This is the original transcript of Maharaji's comments during a training session that took place in Miami in 1999. The transcript was written by Chuck Nathan, and the only edits that have been done are the replacement of attendees names with initials, and a few very obvious spelling corrections.

TOPICS/EXERCISES
6/28/99

M briefing before participants arrive:

Don't get excited - facilitators should take a conservative role

Observe - take your notes on participant's performance

We should have 1 correct solution for the ball exercise (breakout exercise where everyone has to touch ball faster and faster) - since we don't want leaders, the solution shouldn't be that 1 person - correct solution should be rolling ball between everyone's hands

M intro at 9am:

You can make this easy for yourself or hard for yourself - up to you

M comments after first attempt at chair arrangement exercise:

"Is this what you want to offer me?"

You weren't unanimous - the leader didn't vote - and 1 person is sitting on the ground

You are unaware of people who have dropped out of the group - they're saying look at these people messing everything up and judging everyone

M comments 11:37am (yelling)

How many of you feel we are on track?

I told you that was not an event

How many decisions have been unanimous? E.g.: After first break, someone left the room to use the bathroom - was that unanimous?

How many of you are aware that someone joined the team?

Do you know in what role that person is attending?

How can you be unanimous if you don't know if that person has to be in agreement?

Someone raised their hand many times while M was talking with the group = after ignoring it a few times, M asked the person what is so important that you have to say than what I am saying. After a little while, M told the person to tell the group what he had to say. And unless he told the group, M said he wouldn't go on. The person said that we cannot be unanimous because there is a hierarchy in any system. M asked what do you mean? In a plane, when the passengers are told by the stewardess to buckle up, they do - unanimity is easily achieved. Unanimity happens all the time in the world. People from off the street in a jury achieve unanimity all the time. Someone in the group even brought up that example earlier.
How long has a team existed? It has existed since the days of Shri M. Have you seen pictures of Shri M with the mahatmas? The reason he even took that picture was to demonstrate there was a team.

M comments l2:20pm

What were my instructions?

Would you like to reflect on those instructions?

Would you like to understand those instructions?

Have you even proposed to write down those instructions?

After all, what M says must be very important, right? So it should receive the least amount of concern, the least amount of care, right?

What you need to reflect on is exactly what my instructions were

M comments 12:28pm

I want to know how many of you knew the instructions.

Do you understand my predicament? Your actions are speaking louder than your words.

If you didn't understand the instructions, why didn't you ask someone for help?

What kind of message are you giving me if you don't even listen to my instructions?

You never clarified the instructions.

The message you are sending me is that we just asked you for the fun of it what you wanted - we're not really going to listen to you - we're going to do something that's fine with us - if that's the case, I don't think we should go on anymore - would you concur that if you walk into a situation where people won't listen to you, what's the point of walking into that situation? You'd have to be dumb to do that. Either you give me a clear message or we call it quits. The group needs to decide that.

Remember I told you that you would make it easy or hard for yourself? You make it very difficult for yourself by not listening to the instructions.

M called a 15 minute break and said take a 15 minute break and don't talk, think and come back and unanimously come up with one sentence, the shorter the better, giving me a message that will allow me continue on. I refuse to continue

I just hope there's one soul that got it.

M side comment: 2 batteries (in the G3)?

12:55pm

Not good people. I asked you to take a 15-minute break and not talk to each other and think and come up with one sentence, shorter the better, contrary to what you've been doing so that we can continue. How many of you have watches with second hands? Are we without the resources to make this happen? Did someone understand my instructions? I noticed there were a lot of notebooks sitting on the floor. People assumed that it should be the same as yesterday. Even if just one person takes the notes for everyone else, it's OK. Are we without resources on this team?

1:05pm

Is that the sentence you want to offer me (in response to Ted asking M for two more minutes)? I asked for a sentence saying something contrary to what you've been doing all morning.

I'm going to save your ass. Time for divine intervention?

(2 people got up and left the group) Is that OK with you? Was that unanimous?

Write down the instructions on the board. We have this facility, not this room. You all assumed what was being said was this room. That's not what was said.

Analogy: I tell you I'll pay for a vacation for you wherever you want to go and pay for all your arrangements. Would you do any research? When you buy a car, when you buy pants, when you ladies buy perfume, do you do any research? I'm astounded that if you would do this for your dog, why can't you do that here? If you're going to assume what I'm going to say, I better not say anything. Any light bulbs going off yet? (Someone said we should look around) So how can you do this unanimously?

You have the ability to listen to me. All you have to do is take responsibility to listen.

(Someone proposed exploring). Sounds like the smartest person in the world to me. You could take 2 or 3 people and go look around.

The problem is it's too simple. The assumption is that M asks us to do something very complicated. We make it complicated by our not listening and interpretations. What I asked you to do is very simple. We make our assumptions. This is the typical scenario that I have had to live with for 30 plus years. You just got the practical demonstration of how that happens.

I didn't say he was the smartest person. I said sounds like the smartest person.

The disadvantage of following a living Master is obvious. You just can't get away with bullshit. It's becoming obvious that you live the bullshit.

You're not listening. First of all, she said something deadly. She'll go look and decide where is the most comfortable place to set up. She should just go and report.

Why don't you just ask if anyone disagrees and stick with that for the rest of the conference? Does everyone agree?

I'm telling you this is the one that's going to get you. Some people won't participate. They won't raise their hands to object but they will object. I'm just giving you this hint. Is someone going to keep tabs on time? What are you going to do while they're exploring? Just sit down, relax and enjoy yourself.

(In the meeting room with 5 people doing the exploring)

This room has everything you need. It has a microphone, stage, video camera, and screen. Chairs can be brought in here. Probably need someone to set up. There's the stage which goes there.

The premies will set it up. You can find resources on your team who can set it up.

(Back in the room where the rest of the group was waiting)

The one person who objected, do you want to leave them hanging? Why don't you deal with their objection? They just asked if chairs needed to be brought in.

You glazed over one important thing (asking who had experience setting up stages, etc.)

(Someone went into leadership mode)

You love leaders. You don't want to take responsibility.

You have 2 people who have experienced setting up stages.

(In new meeting room with a few people setting up the stage)

M to Chuck: Don't drop that computer.

M told P and D to set up the screen and stage. M reminded people twice about safety while setting up the screen.

(In first meeting room where large group was)

Remember this morning when everyone placed their own chair. It was a disaster. M said 5 people who won't destroy their backs should move the chairs.

Divine intervention.

(5 people selected) - the rest of you go to the back of the room and relax

(In new meeting room with a few people setting up the stage)

M reminded people 3 times about safety when near misses occurred.

If someone important to me says something, I want to hear it, even if it's just hello.e.g. if the queen said hello to me

(Back in new meeting room)

M said not to put the chairs too close together so that people's hands wouldn't get crushed.

M said to tighten up the chairs a little bit. Then he talked about 2 people in the center having responsibility to move their chairs to make an aisle. He asked where were the two chairs with white tape marking that were to go in the center. Then he asked for a count of the chairs. Then he asked for one person at a time to come into the room. M pointed out to the group the two chairs with white tape and explained the role of the 2 people seated in those 2 chairs. M said every day people should rotate from front to back. He said that anyone with hearing or sight problems should be given chairs closer to M.
M told the group they held the record for the most time taken to set up.

Water OK, nothing else in the room.

If you can't hear, it's your responsibility to say so. And it's each person's responsibility to speak up. M called a lunch break. " If you don't show up on time, you will not be let in." Is that harsh? (Someone asked if any leeway if someone ill) What does United Airlines do? If you tell them I had a family emergency, do they bring the plane back for you?

One hour lunch break. It's incumbent on you to get back on time.

You're not listening to what I'm saying. If you lose your notebooks, you're in dire trouble. Do you all understand about confidentiality? Not a word of this to anyone,

including your notebooks.
2 famous words: just begun

It's taken you 5 hours to set up.

3:15pm

We have to bring heart and responsibility together. Either we have heart and no resp or we have resp and no heart. We want to abdicate resp. "I was just doing what I was told." But we have to be resp for our actions, our thinking. Bringing these two elements together is not going to be easy. It's totally up to you how difficult you make it.

What are the facilitators there for? To help. If you hanging over the edge, they'll push. You. But if you're going in a good direction, they'll help you. Are we going to play tricks on you? Absolutely not. Who's going to play the tricks? You.

In this team you have the ability and capability to go in the right direction. But if you're not going to listen, if what M says is this hypothetical thing, M's never going to tell us, if you're going to become religious puppets, there's no place for you on this team.

Is this team going to be trained in specific things? No.

Isn't what you wanted to be told specifics, turn left, turn right. That's not going to happen. Because the Vision changes. The Vision evolves. We're not trying to create a vehicle that will go specifically from point A to B. That's not what's needed. Because the Vision will change. You're going to learn how to be a team, how to function as a team. During this training, you're going to have a bunch of opportunities to work as a team.

How many of you think team is a new thing? I want you to understand that in terms of propagation, team has existed for a long time.

Now, how can 73 people come to a consensus? Can you think of examples when more than 73 people reach a consensus? How about all those people driving on a freeway, going and coming? Have the ever seen that? How many people do you think get on those freeways? Maybe thousands? They come to a unanimous decision, right? Is it impossible? What do you think it will require to pull it off?

(Someone said on highway there are consequences if you go the wrong way)

M: so on this team aren't there consequences? Do you see a consequence if you don't work unanimously? How about that that Vision will not get fulfilled? Like for many many many years it hasn't, it won't. How important is that consequence to you? On a scale of one to ten?

Some of you didn't answer me. When people don't answer me, I get really pissed off.

I wasn't really pissed off this morning. I saw that only those speaking loudly were listened to? So I just tried to make my point. You haven't seen me pissed off. Don't piss me off. You won't like it. So answer me when I ask a question. Don't piss me off.

You just had lunch. You're going to get sleepy. But you have to stay awake, stay right there. We don't have enough time to do this. It's going to require a massive amount of effort, massive amount of consciousness to do this.

I'd like to talk about what a team is. There are 20 very athletic people on a bus. Also there are a mixture of 20 200/300/400-pound people. And then you've got 10 really bratty kids. And the driver of course. And they are going from New Orleans to Montgomery Alabama. Right at the Louisiana border, the bus breaks down. The driver gets out, fixes the bus. He removes the starter motor and tells the passengers that the bus is fixed but we have to push it to get it started. So people get out. All the 200-400 pound people get out and are gorging themselves with ice cream, chocolate, Fritolays, and the bratty kids and running in and out of their legs, ten of those kids. And ten of those really healthy people are behind the bus. The driver is sitting in the front. He's got caffeine free diet Pepsi and smoking a cigarette. Ten of the other people are standing by the side of the room. Could you please identify a team for me?

(Several people get answers)

Don't be afraid to give the wrong answer. Just say what you have to say. Just shoot. That's why we have the rule of confidentiality. This is a safe environment.

(Several more people give answers)

She said they're a team just because they got on the bus at the same time.

(Several more people answer)

So now the question becomes, when does a team become a team?

(More answers)

What about winning? Don't they have to win? Can a team come together and not accomplish the goal but still be a team?

Did you guys (facilitators) conclude this group was brainy because they are always disagreeing with each other? A team can exist without even knowing they exist. For example British Airways employees in Bali and London may not have ever met each other.

First there has to be acknowledge of a team. Are there's benefits of working as a team?

What are the benefits? What one person can't accomplish, a team can accomplish. How many of you think realizing M's vision can be accomplished by one person? How many of you think that because of the nature of the task, it requires a team?

Already you've heard the answer. Everyone is the team. The driver can drink Pepsi and smoke a cigarette without impeding his ability to drive the bus? How many times have you seen people driving while smoking and drinking?

If those people kept travelling for long enough, they will become comrades. By the time they get to LA, they would know each other's names. Everyone is taking care of each other.

The fat people got off the bus. How much weight is that? Does it help when they get off? The kids could become a hazard to everyone. It's a good thing they're playing on the side. They're contained. It's a good thing that 10 strong people are in reserve. If they tried to join in also, there wouldn't be enough room to push. The bus isn't wide enough.

What if they had to push the bus backwards? They're going away from their destination.

That's OK. The point is to get the bus started. Sometimes you might have an objection. But your objection is so trivial, that it would help the team if you stay quiet. Other times your objection might be very important to say. How can you tell the difference?

You've got to listen. How can we facilitate listening? How about, people who are talking do it very nicely. Keep it very nice and concise. Have you ever seen headlines in newspapers? "King blamed. Leaves country." What kind of grammar is that? The kind that gets the point across. Right now grammar is used for scoping out your level of education. That was never the intent of communication. Communicate better. Talk better. You don't need to say "I felt" or "I think". What are we supposed to do? Give you a certificate? A lot of these things need to happen before this team can go anywhere?

And drop your guard that this can't happen.

What is the team decided that it's dark outside but it wasn't? They decided they wanted to be unanimous and decided it's dark.

(Someone says you could show them the light)

What if you showed them the light and the team still decided that it's dark outside? And the team is asking that it be unanimous.

(People answer)

You're a team, right? Please take off your shoes. Would you please take off your socks?

All right, gentleman, you may now take off your pants. You can put your socks back on. It want to make a point. It is always incumbent on you never to do anything you don't feel comfortable with. "I don't like this thing. I was just doing my job." You have to take caution and at the same time understand that the team won't do anything to jeopardize that . The bar is so high that you won't be asked to do anything inappropriate. OK, now it's dark outside. What do you do? What is the team wanted to do a simulation of darkness to train how to put on life vests. There's no harm in pretending that it's dark outside. It's the narrow-minded person that says it's not true. The Truth is much greater than that. Do you understand the dynamics of the team now? Because if you're going to sit there and be stubborn, the team is never going to reach a unanimous verdict. Don't take this example any further. People explain to you the reason why and you accept that. But what if the team decided to jump off a cliff? I want you to understand that the only way to function in a team is to keep your eyes and ears open. You can't just sit back and go along with everybody. But don't be sitting there holding this banner of Truth. You have to be completely aware. If there are no consequences, then fine, no reason to object.

Which portion of this discussion could have helped us most this morning? Listening.

(V puts envelopes in the middle of the room and says "Once separated it cannot be put back together again.") (Envelope exercise commences)

(15 minute break)

I get this distinct feeling that you don't trust the facilitators. I don't know why you don't feel they're trustworthy. I don't understand why when they bring something up, they're trying to trick you. Everyone's out to get you. We're testing your wits, intelligence. We're testing, testing, testing, testing.

The facilitators who are part of the team are becoming leaders. I propose this. I propose that. You force people to listen to you.

Let me ask you a question. Should the team have competition?

(Several people comment)

If there shouldn't be competition among the team, why is there? I gave this example to the last group: nothing spiritual here. Ram was asked what pleases you. His reply was very beautiful. Cleverness does not please me. But those who obey me, follow my instructions truly please me.

(several people comment)

The road to hell is paved with good intentions.

(people comment)

Cleverness does not please me. Because it gets you into trouble, again and again and again. You need to listen to each other. You already demonstrated this morning you don't listen to me.

(M plays video of when people grabbed chair in the morning)

You can see very quickly everyone goes to grab a chair. Now that truly looks comfortable doesn't it? How quickly do you disperse? "Have" becomes "grab". You give it your own interpretation.

How many of you feel you are on track? How many of you feel you are not on track? It's not your day, is it? Have you decided what you're going to do?

(People comment)

The facilitators are not going to trick you, not purposefully mislead you. But if you're on the balcony leaning over, they'll push you.

(Comments)

This kind of action happens in a group when you don't take ownership. Someone buys a gun and leaves it on the table and his 5-year-old son picks it up and shoots himself. What would you say to the father?

You got yourselves in a pickle. You weren't listening to each other. You didn't think about the proposal. I told you to listen. You didn't. You don't really care about each other. I'm going to ask you a specific question and I want you to respond to it, but this doesn't relieve you of your responsibility to do nothing. How many of you think that the other 72 people are assholes? Be honest. (D and S raise their hands) Someone is not being honest. When I have already decided that someone is an asshole, I don't listen. You have not been listening. When you don't raise your hand, you are not being honest. The idea only has to cross your mind once.

