The Art of Possibility: Transforming Professional and Personal Life Kindle Edition

"Draw a different frame around the same set of circumstances and new pathways come into view," say authors Rosamund Stone Zander and Benjamin Zander in their book The Art of Possibility: Transforming Professional and Personal Life. This brought to mind one of my favorite quotes by the late Wayne Dyer, ""If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change." I like this philosophy, and I wanted to read more.The Art of Possibility is full of examples to emphasize that life works better when you have a positive mental outlook. The authors tell a story of two shoe factory salesmen exploring new markets in Africa. After assessing the situation, both send telegrams:SITUATION HOPELESS. STOP. NO ONE WEARS SHOES.GLORIOUS BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY. STOP. THEY HAVE NO SHOES."The one who sees no shoes, all the evidence points to hopelessness. To his colleague, the same conditions point to abundance and possibility," say the Zanders. Through easy to understand examples like this the authors drive home their point. I also liked the stories the Zanders share from their professions. Benjamin Zander is the conductor of the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra. Rosamund Stone Zander (nickname of "Roz" in the book) has a private practice in family therapy.The Art of Possibility is more than just pie in the sky optimism. The Zanders recommend a realistic approach to negative thoughts and feelings. Their approach "doesn’t mean you should drown out your negative feelings or pretend you like what you really can’t stand. It doesn’t mean you should work to achieve some 'higher plane of existence' so you can 'transcend negativity'," they feel. "It simply means, being present without resistance: being present to what is happening and present to your reactions, no matter how intense. The capacity to be present to everything that is happening, without resistance, creates possibility."Reading the book led me to challenge some of my limiting beliefs. "We can replace the narratives that hold us back by inventing wiser stories, free from childish fears, and in doing so, disperse long-held psychological stumbling blocks," say the Zanders. Perhaps our interpretations of the events in our lives do not match reality. "We see a map of the world, not the world itself," the authors feel.

I find that much of the book ties to some previous ideas by famous poets and philosophers. I dwell in Possibility – (466)BY EMILY DICKINSONI dwell in Possibility –A fairer House than Prose –More numerous of Windows –Superior – for Doors –Of Chambers as the Cedars –Impregnable of eye –And for an everlasting RoofThe Gambrels of the Sky –Of Visitors – the fairest –For Occupation – This –The spreading wide my narrow HandsTo gather Paradise –And John Keats idea of Negative Capability. Negative capability is a term that has been used by poets and philosophers to describe the ability of the individual to perceive, think, and operate beyond any presupposition of a predetermined capacity of the human being."What is now proved was only once imagined." - William BlakeAnd Walt Whitman - “I am large. I contain multitudes.”Just an observation.

The Art of the Possibility is an uplifting little book about thinking practices that allow you to move away from "the world of measurement" into "the world of possibility". The book is full of positive stories to attempt to change your perspective in life. The stories are fun, yet the practices weren't always very concrete. It was an easy read, yet it wasn't a book that gave me a major AHA! moment.The book is about 200 pages, written in 12 chapters for 12 different practices. Most of the practices are perspective-practices that try to trigger you into a different way of thinking about yourself and about the world. For example, the practice of "Giving an A" is the practice that asks to always look at people from their potential perspective and avoid judging them directly. Always give an A to people... think the best of them and that will get out the best of them.All other practices are similar. I find them useful, yet at times native. However, they aren't very concrete and they all kinda relate is seeing the world from the perspective of... possibility.

This is a practice guide for being excellent, for being a leader wherever you are, and for living a satisfying professional and personal life. Practical, detailed illustrations of a dozen or so different practices, each of which could transform my work relationships. I'm really glad to have read this book, and expect to keep it as a reference, since the practices take some time to learn.

