s too late.
How often does that happen to each of us? We sit in our circumstances. Everything seems normal. We don’t notice the incremental changes in our environment. “That’s not how we do it here” and “We’ve always done it this way” are common phrases you hear from people who don’t realize the pan is getting warmer. And yet we are the first to point out the craziness we see in other groups or with other people without recognizing our own crazy.
It’s hard to know you’re drowning in a whirlpool if you’re in a whirlpool.
When you’re swimming along and suddenly find yourself being pulled into something, you have no idea what is going on other than you’re drowning. You don’t have the perspective to see that you are indeed being sucked down the vortex of a whirlpool.
If you feel like you’re drowning, take a break. Step back. Talk to a trusted friend. Look at what you’re doing from a different perspective. Working harder at your current behavior isn’t necessarily going to get you out of the whirlpool. Doing something different, changing your environment, or changing your perspective can help you determine a new way of doing something. Or keep you from drowning.
Or keep you from becoming an order of frog legs.
How often does that happen to each of us? We sit in our circumstances. Everything seems normal. We don’t notice the incremental changes in our environment. “That’s not how we do it here” and “We’ve always done it this way” are common phrases you hear from people who don’t realize the pan is getting warmer. And yet we are the first to point out the craziness we see in other groups or with other people without recognizing our own crazy.
It’s hard to know you’re drowning in a whirlpool if you’re in a whirlpool.
When you’re swimming along and suddenly find yourself being pulled into something, you have no idea what is going on other than you’re drowning. You don’t have the perspective to see that you are indeed being sucked down the vortex of a whirlpool.
If you feel like you’re drowning, take a break. Step back. Talk to a trusted friend. Look at what you’re doing from a different perspective. Working harder at your current behavior isn’t necessarily going to get you out of the whirlpool. Doing something different, changing your environment, or changing your perspective can help you determine a new way of doing something. Or keep you from drowning.
Or keep you from becoming an order of frog legs.