You didn't listen to the proposal, did you? But you voted on it, didn't you? Did you have any idea how many times that proposal was made? Four or five times. Did you hear it 4 or 5 times? There was a major ingredient missing. What was said was so phenomenal: say or do nothing. No time limit. I sincerely hope you're more intelligent than that. You are, aren't you? I can't let you talk. Did I tell you that this was going to get you? Did you think I was kidding? Do you think I'm doing this to punish you? Do you understand that when you are successful, the facilitators and I have done something right? Do you understand that? We presented you with a scenario that caused you to succeed? Why would it be in our interest to make sure you don't succeed? I've been giving you tips every since the beginning. This is not an event.; This is not a set up. We're not going to try to trick you. Valerio gave a set of instructions. The team was forewarned to listen to the instructions. In this environment I would have thought 100% of you would have gotten the instructions right. The ambiguity between it and they is significant. So people, what's going on? I tell you things that are going to help you. But you don't listen to me. So far, nothing has been asked that is so complicated that you can't do. Do you know how important it is to hear the instructions? Do you know how important it is to be clear on the instructions? Do you know how many airplanes fly every day? Thousands. Every pilot is given instructions from the ground controllers. If they didn't' understand those instructions there could be chaos. Do you want to take any responsibility? You have abdicated responsibility. By creating leaders, creating facilitators and they keep leading you astray. And you voted on a proposal that checkmated you. And who got you there? Is this how you envision you are going to fulfill my Vision? Is this how you see any event coming together? Is this how you see teams coming together in the US to facilitate propagation? Everyone doing their own thing. We have a very serious situation. Extremely, extremely serious. If we have a bright future, we are denying ourselves that future. This kind of situation is only going to lead to bigger and bigger disasters. Who did this to you? The team? The guy sitting next to you? Are you sure it wasn't the 72 other assholes? I don't believe you. I'm convinced that given another opportunity, you'd do the same thing. You've got a real problem. Well, if we're going to go on we better forfeit this exercise or whatever it is. OK people, believe it or not, it's 5:34pm, You've got a lot of thinking to do. You've got things in that bucket that you are convinced are part of the bucket, which they are not. Would you please tonight think about 5 things that you would like to change about yourself and a way, how are you going to do it? And also, 5 things that you feel are hindering your process to go on. Hate, late of respect, whatever it may be. Do you have respect for this group? Do we have respect in this group? How have we demonstrated that we have respect? We talk over each other. Do you know what a brainfart is? When you get indigestion in your stomach you start farting. Brain gets indigestion too. You can't smell brainfarts, but they sure have an effect.
Your thinking is going to be expanded many ;many times more than you thought possible. I hope that's why you came here. Not to walk in and walk out exactly the same. I hope you came here to learn something. I must tell you also that you have not done very well at all. The facilitators said this is such a brainy group. But we got less done today than with the last group. You can't have competition in the team, outside the team is OK, but not in the team. If one wheel of a car decided to go faster, what would happen? Your attempts to be brilliant put you in a pickle. Not by design, but by nature, when you compete the team goes to hell. You can't think everyone on the team is an asshole. You need them. Do you realize that even if you have an incredible idea, that everyone has to agree with it? DO you realize that you did today exactly what you've hatred about DLM, DUO and EV? Do you realize that the problems are not imbedded on the names but in each one of you? Insensitivity. Doing things without thinking. And let's not forget, over the years who has gotten blamed for all this?

Can we change this? Do you really believe we can change it? If we can identify it, we can change it. Yes today has been painful. Tomorrow will be more. I guarantee it. And day after tomorrow more. And day after that more. And you know who's going to make it painful. Not us. You've got to take responsibility. You've got to see me. When the team succeeds, you automatically do. Do you know that everyone here has something here to contribute? Do you realize that not everyone h may not have the same thing to contribute? Do you realize that you don't have to be a rocket scientist? You will be given exercises to prove something different than what you think the point of the exercise is. We have a very weak link. You have mistrust - you have to let go of it. I was right, that person was wrong, that's not going to help. Any thing else I can help you with? You will open a door and see things that you didn't think existed. And to get rid of it is the most painful process.

What good is a candle that needs a flashlight to shine? Things in this life shouldn't be mysterious, they should be clear. Is there anything mysterious about K, about practicing K, about the Master? Then why is there a mystery? Is there a mystery? There isn't, but there is. But we guard that mystery. Because where are we going to take shelter except in that mystery. Would it really be painful to be clear? Of course. Have many of you disregard the things you know very well? So you can go on.

I'm the one talks about individuality. But when it comes to the team, there's no such animal. When you're not working with the team, you can be an individual and practice K. But when you're working with the team, you take your hat off. Today very little was taught but a lot was learned. That's the best kind of teaching. Tomorrow even less will be taught but more will be learned.

---

TOPICS/EXERCISES
6/29/99

M side comment to Chuck: (pointing to the computer and electrical cords) do you have power? (Put into facilitator checklist) (M asks about modem line for the G3. Chuck points out surge protector.) Bond. James Bond. Licensed to kill.

9am
(M puts the word "Listen" on the big screen)
Good morning.
Got all the problems taken care of?
I know that you think that somehow we've taken (the facilitators and I) to trick the shit out of you. This is not the case. The last group had also come to this conclusion. That everything is testing you. You have a hard time seeing how this team will reach consensus. The exercises are designed so that if you do them right you will succeed. Yesterday someone wrote in their book, "the facilitators tricked us." Yesterday did the proposal to say and do nothing come from the facilitators? You set yourself up. You passed the proposal. As a sensible person would you ever pass a proposal like that. You passed on your weakness, not your strength. You didn't listen. Anybody could have amended the proposal to limit the time to ten minutes but you didn't. I was going to spend only 4 days as scheduled. The last group wasted two days because they were caught in this circle, they're setting us up. When they finally realized that this wasn't true, they took a big leap. This is more deeply rooted than you realize. You say to yourself the world will never understand you, never understand K, the press will never understand. They're setting us up. Please get out of this mode. I can only remind you and I have. Listen.
We're going to review the homework. We're going to start from one end, start from there, go around, switch over to the back row. There are ten things you have to say. Eleven? Fifteen? What was the assignment?
(Several answers)
So that's eleven things, right?
What was the homework you were given?
(M leaves - group tries to remember the exact homework - M comes back in a minute with a video in hand) I'd like to introduce an idea. We give everyone 100 points. By the end of the conference if you don't have a certain minimum number of points, you flop. For example, if you don't speak loud enough, you lose points. And if you don't correct the person speaking too softly, you lose points.
How many of you think 72 assholes? Be honest.
(About 10 people raise their hands) Yesterday you were very dishonest with me. You are no different than any other group. How many of you think there are 72 assholes.
(Someone says 73)
No that's not how your brain thinks. 73 - that's the Christian answer - I'm an asshole. But that's not how your brain thinks. At that moment of fire, when someone makes a proposal, your brain thinks 72 assholes. Later maybe you think I'm an asshole too. But at the moment of fire, you think 72. Maybe you think 52 assholes. But the other 20 you dub potential assholes. So how many assholes are there? You can think of it as stupid, dumb, idiotic. Asshole just covers that broad spectrum.
Have you reached a consensus on what I said?
Even though C is going in and out and there are a couple of people back there (control room), confidentiality is being observed. You can feel safe.
(Group reaches consensus on what homework was)
So we have 11 things or 25 or 55?
(Group says 11)
Cool
(M replays video of when he gives homework assignment)
That's what you all wrote down. All?
(Not everyone responds)
You're not going to participate? You're not going to play ball? Remember yesterday I took you to answer me. Why didn't everyone answer? You're being very dishonest with me. You think I'm going to trick you. I'm your enemy. You're acting like it. I don't know why.
We're to start with C. Pleased listen to these instructions. Listen to these instructions. C is going to say how many things. If W hears one of the things that C said, she doesn't have to say that. If W and C each said one of the things on the next person's lists, how many things will the next person read? (9)
Put down your notebooks.
I hope you've come with headlines, one worders. But I don't want you to alter what you have written. Last night at 4am I was trying to think what can I do to get you guys to listen. So at 4am this brilliant idea came. You have proven to me your dishonesty. You'll take your notebook and scratch out your old answer.
There should be no repeats. You might get to a person when all of their things have been said on their list. What would that person say? (Nothing)
M says four times in response to questions that there should be no repeats.
(First person reads their list)
Just give me one-word answers
(Second person reads their list)
M side comment to V: they're listening, trying to anyway.
(People start reading their answers)
You went and wrote essays. I gave you a hint. Headlines. But you didn't listen. So now the task is further complicated by the way you wrote your answers. Could you thought yesterday and consolidated. May I ask why didn't you think that way?
You have resources on this team. You could have taken a short time to make sure everyone understood the homework assignment. But now we're going to be here past lunch. Please people. I beg you. Don't set yourselves up. Today can be a beautiful day. There could be a lot of learning, a light day. But what you did was work on how to make it more difficult today than yesterday. It's not very nice to get points deducted. It doesn't feel good. I'm going to give you a 15-minute break. Come back, I'll give you 5 minutes to rearrange one worders. No repeats. Same rules, same everything. One worders. If I said to you today is going to be harder than yesterday, then you can try harder. As a human being, that's what you can do. Some people are born into a poor family and don't feel they can do anything to change it. Other people born into the same situation change it. You have to be one of those people. Saying to yourself "I'll change. The team can change. It can be a bright day."
(Fifteen minute break)
You've really got to get off this bandwagon of everyone is out to get you. Once you get off that bandwagon everything will smooth right out. If we did want to get you we could hide the instructions, start scribbling the instructions inside a sandwich. Nobody is doing that. Loud and clear the instructions are laid out. Did you take 5 seconds to clarify the instructions before the break? Why not? I gave you that hint. This has been a problem for you. Are 5 minutes up? Cool.
(People start reading their one word homework answers)
(People start laughing at some of the answers)
Do you really think this is funny?
(More people read their homework)
I just want to warn you that you will be given 100 points and if you speak too softly or make other mistakes, you'll have to give up some of your tickets with your points.
(V says people will get three tickets for 3 points each, then two tickets for 10 points, then one ticket for 20 points and one ticket for 51 points.)
That means that you can only make 3 mistakes and then it's nonlinear so the point deductions get much larger. (More people read their homework)
Take a minute. Just relax. It's all right. Just relax.
I'd like to bring this toy our attention. We have problems, right? Pretty nasty ones, right? Would you like to continue on with these problems or loadshed them? OK, here's the process. Nothing major. But it keeps coming out. There are no miracle cures or pills. Certain things have been identified. The amazing thing is that no one here has unique problems. Everyone's problems are very similar. What does that tell you? B talked about having a little bit of a structure. I haven't heard much about need or want for a structure. Would it help?
(People give answers)
Understanding among ourselves. What we have to stay within. Right now we don't have to have that. I'm not going to bring that up. It's something you have to say. I don't want to impose it on you. Then you'll cry unfair. The want for that structure has to come from you and you have to be willing to live within it. Maybe you need to think about it. I don't want to be the one to push this. You just got a super fancy mirror put in front of you. I don't want to complicate your life even more. If you want a structure, I'll be happy to help you create a structure.
(People comment)
We'll do one exercise now. So you think about it. Because it has to be unanimous. I don't want you to tell I'm shoving it up your ass.
You realize once you have this structure you'll have to live with it. Once a structure is created, it's a team. That's when everyone compensates for everyone's weaknesses. But you're not there yet. Little things like clarifying the instructions. Really support each other, this competitiveness has to go away. Everyone is an asshole thing has to go away. You'll see someone who has felt so incapable all throughout the conference emerge in shining armor. In India it was this woman who was illiterate. But when the time came for the exercises, she figured them out. She had the brains. The India was really varied. We had people medical doctors, people with double doctorates, senior superintendent of policy, judges, engineers, they couldn't figure it out. She did. She saved the day.
All of a sudden you end up with a real find flock. No competition. One is dedicated is running the seconds, another the hours, feels really good.
(People comment)
Last night I think you reached the conclusion that your cockiness wasn't going to get you anywhere. There's been a fundamental change. In fact you did get through that exercise. It was a lot better than yesterday. There is light at the end of the tunnel. More and more as you let go of that cockiness and let go of that feeling that you are being tricked, the easier it will get. So how many people are there? Taking responsibility. No, it's the government, the cops, my wife, my kids, God, my dog. Then there's another list with only l person on it and it's you. And then there's a long list of solutions. But if you don't acknowledge the one-person list and the list of solutions your life becomes a life long war to change other people. Bitching and complaining. This is the status quo position of most people you see, including yourself. K comes along and puts you in the picture. Then the opportunity for service comes along. It's an opportunity of a lifetime. But most of the time the old habits and old luggage are brought in. Band it's for the first time in the history of service that it isn't the methodology that is being blamed and changed. It was always the way we do it is wrong. This house has got remodeled and remodeled and remodeled inside. Kitchen has been modified. Beds have been tweaked. For the first time we're taking a look at it and saying let's change the bloody house and make it as big as it needs to be so everyone can come in. The opportunity exists to rethink the whole thing. Do we want to take it or bring in our old luggage into it?
(People comment)
What I suggest is we do this exercise and it may clarify and intensify the need for the structure.
(V gives instructions about working in groups)
(M puts picture on big screen "Strength vs. Weakness")
(After several comments, M puts picture on big screen, "Brain Farts")
(More discussion)
Whatever structure already exists, you have no clue what it is. So just drop it. You were given a task. Have you moved forward with that task? Who tripped you up? Did you have to do it? Don't you feel where it gets to the point where it hurts in your stomach? Your stomach is more intelligent than your brain. When you're on track it feels good, when you're off track, it feels bad. What we're doing is not inhuman; it's based on common sense. It's all about common sense. So, I think you have a task at hand. Why don't you complete it?
(Comments)
(M puts up on big screen "Now SETUP to work in Groups.")
(V gives the group the task of setting a time limit within one minute. The group fails the first time. V says the group has one more minute and as far as he is concerned if the group fails, the day is over. The group finishes the task in 32 seconds.)
(The group proceeds to try to set up in groups within 15 minutes)
M points out to C that the group is following her proposal, but that they didn't accept the proposal when C made it.
(More discussion)
(Group breaks up into 7 subgroups standing in the main meeting room)
(Group tries and fails the "Spy in the Black Trench Coat" exercise after getting two penalties of 8 minutes off due to talking over each other - V debriefs)
(15 minute break)

12:10pm
For those people who think that "set up" is the wrong word. This is standard nomenclature. Event set up.
Intro program set up. It's not confusing unless you set yourselves up.
You hear an instruction and immediately you make an interpretation. Then you look at the instructions again and it's different from your interpretation so you get confused. Then you ask someone else and they give you their interpretation. The problem is not the instructions. The problem is your interpretation.
Look people, you have to expand your horizons. How many of you are aware that there are certain people who do certain services again and again and again. And even though there are other people who would do it better and even though they keep making mistakes, nothing changes. Would you not attribute that to not expanding horizons? How can we make this better? Doesn't that take expanding horizons?
Set up means set up. There are tables, easels. You can sound off in groups. You have to be aware of who is in your group.
I'm going to give you a little bit of a freebee. What would you like to do next?
(Someone makes a proposal and someone objects)
First you said I have an objection. Then you said I don't really have an objection. Be precise, either you have an objection or not. You have to understand that everyone is keyed on the unanimity thing so if you don't have an objection, let the proposal carry.
(Comments)
(Someone proposes that the group ask M for structure)
You have two people with objections
(Comments)
What do you want to do?
(Someone proposes again asking M for structure)
That proposal was already made. But there were 2 objections.
(Comments)
I have an objection. I never said I'd do that. I said I'd help you come up with a structure.
You haven't listened at all. You don't have a thinking problem. You have a listening problem. This is going to continually get you in trouble. You unanimously tell me that you have to figure out if any body has any problems with creating a structure. I don't want to be the instigator. I am m not going to take even 1% of the responsibility for the desire to have a structure. Once you decide you want a new structure, fine. I am quite capable of doing that. But I will not do that until I am convinced I've heard a unanimous voice.
(Comments)
Can we change the nomenclature please? Let's call it a team, not a group.
(Comments)
If already you're saying this isn't going to work, if you're saying I have an objection but I'll go along. This is a pivotal point. Nothing is working. How can we go and set up a structure with so much doubt? I take no responsibility for creating the structure. If you want this. Maybe you have doubts about it. Maybe you don't want it. May I ask you a question? Have you succeeded in anything yet? So why are you pretending you have? Let's just face it. This cow ain't pregnant yet. Maybe it's time for farmer John to stop doing it and get the bull. Time to step aside and let the bull do the work.
What you did yesterday was blatantly so off. It's like you got a checkbook from the bank and to save yourself time you signed every check. That's akin to what you did yesterday. I'm still not convinced there's the clear and concise unanimity required to proceed.
(Comments)
If you're ready to move on with that kind of attitude, I don't want you. You said even a bad structure is better than nothing. That's a very bad attitude. That kind of attitude is not needed.
(Comments - someone quotes M)
That's not what I said
(Comments)
You went on and on and on and on and on and on. I've actually never seen that. You took over 30 minutes to figure it out. You could have done the whole thing in that amount of time. How did that all feel? So how come you kept going? I didn't hear anyone get up and say, "This feels wrong. I think we're really off track." So far as the heart and the mind, that's a common mistake. Mind gets in and says it's the heart. Very dark thought: what if this isn't right? Another dark thought: what if we need to change it. I need to sit down in a quiet room and find the inspiration to help you. I gave you a freebee I don't know how much you trust me. You've demonstrated that you don't. I've got to decide if I want to continue. I'm not obliged to continue. I don't get paid to do this.
When I was picking up my glider we had a problem with it. We called glider Bob, an expert. He gave some advice and I said, "Do it." I was satisfied with his credentials so I trusted him.
I'm going to offer you my help, but you go off in all these tangents. Gee if there was someone I really respected, I wouldn't treat them like this. If someone offered me help, you just went off into this thing.
If this is how you going to. There was more concern about his objection which had already been withdrawn then there was about me sitting here waiting for you to come to consensus. We have some more fundamental problems here. I think this is a demo of total lack of respect. I think you think this was a total mistake that you're here. That you don't belong here. You know we talked about in service people get bulldozed. Have you ever heard some of those people? I have. You could actually depart lLA and go East and stop in Gander, get some coffee, take off, arrive in Germany, put in for the night, get up, get airborn, go to Dubai, put in the night, a very good hotel there, get your food, by then you might bwant to get drunk. Spend more than 12 hours. Leave Dubai. Go on to Malaysia, Put down for the night. Get airborne. Go on to Japan. Put in for the night. Go to Tokyo. Do some shopping. Go to Hawaii, get a tan. Come back to LA and they will still be talking. People actually pray that they won't start talking.
To be heard is the talker's responsibility, not the listeners. Respect, you have to deserve it. No one can make a rule you have to respect everybody. You'll learn all that. All the problems in interacting with other people, 50% yours, not 51, not 49, exactly 50. People don't listen to you. It's because you're so uninteresting.
But definitely you're way off base. Here's someone offering help. You don't even want to take care of that person. You don't say, M give us a few more minutes, we're almost there. But you just go on, I have this problem. I have that problem. But when an airplane is taking off, even if your 80 year old grandfather wants to talk , it's like, forget it I've got a plane to catch. But you don't even have the clarity to say give us a few more minutes. I've got the reexamine if I even want to help you.
If I don't get respect, I just turn around and walk away. I don't want to be a party to it.
(Comment)
Well, apology is just one of those things that just wipes out whatever happened. But I don't know if I should accept that apology. Do you realize the things you've been talking about? Why don't people just hear in their heads what they're about to say?
If you went to 4 taps and were thirsty and 1 didn't work, would you walk away? What if after trying all 4 taps there was still no water? You'll go somewhere else for water.
If you walked into a cockpit and said take off, no matter if we're going to crash, he'd slug you. Because a captain is usually very proud of their flight. It's not necessary to come with that attitude. Let's take a lunch break, one hour.

