Critical Skill 2: Mental Flexibility

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Mental Habits

Just this morning, a friend shot me an email. It asked whether I had time to write up a quick press release. I replied that I probably could and asked the three questions I do to size the time it will take to get the job done.

What is it for?
When do you need it?
Do you have a model for what you want?

I got a response from my friend that was an apology. Apparently my last question reminded him of the press release he had from last year for the same event. He could just brush that off, rewrite it, and use it again.

His habit was to start from scratch on everything. My questions had pushed his thinking.

Flexing Your Thoughts

When I look over the original article for this series, The 10 Skills Most Critical to Your Future, I keep coming back to the idea that mental flexibility might be the one skill that has the most initial impact. This is the crowd pleaser–the hero. Mental flexiblity unbends the bent, unties the knot, and unsticks the stuck. People notice that kind of thing right away.

If you can do that and they cannot, they think you’re really something.

Like it’s name implies, mental flexibility is a matter of being in shape. Flexing your mental abilities isn’t that different than flexing your muscles. Warm up and try them out one at a time. Know your limits and know your goal is to broaden your scope. These are some ways to stretch your mind, to make your thinking more flexible.

1. Listen to people that you disagree with. Take in their arguments and follow their logic. Try it on for size. Work to see things entirely from their point of view.

2. Look in opposing arguments for the places where you are in agreement. No two arguments are totally opposite. Find the core of the matter where the arguments are the same.

3. Try to put two opposing ideas into one picture and make them work together. This works more often than you might think it would. Get to the core of each argument, keep each primary goal in tact, and then look for a way to make a new whole.

4. Stay in the 30,000 foot view. Don’t get caught in sematics or in details. Words aren’t your friend when you’re looking for flexibility. Words tie things down in a precise detailed fashion. Words can also confuse rather than add clarity–for example, your shade of blue might be more green than mine. If you use many words for the same thing . . . So the blue, azure, sapphire, teal, sky-colored logo would sit here . . ., then you can keep the thinking big picture and flexible.

5. Give weird ideas their voice. Runners push past the wall. So do flexible thinkers. Let other folks have a chance to share their kookie plans. Try them out. You might decide that you like one a lot.

6. Make a new habit of questioning yourself. Why am I doing this? Is there another approach? Is this my own thinking or a habit I’m used to? Does this situation call for action at all? The hardest part is remembering to question yourself. Doing it is actually fun. Once you get in the habit, you’ll not only gain flexibility. Your productivity will also go up.

7. Evaluate every argument. Don’t take anything on face value. People pass opinion as fact frequently, in the media and in person. Many folks just accept such information and repeat it as true–as if they are still in school. Flexible thinkers do not. When someone quotes statistics to you, be prepared to say, “You’re making that up.”

8. Use your entire brain, not just the logical left. Test things out with your perception and your intuition, as well. Don’t leave any information source on the table. Use everyone else’s brains too. Stretching your flexibility means stretching in every direction. There’s a world of new information waiting to be put together.

9. Find the humor and laugh some. There is something funny about almost everything, if you open yourself up to it. Give yourself room to laugh, and you might find other ideas come easier too.

10. Rewrite reality and have a few fantasies. Take that habit of Stephen Covey’s “Change your Paradigm” totally outside of the box. Don’t just make a slightly newer reality–blow your ideas out of the water. Imagine the problem as a dating situation, how would you deal with it then? Suppose it were happening on an alien world . . . and your kids were in charge?

Push your thinking in every direction you can. It doesn’t hurt, and the investment pays off in your ability to think in places where other folks can’t.

Every Company Needs You

Think of your mind as a room filled with drawers and doors, each of which leads to piles and stacks of information that you can access and use. Mental flexibility solves problems when other folks can’t because it allows you to open those drawers and doors to find answers to questions. Most folks don’t have any practice at doing that.

That’s why flexible thinkers get noticed so quickly. They give answers that aren’t the usual ones, and the answers they give are answers that work.

Imagine the impact on your personal brand when folks start seeing you as someone who always asks the right question, gets to the core of things, and fits ideas together. In other words, you have added flexible thinking as a big idea to your personal brand, a core competency of your skill set. It’s one more way to bring the uniquely Brand YOU to the business table.

Flexible thinking is a skill every company needs desperately. Companies can’t problem solve, innovate, or grow organically without it. Why not be the one who shows them does it for them?

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Special thanks to: Mental Flexibility for motivating me when I was tired.

Brand YOU–Images and Sound-Bytes Tool

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Making Images and Sound Bytes

Internalizing your brand is knowing it inside out, being able to talk about it without an extra thought. Use this tool to collect images and sound-bytes for the key concepts of your brand that you want people to remember.

ME as a Leader

Pick a hero, real or fictional–living or not–someone you admire and aspire to be like. Choose one from history, your favorite superhero, or just make one up. Describe your hero here.

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Make a List of Sound Bytes

Imagine that leader preparing to take a team on a mission. Make a list of what traits and strategies that leader uses. Write them down as a list of sound bytes.

