Pausing to Synthesize

Last week, the application for the Bush Foundation Fellowship opened. While the application period is open - closing Sept. 17 - I am sharing what I learned from applying twice and becoming a Bush Fellow in 2015.

Learning 5: Pause to synthesize.

It does not matter how you synthesize information, just that you take time to see how things relate. Or not relate. And whether there is any meaning in a series of random thoughts or issues.

So, let's do this with our first four fellowship learnings.

Learning 1: The application is a vehicle for idea and vision refinement.

Learning 2: The Fellowship is about process not outcome.

Learning 3: Pretend you are your competition when working through the application.

Learning 4: Learn how to reverse engineer your ideas - all of them.

What connects these four thoughts?

A few words stand out: Vehicle, Process, Working, Engineer.

All of these words convey movement.

Each of these learnings are engaging with thoughts, processing them, and putting them into action, if possible.

Not every thought has to be acted upon. We can work on it, let it sit, return to it, and see where it's at.

This is a process of moving an idea or thought forward. We can do the same for decisions.

Each of these learnings encourage the use of a system.

If we need to make a decision, we can put the issues associated with the decision before us, ask questions, refine their focus or impact based on one decision or another. We're committing to the process, not a defined outcome.

Decisions inside businesses can naturally invoke our competition. Personal decisions introduce a different kind of competition within ourselves.

And once we've played around a bit, we can game out a decision. This can allow us to engineer any preemptive actions that will make our decision better.

This seems like a lot to manage, but with practice and use over time, it because a natural habit - something you can do in your head. But with bigger decisions, you have a defined framework for making the best possible decisions.

How would you synthesize those learnings? What am I missing?

More learnings ahead in the week to come.

If you live and work in Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, or one of the 23 native nations within that geography, you are eligible for the Bush Foundation Fellowship. If you have questions, I'd love to help answer them.