All Ways

WAY 064 / 02 PRACTICE

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Leave your tricks behind

Remove the tendencies that keep producing the same answer.

When

Your competence is making the work polished but repetitive.

The Way

A practiced move can become an automatic solution. Temporarily removing a familiar trick creates a gap in which you have to observe the situation again.

Try

Name the three moves you rely on most. For one iteration, prohibit the easiest one.

Notice

What do you see once your usual solution is unavailable?

Reference quote and source
“Leave your tricks, leave your knowings, leave your tendencies out of the picture, so that when you next go to work, you don’t do the same thing over and over again. Try to be as honest as you can, but don’t bring all the things you already know: “If I do this, if I do that...” None of that. Don’t be fake. Don’t lie. Don’t pretend. Don’t manipulate. Let’s try to be as honest as we can when we play a role. That’s hard, because it’s hard to be honest in life.”
Related: repeat with one variable changed
{
  "id": "leave-your-tricks-behind",
  "number": "064",
  "edition": "Practice",
  "title": "Leave your tricks behind",
  "standfirst": "Remove the tendencies that keep producing the same answer.",
  "when": "Your competence is making the work polished but repetitive.",
  "way": "A practiced move can become an automatic solution. Temporarily removing a familiar trick creates a gap in which you have to observe the situation again.",
  "tryThis": "Name the three moves you rely on most. For one iteration, prohibit the easiest one.",
  "notice": "What do you see once your usual solution is unavailable?",
  "person": "Javier Bardem",
  "source": "The Contemporary Blueprint archive",
  "quote": "Leave your tricks, leave your knowings, leave your tendencies out of the picture, so that when you next go to work, you don’t do the same thing over and over again.\n\nTry to be as honest as you can, but don’t bring all the things you already know: “If I do this, if I do that...” None of that. Don’t be fake. Don’t lie. Don’t pretend. Don’t manipulate. Let’s try to be as honest as we can when we play a role.\n\nThat’s hard, because it’s hard to be honest in life.",
  "sourceUrl": "https://youtu.be/iApg6hbSZBw",
  "contexts": [
    "stuck",
    "perspective",
    "change"
  ],
  "free": true,
  "related": [
    "repeat-with-one-variable-changed",
    "start-with-a-clean-slate",
    "use-the-tool-at-hand"
  ],
  "sourceArchive": "The Contemporary Blueprint",
  "referenceKind": "quotation",
  "referenceExcerpt": "Leave your tricks, leave your knowings, leave your tendencies out of the picture, so that when you next go to work, you don’t do the same thing over and over again."
}

Related Way: Start with a clean slate

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