1. Engaging The Field Handbook

Engaging The Field Handbook I Engagethefield.com

This is an abbreviated version of the Engaging The Field handbook (of which there are no digital copies available). You can listen to the overview of this section here.

ETF 1: Intelligence, About, Introduction

The Engaging The Field Handbook

THE MAN 
IN THE ARENA

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”

Theodore Roosevelt

ABOUT

The “Engaging The Field Handbook” was put together out of necessity. There is a massive gap in the market, a gap that can only be filled by showing people how to actively engage the field. Technology is improving by leaps and bounds, coaches are popping up left and right and millions of people remain frustrated that they can’t seem to get what they want. In their frustration they seek new methods, different coaches or sources of information. 

The information is not the problem. 

The problem is the number of people committed to getting what they want that have never been taught or trained in the skill of…getting what they want. 

The reliance on coaches, courses and the internet has left people overwhelmed with information about the world, void of information about themselves relative to the thing(s) that are most important to them.  Take Andrew for example:

"I thought I needed someone to coach me in hiring or needed someone to help me solve this problem. I didn't, I just needed to engage the field. I had all the tools that I needed, I didn't realize it."

- Andrew Junak PT, DPT, OCS
Founder, Peak Physiotherapy and Performance

Without strategically engaging the field, Andrew wouldn’t have recognized that he already has the skills to remove the most immediate constraint.  We need to engage the field to get a sober look at reality. What are the things we think we need help with that we actually don’t? What do we think we don’t need help with that we actually do?

We must get a handle on reality and be honest about our own skills so that we can make the best decisions for ourselves and get the things we want as efficiently as possible. We wrote the handbook so that you can finally get results that matter. 

I hope you find tremendous value in it.

Nic Peterson

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CONTENTS

These are the contents of the physical Engaging The Field Manual. Not all components are available in digital format.

1. Introduction To The Engaging The Field Handbook

   1. Learning & Intelligence

   2. Intellectual Colorblindness

   3. Two Types of Knowledge

2. How To Use The Engaging The Field Handbook (Not available digitally)

3. The Five Rules and Three Sins

4. Loops and Learning

5. Engaging The Field (Not available digitally)

6. The Three Phases of Engaging The Field 

7. Over The Shoulder Case Study

8. How To Prepare For Engaging The Field (Not available digitally)

9. Bonus sections and Resources (Not available digitally)

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Ready To Step Into The Arena and Engage The Field?

• Upgrade to TGA+ to gain comment access and invites to selects Arena sessions.

• Step into the Arena to get access to the Arena calls and live events: EngageTheField.com

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This is a chapter summary of the Engaging The Field Handbook. There are no digital copies of the entire Engaging The Field handbook. You can see the Engaging The Field Handbook directly here.

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1. INTRODUCTION

I would like to get something out of the way right here in the beginning. This book will not do anything for you. As in, it will not magically come to life and do any of the work for you. Skim it, read it all the way through, read it 108 times..it won’t matter if you don’t do anything with it - if you don’t engage the field. 

Not only will this book not do anything for you, it also won’t make you more intelligent - none of your books, courses or podcasts will.  To increase your intelligence, you have to learn (duh). So, let’s start there. 

INCREASING YOUR INTELLIGENCE.

Intelligence is a funny thing. 

Everyone has their idea of what intelligence is. You don’t have to adopt our definition of intelligence but it will be helpful to understand what we mean when I say it - and why the concept of engaging the field is so important. Our working definition of Intelligence  comes from a student of ours, Dr. Todd Snyder. It’s simple, unifying, and practical:

If something increases your ability to get what you want, it’s made you more intelligent. It doesn’t matter if you can explain it, test well or repeat it - if it hasn’t improved your ability to get what you want, it hasn’t increased your intelligence. What is the process of increasing your intelligence? Learning.