2:25pm
Do You all want to go on? Well I don't feel comfortable. What you demonstrated is total lack of respect for me. If I have to go on, I have to feel comfortable. I have no obligation to do this. One of the facilitators who does this professsionally said that when the group doesn't want to play ball, its very very difficult. He sees that you dont' want to play ball. I'm going to ask each one of you, why did you have a negative thought like you did.
(W answers)
We're all frustrated. Who do you think is most frustrtrated? And then I have to ask C. What was she thinking? (C answers)
And I want to ask B
(B answers)
Well that's what everyone did. Well sometimes actions speak louder than words. And T.
(T answers)
That's what I offered to do, to help you. I know the structure would help. When the structure is followed, you can ask D, he was in the last training, and when whatever structure was placed, it was difficult to follow, but when it was followed it felt good and it worked. We can't have this. This is blantantly wrong. Is this how you want to put together an event? Is this how you want to do service? Not a good situation. Really isn't. You know I don't know if you want this structure, really. Once this structure is in place, you're going to hear a lot of whistles. Right now you're all over the place. Once the struture is in place, the facilitators are going to hone you to it. Do you want that. It's not going to feel that. Sit back. Purge your thoughts. We don't want to go as a loser. We want to go on as a winner. You know all the things we don't like. We can change it. All the prejuduce that's out there. Indian, black white, women. We can change it. All the unconsciousness. We can change. All the things we've always hated. We can change it. That's the opportunity. To actually make it good. Do you want it? Is it that obvious to you? OK, take 5 seconds. Shirk off the pain, shirk off the unconsciousness. Got to go for the light, got to go for the est. Tell that thing that wants to tell you you're a son of a bitch. Tel it to can it. Ready?

What we're going to call this structure is training rules. How many of you don't like the word rules? Well shove it. Yhou're going to take resp. When I started to fly, my idea was open skies, go anywhere you want. Then I realized that wasn't the case. You have to be more concerned about not going into any of the restricted spaces than in the open sky. There's very little uncontrolled spaced. Do I follow the rules? If you don't the rules then shove it.
I recommend we not have too many rules. The more rules, the harder to remember. We're going to make two sets of rules, one set of training rules now and at the end of the session another list of lifelong rules. Some of you will be working with people who were in the previous sesssion. There will more training sessions. This is not the ultimate team. The set of rules will be the same for all the diferent training sessions. The lifelong rules will be much simpler. The best way to do it is to write down your suggestions, not that all of you have to make suggestions. These rules should not be paragraphs. The shorter they are, the better it is. OK? One I'll give you free: confidentiality.

I'm going to be very active in this, but you're going to come up with them. Speak one at a time. What did I just tell you. Is there one thing What does respect mean? Respect has to be given and earned. So don't sit there like a fat ass something and say "I didn't get respect." It means you didn't earn it.

Honesty. Are you honest? Are you honest? Are you honest? Can't make up your mind.

B proposed clarity. Let me throw another one out that maybe includes what B was trying to express. Conscious. If you're conscious, you can get clarity.

(Trust) Does it come with respect? What does trust mean? In the team certainly you have to trust the team members. But you can never leave the team members in a situation where they can slip. So even if one team member slips, there's a backup system to take care of it. Like in an airplane, you have backup systems. It's a funny kind of trust. You trust the primary system, but still you have a backup system. You have 2 hydraulic system., 3 electrical systems, but only 1 wing. Kind of bizarre. So the manufacturer puts in backup systems for the parts. But as a whole it's very trustworthy. Trust in me shouldn't be the kind that says if I screw up M will fix it. You can't do that with team members either. Most of do our trust to avoid resp. Trust is a funny kind of thing. Trust in me that I will provide the Vision and that that Vision will be doable, workable. If you trust me, to make sure that you will practice, then that's the wrong kind of trust. I'm not going to come to your hoem and make you practice. But you have to trust me. But I'm not dependent on your trust. For that which I have told you, you can trust me. And of course you can only trust that person who is trustworthy You can't just trust anybody.
Trust is always earned. Any body who gets unearned trust is abating responsibility. Do you want trust in there?
(Responsibility) Yes? No? Yes? OK, you want it in there. Put it in there. Personally I don't know how you'd ever enforce that rule.
(To know). That's very ambiguous. Explain it to us. It's a bit like the astronauts going to the moon for the first time. Gloing to to unknown territory for the first time. Hopefully we're going to go into unknown territory,. Since you've never been there, how
(Relevance. Purpose. Accountability. Commitment. ) …. Let's call it participate, that will take care of it. See you can trust me.

And there's another freebee I'll give you.. Unanimous.

These are training rules. This is what we'll be working with for the next few days. See you don't feel that bad pit in your stomach do you? See the stomach has a brain in it.

(Joy). Well we can't have that as a training rule. That will mess things up. Good try.

So you want to have the captain land somewhere in the airport. The captain can take off within the century. Let's give him some flexibility. Your wife once a week ends up with a man. Your kids can come home to within the city somewhere. We don't need flexibiity. We can do things very precisely. We can be right on time, we can get the job done on time. The amazing thing is, during this training there's only one commodity you need and it's free. Isn't thinking free? Because we're human beings we need to do bodily functions, but even while doing those things, you don't have to stop thinking.

I like conscious because that embeds a lot of things into it.

Most whistles go for unanimous and paarticipate. And for when no one is keeping the time.

One more this team in particular needs is no brain farts. Nobody tells us when we're having one. "Yes honey?" whether the wife says a brain fart or not. No brain farts. Next few days, you get called on it. Why not your great idea you're about to have, explain it to yourself. If you can't it's probably a brain fart. If there's clarity, no problem explaining it.

There's another rule I'd like to introduce to you. What does it mean, the order of the seqwuence here. There is no sequence. They're all equally important.

I'm going to explain one rule you'll find very useful. You need it. THIS RULE has helped me a lot. No dark thoughts. Coming here, beautiful day all the way until we got to Florida. It was clear in the middle. I said to B your job is to move the storms. B said I'll work on it. By the time we got here the storm was pretty solid over Miami. But the thought came in no dark thoughts, I'm not going to get in the middle of a thunder storm. Radar showed rain, but it was all clear in Ft. Lauderdale. No dark thoughts really helps. Just no dark thoughts. I think you'll find it very useful in your personal life, but I can't recommend that you use these in your personal life. I can't. It's up to you. No dark thoughts. Do you want that? There's a big difference between no dark thoughts and conservative thinking. That part of you that sensitive and reasonable is conservative thinking. The dark thought is "what if the hall fell down?" You can say "when was this hall put Dark thoughts are thoughts are that inhibit you from going on, from transforming, or evolving or continuing. Dark thought for you guys is this team is going to mess it up. That's a dark thought. A conservative thought is not going to inhibit you from moving on. You will take actions and you will move on. A dark thought will inhibit you. That is the difference.

I have CD's here. Rap. Robin Williams. Woody Allen. That's to add spice. When brain farts are flying, all the rules are going to hell, I'm going to make the siutation ten times more agitating. That noise you heard this morning was recorded. We can play that. If you want to be accurate in your thinking, follow the rules. Accuracy after a certain point is just a brain fart. Like in a plane simulator. They give you all these different scenarios. The reason you got dressed, got your bags packed, is to go. Accurate thinking has to be done accurately.

I will also give you another rule. I'm just feeling generous. You're doing so good. You need it. Here it comes. It's called the ten second rule. OK? It just means whatever you have to say, say it in ten seconds. You need it. If you don't, I have a present for you.

Now that we have the rules in place, look at the faces of the facilitators. They've got you. No.

(Tickets and envelopes are passed out)

Put your names on both the envelope and each ticket. Then you can't trade them. I would love to explain to you what these rules mean. I'm so glad we got this done today.

10 second rule; conscious; respect; confidentiality; honesty; participate, unanimous, no brain farts, no dark thoughts

What's the purpose of the exercises? To follow the rules. What's the policy around here? If you follow the rules you get help. If you don't follow the rules, you don't get help.

Look at these rules as a whole. They are giving you a message. The message they're giving you is "Dummy, this is what you expect when you go to McDonaldds." You don't want the guy at the counter talking forever. When you ask the shoopkeeper for green pants, do you want him to go on forever? KISS. Keep it short stupid. That's the ten second rule. How many of you appreciate it when people keep it really short when they speak to you.

To be conscious. To be aware. Would you like the waiter to spill food all over you or bring you the wrong food? I don't like that. Any big mystery?

Respect. What if you went to MCD. And the guy said, wait, you idiot, I'll take care of you in a second. What if your kid called you a name. It would be accurate. But would you like it? You're sitting in a restaurant and order the tuna fish salad and the waiter told everyone.

How would you like it if your mail got opened? Confidentiality. How many of you like it when customs goes through your suitcase.

Big words. But these are things we expect every day.

Honesty. Do we exspect this from the waiter? Would you like if the waiter dropped your chicken on the floor and picked it up and served it to you? Or would you prefer him to come tell you he dreopped it and it will take a few more minutes to prepare more.

Participate. How many of you plan a trip or picnic, wanting everyone to be unanimous. The kids are in the van. The mother says I'm going to pull over until you're quiet. The mother is looking for unanimity. What if you invite a friend to dinner and they just sit there and don't eat, don't participate.

What about when the waiter suggests a lot of things you don't want to eat. Brainfarts. You go to a car dealership. We were looking for a Nissan for Wadi and the salesman said "What will it take to close the deal?" You don't have enough money to close the deal. I got really mad. He was obviously brain farting.

And dark thoughts. You order something and the waiter says I don't know if we have that. Same response to every item you mention.

Do you understand my demystification of these rules. These rules are what we expect from our wife, our dog, our husband. What we would expect if we walk out into the lbbby. So the fact that these are expected of the team should come of no surprise. This is extremely basic. So basic that you don't have to think twice about it. If you think this is too much, then realize it's a very simple thing.

Now let me warn you about a few things. Just be as conscious as you can and you will have no problem. Don't be rushed by time. Time is an element you want on your side. Do whatever it takes to get time on your side. And don't do this by using the 30 minute technique he tried and taking too much time. I have When I am running late, I actually slow down. I have noticed that when when I get in a rush, I make simple mistakes and it takes twice as long. Have to flush the toilet twice. Drop your cufflink and now you have to look for it. Time will be on your side if you try to do things in slow motion. Who should be the first one to hear a proposal. You will be just as smart as everyone else in the room and can tell if it's a good proposal. Even when you ask a question, ask yourself first. You might already have the answer.

What is the purpose of language? To get your point across? So let's use it for that purpose. Right now we use language to demonstrate to other people our level of intellingence. But that was never the purpose of language. The purpose was I got a stone stuck, how do you explain that in a gesture. It is better explained by gesture. Most language use language in conjunction with a gesture. EG. Come here. Gesture is to strengthen the language. Gesture works with or without the languagge. Let' use language to our favor. We don't have to demonstrate our brilliace, right? You are all brilliant. You got brains. That's not the issue. The issue is stretch your horizons and not feel afraid. Here our envelopes are going to be stretched. Don't feel that has to be a painful process.

Awareness can be brought by situations, by other people. Conscious is personal. People can make you aware of something, but if you are not conscious, you can't be made aware by the person.

Don't tack anything onto the rules.

Now I can get even. Before I had no avenue of revenge. Let's take a 15-minute break.

(break)

4:05pm
(2 people are missing - C and T)
What do we do? You're the team. OK, deduct points (as recommended by the team)
You know how this works, right? Have you looked at them. There are three 3's. If you do something, you give us one of your 3's. Then the fourth one is ten points. Then you have one 20. And then after that?

She wants to give away one of her tickets for no reason at all. Why be the kid that says "Mrs. McGillicuddy you forgot to give the homework."

Before we do the exercise, I'm going to pop you a question. There's a res manager and you are part of the personnel department. OK? Actually let's make it more realistic. There's a facilties and services manager, this is an Amaroo event, and his job is to be top of the drivers and personnel and all of that and he's a nice guy and it is brought to his attention that one of the drivers who is assigned to me has been stealing the gasoline from that car and selling it. You are that manager. What are you going to do? The person acknowledges he's been doing it. You're sitting across the desk from him. What are you going to do?
(comments - fire him)
Is that what you would all do? What would you do?
(comment - you cannot fire someone doing service)
Do you concur with that?
There's a lot of people in prison who kill their wives and they say she deserved it.
There's a second conscsensus here that you can't fire someone doing service. Of course he regrets it.
Watch your ten seconds and watch your volume.
What are you going to do with this person? I can drive myself. I'm a safe driver. I just use cruise control. I get better gas mileage and I'm ready to stop much faster. And I can consistently go five miles an hour over the speed limit.
(Comment - give them another service)
Which part of a house can a thief visit? This is something you have to think about. Where does your responsibility lie, in hiring or firing. It is much harder to hire the right person. If you at your home and they were caught stealing, it's your decision what to do. When it comes to this, there are no exceptions. How can you avoid the situation. By hiring responsible people. In service, is there a situation of hire and fire? In the world, there is hire and fire. To get the best job done. Would you at least want to offer that to M? This is a real analogy. It happened years ago. Something to think about. Resp. What you want to offer M is top notch, professional quality, nothing less. At least what the world has to offer, but not less than that. It's just a mind set.

We're going to do an exercise. Please understand you are following the rules. There is a syndrome that whenever you leave the room, people stop following the rules. Don't say I hope I follow the rules. Don't make it an ambiguous thing. No dark thoughts. Not I hope.

(V announces the rope exercise and the blindfolds)
So bring the blindfolds with you every day. Your little reminder souvenier. For five bucks we have ones that look the same but you can see through them. Don't you want that information. I'm trying to help you. It's nothing dangerous.
What did we do the first day? Can everybody fit through those doors at once? Why don't we do this in a very orderly fashion. You can maximize the amount of time you are seated.

M told V to use a microphone to announce the instructions for the Rope House exercise. And he asked for a mike stand to be brought.
(Put in facilitator checklist)

(Rope exercise breakout group - one person takes the rope and tries to take it around to everyone while everyone including him is blindfolded)
See A your impulsiveness to take the leadership has resulted in people losing track of the rope. There's no reason for this impulsiveness to become a leader. I'm not saying that for you to feel bad. But you've set everyone up. Now it's going to take more time.