A true leader

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ME as a _____________________________

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ME as a _____________________________

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–ME “Liz” Strauss

Images & Sound-Bytes of a Brand YOU Leader

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What’s Your Big Idea?

Knowing your Big Idea , showing what you believe, and capitalizing on strengths, making a personal branding brochure have brought you 99% there. Letâ€™s talk about how you might explain your personal brand using images and sound-bytes that people will remember.

Suppose youâ€™re at a networking event and your conversation partner asks your opinion of what makes a true leader. Could you answer in a few words that show you knowâ€“because you are one?

Picture Yourself as a Leader

Leader Flame

Leadership is at the heart of every personal brand. You’ll be asked questions about your idea of leadership throughout your entire working career. You’ll want your own answer–one that is as unique as you, one that expresses what only you bring as a leader. That means the definition needs to come from YOU. You need a leadership brand that is as personal as developing your own logo might be.

Start with an Image of a Personal Hero

Pick a hero, real or fictional–living or not–someone you admire and aspire to be like. Choose one from history, your favorite superhero, or just make one up. Now imagine that leader on a quest–something larger than life–Marco Polo about to travel to the Far East, Joan of Arc about to lead an army. You get the idea.

Make a List of Sound Bytes

Picture that leader preparing to a take team on a mission. Make a list of what traits and strategies that leader uses. Write them down as a list of sound bytes. My list looks something like this.

A true leader
1. knows where the team is going and why the team is going there.
2. plans the operation before setting out.
3. explains the plan to the team–the team might need to improvise along the way.
4. delegates to each membersâ€™ strengths and skills so that every member feels a vital part of the missionâ€™s success.
5. supports the team and gets the job done, without a thought of glory.
6. lights the way.

So What Was With the Picture?

I used the picture to see what a leader would do. Now the picture helps me remember the sound bytes on the list. Even better, when a question comes out of the blue, I can not only answer, I draw a picture of leadership for whomever I’m talking to. Folks might not remember all of the sound bytes, but the picture of my idea of leadership stays in their head, long after I’ve gone away.

That picture serves in another way too. I’ve internalized my answer so my conversation partner gets a chance to respond and be a pert of the conversation too–which I’ve found is always a nice gesture.

The 3 Big Ideas of Your Brand

Spend some time thinking about your brand. Make mental images of the traits you want people to understand and gather your sound bytes. Then you’ll be ready to draw anyone a picture of why you are a unique and valuable asset that they should be learning more about.

It’s not hard to do and it only works in your favor. You can promote your brand, your business, your blog the very same way. You could promote me too. Imagine that.

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Creative Wonder 101 as Promotion and Problem Solving

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Wondering

We look at each other wondering what the other is thinking but we never say a thing.
–Dave Matthews, Ants Marching

Did you ever wonder the same thing about someone you were with?
Did you ever wonder what the story was behind a song you like?
Do you wonder how some singers get to be famous when they can’t sing?
Do you wonder about things as much as I do?
Are you wondering why I’m asking so many questions?

What Is Wondering ?

Wondering is that sense of awe mixed with curiosity that little kids and imaginative grown-ups get when they see something out-of-this-world unbelievable. It’s the real feeling behind words like awesome, incredible, amazing, stunning, and wonderful.

Wondering is looking at a starry sky and thinking that there are more stars and more universes than you can possibly count, . . . that numbers go on into infinity, . . . that space is a vacuum without any sound at all . . . that the light from the stars can travel days just to reach us. Wondering is trying to get your mind around the idea that biggest jerk on the planet can appear to be happily married with kids who seem to like him–and can have more money than we’ll ever dream of having.

I wonder about everything. I’m wondering right now if you’re going to wonder why I wrote these words, or if you’re even going to read them.

Wondering is a thinking skill. Name a genius who didn’t have wondering as a core competency.

Creative Wondering 101

Creative wondering is opening your brain to the kind of questions you used to have when you were much shorter than you are now. It’s like brainstorming with questions. If you’re looking to solve a problem, wondering is a painless way to get where you want to be. Point your brain in the right direction, and your wondering takes you to a variety of possible solutions.

These are three benefits of creative wondering that make it useful to everyone. It’s funny kids know these things automatically and most grown-ups need to learn them all over again.

Wondering works best when you’re relaxed and in turn is relaxing.
Wondering is personally flexible. You can wonder into a journal or notepad to capture your thoughts, but you don’t have to.
Wondering is mobile, and therefore, it increases productivity. You can do it anywhere. It’s a useful skill for when you’re waiting in traffic or for that doctor who’s always an hour late. Wondering works in the shower. Reading usually does not.

A Warm-Up

If you haven’t wondered for a while, you might be a little tight. Stretch your brain a bit with warm-up questions. Here are a few:

What if? . . . How come? . . . Who was? . . . What belongs? . . . Why did? . . . Who the heck? . . . Who’s idea? . . . Where was I? . . . What’s wrong with this picture? . . . When did that happen? . . . Who died and made you king? . . . What would Brad and Angelina have to say about this? . . . Why him? Why her? Why it? Why now? Why bother? WHY NOT? and What will I do when I win the lottery?

