“Quantum Leap Thinking” EXPLAINED
Quantum leap: any sudden change or advance in program policy.
— Webster’s Dictionary of the English Language
Red phosphorus and potassium chlorate are stable chemicals when kept in isolation, but when they are mixed together and shaken, they explode. There is undeniable energy and a transformation takes place.
Quantum Leap Thinking, or QLT, is a collection of ideas, concepts, distinctions, and skills that, when combined like active chemicals, naturally explode in their own way, catapulting you to a higher level, a level of increased energy, excitement, and options.
QLT cannot be explained in typical linear fashion because the concepts, like a group of chemicals mixed and interacting, work in harmony. Together they form a strategy for personal and professional success.
But not success in the traditional sense: QLT is about quality of life, and when you incorporate the QLT strategy in your daily life and practice it with commitment, you will experience a personal creative explosion. You will take the quantum leap.
Exploring the Origins of Quantum Leap Thinking
Let’s take a simplistic overview of quantum physics, the genesis of Quantum Leap Thinking.
A quantum leap, no matter how infinitesimal, always makes a sharp break with the past. It is the discontinuous jump of an electron from one orbit to another, with the particle mysteriously leaving no trace of its path. It is the instantaneous collapse of a wave of probabilities into a single real event.
It is the link between two entirely separate locations, events or ideas, that magical moment when the previously inexplicable is suddenly explained, and a radical new theory is born.
— Science Digest
I have read hundreds of self-help books on motivation, creativity, positive thinking, and human consciousness. I have explored hypnosis, meditation, and biofeedback. I have attended lectures, rallies, workshops, retreats, and seminars on the human potential for one reason: to be a better person.
The problem was, I didn’t notice a difference. I didn’t notice a quantum leap.
Then one day, when I was relaxed and quiet, I saw with sudden clarity that there was a difference. I had taken not one quantum leap but many. I hadn’t realized it because I was living it. I had been blind to my own changes, so concerned about getting somewhere that I hadn’t noticed I had already arrived.
Once I realized that, I noticed my leaps had a pattern. Each leap was bigger than the previous one, each leap had structure, and each was attained by both conscious and unconscious choices. But the most empowering realization of all was that the clearer my vision, the greater the leap.
Since that insight, I have spoken to hundreds of people about their successes, and I am convinced that leaps occur for either individuals or organizations when they employ the same strategy of vision preceding movement.
Quantum Leap Thinking Explained With The Help of The New Physics
To understand this more clearly, it is necessary to have a basic understanding of what has come to be known as the ‘‘New Physics.’’ Although this area of science is commonly attributed to the work of German physicist Werner Heisenberg (1901–1976), previous research conducted by Danish physicist Niels Bohr, Max Planck, and Albert Einstein also contributed.
Heisenberg challenged classical mechanical physics by showing how traditional ideas about the world had to be abandoned. Motion, at the subatomic level, he claimed, could no longer be described in terms of continuous movement. Through experimentation, he demonstrated that the mere act of observation caused disturbances on the subatomic level; therefore, neither position nor momentum could be measured accurately.
This impossibility of accurately predicting the path of subatomic particles by measuring position and momentum has become known as the Heisenberg Principle of Uncertainty, or the Principle of Indeterminism. If, in fact, the mere act of observing alters what happens on the subatomic level, imagine what this theory means to our perception of everyday reality. This opens up limitless possibilities. For example, Heisenberg said, ‘‘The path comes into existence only when we observe it.’’ In other words, the observer takes part in the actual creation of the path.
To have a universe that depends on the observer is both exciting and disturbing. Does the universe change every time we alter how we view it? Does how we look at something influence our choices? In the subatomic world of the electron it does.
If, just for fun, we choose to relate everything we see and do within the context of quantum physics, we can take the position that we construct reality at every moment of our lives. We choose, consciously or unconsciously, among the many options constantly offered to us.
Thus, at the quantum level of reality, when we choose to “see” what we see,
reality becomes both paradoxical and sensible at the same time.
Our acts of observation are what we experience as the everyday world.— FRED ALAN WOLF, Taking the Quantum Leap
For example, examine the figure below:
Where does the floor begin?
As you can see, it all depends on how you look at it. Whatever choice you make is correct and can be justified. You create reality. You decide how you’re going to look at the line, and your choice determines whether the line is concave or convex.
In fact, you create reality all the time by the choices you make.
When measuring light, Heisenberg demonstrated that both the momentum and the position of an atom are potentially present, but not actually present until the attempt is made to measure them. The very act of observation determines whether the wavelength (momentum) side of reality or the particle (location) side of reality appears.
James Mapes is the founder of Quantum Leap Thinking™, creator of The Transformational Coach™, expert on the psychology of “applied imagination,” best-selling author, highly acclaimed business speaker, consultant, seminar leader and personal excellence coach.