(Rope exercise different breakout group)
Now don't talk on top of each other. Follow the rules.

(Rope exercise different breakout group)
Are you laughing for a particular reason? Do you realize that's a violation because that will put you talking on top of each other.

What would your guess be (to the question someone asked the group) Why didn't you ask the question to yourself?

Think before you ask a question.

You can't talk on top of each other now. That's a violation.

You're going so fast. It's not very complicated. So many people are saying so many things, that's what's making it complicated.

In a circle some people will be walking forward, backwards, sideways. The rope is what is going to keep you together. That's what people do in caves. They connect people with a rope.

They've been doing their own problem solving. Let them work out their work. And don't break the rules. Don't worry about the other group. You have your own problem.

Why are you taking such a big step? There are people who are shorter, there are women. What's going to happen if you take such a big step?

There is no such thing as kind of following the rules.

With the ten second rule, you have to be really clear on what you want to present.

What always bothers me, it doesn't really bother me, people have their blindfolds and their know they have to be a square, circle, triangle. Why does it take people so long to get into their shape?

You are an important team player, not a lone ranger. You can mess up the team.

The thing I want to debrief. How many of you broke the ten second rule? If you broke the ten second rule, then you broke the conscious rule, and probably already violated the respect rule and the participation rule. It's very difficult to just break one rule. You're going to break a bunch of them.

The other thing I want to point out is you are not asking yourself your questions. You are not dumb. And you have to remember that. If you are going to keep thinking you are dumb, then you keep repeating to yourself that you don't understand the instructions. So what's going to happen is that you're splitting the team in two because half the team wants to go on and half doesn't. You are not dumb. The most complicated exercise in this training is a kindergarden exercise. Can you do tasks that little kids can do? I don't think you really require a greater level of intelligence than that.

One time I was at this flight training academy. This guy lecturing on aviation safety is well respected. He was very experienced. FAA. Military. He got up and this was his safety advice. Slower you are going when you hit the ground, less damage there will be. There were people in the audience who were shocked. But I thought that was the best advice I'd ever heard. Makes sense. Slower you are going, less damage to the airplane. That's genius. Simplicity. No task here is being asked that you can't do. You've got to stay with the rules. Tomorrow there's going to be a lot of whistle blowing.
If you're not following the rules, whistles will blow, time will work against you and you will be asked to hand over your tickets. Any questions?

Let's go and relax. You've had a big day. Didn't you? You've had a very big day.

No, don't wear shorts. Who wants to see ugly, hairy legs. (Put in checklist)

Don't you want some homework? No thank you? Thank you Tim for reminding me. You have to memorize the rules. And in order. As per on the screen. Someone wrote that down didn't they? Would somebody from this team who wrote them down just come up and write them on the board? You have resources. You don't think think like a team and therefore you deprive yourself.

Because you weren't following the rules, you didn't get a demonstration of how the team can work.

Randomly you'll be asked to put your notebooks down and to say what the 4th rule is.

Did anybody know the answer to that question? Why deprive yourself? Assign someone to pick up the food, another person pick up entertainment, another person…

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TOPICS/EXERCISES
6/30/99

How are doing today? Bright eyed and bushy tailed? I'd like to talk about a few things.

1. As this team and other teams emerge. 1 team can never become so important that it's placed above M. It would become all too easy for a team to evolve its own vision. When that vision evolves it will smother, kill M's vision. And then the team will go around in circles until it self-destructs. You must understand that an individual, a person, cannot have their vision in a team above what the team is trying to accomplish. Because then the individual gets in and the team stops. And the team cannot have an agenda, a vision, above M's vision. I mentioned self-destruction. You may not have seen self-destruction. I have. Mahatmas. During the time of Mata Ji, my mother, the Mahatmas had their own agenda and the team self-destructed. That's just one example. There are many.

The pecking order has to be clear. As an indiv you respect the team. As a team you respect M. Is M a person? You will learn that M is not a person. M is an embodiment of certain things. The name M does not belong to one person. Before me shri M was called M. This is a title that is given by the PWK's who have acknowledged something. It is fundamentally an embodiment of what the master offers. That is what M is. It's no dif than doctor. You understand the concept of a doctor, right? M is a lot more. What M has taught have M, consciousness, enjoyment. When people begin to reap the benefits of those things and acknowledge the benefit by the expression of love and gratitude and recognition of the name M. That's just something to think about and keep in the back of your heads. So it's really something that embodies what we like in our lives. So never above that. And never equal to or competing with M. That is our purpose of a team, to help accommodate and help fulfill that Vision. No more and no less. OK?

2. Today please follow the rules. You know what they are. And you know you can't simply break one rule. Yesterday you got off really easy. The other group actually asked for the structure right off the bat. They kept asking and asking and asking. This team kind of vaguely alluded to it. Now you have it. No mercy. The axe shall fall. If you understand the rules and the simplicity of the rules, it's really no dif than what you would expect from your kids, from a waiter, from your spouse. Yes it's all amplified it looks like some thing big and hard to follow. But when you came here you tripped yourself - it's going to be difficult and hard. Or the other extreme, M's going to give us satsang, it's going to be beautiful., unicorns will be floating around, rainbows. But people come with these extremes and they find it to be very different. Some people come and expect to know about ushering. But 3 months from now ushering may not exist. The instructor system could change in a flash. In India it did in the course of 7 days. Videos could change. We could have a 24 hour channel, events, music, everything. For the longest time we didn't have a web site. Now we have 4 or 5. Actually I think it's a mistake. But I saw this as a way to neutralize misconceptions. It serves no other purpose than that.

This is the opportunity and you have it. Then change things you don't like you can change. Not as an individual but as a team. So you have no excuses. None. Whatsoever. I don't like the way userhing is done. Fine. Change it. That's the possibility. The possibility is to get it right. Exercises are merely a way to enact following the rules, taking them second nature, under various circumstances, all of which involve undue pressure. Hello. Welcome to the real world. Not so difficult to understand. Are these pressures being put on you real or fake? That's up to you.

The other thing is leadership. We can't have this leadership bus. Yesterday you were blindfolded. A leader emerged in the triangle group, A. He was actually leading you down a very very steep, dead ended path. You couldn't see it or hear it. But you were following right along. He made a critical mistake of untying one of the ropes. If he had untied the knots, you would have ended up as 3 triangles. Leadership like that is not needed. It allways leads people astray. Leaders are always in individual mode. To be a leader, a leader has to separate himself from the team, go into individual mode. As soon as you do that, you no longer have a garland. Pearls break the clasp and it's finished. All the pearls go all over the place. That's exactly what happens when you have a leader. You don't need a leader. You have a leader. M is your leader. Let M come up with the Vision, what needs to happen. The team take that Vision and make it a reality. I know today some of you are going to want to become a leader. There are a few of you here who are prone to it. Yesterday during your strategy, circle, square and training. Each one of you assumed that other groups weren't doing anything. But each group was coming up with a strategy. Sense of trust. Sense of strategy. I know questions were being asked yesterday that you knew the answers to. I'm not talking about the whole team; I'm talking about the indivs. This doubt, you can't let it take hold of you like that. You'll waste time asking frivolous questions. Important questions fine. Don't create a hypothetical doubt and then try to get it rectified. It's like inserting a key in your car and asking is this my car? Stay away from that.

And when instructions are given, listen to them carefully. In a team if someone creates a problem, it can be compensated for. This gentleman there is having trouble understanding English. Does he have a problem? No. What is his problem? All he has to do is ask the team, hey I don't understand Eng so well, can someone help me? With he instructors in India, Ved, RJ, Mahajatma Ji all took turns to help. So do we have a problem? Does he have a problem? The team is here, the team can help.

At the res in Malibu people, of yes I'm going to go and do service for M. They get there and then they see no they've got to work hard. And then they start working hard and become extreme individuals. 9am to 10pm. Because I don't stop working. There could be a meeting happening at 11 pm. What happens? They fry. So we had training for them. It's so beautiful now. If one person needs rest they just say fine I'll compensate for you from this time to this time. People get time off for doctor appts, shopping. And guess what? The level of service has increased 100 fold. If one person is sick, another kicks in and helps.

Team can help. Every morning the res staff meets for 10-15 minutes to decide the plan for the day. The team works, it really really does. The level of service it ends up providing is many many times greater than any one indiv could do. I can tweak it and everyone gets that communication and it changes. Team can come together and restrategize. We use all the means of communication possible. 1st class. CompuServe. There's one person who's in charge of making sure that whatever needs to be communicated to team members gets communicated. So put to rest your concerns. Because teams are already in effect. After this I've got England, Europe, India. India is ahead of the game because they are the ones who exported all the concepts and they were the first ones to get rid of them. Do you know that the entire propagation system in India is changed? There is no longer one single instructor or Mahatma. The mahatmas, the Bais. Some of them decided they wanted to go so they did. Others decided no we came to you, we've dedicated our lives to you. They were given training. The rest said we're really interested in learning English. The others ones said I used to be an accountant. I'd like to learn more and help in that way. So all those Mahatmas an Bais are retraining themselves to be of use, to be of service, in any way. So what happened to the PWKS? Overjoyed. Because who was setting up programs? PWKS. Because maybe the PWKS saw the need for 7 program. What happened to the aspirants? When the asps heard the Mahatmas were gone, the number jumped by 5000. 10K registered ones jumped to 15K. Could you have predicted that? But that's what happened. One conference, one training like this. Changed. The main team members can't believe the changes that are able to happen. The ripple effect. Which will be reflected in progation. And is already reflected in people's enthusiasm. Next India training: aspirant set and event set up. They can actually learn how to set up an event. They'll wire up the video machine, screen, etc. We had already developed a simulator for training people to speak. You come into the simulator. You see a big screen with the audience. You talk to people. If what you said was good, people listened. If you went wobbly, then people coughed, and even started to leave.

You are part of that link. This link has to function. It cannot be placed in the chain yet. If it's placed in the chain how it will tear. Follow the rules. Focus on the rules. And they will take you right across. You know why the rules work? Because they are so damn simple. They are self-sustaining rules. With confi everyone feels safe. How safe? Maybe you have a user out there and he's not doing so good. I know that 90% of you would be afraid to mention his name to anybody because of the fear that it would go back to him. Now it's gone. You can say I don't know about that guy and rest assured it won't go out of the room. So the rules are wonderful. Use them. You made them. How can I be so confident to go through that process? Because I know those are the rules you want. You come up with some more but they get consolidated and get put in. But you know you want them.

(V gives instructions for an exercise)

(Comments)

You've just received the most complicated instructions. Why don't you take 5 seconds to review them?

Why doesn't everyone who has the instructions read one line at a time? That way you won't bust the 10-second rule.

(Strategy made)

This is not difficult. You're just in a rush to go do this. This can be done very nicely, very quietly, very methodically. This is how you want to function as human beings.

(Break out sessions begin)

Impulse to do is so incredible that it overwhelms intelligence. When they did studies they found that very few accidents have skid marks. You know why? Because most people end up pushing the accelerator, not the break. Imagine you're going to be on phone conferences. What's going to happen if you have no discipline?

(Blue papaya exercise starts)

10:33am

How many of you had successful negotiations and came to some conclusion?

First of all, do you think you exceeded the time limit?

Do you think you needed to exceed to time limit?

What would you have done differently in retrospect?

Do what got you?

It's very easy to start making instructions that don't exist. You read an instruction and you give it an interpretation. And then there has to be clarification. That's why you can't have dark thoughts.

What else could you have done differently?

When you're in a rush, I have to slow down. Because when I rush I keep making mistakes and then it takes even more time.

We had a proposition from, what's your name, (N), about 10 seconds. It's a brilliant idea but it doesn't work because people have to keep track of this themselves. And people can take it as disrespect if you keep reminding them.

The last group came up with a system where one person says "and" after 10 seconds. It was so brilliant that I told them they couldn't use that. We say so many unnecessary things. I think. I say.

Time time time time time. Time was bite you. It's about time. That has a double meaning. Premies are horrible at time.

What was the purpose of this exercise? No come on, what was the real purpose of this exercise? What? What? That's it. That's always a good answer.

Take a break - 15-minute break.

Boy we better buy some stock in digital watches.

(15 minute break)

10:59am

OK. Open your eyes. How long was that since the clap? Were you counting? How much was it?

There's a lot of guessing going on. With guessing you can get close. You're not supposed to know how long it was. Human beings don't have that kind of a clock.

Ducks do. Birds can look at a bug's trajectory and intercept it. Human beings can't do that. Human beings have a clock to get their body functions going but it drifts one hour a day. You have no sense of time as a human being.

They did an experiment, bringing this guy food so he'd have a sense of time. In the second part of the experiment they changed it and only gave him food when he wanted it. Within 6 days he was actually off by one day. If you have no clues of light or other things, you have no idea of time.

You have no sense of direction either. Pigeons can figure out their direction by the magnetic fields.

Awareness of time. How far are you along? You really have to take measures to help yourself keep track of time. You have no natural way of doing that. The way it feels, time is very relative. If you're having fun, hours can go by. If you're working on something really tedious, five minutes can seen like hours.
Who doesn't like the ten-second rule? Why don't you like it?

(Someone says the ten-second rule is annoying sometimes)

How many words do you think he said he didn't need to say? He only needed to say one word, annoying. But he goes on using all the rest of these words that are frivolous. And it annoys the shit out of us. Because we have to listen to you. Please people, if it's so painful for you to be precise and concise, you've got a bigger problem than the ten-second rule. Break the rules of language. Forget all that crap, I was thinking, etc. Don't' like it. Confused. Agree. In India they have a beautiful system when they barter, spice trading. They barter with their hands. They are completely poker face about it. The NY stock exchange they've got their symbology. Why not become really efficient. I made a mistake with the last group and gave them 10 seconds. It was supposed to be 5 seconds. There's a team running around out there with a 5-second rule.

(V gives 25 smartest people exercise)

(Comments)

(V asks the group who was respecting M's time when time for exercise was decided)

(Team decides on 5 minutes for the task)

She says we are all smart. Do you agree or disagree? So why do you have a problem? Why are you having dark thoughts? It's already been established that you are all smart. We just asked for the 25 smartest people. So what's the problem?

(Mission Possible exercise starts)

(M speaking casually with half of the team before the exercise starts)

Now don't give this away R. Or W. (Put in facilitator checklist)

Wonder what's going on. All the smart people left.

How has the food been at the restaurant? What do they have for lunch?

The doctors they like gross things. Gross. They smell gross things. They stick their fingers in gross things.

If we had our own facility you guys would put on 15 pounds. We've got people who can make incredibly good food. When you work mentally really hard, it's nice to go and enjoy a good meal.

The last few days has been incredible food. Bai Ji makes really good Indian food. The food you get in Indian restaurants isn't even Indian food. What people have done is create these businesses. It costs about 250K and Indians who are willing to immigrate to the US can buy this business and it meets their immigration bus and then they sell it to the next person for the same exact price. They're really set up for people to get their visas.

There's a restaurant in Delaware with really good Indian food. That's the only one I've found that's really good. The amount of grease or fat or oil is one tenth. The food in India is really good. Inside the walls of the res in India is a garden and they pick fresh vegetables from the garden. For me, my family, VIPs (staff).

This guy (H) came to an event before he received K totally naked. This isn't a person you want to go to if you get sick. Gives you a good motivation not to get sick.

Montreal has the best restaurants in North America. India has really good restaurants. There's a guy, he just has carts. He makes rice, nan, goat curry and vegetarian curry. He's right across from the Delhi courthouse. There's no place to sit down. You get a plate and eat it and then hand the plate back. The line runs three or four blocks.

When I was a kid at school, this kid's father had a shop and all he would sell is samosas and gulab jaman and people would stand in line at 2pm waiting for him to open at 4pm. The line would go on and on and on.

Beetle (betel)nuts ground up, it's like chewing gum. It stains the hell out of your teeth. It's called pan.

Bai Ji makes really good samosas. When we were growing up samosas were our hamburgers. We'd have 3 samosas and a sweet bun. You get the salt and sweet.

The trick is when you cook a puri, before the meal the chef used to bring a puri to the king. If the dough is wet then it won't absorb the oil. If the dough is dry it will absorb the oil. One day Akbar in his court decided to go on in the evening and the chef had made a few dishes and all of a sudden Akbar said I want food for everybody and the chef panicked and put together everything he had and mixed it with rice and made biryani.

One time there was a king and he said I'll take care of you. The people refused. The king had a palace. He ordered it demolished and had it rebuilt so the people could be employed.

In India food is made in the big kitchen. People who don't have money, they are given food. Every time they made food I taste it. We have a well; it's called the res well, 250 feet deep. The water was tested. Pure water. It tastes amazing. When it comes out it's really cold. It's naturally cold and fresh. No bacteria. When you drink it, like distilled water, it's so sweet. This well just says constant. Even when there was a drought it didn't slow down.

