Ducks need to be in the water.

That’s at least what my dog thinks. She loves ducks and she is a duck chaser, a real English Springer spaniel.

The duck chasing starts long before she spots them. First she smells the water. She is alert and prepares herself not yet seeing if there are any ducks at all. When she spots the birds she approaches them carefully. Very slowly and soundless, she ducks and scrawls towards them. And then a jump.

They are happily swimming in the water.

I am fascinated by my dog’s mastery, passion and care. She is focused and fully concentrated. In the moment of duck chasing she dedicates all her thoughts to this one job. Her whole body is completely tense. I am not a hunter (actually a vegetarian) and I allow her little chasing game because she has no chance – the ducks are faster and my duck chaser is on a long leash.

We need to be springers in our work having an eye for the prey. And we need to do this with the mastery a springer is chasing ducks: with passion and care.

What if we would approach catching our insights as my dog is chasing prey?

Sensing: We are alert and sense the emerging breakthrough in our thoughts before we actually can put it into words what it s about. We sense something, we register our minds starting turning. We smell there is something in the air we have to tap into, that matters, that is essential.

Spotting: We start to see it. The emerging idea gets tangible. We focus our attention and adapt our lenses. We concentrate and put our full attention to see deeply and sharply.

Sprinting: We go for it and catch the ‘nuggets’. We are in a state of clarity. We manage to frame the insights, the new idea, the lessons learned. We phrase it.