With an understanding of confusion and the need for good control to bring order, one can easily observe workers and executives who breed confusions with bad control. There is a very simple but extremely powerful method to get a person familiarized and in communication with things so that he can be more in control of them. This is called Reach and Withdraw.

One would not expect a person to have much control or understanding of or skill in something with which he was not familiar. The keynote of familiarity is communication.

A person is out of communication with something because he is withdrawing from it and is not about to reach out to or contact any part of it.

If a person cannot reach and withdraw from a thing, he will be the effect of that thing.

If a person can reach for something and withdraw from it, he could be said to be in communication with that thing.

To be in communication with something is to be in a more causative position in relation to it.

By REACH we mean touching or taking hold of. It is defined as “to get to,” “come to” and/or “arrive at.”

By WITHDRAW we mean “move back from, let go.”

The Reach and Withdraw procedure brings a person into communication with and into a more causative position in relation to objects, people, spaces, boundaries and situations.

In the physical universe, communication with objects, forms, spaces and boundaries is best established by actual physical contact.

Reach and Withdraw is a valuable tool to use to get a person into good communication with his work environment, especially the tools and objects he uses.

A pilot would do Reach and Withdraw on all the objects and spaces of his airplane, his hangar, the earth; a secretary would do Reach and Withdraw on her typewriter, her chair, walls, spaces, her desk, etc.

Feeling comfortable with the tools of one’s trade is a very important step in getting out products. One can increase the amount of production tremendously with this action.

For example, a flight surgeon who was trained in this procedure used Reach and Withdraw on his squadron and for one whole year there was not one single accident, not even so much as the touch of a wingtip to a wingtip. It is probably the only squadron in history that went a whole year without even a minor accident.

Procedure

Reach and Withdraw procedure is easily learned. It can be done on any object or area. It can be done on an individual’s job environment, on a new piece of equipment, a machine, anything. It is done until the person is in good communication with his general environment or specific area being addressed.

1. Take the person to the area where you will be doing Reach and Withdraw. Explain to him you are going to do Reach and Withdraw and explain the procedure.

2. Tell him the commands to be used and ensure he understands these. The commands are:

A. “Reach that _________.” (naming and pointing to an object or person or area)

B. “Withdraw from that _________.” (naming and pointing to the same object or person or area)

A thing or part of something (e.g., “the big red button on the front of the machine”) or a space or a person is named in the blank.

3. Give him the first command. For example, “Reach that big red button on the front of the machine.”

Always point to the object (or person, space, etc.) each time you give a command so there will be no mistake made by the person doing it.

4. When the person has carried out the command, acknowledge him by saying “Thank you,” or “Good,” etc.

5. Now give the second command, “Withdraw from that big red button on the front of the machine.” Acknowledge him when he has done so.

6. Continue to alternate the commands A, B, A, B and so on, with an acknowledgment after the execution of each command, having the person touch different parts of the object or area.

7. Reach and withdraw from that one thing, space or person until the individual either has a minor win or until three consecutive sets of commands have been executed with no change in the person’s motions or attitude. By “minor win” is meant a small improvement for the person, such as his feeling a bit better about the object or area, or simply experiencing an increased feeling of well-being.

8. Next, another object, space or person is chosen and the commands are taken to a win on that item.

Don’t keep the person reaching and withdrawing endlessly from the same part of anything that is being used, but go to different points and parts of an object being touched.

Walk around with the person doing the action, ensuring that he actually does get in physical contact with the points or areas of objects, spaces or people.

Choose objects in such a way as to progress from smaller objects to the larger objects available, touching different parts of each one in turn, to a minor win of some sort on that object or three sets of commands with no change. Also include walls and floors and other parts of the environment in doing this procedure.

When doing the action on a space or a room rather than an object, have the person walk into the room and walk out of the room over and over.

9. Continue until the person has a major win or a good realization and is very happy about the whole area being addressed. A major win would be a large improvement for the person such as a new awareness of his work area or a certainty about his job. Reach and Withdraw would not be continued past such a point.

Reach and Withdraw on the objects, people, situations, spaces and boundaries of a person’s job will greatly assist his control, familiarity and understanding of it.

Reach and Withdraw is done by having a person reach for and withdraw from things in the environment.

As the person reaches and withdraws from the objects, walls, floors and other parts of the environment…

…his control, familiarity and understanding of it can increase greatly.