(Team reconvenes after Mission Impossible)

What happened? Why didn't you follow the rules? These guys sitting here blindfolded had a great time. We were talking about Indian food. What happened? I wasn't there so you'll have to fill me in.

(Comments)

Spoke on top of one another. Respect. What else? Conscious?

(Comments)

Were people in your team asking time after time for instructions to be clarified because they weren't listening? I thought we weren't going to do that. I thought we talked about there is a listening disorder and we have to learn to listen.

(Comments)

You got so far into the strategy and everyone wants to repeat it and then nobody is willing to take a step to proceed.

Now you're seeing the other side of the coin. This morning you were following the rules. But in this exercise you weren't following the rules so the axe fell. It's going to get more intense, more frustration. So then there's no help. You've got to follow the rules.

How many of those people who left this room the earliest knew that there was a bunch of people sitting here blindfolded? Were you ever concerned about them? I was doing your job. Someone could have come and asked them are you OK or kept them posted. It's a very odd situation when you're sitting there blindfolded. Were you thinking like a team?

So the solution did come in 13 minutes. Are you surprised there was a solution raised in 13 minutes? But it wasn't listened to. Are you surprised that it wasn't listened to? It again demonstrates that you have the ability but you don't have the ability to follow the rules. You are going to have to follow the rules. Is it difficult? Why not then? It's a controlled environment right? Safe? We're in the midst of the most caring people you'll ever be in the midst of. There are people here who care for you more than even your family cares for you. Pretty nice facility. So what's the problem? Why not venture out from your habits?

You were going to say something? No? Said it to yourself and got it resolved?

(M calls 15-minute break)

12:28pm

Taking a break is a good thing. Take full advantage of it. You don't have to eat.

This watch vibrates when the time is up. It can beep also.

Rules. Very very important. You're going to follow them right?

(V announces the Blind Leading the Blind exercise)

What do you think? People actually forgot numbers. You had three minutes strategize. You didn't know what was going to happen. Everyone becomes an isolationist and it becomes very confusing. What you did when you started was brilliant. So here you are and you are blindfolded and you're under a lot of pressure. Then you get out there. A whole different strategy has to emerge. But what you could have solved very easily in the main meeting room you couldn't do out there. It was brilliant. Someone said they're number one.

Who forget their number?

You lost so much time. Had you stayed with that 1,2 3,4 it would have been fine. But when everyone become an isolationist it became confusing.

In that situation how do you keep tabs on time? You can't.

When you all became isolated and repeating your numbers, were you helping anything?

It was an unknown situation. But what did you have that was a known? The rules.

(V starts envelope exercise)

Go ahead speak, no one is going to call on you.

There's a protocol problem here. How do you agree? Are you clear on how you agree and how you disagree? Are you clear or are you not clear?

Why are you firsting and seconding and thirding proposals?

Good proposals have been made and bad proposals have been made. Would you say you are thinking about your proposals, thinking about your objections, given the sheer speed with which they are being made? Shouldn't you be doing that? Why don't you establish a minimum amount of time that must elapse after a proposal before a new proposal can be made?

Why should you give that much leeway to let people ask for more time to consider proposals? You're just leaving them room to not listen.

Five seconds, that's all you get.

(Team agrees to wait 5 seconds after a proposal is made before any new proposals or objections can be stated) Time has come for a lunch break.

(Lunch break)

2:30pm

Nice lunch? Steve says I can cook better.

There were people who were adamant the team should go one way. Are you coming from a risk situation? But there is a risk here.

Do you realize how much the rules were being followed? A lot of people lost some of their tickets. The reason so many people were losing those pieces of paper is people weren't thinking, they were just saying. One ass would drop and another mouth would open. Then another ass would drop and another mouth would open.

Then this ambiguity builds up. How do we agree and how do we disagree? It creates this pushy environment. Do the ladies in this group feel unlistened to? Do you feel that the men with louder voices have taken over? So what can you do about it?

Either you do it or you don't do it. It's too simple of a thing to do. Some people actually like to be victimized. Like you get on sand and wiggle your butt and make an indent. Some people are like that. They create a space around them and get used to getting victimized. But when you see what needs to change, just do it, just change it.

(Comment)

You came up with a proposal. No harm. No harm. You even quoted me. After that you just clammed up.

You have to understand that there are a lot of things that are not right. But don't blame the team. There's a lot of individuality going on so the team is not coming together.

There was a dynamic going on as in the last group; this group and this group (the two halves of the room). You were looking over there from where the resistance is coming from. Darlene was trying to say something that was worth listening to but one ass would hit the chair and then a mouth would open. Is this how you're going to divide yourselves up? That's not a team.
What's the objective of any exercise? The number of tickets handed out shows that the rules aren't being followed. As Dave will attest in the last group the same thing happened. It's all kind of like a cartoon. But it's not necessary. If we all listen to each other. Can we listen to each other Can we take that 5 seconds? Can we be aware of the team? If someone is already up when we can get up what do we do? Sit down. Do you think people are thinking about what they say?

C there has replaced all your heads with cartoon characters.

Please people let's get this together. It's not that difficult is it? This is a very difficult time after lunch too.

(V announces "Crossing the River" exercise.)

Those people who have already done this exercise, you may stand and observe if you'd like to.

(Debrief after exercise after team fails to complete the task)

Why were there two objections? All you need is one to kill the proposal. So why take the time for two objections.

You can amend the 5-second rule to say it's only for proposals, not for observations or clarifications, but then you'll end up with a conversation.

Proposal came up can we get our mats. Someone objected. That was a royal brain fart. What do you think those mats are for? You got caught into this. One thing you did brilliant. You recited the instructions. One guy did one. Second guy did another. You did that really well. But the rest of the group wasn't listening. They were already strategizing. If they'd been listening, then they wouldn't have asked questions and for clarifications.
You lost 50% of your time for violations. There was a whole group that wasn't thinking. Someone said let's continue even though time is up. Then why do you have a timekeeper? You're going into fragmentation of the group.

A, you brought in this doubt and brought other people with you. If you're going into unknown territory, don't start with you're going to be tricked. I don't see you doing that with elevators. Do you ever hesitate? It's a good idea actually. Why get into this whole trickery thing. Everything has a certain amount of exploration that is needed. That's no different than when you go into a restaurant and look at the menu. Then you look at it again. Then you narrow it down to a couple of things. Then you look at it again. So there is an exploration in a restaurant. Exploration is really nice. You can let it happen.
There are certain people who want things repeated repeatedly. You've got to pay attention.

You cannot bribe facilitators. This is illegal.

All the other groups do this exercise really well. In India it was the same person who figured it out. It's a really simple exercise.

You came up with the solution within a few minutes. It wasn't moving the rope. But the had the solution. If you drive 100 miles per hour on the freeway are there consequences?

(Someone proposes each person putting a 3-minute ticket on the line)

I'll take the 51-minute ticket. It's only if you fail that you have to give up your ticket.

I did mention that certain points will be subtracted and then after a certain amount of points you'll flunk.

(Addressed to the timekeeper) Please tell them it's the autokilling that's in progress here. Autogenecide. Autosuicide.

10 minutes to strategize. 15 minutes to cross. That's the only deal I'll cut.

If you were a bigger circle more people could see. Don't touch the rope.

Place them just far enough apart that other people can fit through your shoulders. And there's only one way to stand on the mat. Don't be in a rush. You have 4 seconds on each mat.

You can't volunteer a person. Out of respect you shouldn't.

You've got resources.

Where are my 51 points? Let them keep it.

I laid it all down for you told you how you could make the left and right turn, gave the exercise away. Gave it away. Couldn't have been more specific. But you had the solution. I gave it away after you figured it out. But then you went back into strategizing. I know the heat of the moment is different.

You became a leader. After you did your part, if you had just stepped back.

Be conservative There's nothing wrong with being conservative. Dark thoughts and conservative thoughts are different.

You went back into strategizing. If you had made it halfway, I could have let you go on. But I gave it away to you and you don't listen to me anymore, so I had to nail you. Then we had one brain fart and you seconded it.

It was all working. People just need to be careful. Everyone is a player, not a leader. There are two of three exercises that I find really interesting. That's one of them. (Facilitator checklist)

More than one rule was broken out there. We weren't following rules. We weren't. If you're going to start objecting to the simplest little things.

The first thing you did was right. Let's recite the rules. But other people weren't listening. When you drop out, you break the team. When you step back you break the team. The fact that it was given away and you couldn't do it is bad. And it's because you weren't following the rules.

No one listened to the timekeeper. So I suggest you get a cattle prod. Then they'll pay attention. You get a good timekeeper and then throw her away. Was anyone taking advantgsage of what she was saying? But you abdicate. She's going to stretch time for us.

Are you capable? Yes. Are you capable of following the rules? Yes. Do you follow the rules? No. And as a consequence of not following the rules you don't accomplish the task. The instructions given are mated with the rules. If you follow the rules, it will happen. If you don't follow the rules, it won't happen. Because of the sheer fact that they're going to keep blowing the whistles and a minute is going to be deducted.

Everyone has got to follow the rules. I know the whole thing came up, pick 25 smart people. We know people are smart here. It's not an issue. Last time we did the exercise someone said OK I'll pretend to be dumb. You have the resources. You just have to follow the rules. Those facilitators are smiling. They're having a field day. 51 points.

(15 minute break)

4:20pm

Very good. I have an exercise for you. You can put down your notepads, pens. L I S T E N. We have basically two groups here. Right? This side and that side. Two groups. The team concept hasn't kicked in yet. It's only the team that can use the rules. If someone uses the rules only on themselves then it cocoons them by themselves. They get separated from the team. The rules have to be used for the entire team.
So this group (half the team), your objective what you have to do is find five people in this group who are basically useless and fire them. Go ahead. You have ten minutes to do so from now.

It has to be real. They may not be allowed in the training.

It's just like an accountant tells you you've got to let five people go.

I've been with pilots who are really bitter because they were told could I please look at your security pass and sit down here in the lobby. They handed over their security pass and sat down and then they were told you have five minutes to clear out your desk.

The group fails to complete the task.

Can I ask you a question? If someone in this group didn't say a damn thing, what's the chance of them having the most points? If you did absolutely nothing, no risk, what are the chances you would have the most points? So you want to weed out the most valuable people, right? They took a risk, they made a mistake, but at least they took a risk.

Is that what you want to offer me, a failed team?

So it means whatever has been happening that's not right gets to continue, right? Kinda sounds like the service scene, right? Can't hurt people's feelings, right? So let's hurt M's work, let's hurt M's vision. People's feelings come foremost. Even if they are not doing anything. If you are clear on that issue, then there's no problem, is there?

I'll give you a story. You all know this person, probably. His name is Bihari Singh. In fact, he used to completely take care of me, my clothes, my food, everything. We were very very close. This is a person who was there day in day out every day. And one day when the whole family separation happened he had a court case and had to deal with it in India. So I said why are you worried, I'll take care of it. And he said, I don't think you can. He said, I think I have to go back. One day I brought him a ticket and my bank book and showed him my bank book and said this is to show you I can take care of it and it's your choice. And he chose to go. So he went to India. And other people were telling him we'll take care of it, but they were just using him. Then later he had been royally had. He came back to the west. He's been sorry. I don't any animosity against him, It's fine, but we can't engage, because he threw something away, and we can't engage because he threw something away. How far would I have gone to take care of it? I know some of the topmost lawyers in India. They shape the country. It would have been a nonissue. I feel very very strongly that when someone tries to compromise my work, I have to tolerance for it. But the system that's in place, does, tolerates it very well. The system does accommodate my wishes or my vision. It tolerates everything else. And you have just been given a proof of it. I don't know how you can tolerate it. And for how long are you going to tolerate it. The vision is greater than the sum of everybody put together. It is noble in nature, it's beautiful, it's worthy of respect, it's worthy of attaining. In fact to be a part of it, is one of the greatest privileges a human being can have. Many times I hear Wadi, and she loves K. She really loves it. She's got to practice. In our family everyone has to scoot so she can practice. She practices and she loves to hear me. And when she goes to an event she always comes back transformed, almost in a state of total hypnosis. And she loves service. She says this is what I want to do, I just want to help, I just love it. And to see that passion. And then she sees how I get compromised and she can't tolerate it. So here we are.

We're asked to do a job, ten minutes, simple. We made it so complicated. You've got it backwards. You want have a problem hiring people. You won't give it a second thought. Any volunteers? Come on. Welcome. Then one person is screwing up, known rapist, known child molester. Better not move him. Is this how we want to operate? Why are we not following the rules? Because one of the things the rules says is be conscious, right? Did you do what you did consciously? Someone came up with the idea of checking the people with the fewest tickets. And it would have accomplished exactly the opposite of what you want. On one hand you are so clear on following the rules and on the other hand you are so lame in doing it. Example: lame arm, therapist, effort you make to move your arm. Would you like to have full movement of your arm? Yes. But nothing happens. You're like the kind of person who has been standing and bitching and complaining about standing and someone brings you a chari but you don't accept it, you just want to stand and bitch and complain.

Anybody here who has seen something happen, ushering or sales or event setup or whatever that you didn't wish could be improved? That you wold like to see that changed? To see something that is bad changed. Everybody? So how many of you have seen that happen again and again? Now do you know why it hasn't changed? Now do you know why it will never change? How many days have we got left? Two days. I'm supposed to be out of here tomorrow, but I'm going to come the next day. That's all you're going to have. And then, I've asked D not to be the leader, but to head the various teams within the US, to make the impact. So in two days I'm going to be in Europe. Strategies are already in place. Teams will get formed. Aspirant teams intro teams. The gears will start turning. How many turns before it stops if it's like the situation today. We've got a real serious problem. I've had to live with it for years and years and years. Unconsciousness left and right. People saying one thing and doing another, left and right. And to complicate things worse for me, desire to do this propagation grows every day. And it's expanding worldwide faster than you can think. Philippines has ten premies and a professor. China, 112, 13, 14 aspirants. All they have is tapes. They celebrated my birthday. They love it. That's mainland China. Bombs were falling in Yugoslslavia, Belgrade, there was a video event happening every evening. There are asps who come in fishing boats from Algiers to Sardinia to watch videos. And what is our passion for the work? In theory we say I love this, I want to help, and we're more concerned about people's feelings. Could you please explain the logic behind that? I don't get it. Do you get it? But you just did it.

Very interesting situation. Now how do you know the person wouldn't be elated? Do you really want fence sitters on this team? Would you really like people on this team who don't even participate? Do you want people on this team who don't take on the ownership of what they have promised? Well? It's your turn. (The other half of the team). 10 minutes from now.

What was the unanimous criteria you used to pick those people? There were no unanimous criteria. First there's the evasion. You know you could have asked the other group questions, right? I know this is an intense exercise. You're lucky if you can follow the rules and do the exercise. Well people we're not doing so good. We're not completing our task, and we're not following the rules. What do I tell you? I've told you everything I can tell you. You should follow the rules. You know that, right? Why is it that you felt that you wanted to pas the buck along to someone else? Why was there evasion?

(A says this is a checkmate situation)

Do you all feel that? What do you feel? Go ahead. Tell him. Tell A what you feel.

Most firings happen in less than ten minutes. It's never an easy process. Usually it's just done quick and dirty because there's no easy way to do it.

Another problem we haven't licked is you can't hear each other. So each person come up and say, "Can you hear me?"

So we've just demonstrated you can hear each other. If that's what it takes to get your message across, do it.

I'm going to give you some homework.

(V gives homework)

What is preventing you from merging with the team? (one word answer)

What is preventing you from following the rules? (one word answer)

We'll do it the same way as the other exercise. If someone else has said the word, then don't repeat it. One word, not two.

We've got a long ways to go. One of the things that one of the f was saying is that there seems to be a cocky attitude but the cockiness hasn't been proven. We've got to push the envelope. Follow the rules. We've learned to lie a lot the last three days. Right now there is a lot of timidness, fear, am I going to pass, fail? When the conference is over, then it begins to shine and you realize how much you've learned. OK? Tomorrow, as you can see there's been less mercy proportionally. It's going to be less tomorrow. We've got to click with this. You know what's got to be done. You see your own weaknesses. Any training that can do that in such a short amount of time has got to be damn good. You've got to trust the training, trust the facilitators. You've got to get with the rules. There's no reason to feel Oh my God this will never change for me. If you can identify some of the weaknesses, then you can begin to change. Once you realize you're lost, that's the first step. If you don't realize you're lost, you can't find your way. Please get a good night's sleep.

---

TOPICS/EXERCISES
7/1/99

9am

How are you this morning?

Couple of people approached the facilitator wondering why it wasn't happening. I'd like to talk a little about that.

