The Indian philosopher Jiddu Krishnamurti is credited with the phrase that the ability to observe without judging is the highest form of human intelligence. Learning this skill can give your career a new direction.
The above-mentioned principle is also based on the concept of non-violent communication developed by Marshall Rosenberg. According to this, an interpersonal conflict can only be resolved if I, as the party to the conflict, refrain from judging the behaviour of another person. Instead, I observe what my counter-part does and concentrate on what feelings this triggers in me. Then I explore my needs, which manifest themselves in these feelings. And finally, in the conflict conversation, I communicate my observation, my associated feeling and the underlying need and express a request. Only when I approach a conflict situa-tion in this unbiased way can I arrive at a new solution.
Judgements, on the other hand, are based on earlier experiences and conceptualisations and are there-fore always related to the past.
Self-understanding through introspection
Let us apply these considerations to career development. Many people would like to develop profes-sionally and give their career a new direction. They try to come up with new ideas through reflection. After some time, they realise that they are not getting anywhere with it. Our thinking is shaped by our experi-ences and the interpretations we have gained based on them – in other words, it is past-oriented. How can we find out in which direction we want to develop professionally? Through unbiased observation.
Let’s go back to the beginning of our professional career. We may not have known exactly what we wanted to do professionally, or we may have had only vague ideas. Eventually, we decided on a career path without quite knowing why. We gained experience and then slowly developed in a certain direction. These first career decisions were probably rather unconscious or seemed inevitable. Many people feel that the first years of their career were random. And yet they made decisions based on positive and neg-ative experiences. You could say they were decisions based on unconscious observation.
Conscious introspection
After a few years in professional life, many people come to the point that they want to take their career into their own hands by making conscious decisions. In order to get on the track of personal interests and inclinations, it is again a matter of observation. But now we observe consciously. We analyse our professional past and also notice in everyday life what we like, what makes us feel good and what at-tracts us. And by evaluating this observation, we come to the conclusion of what we would like to do professionally.
Only when we look at ourselves again and again, without judging ourselves, do we come to new conclu-sions.