What a disappointment! This is not a good book. It is 203 pages of rambling, confusion, filler (for the most part), oddly structured sentences, and poor writing. It is written by two professionals whose writing style and stories is clearly incompatible. The two perspectives rarely if ever dovetail nicely when explaining or attempting to reinforce a point. Moreover, the book is filled with the music conductor self-congratulating themself for who they are and their importance, whereas, the therapist presents psychological topics in utter confusion. This book will quickly cast you into a sea of irritation and utter confusion. I am a frequent reader of this genre of books. This is one of the worst I ever read.Save yourself the money and more importantly the time. There is no need to read 203 pages of drivel, filler and confusion. The takeaway is simple. Look for opportunities to think outside the box and change perspective. Changing perspective is often helpful. That’s it. The rest of the book has little if any value. It is likely this book gets high remarks because people want to like this book. They are desperate for a magical cure or formula. The idea behind this book is good and interesting, but, the execution is poor. Just because someone calls themself an author, does not mean they can write well. Keep that in mind.

The Art of Possibility is a life changing book. The authors challenge traditional thinking and offer radical alternative ways of approaching your personal and professional life. It isn't an easy read and you can expect to review the chapters many times before you fully appreciate their meaning and application.Ben Zander's background is in music and many of the scenarios in the book have a musical context. The message is always applicable to any situation though.An open mind is essential if you are to consider where the ideas might take you. It has taken me two months to read it once because I wanted to appreciate each of the practices before moving on. In my case it couldn't be rushed. I'm about to begin reading it again and I expect to find different perspectives.

I remember seeing Benjamin Zander at one of his lectures seven or eight years ago, and being inspired by his message. This book captures much of Benjamin's philosophy in the topic area of the subtitle, `Transforming Professional and Personal Life'.The book is jointly written with Rosamund Stone Zander who is a family therapist. Drawing equally on Rosamund's experience and that of Benjamin's conducting the world's orchestras, including the Boston Philharmonic, the book takes the form of a `How to' which instead of providing strategies to overcome life's obstacles, invites the reader into a world of opportunities.With many references to his life in music in the form of analogy and experience, the book sets out a dozen practices which will bring the power of opportunity into your life. The practices are all simple. Each provides a story based explanation of its value drawn from the personal experience gained in the USA and UK by the two authors, and straightforward instruction on its use.As always with the best advice, there is no rocket science here, though the book is more powerful for this, not less. For example `Giving an A' simply suggests that by approaching everyone we meet prepared and ready to see their best, this very act has already created energy to improve outcomes and create new opportunities in what they achieve. The book's graphic examples bring these simple approaches to life and provide evidence of the power of apparently simple ideas.This is a powerful book. I read this book on a flight to Khartoum, and found some of the insights and examples quite moving. Occasionally the musical references left me struggling a little, but served to highlight a need to learn more and in no way diminished the value of the messages.I heartily recommend this book to everyone determined to improve their lives and in search of simple ways in which to begin.

Many of you may have seen Benjamin Zander on Youtube, Ted talks or his commercial videos. This book co-written with his wife summarises much of the same content. On the positive side, I really like many of the concepts they present, e.g. it's all invented, Rule number 6, giving an 'A', etc. I'm a pretty practically minded person, so I'd welcome a few more thoughts from the writers about how one might apply this thinking in different settings to those in which they operate. Perhaps I am just being lazy, but I'll need to work out how to apply some of the idea. Nonetheless an uplifting book, although the written word cannot really capture Zander's fanatical enthusiasm that he shows with musicians....

This book has a super sense of energy throughout and the ideas communicated within are truely fantastic. The Art of Possibility can be as uplifting as you would like it to be, and you can take as much from the title as you feel appropriate.The best way to explain this title is that each chapter communicates an idea. Each idea is a new way of opening up possibility within your life. The book starts off with stripping away what is invented in your life and truely helps to realise that most of the material things around us are invented. The other ideas in the book follow on to describe plenty of ways to enhance and increase possibility from everyday situations.The authors describe many of the ideas through examples of their experiences with the method. In fact, some of the examples within the book are the actual reason why they realised the idea in the first place.The Art of Possibility is a great title for helping to realise how possibility can open up new chapters and be used as an approach to any situation in a positive light and in the hope to get more.

Eye opening and heart warming, tools for working towards a oneness for a brighter tomorrow in all our relationships and interactions whether personal or professional. Highly recommended.