How many of you, answer as honestly as you can, how many of you have truly assimilated these rules into yourself in your thinking process when you do an exercise? I would take issue awith anybody who raised their hand. That's the reason it's not gelling. This is further compounded by the fact they are called rules. If you speed limit in 60, you go 70. This is how we operate. This is now uncommon. So when the thing says rules, we take it and we say I don't know if I want to follow them but we butt them. We push them out of the way. But I've already explained and demystified them. To me these are tips for a better life, a better existence. If we can be conscious, even if we could ask ourselves am I being conscious, aware? If not, what can I do to become conscious? Am I too tired? Am I burning myself out? And making critical decisions at the worst possible time, but going on in the name of service? That's not conscious service. Analogy. You have a kid. He turns out to be a nuisance. A few years later you slap him because you know how his brother turned out so you're slapping the baby.

We have come here to start something that is different. But we are approaching it with all the apprehension of the past. Are we doing something new in an old way? Or are we doing something old in a new way? Given those choices only, could you pleased think about what we are doing here?

(Comments)

Let me point out something. For most premies who have been around for a long time.

Listen to this. All that stuff is fundamentally changed. I give K now 99.9% of the time. It was never done that way. The way the events happen, instructors used to do them. Now either you have a choice of video events you can watch live or there are video events. There's no middlemen anymore. It's all M M M. The way people are picked for K is completely different (drive all night, 17 hour K session, no breaks). Typically K sessions are within a minute 2 minutes of each other whether it is 10 or 1000 people. Things have changed. The answer is we're doing something new in a new way. But because we keep dragging in our past, we're going to do something old in a new way. What's going to happen, we're going to go back to doing old things in an old way. Do you know that I can guarantee that over 90% of the people with K realize there has been such a fundamental shift? Roads have been opened up. A lot more people want K. A lot of people have a complaint. People aren't active. They don't come to the video events. So the stats reflect that they are not active. They come when I come. They don't come to the video events. The next step is we're going to change that. A person who enjoys this life and practices K and participates, that is an active PWK, not just the ones who come to video events. We've got to get to that and we will.

These rule the fact that we've had a sour taste in our mouth about rules doesn't mean that these rules are bad. These are the best possible rules you can have. I can't force you to assimilate these into your life. But if you're going to be a team member, you have to assimilate these into your thinking. This is how you have to think, operate. This is how you have to operate.

Yesterday when you were going to fire people Jackie said we needed some criteria. That was very clear. If some basis had been there you would have used them. With the team, the rules are the criteria. Rules of engagement. In life you have to have the passion for those things that are extremely important to you. Because you have to do this, you have to do this. In all the have-tos you have to do, you lose the important things. So do you have a passion for this? You have to have that passion in order to follow these rules. How important is it to you? So far as we've seen for an event being put together, it's not going to be successful. So to make it nice, we've taken the event out, and said let's just do this little exercise because if the exercise was posed as an event it would scare the shit out of you. But if you would take this as seriously as preparing for an event, then you would take the rules seriously. Example: simulator for airplane pilots. You look out the window and it looks similar to the real thing, although not exactly. You take off; you see other planes coming at you. But anyone could see it's not real. But why do pilots sweat in the sim? Because they allow it to be real. Pilots allow it to be real to take it seriously.

In the sim you abort, you're stopped in the middle of the runway, the instructor slides you back to the beginning of the runway and says go again. But the pilots allow it to be real so the learning can be real. Amazingly enough, the mistakes that pilots make in the sim are the same ones they make in real life. Example: St. Petersburg crash. How real do you want this to be? This is dependent on your passion of how good of a team player you want to be. If mediocrity is fine with you, then that's how you've been acting. If not, you need to rise to the occasion. Yesterday we should never have had the amount of violations we had. You realize the next few tickets that get taken, that could be everything. You only get to make so many mistakes. Do you have the capability of being able to solve the problems? Do you want to? That's the problem. I can train you. I can make the training as good as I can, but I can't make you do it. You have to be the one to say I'm going to make this real. I want to be a team player.

Maybe this is that one thing that says rise. Then rise. You're here. I know you blame other people. The team isn't succeeding because there are 72 asholes, because that guy made a brain fart, because that guy keeps repeating himself. Why aren't are they, trey, they. Take ownership of the problem. You are a part of it. You are. There were people here that want to be leaders. Let me ask you, is captain a leader of the plane? How many say yes? OK he's not. There's a whole team that puts the baggage in. Do you think the captain decides on the food? ON where he's gong to go? It's predetermined. All the captain is is a head, not a leader. He heads the project, not the leader. There are teams and they do their bit. The stewardesses do their bit. Others do their bit. He doesn't make the rules. FAA does that. Typical day for a captain is he goes to dispatchers office. Dispatcher has done fuel loading, weather briefing, routing. Captain doesn't do that. Dispatcher does. He hands the captain a clipboard and signs off. Captain goes to the airplane and asks the copilot are you going to do the walk around? Captain looks at prior notes from last flight. Then he takes off.

Do you see the difference between a head and a leader? No one gets to abdicate their responsibility. There's a guy on the ground who resp for pushback. Gives clear, clear clear to captain for the flight. You don't need a leader. Don't look for a leader. Don't become a leader. I have the solution. Now I'm going to tell you when to do what. No more a team. How many of you are task oriented? Why? Give me something to do and tell me how to do it. You are a human being and you have a brain. There are those people who say I can cook as long as I have a good recipe book. They spend their life collecting recipe books, not learning how to cook. And then there are people who keep coming out with recipe books because they know people will buy them.

There's a raw onion flavor which is what you want in gazpacho. Then with onion soup all you need to do is sweat the onions. And then for Indian food, onions need to be caramelized But you have to know that. Recipe book doesn't tell you that. Season to taste it says in the recipe book. Many people jump ahead and put the salt in. Then they put half-and-half in. And it's all messed up. It doesn't work like that.

Don't get into leadership. Don't get into blaming game. Follow the rules. Assimilate the rules. They will help you.

(Question about leader)

Captain doesn't make all the decisions. Well he is the final decision, but it's already been drilled into him what you would do and not do. It's not left to the captain's whim.

He is not the leader. He's just allowing a fulfillment to happen. For example, Phyllis came up with the solution to Crossing the River, then she backed off and let other people take over. In the team itself, don't become a leader. Leader starts to take on decisions that are not anybodys. Captain is told when to take, which heading to turn to, where he can go, when he start down, when he go ahead and commence approach, when runway to use, which gate to pull into.

(Question about leader)

There are many teams. Different teams. We're talking about D's function as a head. He doesn't come up with a vision. Leader comes up with a vision. Captain doesn't decide what city to fly to. Captain has to do 6-month check. D will be facilitating, making that vision takes place, making sure those teams are doing their part. When people amongst you become a leader, they substitute me. Even in the exercise, they provide very bad leadership. Here the whole team, one team, one thing you have to work on is to become a team. The team becomes a team when it has a common purpose. And the common purpose is? To follow the rules.

There is no level of importance of the rules.

(Question about resistance): Does it help the team or hinder? Is is light outside or dark? If it solves the purpose of the team, it's dark. Why not? We want to stick the rod of truth up our asses. Religious fanatics. They're going to kill people in the name of God. Team. Does it accomplish the purpose of the team? Dark, light. What is the big deal?

It's like if someone graffiti on the Hindu temple, they'd get upset. Ten years ago they wouldn't care. But now its individual enterprise. How can I become a leader? Who defiled the temple? This is happening with Christianity, Moslem. How can I become popular? What can I say so that I can become popular? How can. That's a big mistake that people are making in America.

It's like your kid is on the street and you authorize them to go pick him up. Do you really want to give that kind of authority to cops? Not all cops are bad. I've seen some very good ones. There's a lot of cops that want to be soldiers, but they can't get into the army. So being a cop is next best thing. How much power how allowed to be put into these systems? How much resp have we abdicated? Cops take care of me, airlines take care of me, govt take care of me.

(Homework)

Very similar things. A lot different from the first homework you did.

(V announces Blind Quotations exercise)

I have a question for the facilitators. Did you admonish?

I love jokes. I love a good laugh. But there is a time for jokes and there is a time not to do it. So what does that show you, what message does that tell you? What does that tell you when you are joking and laughing and disturbing other groups? How many of you know that when you lived in an appt and make a racket or in a hotel room and you will be admonished? So why did you do it and disturb the other team members? Does that cover the respect rule? I don't get it. This is supposed to be the last day. I would be very concerned. Are you going to own this or not own this? But you say that every time. What's going on? Do you know, how many of you kids, how many of you were kids. Do you know your parents would make a rule and expect you to follow it within five minutes. They would just make up a rule at random. No one can talk in the car. Bam. Whoa. If little kids can be expected to follow rules, why can't you be expected to follow these rules? They are not being shoved down your throat. You're having prob with honesty, respect, participate. And these are the rules you came up with. Conif I have you, 10 sec, brain farts, no dark thoughts I gave you. We should be ready to go on to lifelong rules at this point. I don't know what to say. I find that to be an appalling behavior. It's not a big exercise. So you finished. What's the big deal? You want to talk about it. Can you see the other people still working on it? Isn't your rude behavior going to disturb others? Is that conscious behavior? Is that even a decent adult behavior? I'm not your father. You don't have to be rebellious with me. I'm on your side. The team is not a monster. The team is comprised of people just like you, same concerns, same weaknesses. Very very similar. I don't know.

You can't lose sight of what you're doing. A task is given to you and you lose sight of everything in order to complete the task. I did not come on purpose after the break. Another twist, right. M's not here. Of course he's not here. Am I going to be there physically? Probably not.

(Firing scenario exercise starts)

M instructions during the firing scenario exercise:

Each person should say what they do, not what they're going to do. This is a firing scenario, not a hiring scenario.

Will you have more time? What I hear is you accomplished the task but you needed more time to do it accurately. But did you accomplish the task if you didn't do it accurately? Don't waste a lot of time. Get time on your side? Every team player has to listen. You cannot expect people to keep repeating. It's the opposite of leadership when people abate responsibility. People stand in the back, "Oh could you repeat that?"

All the tables were doing a hiring scenario, I will do this, I will do that. Will you follow the rules? Yes, yes yes. I came around and said, "this is a firing scenario. What have you been doing?"

What would happen if you actually fired those people who you decided to fire? Did you do your task? So you didn't do the task. What did you do? Didn't follow the rules. Didn't do the task. Are we improving or degrading?

Now we've got valuable people who don't follow the rules. That's an oxymoron. Can you have that statement be accurate for this team? So now we need to come to a resolution.

Here you are again, not taking on the resp on possibly having to hurt someone's feeling. But it doesn't help the team and it doesn't help M. You know how many justifications there are in your head why someone shouldn't be fired and not one single one why someone should be. Which means you have just invented a car with a gas pedal and no brakes or vice versa. So this car is either going nowhere or it is doomed to failure. Wouldn't that be true in either of those scenarios.

I'm going to turn the scenario. How important is it to follow the rules. Those of you who got fired, stand up. How important is it for you to follow the rules. You realize if we keep doing this exercise every hour, you'll fire everbody. Very very bad scenario. You know why this is such a painful scenario? Any idea? It's real. There's something that everybody owns here and it's like wait a minute, Oh my God, I'm going to hurt someone's feeling. If reality is so painful to you, then imagine when you start working on a team on real events, how painful is that going to be, unless you decide not to hang anything. There's going to be a lot of gravedigging here. Things you thought were dead will come back to haunt you. You don't want to look at it. When you came for this training, you never thought you'd feel this feeling. You thought it would be all fun and games. But if we did that imagine how fake it would be. We'd be taking a whole bunch of people to do things who are completely diseased. It's like having a person with jaundice being the blood donor for an entire village. And then there will be more donors. It's not a question of what you do. Service comes in many shapes and sizes. It's what your intent is. Nothing is easy. That Montreal program, I was saying simplicity is not in the systems, it's in you. Here's a computer. IS it simple? No. I can make it very simple though if I approach it, work with it simply. We always want to change the systems. When the car crashes, we just change the car. And it crashes again. Does a car crash on its own?

There was a guy at Tamaimi airport. He had an old airplane with a prop to push. He put a piece of chalk in front of one of the wheels. He turned the prop. Didn't start. Then he pulled out throttle, more gas. Didn't start. More gas. Then the engine started, and with all the thrust it started going around in circles due to the chalk. So he grabbed a beam. Then the other wheel jumped the chalk. So he let go. And the plane started going down the taxiway with no one in it. It took off. Other people chased the airplane. The empty plane finally ran out of gas and landed in the Everglades. The people chasing it found it. There was nothing wrong with the plane. What does that tell you? Who causes crashes in airplanes? Airplanes are quite capable of flying themselves.

We're the ones causing the problem. How important is it to follow the rules. It's incredibly important.

(15 minute break)

11:57am (Someone points out N is missing)

Maybe he didn't want to come

(Comments)

How many of you think that we asked N to stay out of here? It's a real situation. It's not an exercise.

(Comments)

What do you want me to do, go find him?

(Comments)

You have a problem. You better resolve it.

(Comments)

We're about to quadruple our problems, many many fold.

(Comments)

Figure it out.

(Comments)

(H leaves after going backstage with M and V)

Now you've got two people missing.

(Comments)

Maybe you should send someone to find H. You don't want to send someone to find H? H's feelings are going to be hurt.

(Someone comments they are here to learn from M)

I'm here to teach you, not the team.

(Comments)

This is a real situation. You made an exercise out of it. It's not an exercise. The things that are so obvious you're ignoring. What was unanimously agreed upon (to ask V a question), you don't have to send someone (to ask V), you can just ask the facilitator. You made an exercise out of it.

(Comments)

I was talking to V and I asked H if he wanted to talk to V.

(Comments)

(Team spokesperson apologizes to M)

Why are speaking so softly? Didn't we agree not to do this? Didn't we say this is a sign of disrespect? So why are we getting up and whispering? Rather than an apology, I would like an explanation of that, a unanimous concise explanation of why you keep speaking softly which. We're not able to change a very very simple behavior. Is this the amount of unconsciousness that you want to demonstrate? What is this demonstration of? Why are you disrespecting? What's your problem? If you were sitting in that cafeteria you'd be speaking louder than this, I know it. Here is a real situation and how are you handling this situation? For no reason at all, how many people have violated since the break? Is it necessary? What's going on here? Not interested? People are just speaking on top of each other, not following the 5-second rule that you made. Now there's a new protocol, you have to say you object. And what do you suppose will happen if you immediately say you object? What if they haven't grasped it yet?

It's too quick. Immediately, immediately. Does anybody object? You want to rob yourselves of the power, of the understanding and I don't know why. You're so interested, so selfish and mean spirited, you want to make a proposal and nobody object to it. You want to rule the show so bad that you want to invent rules that insure failure. Sabotage. You've gone so fast. You've lost two members instead of one. This is a very very precarious situation to be in, to want to be a team member and acting exactly opposite. When it's very clearly defined how to be a team member, why aren't you going in that direction? It leaves a lot of unanswered questions. How many of you distrust each other? Why? Why? You were part of it, but you still distrust other people. You are the one who got in an accident but the other guy is the bad driver. Do you

You don't trust each other and compound the problem. Haven't you heard me, what I've been saying here? That's what I was talking about, the 72 assholes. More you distrust, the worse it's going to be. Everyone who distrusts in this team is going to be a leader. How many people raised their hands? This shows many leaders you have. Have you ever sat next to a person driving and want to grab the wheel? That's what you've been doing. It doesn't matter how much you individually follow the rules, if you distrust there's never going to be a team. Checkmate. We can't proceed folks. Unless we resolve the problem of this distrust.

(A: M teach us how to trust)

Oh shut up. What do you think I"ve been doing for the last few days? I come here every morning. Why? Because I distrust you? I don't distrust you but you distrust yourselves and others. What you're telling me is my judgement is faulty. This is not a good situation. That's bizarre. You don't trust each other and I trust you. I must be an idiot. Why am I appearing every day in front of a group of people who have a high level of distrust? Problem is you are liars too. How many people raised their hands about the 72 assholes the first time it was asked? There were so few I was shocked. You can't do this, if you're going to lie and cheat and deceit. It's not going to work. If there's this level of distrust, there's not going to be a team. It's futile. It's an extremely bad situation. I really don't understand why don't you trust. It's too bad. We've wasted a lot of days.
(J apologizes to team for not trusting. Then others do too.)

I'm not accepting any apologies by the way. Do you think I should? You apologize and then do the same thing. To you apologies are cheap. I can't help you any more. You've got to resolve these differences yourself.
(M walks out)

(H returns)

(Comments)

(M returns)

You guys can't think the same way can you? When a river runs, all the water runs the same way. How come people start talking about all these other topics? That wasn't the topic I left you with. If everyone is talking about dogs and I start talking about fears, it's got to be some difference. So far you think you are the only right person, you're gong to have trouble connecting to this team.

