Have you ever been properly lost in the woods? I have and it ended up hugely progressing one of my most cherished relationships. But that's a story for another time... If you have been lost in the woods, you'll know why it's so often a metaphor for frustration
and a lack of clarity; it's why we ask people who've been through difficulty "Are you out of the woods yet?" and say of someone who's unclear and overwhelmed by detail, that they "can't see the wood for the trees."
When you're lost in a forest, the canopy of branches blocks and filters sunlight, creating shadows, the trees all start to look the same and it can be impossible to discern which way to go. Without a clear path out, it can get pretty scary, that's why forests are a common setting for so much fairy tale and folklore from Little Red Riding Hood to Hansel and Gretel to the Kweku Anansi stories which I grew up hearing.
Similarly, when you're facing a frustration and
a lack of clarity at work, it can be frightening and you be desperate to find a path out of the woods as quickly as possible. But, as I work with clients, sometimes they realise that the most effective way out requires them to stay in the woods for a bit longer than they'd like. Because, in life as in folklore, the woods are not just a place to get lost, they are also a place of learning, enabling you to emerge clearer and better equipped for
what comes next.
I was once in a production of Stephen Sondheim's Into The Woods, a musical which takes some well know fairy tale characters on some pretty intense emotional journeys. It gets dark at points. Here are some lyrics from
the closing song*:
Into the woods you have to grope,
But
that's the way you learn to cope.
Into the woods to find there's hope
Of getting through the journey.
Into the woods, each time you
go,
There's more to learn of what you know...
Sometimes the only way out of the woods is through them, there's no helicopter to airlift you out and - hard
as it is to believe - it's better that way. As I work with clients, in order to make progress towards their desired Outcome, many have to face into the woods and tackle the Wicked Witch of their outdated
personal and professional narratives and the Big Bad Wolf of their doubts about their capability. It's my job and privilege to walk alongside them on this journey into the woods. They are not alone* and the prize for their willingness to engage is awareness as well as an accompanying sense of agency. Both of these are invaluable because without awareness nothing changes and without a sense of agency, progress cannot
happen.
I think of one client of mine, a despairing founder trying to run his business while managing a chronic health issue. I think of another client, bitterly facing a frustrating impasse in her role at a globally influential organisation. Both came to me seeking external
solutions, quick fixes and clever techniques to airlift them out of the woods.
Instead, I accompanied them on a journey deeper into the thickets of their current challenges, I asked questions and helped them to recognise and clarify what was getting in their way instead of
hiding, despairing or running away from it. As we did that, their personal and professional awareness grew and their thinking and behaviour changed in profound and positive ways.
As a result, they came out of the woods to great results, the
first into a place of healing and a profitable, sustainable way of building his business, the second to a place of hopeful agency, better professional relationships and newfound clarity about her desired Outcome and her Next Steps.
At the risk of sounding like a Zen master or bearded guru**, sometimes the forest is the path and deeper clarity comes from spending some time in the woods with no obvious, discernible way out. If you find yourself facing a deeply challenging or seemingly intractable situation at work with little clarity about what to do and a sense of increasing
frustration, rather than desperately heading down the first path that presents itself, it may be worth lingering in that uncertainty and discomfort of your Now. You could try asking, "What am I/ we
learning from this tough, unasked for situation?" and "How could it help us now and going forward?"
When it comes to greater clarity at work, sometimes, the forest is the path and you'll
only fully see how when you're out of the woods. In the meantime, if that is where you or those with whom you work find yourself right now, be encouraged (or encourage them) that, although it doesn't feel like it right now, the woods can be the place of learning and greater clarity which fuels your present progress and future success.
Next up, a chance to reframe and use one of the top tools for deeper clarity at work.
