Communication!: A Radical Philosophy for Life’s #1 Problem

I have studied (and worked hard at understanding) the works of Lee Thayer since 2000 and am eagerly awaiting his newest book on Communication, Communication! A Radical Philosophy for Life’s #1 Problem to be released sometime this month (February) by Windsor Media Enterprises.

According to the WME website:

“Communication! begins with a half-dozen “Forewarnings,” such as # 2:

“For the most part our … perspectives on communication treat it as a means to more or less immediate ends. This is okay, because we can use communication in that limited way. But it trivializes our understanding of what’s really at stake. … Communication is the creator and the infrastructure of every human mind, and thus of the worlds we create ….”

The book closes, in “Performing Life,” with:

“It makes a difference what you call things — and why. We humans are made of meanings. Get those right and you get the rest of it right.

“To understand at the deepest level that life is a performing art may be the best way ….”

In between, Lee Thayer’s essays take us on a 20-stop tour of the world of life-making and meaning-making. His provocative ideas on “communication competencies” offer new ways to “influence people … [and] be influenced by the world in ways presently not open to you” and, ultimately, to “a richer, more meaningful, more mindful life ….”

WME has also published Thayer’s “Leadership: Thinking, Being, Doing” and “How Executives Fail.” I highly recommend both of these for anyone looking to improve their personal performance or the performance of their organization.

Finally, from the above linked WME website, a PDF sample of “Communication!” is currently available for download. If you are looking to get a taste of Thayer’s work, spending some quality time with this free PDF should serve as a great point of entry into his way of thinking and stimulate your own thinking appetite.

In closing, remember: “As you communicate, so shall you be.” – Thayer

Three Stabs at Lifemaking

1. In certain moments, too much self-talk hinders doing what needs to be done. You need to discern those moments for yourself for no one else can do it for you. Also, organizing projects and then failing to start them gets you nowhere, unless that is where you want to be – Nowhere and with no “real” change.

2. Some moments are ripe for thinking or for watching a film, but some moments call you to become more than you currently are through action. How much effort do you put into what or how you do things or in what or how you think about things? It is easy to get caught up in the mundane, but it might not lead you where you want to go.

3. If you want fresh results, change what you do or change how you do it. How much effort is put into doing what is necessary? Sometimes wavering happens, but sometimes the wavering becomes an excuse for not doing what needs doing.