Then the team got into laughter. Sharing the joy. Hey, this is serious. This is very serious. How serious? It's up to you. You obviously don't want to take it seriously. If something was holding a gun to my head, I'm not going to laugh; I'm going to say thank you and walk away. This is serious. Poeple are trying to make an effort to reconcile that trust that's been lacking. I fail to see the joke in it, the joy in it. All I see is a very serious situation. Maybe I'm just weird. To me it's all very serious. The fact that there needs to be a team, that I've spent so many days, my work. To me it's very very serious. And what do you think I was doing? How serious do you think it was for me to hear what you were saying? I was standing right in front of a speaker so I could hear every single thing that was said. I wanted to hear. I didn't want to be physically present in case all you were doing was trying to impress me. I wanted to see how serious you took this. Every time you went off on a tangent, it was an incredibly painful thing for me. Why can't everyone head on down the same direction? We start talking about this, that. Here we're trying to fix the problem why you're not merging with the team and you're talking about procedures. It doesn't make sense to me. Who cares? Please people. It's very simple. You've made it difficult by being so individualistic. You want this team to do your proposal. Everyone else's proposal is wrong. Someone makes a proposal but they aren't listened to because people want to do it their way. Selfish. This is not a good situation. I believe you; some of you tried to come together. Others tried to sabotage it. Something beautiful started to happen. Why can't we think the same direction? Not the same way, the same direction. I'm not asking you to be robots. Trust. Let's stick to this topic. Let's get this somewhere. This is not good. You're bringing this out at such a late point in the training. Day and a half left. And you say you don't trust these people. This is the epitome of dishonesty. Well, what we need to do is take a lunch break. One hour.

(Lunch break)

2:20pm

So, what have we concluded? Any conclusions?

(Comments)

Is that unanimous or is that independent thinking?

Well, think about for a few seconds, please.

(Silence)

Anybody who feels they can't go on? Can't resolve these trust issues in them?

OK, well, let's try to put our best foot forward. That's what the time is for. I'd like to have the rear row move about a foot and a half back.

What we're going to do is first we're going to have this group go to this group that you want to clear the air with, OK? Clear the air means someone has done something, you want to tell them about it, maybe someone said something, maybe someone did something. When one of you comes here, you can't speak. You stay seated, the other person stands. You can't react or respond. You just stay put and listen to it. Then the other group has a chance. So let's begin. This is not apology time. This is to clear any beef, any animosity, any problem. That's what I said. Chance to clear the air. Then the other group will do it with you.

(Group one clears the air)

So is this group done? OK. Now the other group.

(Group two clears the air)

OK, within the group, anybody.

OK, what we're going to do, starting at one end, and take your time, and go to each person and look them in the eye and very sincerely and very honestly -- there are some things that we need to do and those things need very much to come form our heart, from very much inside -- and go to each person and say "I will not judge you" and mean it. We're going to start from here and go around like this.

(Team does "I will not judge you.")

4:20pm

Well, how do you all feel? Hmm? Heavier? Lighter? Not so light? Not so heavy?

Well, we put our best foot forward. Not beat ourselves over the head. Follow the rules. Be a team. And go forward.

(20 minute break)

4:47pm

Just a reminder. What's the purpose of the exercise? It's not a difficult exercise. The hint is how you approach it. Don't let it trip you up. Don't follow dark thoughts. If you follow the rules you'll be fine.

(V gives instructions for Maze exercise)

(Said jokingly) V always gives clear, concise instructions. (Put in facilitator checklist)

Don't start solving any problems while he's reading the instructions. You can really trip yourself up that way. Did you give them 45 minutes V? You're so genereous.

(Maze exercise starts)

(During the Maze Exercise one of the facilitators blows the whistle really loud and M tells them not to.) (Put in facilitator checklists)

5:55pm

Well folks, that was a lot better. You really made an attempt to follow the rules. Worked a lot better. Everyone wants to help. The better you follow the rules. It's possible for you to do. Things were definitely a lot better.

L - your'e brilliant - and I know you're brilliant because you remember the instructions. But when something's happening you have to back off. Not everything you say will be right. It's nothing personal. I know you've got the smarts because the first few days you were the one who remembered the instructions.
No home work. I think you can just feel good. Something really turned. I think people really made the attempt. This exercise is one of my favorites. There's uncertainty. You have to experiment. Every time you step on a wrong tile there is a whistle. In anything we're going to do as a team, maybe there's going to be an event in Tn. Not too long ago I was in Alabama. People were looking at me. Maybe they've never seen an Indian. Sitting in back of a Mercdedes driven by a white person.

There's needs to be experimenting. Feedback may come back that sounds negative, but it's not really negative. Sit's really a trick. Don't let yourself If you follow the rules, I'll help you. I don't have a problem with that. It's really quite easy. Everyone does their bit. Not taking leadership. The one group couldn't get it, they only one left. Then someone took a chance and then they fond it.
Taking a chance. Or they had bribed the facilitator. I think you all did good. Stay with it. My personal experience is people do good and relax and then they forget the rules.

We're also going to make the lifelong rule . Basically one word. Think about that. Makes it easy. Just one. Hopefully this can become second nature and we can move on. Then tomorrow we can do something really enjoyable. You're almost there. There's another exercise that you did not finish. You know which one. So. But you did good. See D, it does turn. The tide. Any questions?

(Comment)

I thought it was brilliant in the lst group coming up with this "and "thing.

In your house or apartment you can paint the tiles. Honey you can't come until walk the maze. Your kid can blow the whistle on mommy walking across the tiles.

(someone asks a question about the Firing Scenario Exercise)

You don't have to use the word fired. You can say relieved, relieved of your service. But at the end of the day, it means the same damn thing.
It's never going to be easy. The whole world is looking for the solution. 2 questions. Is God really there? How to fire a person easily? Is there a God? yes. Is there an easy way to fire a person? No.

But if we can swtich. Then hiring a person is done right. On the Malibu staff, I have everyone's resignation. They're just not signed. When I want to fire someone, I just have to put a date on it. I've never fired anybody. Most people tend to leave automatically. I don't think there should be an hesitation. Firing is just the tiop of the iceberg. Concepts. Soup. We can't do that. Errors made every day, every day.

(Someone asks if a person is found stealing if they should ever get a second chance)

Well, should they ever be allowed to return. Hopefully there would be a screening, thorough evaluation. It's incumbent on that person to prove to you that they would never do that again. What have you done to change that behavior? The person says I had a problem, I dealt with the problem. I have done this or that. And you look at it.

Our emphasis should be on screening the person before they are brought into the system, not on firing.

I think you all took a turn for the better. Relax. This training is going to come back to you. This is not what you thought was going to happen. You play catchup all the way through. You're always behind the power curve. Those people who have been through the training see how easy it is. Once you go back and rest a little bit and reflect on it, it's going to come like flood waters. Wow, wow, wow, wow. It's intense training but it's good. If it's not intense, guess how ong we'd be here. We'd be really really old.

I have nothing else. Tomorrow at 9am. Dinneer at 7:30pm.

You might want to think about the lifelong. So enjoy yourselves.

---

TOPICS/EXERCISES
7/2/99

9am

How are you all doing? We can fix that. Any questions? Thoughts, ideas?

(Comment re using "and" to circumvent 10-second rule?)

I thought we prohibited that. (Saying "and").

Normal. Definitely not intentional. Used to be much worse. I've actually asked them to pipe down a bit. They have a very difficult role. Their role is to move you along. They don't get to decide the direction. They have to see where you go. Sometimes even I feel let's stop the whistle. But I've told them once we decide something, let's stick with it. I don't think they mean disrespect. I don't think it was intentional. They are all nice people. Sometimes it's a bit jarring. It may seem disrespectful, but it's not intentional. Who did you feel was disrespectful?

(J and V)

One is French and one is Italian.

I know them both. I can assure you it was not intentional. You know one of the things I've learned, when I go for flight training. They always give you a sep sim instructor. If the sim instructor is a very nice guy, you know you've really in for it. They're really nice until they get you in the box. Because he's going to throw everything at you. He's push you until you fall over the ledge. Then there are those who are really mean looking, but they're easier on you.

(C asks V and J if they meant any disrespect)

That comes from you not from them. What they've done is very flat, very linear. They're not shouting at you. They can't answer questions. Instructions have been given. The idea is look to the team for answers, not to them.

Their behavior evokes certain things in you. The word is evokes. And that evoking is happening on your part, not on their part. This phenomenon exists in flight safety. There are students who are having a rough time and they blame the instructors. It's misplaced frustration, misplaced judgement. I hear them say what they say and I don't hear them say anything offensive. I'm really sensitive to that. It's really coming from within you. Yesterday B blew his whistle really loud and I had to tell him to quiet down calm down.

But it is your problem. If they really wanted to be offensive, they could. It's really coming from within you. What you're doing is a classic defense. It's not my fault; it's the way he said it. You understand? That happens to me too. I go in situations in training and you get a little apprehensive and when that apprehension is there you turn it around. It's like when a cop pulls you over on the freeway and you say he was too and he was too. A classical human defense. They could have done this better.

(J says she reacted too and then saw it was coming from her attitude)

If they really came in and said honey, would you like to do this exercise, you'd be really surprised when I come.

No, it's not intentional. To do what we need to do in five days is impossible. So its push push push push. What we're trying to do is get to that sediment layer. That we never touch in our lives. There's a lot of defense, that's me. What people realize is, no I didn't change, all that stuff I thought was me wasn't me. Now I'm a lot freer to go on, to evolve. That's not what I want. I didn't know how to make that separation. It's a constant push push push to get to that layer. Then once you do its not a hard process.

(C asks about flight crew teams)

Yes conflicts arise between flight crew teams. My understanding is you cannot fix a mistake. A mistake is a mistake. The conflicts that arise in a crew environment are conflicts that come from personal problems, not operational issues. I don't like this guy. If he says left, I'm going to go right. You can't create rules that will take care of that. Once that happens, you're in a pickle.

In Nagoya, the pilot was a hired pilot and the copilot was with the airlines. The copilot wanted to protect the interests of the airline. They started fighting with each other. The pilot pushed the yoke and copilot pulled. They were fighting with other through the yoke. In the process as the plane was coming down, the plane landed too far down the runway and crashed. Why do conflicts happen? There are conflicts here that you have witnessed every day. At one point the conflict was between people sitting there and here. Now there are still people who think everyone is an idiot. Let's compromise, let's do it my way. They will sink the boat. In their attitude they fail to acknowledge the obvious. The obvious is no one person can do everything. You need a team. Also they fail to acknowledge if they become a leader, the team will make sure their balls blow up. I know its funny, but do you know that's what's happening in corporate America. The employees saying we hate that SOB. They want his balls. Because what the leader isn't seeing is there are people just like him. Do you know of a single person being a leader of DLM/EV, where the people weren't working at his balls the first day he took office? On the outside all smiles, but silently planting the dynamite. So whoever is leader doesn't see the obvious. You have no idea how much money is spent to woo everyone. They take them on outings. Even then he ends up with those people who are trying to blow him up. The whole system of everyone is an idiot, that system is doomed. People think is it's usable, but it doesn't work anywhere. But people want to resort to that system, not realizing the consequences. I've seen that system. I've seen wonderful people with genuine interest being worked on since day one. Sometimes it starts with jokes, imitating. If the guy stutters, it will start with that. Crack a joke, innocently at first. They each person cracks a joke. Now there's a lobby. Then each of those goes and does the same joke and create another group of people who are on the other side. It permeates. Then it goes on to serious stuff. What I understand is that let's not have leaders. Let's have one vision. Not team's vision. Team is not a vision. They don't create an agenda. The agenda is what we feel in our hearts, our passion, our understanding of K, life. From those the passion that is generated, the wanting to serve, wanting to play a role in something incredible Something that's incredible has to be done in a way that is incredible. And to bring together a group of people who care the same passion, to bring those people together, to give them effectively tools to work together in a unified way. So that whatever happens in UK or Nepal or India is somehow synchronized, is somehow real, that the team isn't just there to put out the fires, but to go beyond that. To have the ability to change those things that should be changed. If you look at it in retrospect, these are the tools that have been given to you. Whether you want to accept these tools, work with these tools, be a part of the team, that's up to you. I can't force you. That's some understanding that you have to come up with. To me I think a copilot is a pain in the butt. That was my attitude for a long time. I've been with copilots that had no idea what they were touching. Then I've realized sometimes I'm tired and not capable of performing. So I've realized the copilot is a good thing. Qualified copilot. Gulfstream is really designed to work with a team of 2.

One time I arrived at the airport, there's no one there. Plane's locked up. B and Marilyn and copilot were supposed to be there. They were quite a few minutes away. I sat in the car getting pretty pissed off. They're supposed to be here. Then I realized it was a really bad attitude. Because the objective was to get the plane ready. So I found the keys, unlocked the door and started working on getting the plane ready, getting fuel, getting preflight done. OK they aren't here. By the time they came most of the work was done. By the time they came everything was done. The person dispatching the flight had miscalculated the time, adding instead of subtracting 3 hours. So late do you think we were taking off? It was an on time departure.

It's very easy to find fault with other people. But when do we ask why did his actions create this feeling in me? The world changes when we begin to accept 50% responsibility, not 51 and not 49. It's a very dif mode of existence. But if somebody messes up, that you hired, how many will say he messed up and how many will say 50% responsibility is mine cause I hired him. Next time I'll be more careful when I hire someone. Deepak who heads up the teams. When he started he said I'm afraid of making mistakes. I said don't be afraid of making mistakes but don't make the same mistake twice. And he took it to heart. And things in India are proceeding very smoothly. Have you learned that in this training? Don't make the same mistake twice. 50% resp. I certainly hope you understand that. (Facilitator checklist - exercise on 50% resp?)

Ex-premie site - people tell me we should do something. I said do we want to run our lives based on them. I said let's go on. Let's do what we want to do. Our actions should be determined by our Vision, not reacting to them. Shouldn't be that. You should dictate your life, your existence in this world, based on the inspiration that comes from the heart, and to limit truly, to know the difference between the mind and the heart, a lot of people get them confused too easily. But to live this life to its fullest where every day is meaningful. And it's simply amazing how much crap we've accepted and stored. And so much of that crap we've accumulated prohibits us from making every day meaningful. So there's a lot of goodies in life and a lot of terrible things as well. I really don't want to smile because somebody tells me to smile. I want to smile because I feel like smiling, because I've positioned myself in a place where I feel like smiling.
I don't know if you want to be a victim of your own anger, jealousy, fears, ignorance. Because that ignorance that's inside of you will be the greatest victim of it. The anger that's inside of you, you will be the greatest victim. This is what we came for.

(J - thanks - most accelerated and profound and effective getting to core issues - thanks you M and K)

You're welcome. The day isn't over yet.

(J - surgery - rotorooter - with kindness)

These things, getting rid of them can really free you.

(15 minute break)

10am

C, where you find yourself today, are you happy with that?

If heaven really was above and there was a staircase, you really can't complain about the height of the steps. Us being very professional people, of course it was intentional.

Facilitators - just observe - no help, no comments, no clarifications, no whistles, no timekeeping - just observe. Today is a demo day - you won't hear any whistles. You're going to wish you did. Because in that whistle you are reminded. Depends. Depends on how much you follow the rules.

(S late) Let him in. Someone should brief him.

Facilitators note down every violation. Just don't whistle.

(V gives instructions for Puzzle Exercise)

(When team stands up and starts talking)

Well done. No penalties. I think everyone made good effort. So that was nice to see. It can be done. You can follow the rules. Having said all that, it's just a damn kindergarten puzzle. People get so happy. Bratty like kids could do it in 3 minutes. We can trip ourselves up when the task is really simple. This task requires a lot of trust. Everyone wants to be part of it. The guy looking at from the top vs. bottom vs. left vs. right all see a different picture. One person can easily do this.

Basically there were still brain farts. Winning, that was a big thing. You hear the word win and you want to change something. I was saying to the groups, do you know what you're going to win? Following the rules has to become second nature. You have to step back and truly present a proposal that presents something valuable, rather than saying I have to say something, I have to assert. A brain fart in one group was stopped when someone said I object - that was good. There's an exercise coming up that will lead you down the sour path - final day, final exercise - you don't know when it's coming. If you don't watch it, it will feel like the first day. Stay with it, you're doing good. The winning took you out of it. You let yourself be tripped up by the word win. When you become a team, a group winning has no significance if the team doesn't win. There There's a sports blooper tape I have, guy running down football field - everyone's looking at him in total disbelief - fans, both teams looking - he's getting close to end and breaking out in a smile and get's to end and throws down the ball and everyone looking in total disbelief - then he finally realizes he ran the wrong way. He won. Right? But that's not the kind of winning you want.

Remember that example of Ram. It's not the cleverness; it's the obedience. It's so easy to want to be clever. Let me say something that will dazzle them. Sometimes brilliance is not even needed because everything is proceeding fine. But someone will raise their hand.

