...a refusal to reach for Heaven means an involuntary descent into Hell.
- E. F. Schumacher
Mobility connotes not a specific destination but the ability to move in any desired direction without self-constraint.
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The most common block to acknowledging mobility is thinking that your circumstances make mobility impossible. Granted, there are always some things that are beyond your control. But they can't stop your inherent mobility. Mobility is independent of circumstances. It is independent of the past. It is even independent of whether you think you have it or not. Mobility doesn't focus on what it can't control, but moves by making changes in what it can control. My own experience is that even in moments of great hopelessness, the mobility is still there waiting to be acknowledged in order to become activated.
The easiest way to convince yourself that you don't have mobility is to form ironclad concepts of yourself and how you do things: "This is the way I am and this is the way I do things." Freedom is about realizing that you always have the choice to start moving in any desired direction regardless of your past. This is the essence of the first step. You have mobility and always have had. You just may need to remind yourself of the fact from time to time.
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Mobility is about conscious wisdom. It's not just about being in the flow, but about being very clear about where you are, where you are going, and why. In essence, it is about working consciously.
To know what you are doing and why requires conscious thought and constant remembrance. It requires being fully awake - aware of all that is happening around you that is relevant to where you are going. Working unconsciously is like being driven in a car without being sure of the destination and without making a conscious choice about which way to turn. It is the difference between driving and being driven. A person who recognizes the importance of mobility is not satisfied with being in any flow, it must be in the flow of their choice, heading where they want to go.
Mobility of this kind can move me out of the Skinner boxes of conformity. It moves me from being a trained pigeon responding to the bells and lights of my conditioning to an adult human being who chooses freely every step of the way and can move in any direction. I can work alone or in teams without compromising my integrity or direction. Thus, the core of mobility is the recognition that you are totally and unambiguously in charge of your own actions, values, thinking, and goals - in short, your own life.
It is the acceptance of that freedom of choice and the consequent recognition of our responsibility that is so challenging for most of us. The essence of conformity is to abdicate your responsibility to others - to "society," to "upbringing," to environment, past circumstances or events, to "my leader," to "human nature," and more recently to "my genes." This is like blaming your car, which admittedly may have only six cylinders, a dirty windshield, a dented rear end, and needs an oil change, for where you're driving. I am not saying that the vehicles we drive through our work life are not in need of repair. They often require major repairs and they certainly need constant maintenance. But mobility means that I can't blame my car for where it drives me. When I find myself driving in circles, I have to look at who's driving the car. Am I in the backseat being chauffeured through my work life complaining to everyone else about the scenery? To whom did I abdicate the driving? And why?
So if the first step in the Inner Game is to recognize that the vehicle you are driving is capable of movement, the second is to realize that it is yours, and to take firm grasp of the steering wheel and begin driving. Changes in direction can always be made, but there is no way to reach freedom at work without accepting full responsibility for where you are and for choosing where you are going.
That's nothing new. But most of us, including myself, need frequent reminders about our power and the responsibility to exercise our mobility.
- W. Timothy Gallwey, The Inner Game of Work
