An Up & Coming Polymath Asks What Makes Angry People Happy

I became a better polymath today. I’m in love with that word. Just found it, hours ago. Was love at first sight. Honestly. Turns out this word doesn’t have a bloody thing to do with math, which I don’t love. Or anything in the least mathmatical. Not a thing. Which is what draws me to it with a mathmatical like percision, which I do love. Polymathic people are those that show great and varied learning. That’s me today. And you as well, now or later, if you can drop some of your preconceived ideas of how life should be and learn some of life’s simple lessons – so you can enjoy more of life, as it is.

Here’s a shortcut to becoming a great polymath. Look around at any situation that you may be in front of and questioning its value or relevance for you. Stop, before you judge the situation like you normally might. Hold on. Exhale. Step back. Drop your expected results. Drop your ideas about how things should turn out.  Inhale. Ask yourself this question; “What’s trying to happen here?” Then drop what you’re expecting to happen and pick up on your listening. If you’re listening is good enough, you’ll pick up the answer to your question. And the answer will surprise and thrill you. You’ll learn to see what is trying to happen through the event or situation your facing. And you’ll gain a valuable insight as to how you can grow and benefit from any situation. Once you can see clearly what’s trying to happen right in front of you and what’s possible to gain in the process, then you’re widening your learning and as a result, you’ll not only be better off because of it but, at the same time, you’ll be well on your way to being a first class polymath.

Here’s an example of how I increased my polymathic abilities today. Let me hear some examples you have.

I flew to a corporate conference room populated with tense, critical and angry people looking at me to blame problems on rather than solve them. In the middle of it all I found myself asking myself, ”What is trying to happen here?” I took a few deep breaths and simply watched the scene play out in front of me rather than jumping head first into the center stage of the power play drama unfolding before me. Here’s what I started to see. They more angry those around me got, the more angry I got. The more angry we got, the more all the anger levels in the room got and the hotter the climate within the room got. The greater the emotional temperature got, the more defensive everyone got, the lower the creativity got and . . . the further we all got away from solving the very problems that brought us together in the first place. As the anger heated up our productivity froze down. It was then I noticed something I hadn’t before. The angrier, the angry people got, the more happy they became as a result of their anger.

It was only when I asked myself again for the third time, “What’s trying to happen here?” did I realize I had my answer. It was there all the time right in front of me. As I withdrew into the background I saw the situation for what it was. Angry people aren’t happy with solutions. Angry people are happy generating more anger. And they become sad and frustrated when they can’t get what they want which is anger.

Anger generators look for power sources. They need ever-fresh, ever-ready energy sources. They rely on them. They depend on them. They need them to cling to, to hook up to and generate more anger from.

I became a way more powerful polymath once I learned that. I don’t want to make angry people happy by letting them make me angry. I’m not interested in being that quality of power source. It’s unclean, self polluting toxic energy. It won’t lead to better, cleaner and more profitable solutions. It won’t increase my creativity, my profitability or my value contribution – it’ll only perpetuate the problems and make me a part of the those – instead of the solution. And being a part of the problem isn’t going to make me any better or happier. Only being a part of the solution will.

It took a high powered corporate conference room and a group of angry people to push me to become more polymathic. I’ve learned a lot more than I thought I would in that handsomely cherry wooded panelled top floor executive conference room. Some very angry people mentored me today. They coached me to understand the dangerously contageous self polluting nature of anger.

And while I varied my learning today to include what makes angry people happy and how I have to drop out of that polluted scene, I still have a lot to learn about becoming a more integral part of the solution. Once I pick up that piece of the learning puzzle I’ll be well on my way to being an even greater polymath than I’ve come to be today.

What kind of polymath are you?