Focusing In A Business Setting
Eugene Gendlin's concept of "Focusing" is a powerful self-help technique that promotes emotional healing and self-awareness by enabling individuals to access and engage with their "felt sense." Developed in the 1960s, Focusing is rooted in Gendlin's research on psychotherapy outcomes, where he discovered that the clients who experienced the most successful outcomes were those who intuitively connected with their inner feelings. These findings led him to create a structured process that anyone can use to tap into their body's wisdom.
What is the "Felt Sense"?
At the core of Gendlin's Focusing is the idea of the "felt sense." A felt sense is a pre-verbal, bodily awareness that reflects the complex, often unarticulated nuances of our experiences, thoughts, and emotions. It's not merely a feeling, like sadness or anger, but a holistic sense of something—an ambiguous, fuzzy internal knowing that encapsulates our internal state in response to a situation or concern. For example, when thinking about a difficult decision, you might feel a tightness in your chest, an unease in your stomach, or a vague sense of discomfort. This is your felt sense speaking.
The Six Steps of Focusing
Gendlin outlined six steps to help individuals engage with their felt sense and bring clarity to their inner experiences. Here's a brief overview of each step:
Clearing a Space: The process begins by creating a calm, open mental space. You start by setting aside your immediate concerns and distractions, imagining yourself placing them on a shelf temporarily. This step helps you approach your inner experience with clarity and without being overwhelmed.
Felt Sense: Once you've cleared your mental space, you focus on a particular issue or concern. Instead of immediately analyzing or thinking about it, you allow yourself to feel the problem in your body. You wait for the felt sense to emerge—a physical sensation that represents the issue in a holistic way.
Finding a Handle: After the felt sense has emerged, the next step is to find a "handle"—a word, phrase, or image that encapsulates the essence of that felt sense. This handle might be something like "heavy," "tight," or "cloudy." The handle serves as a way to connect with and describe the felt sense.
Resonating: In this step, you check the handle against the felt sense to see if it fits. You might ask yourself, "Is this the right word or image to describe what I’m feeling?" If it doesn’t quite resonate, you can adjust the handle until it feels like a good match. This process helps you deepen your connection to your felt sense.
Asking: Now that you have a handle, you can gently ask the felt sense questions, like "What is it about this situation that makes me feel this way?" or "What needs to change?" The key is to ask open-ended questions and patiently wait for the body to respond. The answers might not come in words but as shifts in the felt sense.
Receiving: The final step is to welcome whatever comes up, whether it’s clarity, a shift in feelings, or new insights. You acknowledge and accept whatever your body communicates, even if it’s not what you expected. This step emphasizes self-compassion and openness to your inner experience.
Credit: Beatrice Blake
The Benefits of Focusing
Focusing is a powerful tool for emotional self-care and personal growth. By regularly practicing Focusing, individuals can gain deeper insights into their feelings, resolve inner conflicts, and experience greater emotional balance. The process encourages a gentle, non-judgmental approach to self-exploration, which can be particularly beneficial for those who struggle with anxiety, stress, or unresolved emotional issues.
The Concept of the "Felt Sense" in Business
In a business context, the "felt sense" can be thought of as the intuitive awareness or gut feeling that experienced leaders and managers often have about their company’s performance. This could manifest as a sense of unease about a particular strategy, a nagging feeling that a project is off track, or a strong hunch that a new market opportunity is ripe for exploration. These sensations are not always easy to articulate, but they carry valuable information about the state of the business.
By applying Focusing, business leaders can turn these vague, often overlooked feelings into actionable insights. The process involves pausing to deeply consider these felt senses, finding ways to articulate them, and then using that clarity to inform strategic decisions.
Focusing on Operational Efficiency
To drive operational efficiency, businesses must continually assess and refine their processes. However, the complexity of modern operations can make it difficult to pinpoint exactly where inefficiencies lie. This is where Focusing can be particularly useful.
For example, a business leader might have a felt sense that the company's supply chain is not operating as smoothly as it should, despite metrics that suggest everything is on track. Instead of ignoring this feeling, the leader can use Focusing to delve into this sense of unease. By sitting with the feeling, the leader might discover that it’s related to a specific bottleneck or an underperforming vendor that hasn’t yet been flagged by standard analytics.
Once the felt sense is identified and articulated, it can guide more targeted analysis. The leader might then dive into data related to the supply chain, perhaps uncovering inefficiencies or risks that were previously hidden. This process not only enhances operational efficiency but also empowers the team to address issues proactively rather than reactively.
Scaling Growth Through Focusing
Scaling a business requires making informed, strategic decisions about where and how to grow. Focusing can be instrumental in this process by helping leaders tune into subtle cues about market trends, customer needs, and internal capabilities.
Consider a scenario where a company is contemplating entering a new market. The data might look promising, but there’s a subtle, nagging concern about the timing. By using Focusing, the leadership team can explore this felt sense more deeply. They might uncover underlying fears about overextending resources or concerns about unrecognized cultural differences in the new market.
Through this process, the company can clarify its strategy. Perhaps the insights gained from Focusing suggest a phased approach to market entry or a need for additional research before proceeding. This kind of clarity can prevent costly missteps and ensure that growth is both sustainable and aligned with the company’s long-term vision.
Are you ready to embark on a transformative journey with expert guidance? Contact us today to schedule a complimentary session and learn more about the process! You will gain the ability to connect with your inner world and “Felt Sense”, using a bespoke proprietary blend of different frameworks, and propel you to new heights of personal and professional success.