Micro Managing Success...Sitzen Denken

It seemed like a regular routine for him...he would work like if there was no tomorrow...then he would suddenly stop and walk away...as if he had all the time in the world...

For an outsider...it was a confusing behavior...in fact it appeared to make no sense...yet it was that behavior that made him amazingly effective...

It wasn't that he knew when to work and when to stop...it was more than that...

I had an inkling that I knew what it was...but I had to confirm it...

When taken at face value, his behavior would have seemed strange to me too...except that in my youth...my father told me of a mental/physical exercise...better stated...a German discipline called "sitzen denken."

It can be roughly translated to mean...sit thinking...but as translations go...the literal meaning does not begin to touch the full extent of the activity.

When my dad mentioned it...I was intrigued by this kind of discipline! 

My enthusiasm was quelled when I wrongly figured that it was my father's way of getting me to sit still and be quiet...which is something he longed for!

I later found that it was briefly mentioned by Albert Einstein!  My interest was renewed and I hungered for more information about it!  As I searched for information,  I found that very little was specifically written about it...it seemed that the discipline was an oral tradition...passed from father to son...or mentor to understudy...

Although the German's lay claim to it (because of Einstein)...I found that the discipline was centuries old.  Although it was called by many different names, the critical elements of the exercise are mentioned by many of "the great minds" throughout most of history...and it also is stands in the legends and myths of prehistory.

To the "common man," it was often considered mystical or magic...even the prehistoric "shaman" taught the technique to their underlings...it was their secret to advanced wisdom...and success...it was taught by the sensei of martial arts to their highest degree belts...and used often by the greatest generals...leading their armies to victory!

It was a closely guarded secret...revealed only to those who earned the right...to know how to do it...

I was lucky...I had a father who attempted to teach me about it early in my life...I heard but did not listen...then a mentor convinced me of its value...and honed the skill in me by his personal modeling of the behavior and his guidance and refinement...

Some people confuse it with meditation...but the difference between sitzen denken and meditation is as great as is the distance is from east is to west...

Meditation is about mindlessness and relaxation...opening one's mind to serenity...and leading to clarity...

"Sitzen Denken" is extreme concentration on a single issue...it is concentrated and focused thought that totally encompasses your being until whatever one is thinking about has been resolved or exhausted...leading to clarity!

It is interesting that the result is the same with both extremes!

It requires one to have a personal ease with seclusion...but the definition of "seclusion" goes beyond simply physically getting away from people...it includes a mental isolation from all thought but the chosen thought...

It requires strict disciple to concentrate on one thing and one thing only...yet...thinking about nothing...and considering everything a possibility...

It requires looking at the issue from every perspective...every angle...and without definition, biases and prejudices...I have coined it as 4 dimensional thinking...from my perspective...one can not reap the benefits of "Sitzen Denken" until they fully comprehend the tesseract!

It also focuses on a single solution (destination) with multiple roads leading to it...

It looks for the shortest and least complicated (the most elegant) route to the end...

(I would bet that E=MC2 came from that!)

It thinks big and small at the same time...

It never takes on the entire problem on at once...but breaks it into manageable small pieces...and addresses them in a linear fashion until the entire journey has been achieved...so although it works small...it never loses sight of the big picture...

I thought back on our original conversation about this discipline...without letting on that I already had some knowledge of it...

"It seem like what you are doing is micro-managing..." I observed...

As is almost always the case...that comment opened the proverbial "can of worms!"

"Micro-management has gotten a bad name...because the technique has been used on people rather than where it is most effective...on solving problems..."


"I guess when I think about it...if a person has to be micro-managed...that person is a problem...yet most organizations do not recognize that the "people micro-manager" is also a problem...because they do not possess the skills to effectively address the real problem...thinking that they need to micro-manage competent people..."


"If a person really needs to be micro-managed...then they are in the wrong position...if a person has to micro-manage his people...then they too are also in the wrong position..."

"Yet addressing an issue or a problem or a new challenge or goal...requires micro-management...An effective leader does not let anything take control of success...they have grasped the power of micro-managing"

"But I do not micro-manage...I do something called sitzen denken..."


"And what you observe, my friend, is the essence of sitzen denken..."


"It knows when it has found the best path and it stays true to that path..."

"I can teach you this technique," he offered..."but only after you earn the right to possess it..."

"Success is achieved through decomposition and re-composition..."


"Know what you want..."


"and then figure out what it takes to get what you want..."


"You'll discover that this portion of the process unveils an insurmountable challenge..."


"Then you need to decompose the challenge into small manageable and achievable pieces..."


"Then systematically plan each piece..."


"Then execute on that plan..."


"Each time you are successful on your plan...you stop and repeat the process until you are fully successful!"


"If something comes up that stops you...STOP...and rethink the plan..."


"This is a powerful tool...when used properly..."


"For some...it is simply the way they work...after years of use...I do it continuously"


"But it requires a special person..."


"You have to be able to think and act and do both with focus and persistence..."


"It should not be given to anyone who lacks that ability or is looking for a free ride..."

"So where do we start?" I asked...

And with that he walked away and started thinking...