A move motivated by fear and doubt, and devoid of thoughtful consideration or alignment to core values. Brash moves are reactive in nature, and typically on the order of doing-for-doing’s-sake, where the emphasis is on reacting to the demands of the external world. They are often moves made with high visibility and a kind of swaggering energy driven by raw ego.
We all know that we’re moving so very fast in this chaotic and fast-paced world that many people are making Brash Moves. They become our norm when we lose––or never develop––the ability to be self-reflective, that is to listen to what we are saying to ourselves. A Brash Move is like a patch that is put on a circumstance, a quick fix. Again, the primary emotions that motivate Brash Moves are fear and doubt, though most Brash Move makers would never identify or admit that this is so.
Brash Move Makers
Brash Move makers can appear to be quite powerful and even effective for a time, but because they are reactive in nature, Brash Moves can be very expensive like the tragic series of events around the Enron crisis several years ago. This was a case where a whole organization bought into the Brash Move thinking of its leaders and everyone ended up suffering greatly––leaders, employees, stockholders and customers alike.
Brash Move makers get so caught up in the thoughts, beliefs and actions of others that they do things without thinking first. Anyone can make a Brash Move. Sometimes even couch potatoes (Barely Movers) will get excited enough––or angry enough––to make a Brash Move, but they often regret it. In fact, Barely Movers are known to use their bad experiences with Brash Move making as evidence that it is not safe to move at all.
Some Brash Move makers are called movers and shakers. These folks are very assertive, even aggressive in nature, and tend to think that any idea they have is worth putting into action just because they thought of it. They almost never examine the long-term consequences of their moves, and they often make great big messes in the world that have to be cleaned up by others. With a sense of urgency for urgency’s sake, Brash Move makers operate in a head-down-plow-through, go, go, go mode with little regard for whether their actions are actually taking them toward their highly desired outcomes.
A common, yet subtle fear of Brash Move Makers is a sense of scarcity that says, If I don’t move, I’m going to lose out. Oddly, Brash Move makers often get initial rewards for their behavior because they look like they are driving hard, being movers and shakers. But when you look beneath the surface, their performance is motivated by the thought, I’d better perform or else! So there’s a subtlety there to consider as you start looking at what kind of moves you make. Be sure to ask, Is this a reactive move or is this something that is truly coming from a calm, intentional place of my own choosing?
