Socratic action…

“Socratic thinking” is a term coined long ago.  When most of us hear this phrase we’re reminded of the power of good questioning.  As most of you know this term was created due to the powerful method employed by Socrates of getting people to ACT without telling them what to do.  His questioning technique has been studied and perfected since 400 b.c.!  That’s a long time.  

Here’s what has been missed in most studies.  Do NOT miss this.  This is HUGE.  

Socrates was all about ACTION.  The coinage should be all about Socratic action…

Here’s why….

Socrates was not merely a philosopher and man about Athens.  Oh yes, he wandered the streets looking for a good debate, but he was so much more.  He could talk, no doubt, but that was far from what made him really cool. He was all about action too.  

424 b.c. there was this battle between his city, Athens and another little town down the road called Boetia.  The battle of Delium was a battle between 50,000 men that lasted only a few hours and resulted in one of Athens biggest battlefield disasters.  They were crushed and mostly turned and ran from the battlefield.  As they ran, they were easy targets for their enemy.  Most died from a spear to their back.  

Hippocrates died fighting here.  The entire generation of Thespians suffered a holocaust here.  AND Socrates fought here.  Yes, that’s NOT a typo.  Socrates was a warrior/philosopher.  He survived the battle that killed so many of his Athenian brothers because of how he exited the battlefield.  He exited with a sword in his hand and his armor on his back.  He walked out backwards while protecting one of his countrymen.  Here’s what Plato recorded in his work titled “Symposium” from an eyewitness, Alcibiades.

“…He (Socrates) made his way there just as he does here in Athens, ‘swaggering and glancing sideways.’  So he looked around calmly at both his friends and the enemy; he was clearly giving the message to anyone even at a distance that if anyone touched this man, he quickly would put up a stout defense.  The result was that he and his partner got away safely.  For it is true that attackers do NOT approach men of this caliber but instead go after those fleeing head-long.”

Reflective action is what BTL is all about.  We want our clients to slow down and reflect.  We do NOT want them to stare, mindlessly at their navel.  We want them to slow down so they can speed up.  We want them to reflect, contemplate, AND then choose the most productive ACTION to move them and their teams toward their dream, through their crisis, and in alignment with their guiding principles.  That is the kind of team that “gets away safely.”  That is the kind of team that say’s “don’t mess with us.”  That’s a BTL band. Very cool.

Are you building a team with shoot in their eyes?

Are you walking off the current battlefield or are you fleeing head-long?

Does your body language tell all around that you believe?

Are you defining this moment or defending the status quo?

What are you telling the team when you win and when you are suffering a loss?

Tell them more…