You could write them down and take notes under each one. Go for it, if that’s the kind of wonderer you are. Don’t you dare, if you don’t want to. It’s wrong to take the fun out of wondering. Then you would spend your time wondering why you are wondering . . . That kind of wandering wondering gets you nowhere.

Wondering to Solve Problems

Now you’re ready to start looking at the serious stuff with a new lens of wondering. Don’t let anything off the hook. Question the whole world, like you questioned your parents when you were three years old.

If you need a solution, do some serious wondering about the problem.

Wonder why it’s a problem to start with.
Then throw that passel of questions in the warm-up at the problem to pull out the bits that you’re not seeing clearly. Obssess over every detail with every possible question you might think of to wonder about. One caveat–exclude questions that illicit an emotional response. Just the facts for now, please.
Do at least 5 What ifs? to get to a variety of possible solutions. Skip the What happeneds? until you’ve found a solid solution.
When you have a critical mass of possible solutions laid out, challenge them with questions again–more what ifs? and what makes you think sos? A couple of I wonder, if we changed this one thing here, would that be betters? might work now.
When you’ve got that solid solution tested with questions, then you can go back to the What happeneds? to make sure that you don’t end up solving the same problem again and again. The answers will be so much less emotionally-laden now that you have a solution in hand or already in process.

Wondering as a Promotional Tool

Wondering, asking questions as pure curiosity can get you to a solution that you might not get any other way. I’ve seen it happen. It is a powerful skill to add to your personal branding brochure-resume. Learning to live with a wondering view will automatically incorporate itself into your branding BIG idea.

To be able to say,

I can lead a team to a high trust environment, where problem solving is open questioning based on challenging assumptions and wondering about possible outcomes.

is an impressive thing.

I repeat. Name me a genius who didn’t have wondering as a core competency. Wondering will lead you to learn things that other folks don’t even think about. That’s a trait of a leader.

I can’t help but wonder what you’re thinking right now. What are you going to do with this information? I wonder how many ways you’ll find to use wondering to promote yourself and your business in the next 15 minutes.

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Brand YOU–You Are What They See

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Covers Sell Books

People say, â€œDonâ€™t judge a book by its cover.â€? People judge books by covers. Covers sell books. We only have so much time to look at books, and the cover is what gets our attention. This photo lets you know how important a cover can be. As a publisher, Iâ€™d edit that old advice to say, â€œJudge a book by its cover, but also judge the book builder too.â€?â€˜

A book cover makes a promise about what you will find when you open the book.

Your image works the same way for you.

What’s Your Cover?

What people see about youâ€“your first impression, your imageâ€“is like the book cover to your personal brand. Your first impression literally makes a mental image. Your image makes a silent promise about who you are and what people can count on when they get to know you. That mental image lasts. Pictures stay longer than words.

When thereâ€™s a question about what to believe, your image might just tip the balance. Thatâ€™s a powerful reason to be sure that the big idea of your brand carries through into all things that people see around you. Hereâ€™s a checklist that might help you make sure your image supports your personal brand.
For the sake of this checklist letâ€™s imagine that you want to be known as one who is always on top of information.

Your personal image. Do you dress the part? Do the clothes you wear and your haircut look pulled together? Do you sit and stand like one who is always ready to take notes? Have you got the right energy level? Do you carry the tools you needâ€“notebook, pens, list of phone extensions to use when outside your office? When you’re asked, can you look things up and find them?
Your workspace. Is your workspace organized? Is your computer desktop organized too? Have you put the things you use most often closest to where you use them? Have you placed the things people are likely to ask for in a place where you can find them quickly? When you stand at your doorway, does your space look like the workspace of one who handles information well?
Your skills. Have you mastered information software programs, such as spreadsheets and databases that might be useful in your job? Do you know more than usual references that people might use to answer questions that come up?

Once you start thinking in this direction, youâ€™ll start to see that everything you do is an opportunity to enhance the big idea of your personal brand. Itâ€™s not so hard to develop habits that form around your big idea. Thatâ€™s the key learning to live your brand.

People do judge books by the promise of the cover. Make a promise they will valueâ€“one that you will keep–and they’ll notice it for sure.

–ME “Liz” Strauss

« go back — keep looking »

Mental Habits

Flexing Your Thoughts

Every Company Needs You

Making Images and Sound Bytes

ME as a Leader

Make a List of Sound Bytes

ME as a _____________________________

A_____________________________________

ME as a _____________________________

A_____________________________________

What’s Your Big Idea?

Picture Yourself as a Leader

Start with an Image of a Personal Hero

Make a List of Sound Bytes

So What Was With the Picture?

The 3 Big Ideas of Your Brand

Wondering

What Is Wondering ?

Creative Wondering 101

A Warm-Up

Wondering to Solve Problems

Wondering as a Promotional Tool

Covers Sell Books

A book cover makes a promise about what you will find when you open the book.

What’s Your Cover?

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