Tabula Rasa
The Sales & Counselor Selling Series
Tabula Rasa
(Latin: “scraped tablet” or “clean slate”)
Tabula Rasa is a Latin phrase often translated as “blank slate” in English and originates from the Roman “Tabula:” a smooth piece of slate covered with bees wax; used for notes — which was blanked by heating the wax and then smoothing it.
A supposed condition attributed to the human mind before ideas have been imprinted on it…
— Encyclopedia Britannica
In ancient times — you know — prior to last week… Before disposable gel pens and “tabulae electronica,” getting a letter across town required a more significant act of will, of greater magnitude and duration than “texting.”
We’re more “efficient” now. With the addition of devices, tablets, desktops, phones, wrist devices … We can be spread across multiple screens, conversations, announcements, reference reaches, bulletins and interactions — without being totally attentive to any of them. In effect, “We can be everywhere without being anywhere at all!” Yeah. That’s good news all right…
Then, there’s the other news. You see, even though screens go “blank” in an instant, they are saving every scratch, tap, phrase and keystroke — forever— somewhere “In the Cloud.” Building up more detritus and junk every second — a permanent monument to every wild thought, text, search and desperate attempt to make genuine contact — memorialized in silicon micro-circuitry. In that manner, these devices are very much like the mind, which also saves everything, but which takes somewhat longer to clear.
A man came to see me, full of information and bursting with concepts and ideas that demanded to be recognized. Yet, something blurred his vision as we finally met in person and sat down to talk… “What’s on your mind?” I enquired. He hesitated, started in, then stopped once more… “Ok, look,” I said, “Let’s break a rule here, and you tell me what you’re really thinking!” Long pause… “Mom died.” he said. And looked away. Another long pause. “Well,” I said, “Mine did too… I’ll make the tea, and you tell me about Mom.” That afternoon was one for the books. He had to clear his mind — nothing else mattered or could be dealt with before the matter at hand was resolved.
But another variation on the theme happened when I encountered a challenge logging into my desktop: yet another Windows version and two new passwords, presided over by the on-call system gurus and the in-house wizard. We got all that done, but I had to work out my frustration at all the new and different barriers to sitting down to work on my machine and a thirty-year-old upset over the loss of that first, remarkably efficient word processing package: Scribble. It took some stories, a couple of laughs and some quiet listening from our tech guy to pull me off the ceiling as I attempted to negotiate the new security measures… I’m fine now, but “clearing the slate” took a little time…
The more life moments you accumulate, the harder it is to “clear the slate,” the more mental baggage has to be melted and smoothed. There’s more unfinished life business to shove off the screen. In an interesting way, the more we can be everywhere; the less we can be right here, now. So, recognize that your mental equipment requires time to clear, to narrow the bandwidth, to focus. Before that next meeting, give yourself the time “to scrape the slate clean,” to “melt the wax in the sunlight” and let it re-form a perfect blank slate.
It’s a blessing, this modern life; yet it’s also a curse. So. Before you talk. Before you listen. Before you meet. Clear the decks, so you can be completely in this moment!
Applications
1. For Yourself
Before the next meeting, go blank! Allow yourself to clear the decks so that when you walk in, you can take in the whole context of the place, the time, the circumstances, and the state of mind of the individual or team you’re seeing. They may want to know what’s in your bag. And they may not. But you can find out faster if you aren’t “Poised to Present!”
2. At Home
We accumulate lots of baggage fighting for space on the “family screen.” And each of those ongoing battles tends to re-assert themselves every time we get back together — even years after the initial event. Some family fights last forever — and shouldn’t. So perhaps the best place to allow yourself to go Tabula Rasa is at home with your Great Love and those other family members who have much to offer — if you can clear the decks.
Before dinner. Before bed. Before breakfast. Before rushing out. Break the cycle, clear the screen and see through the confusion to find out who’s really there — looking back.
3. At Work
Before that big meeting. Before that late appointment with the Boss. And especially before the Big Speech at the National Meeting! Take time to breathe… and get into the moment with nothing else on your mind. You’ll be surprised at what you see when you take the time to scrape away what’s accumulated on your screen.
Tabula Rasa: probably the most powerful metaphor for “clearing away the detritus.” It takes time, sunlight, effort and calm to take up the tablet, scrape it, place it in the sun, wait for the therapeutic warmth to melt the surface. Then there’s more time required for things to once again congeal before going back to work.
OK, sure, we don’t have that much time to invest today… But keep this in mind and let your screens settle down before your next meeting.
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