How do we define learning? If intelligence is the ability to get what you want, increasing your intelligence must be tied to modifying your behavior in certain situations. Regardless of how many books you read, videos you watch or how many questions you ask in Q&A sessions, if your behavior doesn’t change when faced with the same challenges, you haven't learned anything. In other words, we define learning as:

“Same circumstance, different behavior”

The only way to increase your intelligence (your ability to get what you want) is to actively, thoughtfully and relentlessly… 

STEP INTO THE ARENA & ENGAGE THE FIELD. 

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Intellectual Colorblindness

An excerpt From Bumpers by Nic Peterson

Across the top of my website is a header that says: Guru. Expert. Student. to imply that I am a student first. For the sake of clarity and completeness, I’ll explain what I mean. When I say I am a student I mean I am always trying to learn in order to increase my intelligence.

In his Incerto, Nassim Nicholas Taleb addresses theories vs. actions from various angles. For example, in Antifragile he shares a story about a tribe researchers believed to be colorblind. Members of the tribe were unable to verbally distinguish a blue string from a red string, so researchers concluded they couldn’t see the color blue.

It was later discovered that the tribe members could match the strings to a corresponding color swatch.  They matched the red strings to the red swatch and the blue string to the blue swatch with 100% accuracy. Turns out, they could distinguish between the two colors but they didn't have a word for the color blue in their language.

They were intellectually, not biologically colorblind.

They were handicapped in theory, not action. A handicap that is only limiting in an intellectual world where words matter more than actions. It serves as a good reminder to avoid a dependence on narratives.

It is easy to mistake intellectualizing actions for actual actions. You don't need to understand the various theorems of aerodynamics to ride a bike. We need a name for blue in narrative, but not in application. To paraphrase Taleb:

It is the thinker lacking the word for blue who is handicapped; 

the doer is not.

What I’ve learned in this process is simple: do the damn thing, first. Later, if I’m still curious, I can learn the theory behind it. Turns out that most of the time, I didn’t care as  much for the theory as I thought. I thought I did because I thought knowing the theory would help me change my life for the better. I was wrong. It’s the doing, not the knowing that changes your life.

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Planck vs Chauffeur

Two Types of Knowledge

Charlie Munger often says there are two types of knowledge. Here’s how he explained it in the 2007 Commencement to the USC Law School;

I frequently tell the apocryphal story about how Max Planck, after he won the Nobel Prize, went around Germany giving the same standard lecture on the new quantum mechanics.

Over time, his chauffeur memorized the lecture and said, “Would you mind, Professor Planck, because it’s so boring to stay in our routine. [What if] I gave the lecture in Munich and you just sat in front wearing my chauffeur’s hat?” Planck said, “Why not?” And the chauffeur got up and gave this long lecture on quantum mechanics. After which a physics professor stood up and asked a perfectly ghastly question. The speaker said, “Well I’m surprised that in an advanced city like Munich I get such an elementary question. I’m going to ask my chauffeur to reply.”

We often refer to it colloquially as “book smart” vs “street smart.” It’s the difference between “knowing about” and becoming; the difference between engaging the field and not. 

Munger continues:

“In this world we have two kinds of knowledge. One is Planck knowledge, the people who really know. They’ve paid the dues, they have the aptitude. And then we’ve got chauffeur knowledge. They’ve learned to talk. They may have a big head of hair, they may have a fine temper in the voice, they’ll make a hell of an impression.

But in the end, all they have is chauffeur knowledge. I think I’ve just described practically every politician in the United States. And you are going to have the problem in your life of getting the responsibility into the people with the Planck knowledge and away from the people with the chauffeur knowledge.”

We step into the Arena and engage the field to develop Planck knowledge and to avoid intellectual color blindness - to become more than we “know about.”

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Bonus Audio Chapter: The Truth About Data:

ETF Handbook 1.2 The Truth About Data and Data Driven People

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This handbook will guide you through the process.

Next: 3. The Five Rules & Three Sins & 4. Loops and Learning
(Chapter 2 is not available in any digital format)

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Get Your Hands On The Engaging The Field Handbook:

Get your own copy of the Engaging The Field Handbook and move up the Arena waitlist:

EngageTheField.com/handbook

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Live To learn. Give to Earn.

Guardian Academy.