We are talking about the human spirit. Your human spirit and its power in your organization. It’s the “something more about life-ness”. That somethingness might be fierce, courageous, and daring, or subtle, steely, and calm. Even if it feels like your interior embers glow red or burn out, that human spirit is what we call spirituality. And that’s where it gets real. The practice of human spirit. Practical spirituality. To make that work in your organization, you want best practices with contagious acceptance, unlimited scalability, and tremendous value…starting with You. Let’s do this. Your human spirit deserves it.
The power of the human spirit is the topic of today while author Bill Protzmann and I discuss his debut release ‘More than Human’. Bill thanks for sharing a snippet of your spirit with the readers and myself to explore the increasing challenge of cultivating the human spirit in organisations. What was it about the human spirit in organisations that drove you to write this book?
Practical, best-practice spirituality flies above religious beliefs and/or science to get to the heart of what connects us. We need to do more of THAT if we expect positive change in the world, whether that world is a single person or a global enterprise.
Communicating the message of best practice spiritualty is a big challenge for a single book. What have you learnt from this getting this message onto paper?
Ask for — and research — help from all the resources you can find. It’s worth it to not have to re-invent wheels others already have.
Were some of the resources that you tapped into, or wheels that you borrowed while writing ‘More than Human’ from or were sparked from your day job?
I am an IT professional and life-long musician. Because I have trained myself to inhabit both the rational/analytical and creative/intuitive sides of my brain simultaneously, I tend to have a hard time focusing the effort into lengthy projects. For personal reasons, actually getting a book written is a huge win for me. Seeing it published is icing on that cake.
Has seeing that metaphorical icing on the cake enticed you to take up a new project? If so, can you share a little bit about it?
My next book is about the ways in which human beings can use music for physical, mental and emotional health.
So you’re back crossing the analytical and creative perspectives this time in the world of music. Could you see other careers outside of IT where you think you would enjoy the dual application of these perspectives?
The sociology of music might make an interesting study, and I’ve recently become fascinated with neurofeedback.
Neurofeedback is a fascinating field and something I’d love to learn more about myself. I guess the closest I’ll come to this at the moment is seeing how people react to the quirky questions in the quick fire question round. And as a fellow human interested in this topic, I’m sure you’d be happy to play guinea pig for a few questions. Let’s start the feedback with what is your favourite quote?
Just about anything Stephen Wright has ever said makes for great quote fodder. Current fav: “I intend to live forever. So far, so good.”
*Laughs* You have to start somewhere with that challenge! What is your zodiac sign?
Aries
What is your favourite ocean?
Anything tropical
So probably not the Antarctic. Where is the line between insanity and creativity?
There’s a line there?
There’s some debate as to the existence of this line and I’ve had authors sit at either side and all around it so far! As long as we’re sitting down if all of the world is a stage, where does the audience sit?
There’s an audience?
Yep, and they’re probably sitting on that line between insanity and creativity! Have you tangoed in the snow?
Yes.
Are you left or right handed?
Right
What is your favourite flavor of ice-cream?
Jamoca almond fudge
What is your favourite word?
Serendipity
And we’ve reached the final question, the selection of which hasn’t been entirely serendipitous, but I’m sure you’ll have a great answer for it all the same as you’ve obviously considered the complexities of humans and society in ‘More Than Human’. The question is who decides what morality is?
Great question. I deal with this in More Than Human by arbitrarily equating “morality” to “situational ethics.” Therefore, while it is ethically wrong to kill, there are times where killing can be morally right (self defense, war).
And with that great question came a great answer. Bill, thanks for generously giving a little insight into the mind and thoughts behind ‘More Than Human’, and I’m sure our thought expedition has helped readers find greater cause to support their human spirits.
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Excited to read the book we discussed today? Find it here on Amazon: ‘More Than Human – The Value of Cultivating the Human Spirit in Your Organization ( ASIN: B073639T1L )‘.
Want to find out more about Bill Protzmann? Connect here!