(V gives instructions for next Puzzle Exercise)

10:50am

Still the same kindergarten puzzle. In fact, they are the same exact puzzles. Age group from the box, 3-5. Cute. If we watch this in slow motion as you were leaving, Colin said something. What he as proposing was the lack of performance for the entire team due to the lack of performance because of one group? What do you think of that proposal?

You're still trapped in the win. Win that might have actually contributed to the whole team winning. Sacrifice performance. So in an event situation, the last team can come with me on the airplane. So no one wants to be the first team. So everyone finishes preparations 5 minutes before the event.

Secondly, how many groups were there? Where was the majority of the puzzle? Minority of the puzzle? How many pieces? What if one person from each group had brought their pieces to the middle and put them together? What would have happened? Do you think one person from each group could have solved a kindergarden puzzle that was for age 3-5. Hard to trust, though, isn't it? Hard to let go. And if you're not succeeding, come back and someone else can go. Would that work? One group had the idea, let's all go to the center. What if all the groups decided that? Simple clear logic gives way to something else. And then the rush begins because a tone has already been set for winning. I upped the anty by saying tea with M knowing very well that I wouldn't have to do that. The tone is set. I would certainly think a thought like that would affect the group. Muddles the clarity. Such a rush to get up and go. You're going to cause confusion. It always causes confusion. At events in India, when people get up, it causes massive confusion. When people sit down, it's OK. To watch an orderly fashion take place is very rewarding. It doesn't take any more time.

No whistles. You miss them? A little bit? Well that's gone. Counting. That's supposed to be your resp, not someone counting. Listening has got to be tweaked. Got to listen.

Maybe it didn't dawn on you, but had a strategy been worked, do you think that solution would have surfaced? Most of the instructions that will come from me will be very simple. I'm a very simple person. I don't want my life complicated. When people come to me I offer them the simplest possible solution. Things will come to you that are utterly simple and you might try to make them utterly complicated. The biggest disease is to get into this mode: "Do Do" mode. A person of average intelligence, given a 3-5 age group puzzle, how long do you think it should take? 2,3,4,5 minutes? How much time was given? 17 minutes. So you could have had 12 minutes to spare or strategize. 5 minutes to do. And helping.

I love puzzles. I really do. I can put them together very quickly. All the ones that go on the edge are straight. It doesn't matter where you put them. Every time you get one more right piece, it's a nonlinear mathematical progression, towards the solution. A simple exercise. Requires you to get away from the DO DO mode and actually enjoy. That's how you want to approach whatever you do. And not cause violations. Because that will cost you time. In real time, talking on top of each other will cost you time: 10,20,30 minutes. Being concise and precise will save you time.

Trust. For the group to say we're going to send one person out. Go over there and put the puzzle together. I has to go. We has to come in. You may operate that way, but someone else doesn't. When we were coming here, flying here, we got airborne at 12,000 feet., on the Gulfstream there's a shade you can draw. It's nice to do it with 2 hands so it comes out right. I said to the copilot you grab the wheel and then I fixed the shade. And then I took back the wheel. Was that a good way? There's an autopilot, I could have used that. What if I don't trust this guy? He should trust me and I should trust him. In your group, do you trust the people?

Please follow the rules.

(Break)

11:30am

One comment that T made is that in the last exercise is that the solution in one of the groups came from W but there was so much brain farting that no one listened. It's not a matter of reputation. Wherever the wisdom comes form it comes from.

(V announces Silent Paragraph Exercise)

12:28pm

We had some problems. Thinking like group, team disappeared. Group is the only thing that existed. Everyone wanted to hog the fax. One group had it and wanted to solve the problem, but two other groups were waiting for the information. They didn't pass it along. Was winning mentioned? The mode was there. You ended up sabotaging each other. People writing on top of each other. Is the task so important as to break the rules? Had you followed the rules you would have easily gotten there. Had you thought as a team.

M gives them the solution to the exercise. Everyone wanted to solve the problem for themselves. To hell with group l, the phantom strikes again. You took almost an hour. In retrospect a very simple exercise. What prolonged it? What would you attribute it to?
(Comments)

Now that there are no more whistles, are you going to go to default mode? When somebody speaks softly, it's such a distraction. Are you starting to miss the whistles yet?

What happened from this morning? We only started 3 and a half hours ago? Around 10:01 we came back to resume. In 2 and a half hours. That's it? That's our attention span to follow the rules? Here you have another typical case. A writes on the board "relax" - the right idea. Wisdom sometimes comes from the west. You've got dif groups but one team. Would you trust each other to pass on that info?

It's not that difficult. This is an exercise that's very close to real world situation. How's that work with faxes? I've been in hotel rooms where one of the services is a fax machine in the living room. On several occasions it's run out of paper. So I check it for enough paper before I give Kathy my fax number. You ask housekeeping and they don't know about it because it's a service that management provides. I've sometimes removed a few sheets and kept them as reserve. How are you going to communicate? Some of you are going to be in Florida, Texas, Canada .. For every meeting, two times a week, do you want to fly? A lot of it is going to be fax, phone, email. Would you like the instructors to make up their schedule and keep it, not share it? Would you like me to let you know my schedule? By the logic shown by some of the groups, I should just show up, not announce my schedule to everyone.

One group got split in two. One half didn't even realize a fax had arrived. Day one type of dynamics.

(15 minute break)

1:03pm

Let's make the lifelong rules.

So what do we want to do? Any suggestions?

(Conscious, remember, trust, practice, listen, responsibility, appreciate, obey)

(P asks what M's word is)

You mean you're the only one who remembered that? Right now we've got 8 rules.

(Comments)

First of all I think you should consider if you want 8 rules. Between taking a leak and brushing your teeth, and trying to remember 8 rules, you make forget to take a duff.

How can we approach this so it is very simple? Something that reminds us to be conscious, that includes conscious. Something that we don't have any problem remembering, something that we can trust, that reminds us to practice, that reminds us to listen, that reminds us to be resp, that reminds us to appreciate, and something that we really should obey. Thinkk about it.

(People say M)

How many agree with that? S?

(S: K)

K, courtesy of.

Trouble is, K doesn't remind you about K. It takes M to remind you about K, to practice it. Remember I talked about how M embodies all these qualities. Not a person's name. Chances are incredible that whoever is going to be Master after me will probably be called M. So, there is a lot there. And is that the way you want to proceed or do you want all the varied rules? It's something you don't have to give too much thought to, because you know what the rule is. And you should because if you're going to do service, do something for M, I'm doing it for myself, but also I'm doing it for M. And whatever consequences will be there, will be good, not bad consequences. And M is the one who reminds me to be conscious. Well? Is that the rule we unanimously want? Anybody want to subtract something from it, add something to it? It's up to you. Keep it like that and you'll be in synch with the last group.

So, that's easy, right? Easy enough. What happens to the other rules? So they're going to be there in the background, paying attention, Or do they get merged into this? This means that plus. Hello. I thought I lost you. I thought you were being overcome by instantaneous combustion. OK. Good. Day isn't over yet.

I want you to enjoy your lunch. If you can. But you got to keep in mind certain things that happened not too long ago. You can't do that. There's a seriousness involved here. The ownership. I don't know if you want to take that. I think you do. SO do it. The exercise that you're going to have after lunch is a little bit cumbersome. It will require some special, extra M, so to say.

(Lunch)

216 pmm

EVV starts envelope exercise)

You turned the envelopes upside down and you took a large amount of risk. I must say that every other group treated the envelopes very carefully. Whatever they did was reversible. The problem is he did it so quickly with no regard. The same attitude as on the first day. Your volunteer was not in synch with your wishes. The team's wish was that a careful exploration be done. But the reason the person volunteered was he felt why is everyone getting into all this discussion, let's just go ahead.

Remember in the maze exercise. It has to be a reversible situation so there is no harm. But if you can't reverse it, if you cannot restore. If some one was to book a hall on their own accord and make a deposit, it's not a reversible situation. Your deposit is gone. It's irreversible. How far can you go until it's not irreversible. So you can go to a certain extent. But the attitude is very important. It's like you go for a demo ride in a car. What's the purpose of a demo ride? You drive and if you don't like it, you can back out of it. And you ride carefully. If not, you've bought a car. But here you have a person who you've sent to test drive a car on your behalf who doesn't really care so he's driving very recklessly. At this stage of the game, it's not lethal. Once in a while it may pay off, but 99% of the time it gets you in the sewage face first. So even at this stage of the game, because now it's an irreversible situation, it could be forfeited, because that would be the appropriate thing to do. And in fact, the team could have stopped that from happening by laying out careful guidelines. I think you assumed he was going to be very careful and take it step by step. Have you ever seen when the police come to a crime scene, they handle it very carefully so not to disturb the crime scene. That's what you were expecting to happen. But he just came over and grabbed it.
And T you were trying to save time, but it actually cost time. That's where go with the flow helps. 2 days, 2 hours, 30 minutes, maybe it would be good to object. But 5 minutes isn't a long time, why contest it? There was an anxiousness to explore. In the anxiousness the gameplan was dropped. The proposal to open the envelopes was established very quickly. Then a lot of other comments that were totally useless. You could have used that time to establish a procedure.

I'll tell you what happened. I was in Israel. The guy who was driving me to the airport pointed out the airport security. If they think you are a jew, they won't stop us. So guess what? Something is going along. It was going along quite well. There were some ups and downs. But then it became harder and harder to get one proposal through. Then people became individualistic. It's not a problem if you keep yourself reversible. The vision will come from upstairs. Why can't we go to some new places to do events, M said. M the other day said, why the same old places. You'll be left with this great unknown. Does that mean we look for another place. Do we or don't we? Gee, we should go to Tennessee.

Are you going to turn on a massive search engine? People have to be able to come, a place where flights are easily available. In US, Miami to LA is inexpensive, but Miami to Jacksonville is very expensive. London to India is cheaper than London to Athens. Isn't that funny?

Middle of a hurricane season? Can people really come? Thunderstorms are really violent in the summer in the US. Tornado warnings in Iowa, Oklahoma. So, a lot of things have to be considered. Where people can conveniently come, halls are there, not a little hicktown where press has nothing else to do. Some due consideration. Then you get a beautiful hall, got the airport, then the accommodations for me are 90 miles away. Setting up an event is not a joke. A lot of people think, just get us the word and we'll do it. Those days are gone.
Infrastructure, hall, security, safety, exits and entrances. In US, it's such a diverse country. E.g. shower door laws. America is one of these places. You can have Santa Monica Blvd., St, parking lot, city. I had that happen to me in Calgary. It was supposed to be street and they printed street and people showed up at the wrong place.

Interesting. Very very interesting. I know this is just an exercise. I came up with this one. It gets everyone. All the comments, all the proposals. They said the same exact thing in India, including nothing needs to be done, this is just a statement for us. That was said in India. How similar. Last team did the same thing. Exactly. They never got a chance to finish. You got close. Indians did it. One guy took them all out and had trouble putting them in order. It is irreversible. Due care. Due care which I believe most of you had, but then you get one person who has their individual thing happening. Unless you can do the whole thing by yourself. If you can do the whole thing, great. We'll clone you. DNA with a sheep. Then the event can be organised by the sheep.

Do you have any idea what it takes to pull together a tour? In London, Barcelona, W. Africa, So. Africa, Mauritius. Everyone has to find halls in that sequence, which is next to impossible. Can one person do that? In Adjidan they decided to shut down the phone system. In one place we went to find the hall, no electricity, no nothing. We were told pay us our payback and you can have electricity and AC. So we paid. And then the telephone board decided to shut off the phone. So only the plane satellite was avilable for communication. Then there's India., all these rural places. You can't even bring enough water with you. That water is deadly. One guy decided that human faeces would make good manure. It's fine if it's decomposed. They dug it out, 73-78 degrees and E coli grew in the dust, and you are breathing it. Like in England the greatest polution is from dog faeces. Another benefit of having a dog. You can have dog faeces forever. In India the water gets contaminated by E. Coli. The Delhi ashram is safe though, you don't get sick. The water is very pure. Even if people take a day trip into Delhi they come back puking.

It's going to take a team. To put together events it's going to take a team. But if you don't believe in a team you'll have to try to do it yourself and burn out and be history. So the lone ranger strikes again. The lone ranger is the hidden phantom. FU, the phantom strikes again.

You can't reverse the situation any more. Do you want that? It's not a big deal with this exercise. None of them have been a big deal. If we approach them with a team concept and follow the rules it works fine.

Do you still have any doubts about the rules and the team. I think it's been demonstrated that they work very well. But if bites you if someone becomes a lone ranger.

(15 minute break)

Anybody who is not here raise your hand? Why are you laughing? That's what you were doing the first day. I agree. I disagree.

(V announces Trolley Exercise)

5:10pm

I wanted you to succeed in that. Really it's all about synchronizing with that person. Some of you decided to put that count person in the middle. But if things try to converge, if you need to stop suddenly, then you've got two controllers. Good idea because everyone can hear, but does itoutweight the problems you mightencounterr?

Right off the way some people walked into the acid. All those things have a meaning. But the solution. If all the groups had been working with the solution, it worked have worked fine. The 3 planks thing is in there so a bridge can't be made. So people think they have to use 3 planks.

I think there was a lot of divine intervention. I didn't want you to feel ramroded so I said that's a solution. Another thing that was interesting is that R's group had the most experience but did the worst. T's group had one blindfolded person and it was very nice to see them concerned about her and she said it was OK. It's easy to think they are a big liability. But it's the other people in front and back of her who are the liability because of overconcern for the blind person, overconcern and it becomes distracting.

Is it really hard work? No. One person alone could lift the plank. Why not put the blind person second so you can offload them early?

Safety became an issue. Paula was walking around in the most dangerous place possible. Yes you do have concern but just one person sit with them. Be their eyes. That's enough. You don't have to give them a massage. There's a limit to it.

Solution was there. People wanted to find other solutions. Would they have worked? No. The thing is designed to do it a certain way. You can go off in your imagination. One mistake and everyone wanted to call it quits. That's why you're trying it out. Just don't repeat the mistake. Those people who were conscientious and synchronized, it worked really well for them.

Did you follow the rules? I think you tried. You got really excited at one point. A really easy can be made really difficult if people aren't synchronized.

So it was good. But you did bust your time limit. Any questions? How did it feel to you?

(V gives instructions for Strengths/Weaknesses form.)

5.25pm

Be honest. Don't get overcarried away for you self-sympathy. These are the forms that will be used for evaluation. So be careful.
(What's Human Resources?)

Identifying people who would like to help do service at Amaroo or ushering or whatever. Follow-up is after receiving K. New people receive K and follow-up.

(Are strengths work experience or qualities?)

I think you are looking for qualities more than work experience. Second part is connected to your work experience.

(What's facilitator?)

Be able to yell at people. A facilitator for these trainings. When teams get formed after the conference, and a problem occurs on a team they can help. But you have to be mean. Basically with the facilitator we take you to the zoo. If the lion runs away, then you can be a facilitator. If you can outgrowl the lion.

(What's financial resources)

Counting doesn't count. Machines can do that. Working with people.
(What's introductory?)

Introductory events. New people who come who have never heard about M. Make a video available to them.

OK you're an astronaut. That won't really help us. Whatever your professional skills can bring us, that's fine. Like confusion, dark thoughts, ability to not follow the rules 100%. I'm just being facetious. No no. This is not a trick. This is not a setup. This is not your IQ test either.

Come on, it can't be that difficult. Name. That might be. It doesn't specify whose.

OK. Enough is enough already. All done?

(V - next task - 6 groups - 3 tasks - how to communicate amongst each other; how to merge with the other teams that have gone through training; how to change so the training will stay alive)

This was not an exercise right? I said time was up, time was up.

There will hopefully be two other conferences in the US. I was listening to what that group was saying. Let's not assume that everyone is computer savvy or that everyone wants to get into it. There is a team which is called the international team and believe me email is no solution. When they are in Africa, they can't even access it. It's not there yet with internet. There will a lot of discussion during the next few years because a lot of people are getting hate mail and spending a lot of time just doing emails instead of their work. But work out a way to communicate. Be very careful with numbers. Spouse, friends see these numbers. I see bright future provided you can integrate with existing teams. Big international team, instructor team. European team. Some of are status quo. Amaroo team. India team. There are teams. Eventually integration will begin. There was also a question about how to integrate with people locally. I wouldn't worry. I don't want you to start training people. I'm talking specifically premies. Let's play M.

I think you all have a lot of potential. You really do. It may sound like I trust in you more than yourself. But I've seen a lot of people. You have a lot of potential. Things may have happened that you didn't care about, yelling , etc. But here you are. It's an unpredictable path in this training. It's not predetermined how the training goes. The idea is to push push push. I think there is something completely different than the first day. If you say enjoyed it, it's a funny kind of enjoyment. There's K, M, yourself, an opportunity to do service in a way that's going to make a difference. Thank you very much.