Excelsior Learning

…barks long and loud at everybody and everything he is not familiar with, does not recognize and know.  Who said variety is the spice of life?  Unless forced to do so we become quite comfortable and accustomed to experiencing the world in predictable and non-enriching ways.  We stay in our comfort zones and perceive, think about, evaluate, and respond to ideas and people in familiar ways.  Consequently, we experience truly little variance which is the lifeblood of creativity – which suits The Junk Yard Dog fine thank you.  He does not want to deviate from the habits and routines he has spent a good deal of time perfecting.  He is a creature of habit in how he learns, goes through his day and interacts with people.  Oh, how he cherishes his checklists!

His Resistive Powers are:

• Thinking, Perceiving and Responding in Habit-Bound Ways

Take these three actions this week to Get Creativity Fit, strengthen your creative thinking muscle, anchor the creative habit to be repeatable…and conquer the Resistive Powers of The Junk Yard Dog!

1. Schedule a thirty-minute appointment with yourself every day and tune in to what is occurring in front of you right now. Stop the action – observe, question and examine what is present before you.  Wake up, reinvigorate your curiosity, rediscover your sense of wonder and your ability to be awed.  Expand your capacity, your willingness to value the power of questions.  See common things again as if for the first time, develop the thinking frame to see things like a novice, a beginners mind.  Re-spark your curiosity, ask why, why not and what if?  The most novel ideas usually follow the most imaginative questions!  

2. Speaking of breaking habits and routine, diversify your idea network to include learning events, shows, conferences and networking events. Ask, ‘Which outside experts to tap into?’  ‘What outsiders to bring in?’ ‘What other networks or groups of people to get integrated into?’  Consider factors such as diverse cultures, countries of origin, gender, age, political and socio-economic status, professional organizations, levels within organizations and industries.  Put it all in a shaker bottle and give it a darn good shaking.      

3. Reduce your Gotta, Gotta Do’s – those things you just Gotta, Gotta Do. You may have a good case of the Gotta, Gotta Do’s and not realize it.  Change the game and rid yourself of the painful affliction of Gotta, Gotta Do’s by taking the following actions:  1) Draw a four-column chart and label Column #1 – Gotta, Gotta Do’s; Column #2 – Stop; Column #3 – Start; and Column #4 – Continue (with modifications).  2) List your Gotta Gotta Do’s in Column #1, review them and with an eye to minify the list, put corresponding checkmarks in Column #2.  Moving forward, cease and desist with these time sucking Gotta, Gotta Do’s.  3) In Column #4 find a way with the remaining Gotta, Gotta Do’s to either delegate them or devise a more effective way of doing them.  In Column #3, identify actions you should start doing like exercising more and strengthening select skills.  Now, start doing them!