The Magic of Poetry

We recently completed a whole project on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion for a large US-based organisation on the basis of just one quote of Rumi. Please take a breath as you proceed to read further.

“Out beyond our ideas of rightdoing and wrongdoing, there is a field. I’ll meet you there.” ~ Rumi

It is something impractical, yet mysteriously compelling to leave behind our ideas of how we are different and to meet like strangers for the first time in a virgin, green field. And then, to look at a new horizon hitherto unimagined and find our own way to that horizon – this was the spirit of five videos which were then created to chart the course of this project. But that’s not what this article is about.

This article speaks to the impact poetry has on us. As probably the greatest inheritance we have from language, poetry is often called the language of the soul, perhaps for good reason. Poetry has a way of whispering to us that allows us to suspend, if not entirely drop our cynical, practicality obsessed minds and enter a space where we too, can believe in magic. The phrase ‘there is a field’ can immediately transport us to that mythical place and have us smelling the fresh green grass, right here from our desk and through the plastic monitor which momentarily becomes the grand horizon of nature. In that moment, as we find ourselves in that field, anything is possible, as long as we bring the courage to speak our truths and the hearts to listen. In that moment, it is actually possible to feel as though we have healed and reborn as a new person – the only limitation being how far we are willing to indulge our imagination.

We need more poetry in our world.

We definitely need more poetry in organisations. As human systems that rely on our most basic human traits to thrive, organisations can benefit immensely from the poetic imagination, as they seek to innovate and include. Beyond just the ‘magic’ factor, there is concrete scientific evidence about why it works. It is unfortunate we need to use words like ‘concrete’ to describe science, but let’s just say that’s the way it is.

Poetry and Neuroscience

Recent studies in neuroscience and brain imaging have found that poetry activates parts of our brain and nervous system in ways that prose cannot. How is that relevant? These parts in combination, activate self-referential processing – a method our brain uses to interpret the world and how we fit into it, by retrieving information from our long-term memory. This is largely an inward focused processing method, as opposed to what we are always engaged in – an externally focused processing method where we rely on our visual cortex to make sense of the world around us – the room we’re in, people we are with, the sound of traffic outside and so on.

But why is self-referential processing important for leaders and organisations?

Poetry triggers Self-Referential Processing

In a world on information overdrive, our awareness is peppered continuously by external stimuli, mostly in digital form. Information we process through such channels typically have low impact on us as they are dealt with transactionally, even if they present something interesting. To shift our way of being (and therefore doing), we need to change the stories embodied deep within us, at a cellular level. That is a deeper, longer term process which we have all done at some defining stages in our life. It is that kind of introspection and change that self-referential processing facilitates. When we listen to recited poetry, the melodic qualities of the poem and its vivid imagery can give us a whole brain experience instantly. Poems light up our brain and leave us with a dopamine high that only a surprising, yet inevitable truth can deliver (which, happens to be the core competency of good poetry). Poetry does more than activating our self-referential processing; it gives us a sense of awe and wonder, which is another state we desperately need to function at the best of our potential.

Awe is good

Research by Berkeley on the impact of awe on us is fascinating. Awe, as a mood is associated with experiencing a sense of vastness and spaciousness – where our horizon of possibility expands beyond the limits of our survival-shaped thinking. In everyday life, particularly in organizations, we experience very little of this emotion and can therefore, feel ‘flat’ or lacking the juice to try something creative. Consider this - when was the last time you felt ‘free’ when you were working on a report or a PowerPoint presentation? Why do organisations invest so heavily on innovation only to experience waves of disappointment? The answers to these and other related questions may come back to the absence of ‘awe’ or a sense of wonder in our everyday work life. The research also points out how awe is necessary for us even to improve our critical thinking skills (quite counterintuitively so) and our sense of interconnectedness. It gives us a sense of ‘grounding’ and humility which is the passport for leaders in a multi-generational, multi-cultural workplace. Poetry is great exercise for cultivating a sense of awe and experiencing that in the here and now. You may have felt it when you visualized that green field Rumi talks about in the quote shared above.

As our pandemic-hit world grapples with the greatest transition we have known in our lifetime, having the space for reflection and a window to experience awe is probably the second vaccine we all need. Experiences of reciting poetry and engaging the poetic imagination within us can develop these core human capabilities which, today run the risk of being overrun by reductionist problem-solving. This is not to belittle them - we need the tech and problem-solving skills to thrive, but they may not be enough to transcend the humanitarian challenges we face in today’s world. These challenges are calling out to the human spirit within us which feels evoked through the goosebumps we experience on reading a moving poem, a song, great piece of art or a sunset on a beach etc.

Bringing poetry into organisations

So, does this mean we all start reading poetry in boardrooms?

May not be a bad idea to start with, but it certainly doesn’t have to be the only one. What is important is how we can build our own poetic imagination through creative interventions that are immersed in the world we inhabit, yet have the potential to take us to another one. In the true spirit of imagination, it may not even have to be an intervention. In fact, it may ask us to drop our ideas of how to intervene and make a fresh start, much like this short poem below earnestly tries to.

I write a poem
when something
 is as clear as day,
only to discover
the lens
 in front of my eyes
one more time.