Before setting up this Blog in 2015 I drafted hundreds of versions of pieces that eventually appeared here. I can trace some of these drafts back to 2006. That was when I started my daily habit of trying to write (or type, if you prefer) at least a thousand words of something every day.

The millions of words that have accumulated since then are stored in password-protected documents. They have been typed on a variety of computers and are backed up regularly. Nearly 18 years’ worth of words are accessible to me on the laptop I am using right now. Scrolling through the things that I wrote in 2006 I can see how many of those early scribbles developed into finished pieces that I am happy to make available here, free, for anyone with access to the web.

I can also see which ideas did not make the cut. There are dozens of would-be articles that I do not consider worthy of further development, but I check every now and then. Maybe I’ll change my mind.

One idea that I wrote, simply as a heading without developing it, was this: “It’s not a switch, it’s a dial”. I am surprised that I have not written that phrase even in passing anywhere on The Compartments.

At times, over the years, it has felt like a worthwhile idea. There are many aspects of our lives where we would like to flick a switch and change from one state to another. Flick a switch that will take you from unhappy to happy, or from fearful to confident, or from anxious to calm. It’s hard to do. But try and think of these things as being controlled by a dial, not a switch. If 0 is unhappy and 10 is happy, where is the dial right now? If it’s all the way down at 0, maybe you could turn up to 1 or 2. It will make a difference. Over time, with practice, you might get it all the way to 5. And you’ll be halfway there.

This idea was discussed in a training session I attended early in 2006 at a large financial services company. It combined roleplay (people with a background in performing, acting out scenarios with members of staff) with the more usual type of business training that I used to be involved with. A scene would be acted out, and the lead trainer would review it with a few references to whatever business philosophy he thought was appropriate. Steven R Covey came up more than once, as I recall.

One of the scenarios involved confidence building. Two of the performers were acting as managers and one of the delegates had to act out a meeting with them. Before “entering the room” she was asked to say how confident she felt, on a scale of 1 to 10. “4” was the answer. “Could you turn the dial up a bit? To 5 or 6? Maybe even 7?” A few techniques were suggested (“Imagine a time when you felt supremely confident”, that kind of thing). She felt that she could turn up the dial a little bit. “As far as 7?” Yes, by turning the imaginary handle on the imaginary door into the meeting room. And then the roleplay began, with a delegate who felt more confident than she had a few minutes earlier.

Maybe, in extreme circumstances, there are times when you can just flick an imaginary switch, from one option to another. Fight or flight is a familiar example. It’s one or the other. But in most circumstances you are confronted with something else. It’s not a switch, it’s a dial.