'The Art Of (Not) Giving A F*ck!' with Oscar Venhuis
26th March, Saturday 4.46pm - My WhatsApp pings, a message from Dr Richard. “Do you want to do a DD next week?” I ponder for a few minutes about whether I’m able to prepare a decent session with only a few hours to prepare. “Yes, why not” I responded. I agreed not because I suddenly found more time but for years I advocated how to thrive in a world of VUCA. So let’s walk the talk.
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“Everybody knows a different world, and only part of it. We communicate only by chance, as nobody knows the whole, only where overlapping takes place." - John Baldessari, American conceptual artist.
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What makes good art great is the ability to present new perspectives. Great art challenges dogmas, beliefs and worldviews. It constantly grapples with ambiguity and juxtapositions of chaos and order, complexity and simplicity, intuition and reason, empathy and indifference, caring and uncaring. The perpetual interaction between internal mental models and external realities demands reflection, action and awareness.
Research conducted by Silvia et al. suggests that when we see ourselves clearly, we are more confident and more creative. Ridley, Schutz, Glanz and Weinstein’s research claims we make better decisions, establish stronger relationships, and communicate more effectively. We’re less likely to lie, cheat, and steal. We are better workers who get more promotions and we’re more effective leaders with more satisfied employees and more profitable companies.
Dr. Eurich's team conducted a 4-year study of 10 separate self-awareness investigations with nearly 5,000 participants. The researchers assumed that a leader who is high on internal self-awareness would be high on external self-awareness as well.
The results proved them wrong.
They found that there is hardly any relationship between them. Even though most people believe they are self-aware, self-awareness is a truly rare quality: They estimated that only 10%–15% of the people they studied actually fit the criteria.
The self-awareness gap is even worse for anyone in a leadership position. The more power a leader holds, the more likely they are to overestimate their skills and abilities. A study by Sala’s team of more than 3,600 leaders across a variety of roles and industries found that, relative to lower-level leaders, higher-level leaders overvalued their skills more significantly (compared with others’ perceptions). In fact, this pattern existed for 19 out of the 20 competencies the researchers measured, including emotional self-awareness, accurate self-assessment, empathy, trustworthiness, and leadership performance.
During this week's Dialogic Drinks 'The Art Of (Not) Giving A F*ck!', Oscar Venhuis investigates the awareness spectrum through an artist lens of constant care and carelessness. Together we explore augmented realities, shifting perspectives and how leaders can develop deeper, contextual awareness using the practice of critiquing art.
NB: New study shows that swearing improves physical performance, tightens social bonds and reduces pain.
Biography Oscar Venhuis
Living in the twilight of the known and the unknown has formed the person who I am today. During my teenage years - I was adopted by a loving family in the mid 70’s - I discovered that my orphanage documents were fabricated; this wasn’t an uncommon practice during the 1970’s and this custom continues even today. This discovery began a fascinating and existential journey. The realisation of the fragility of reality and how it can change abruptly meant that throughout my formative years I had a laissez-faire attitude to pretty much everything in life. I did just enough to pass my high school exams and to my own surprise I was granted a place at the Royal College of Art in London only to drop out halfway because I felt that there was more to life than student work.
At an early age I was driven by a strong desire to retire as quickly as possible. Art would have been a natural career choice but instead I applied my creativity to something far crazier, business. Somehow I survived 15 years in various corporate roles and since 2010 I returned my focus on art while transforming wicked problems into market-ready products for startups, SME's and enterprises. I do this from Lamma Island 🏝️, the hermit kingdom of Hong Kong.
Spotify 'The Last Supper - Talking Art'
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