The Zen concept of Beginner’s Mind describes a state in which a person can work with many possibilities and avoid getting stuck on any single path or approach.
As described by Suzuki in Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind, “the most important thing is not to be dualistic … This does not mean a closed mind, but actually an empty mind and a ready mind. If your mind is empty, it is always ready for anything; it is open to everything. In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities; in the expert’s mind there are few [emphasis added].”
Mediators grock the concept of Beginner’s Mind, because it’s the state of mind elegant mediators know how to bring to the table. It’s a relevant state of mind for mediation marketing, too.
When you consider the services you offer through the lens of Beginner’s Mind, you orient yourself not to your present expertise or to the market-limiting box you may have placed yourself in, the box labeled “mediator” or “arbitrator.” With Beginner’s Mind you enable yourself to consider skills instead of the packages in which you bundle them, to consider ways potential clients could benefit from the set of skills you currently bundle as “mediation.”
If you were to take off your expert’s hat (I know, there’s self-comfort in your expertise), what would you do to adopt a Beginner’s Mind? In what ways could you unbundle your skills to serve clients in new ways?
Tammy,
after spending the past three days working long days with the Dalai Lama here in New York City, it is great for the few hours of down time (yes, part of it is reading your blog!) to read about mindfulness on your blog.
Jeff, I met the Dalai Lama years ago when he came to speak at my college. It was the first and only time I'd ever seen a field house filled with thousands of people sitting so still that you could hear a pin drop — we all wanted to hear and experience every moment of his presence. How wonderful for you to have had the chance to work with him for several days!