The art of possibility

The Art of Possibility offers a set of breakthrough practices for creativity in all human enterprises. Infused with the energy of their dynamic partnership, the book joins together Ben's extraordinary talent as a mover and shaker, teacher, and communicator and Rosamund's genius for creating innovative paradigms for personal and professional fulfillment. Through a series of practices andsupporting stories from their life experiences, the authors provide us with a deep sense of the powerful role that the notion of possibility can play in every aspect of our lives.
The practices presented in this book are not about making incremental changes that lead to new ways of doing things based on old beliefs, and they are not about self-improvement. They are geared instead toward causing a totalshift of posture, perceptions, beliefs and though processes. They are about transforming your entire world. Each practice has its own catchphrase. Once you are in the habit of using them, the practices will reliably land you "back in the boat", reoriented in a universe of possibility.

Active, ongoing practices that shift an individual’s or culture’s perception of reality is the
basis oftransformation. Practices presented in this book are designed to cause “a shift of posture, perceptions, beliefs, and thought processes” (p. 4).

1. It’s all invented – we make our own boundaries and set our own limits; we create our own fears and limitations, we can also invent our future success.
Practice #1: It’s All Invented
Life is a story we tell.
We understand the world by:
Our sensesbringing us selective information about what is out in the world.
Our brains construct its own simulation of the sensations.
We have our first conscious experience of our milieu.
“The world comes into our consciousness in the form of a map already drawn, a story already told, a hypothesis, a construction of our own making” (p. 10).
“We perceive only the sensations we are programmed to receive, andour awareness is further restricted by the fact that we recognize only those for which we have mental maps
or categories” (p. 10).
“It is theory which decides what we can observe” (p. 11) – Einstein.
Our stories are founded on “networks of hidden assumptions” (p. 14).
The Practice of “it’s all invented” begins with asking the following questions:
What assumptions am I making, that I’m not awareI’m making, that give me what I see?
What might I now invent, that I haven’t yet invented, that would give me other
choices?

We might as well invent a story or framework of meaning that enhances our quality of life and the life of those around us. The framework our minds create define and confine what we perceive to be possible.
Every problem, every dilemma, every dead end we find ourselvesfacing in life, only appears unsolvable inside a particular frame or point of view. Enlarge the box, or create another frame around the data, and problems vanish, while new opportunities appear.

We’ve to construct our own world.

2. Stepping into a universe of possibility – the universe and its resources are not
finite.
Practice #2: Stepping into a Universe of Possibility
We call theeveryday world the “world of measurement” (p. 17).
Assume a world of scarcity and peril – survivalist mentality.
Assume the reality is fixed.
Assume “people, ideas, and situations can be fully known and measured” (p. 18).
We know people and things by measuring them.
“In the measurement world, you set a goal and strive for it. In the universe of possibility, you set a context and let life unfold”(p. 21).
To move into the world of possibility, ask the following questions:
How are my thoughts and actions, in this moment, reflections of the measurement world?
How are my thoughts and actions, in this new moment, a reflection of the
measurement world?
The measurement world is a bounded world constituted of assessments, scales, standards and comparisons.
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