I held my all-staff retreat yesterday -- always one of my favorite gatherings. There is always so much energy in the room, even when the room was a non-air conditioned park shelter during a heat advisory as it was yesterday!
We spent the day "thinking about thinking" -- implementing some of the strategies in Paid to Think by David Goldsmith; doing exercises to help train our brains to see "what isn't" instead of the literal, and discussing the process below.
I believe that a three step process can help people become more effective thinkers:
1. Experiences -- people need to have new experiences (aka: "dots") in order to have the basis with which to form new ideas. This phase is being attentive to "what is".
2. Connections -- The experiences need to be connected to other experiences -- forming a new concept or idea. This is "what isn't".
3. Communication -- Having experiences and new thoughts doesn't produce anything new unless people share the idea and get buy-in to make something new happen. This represents "what could be".
The above process doesn't have to be lofty: I could see something in a magazine I was reading (experiences); think about how it could apply to a project someone else is working on (connections) and cut out the article to send it to her (communication). But failing to do any of those three steps short circuits the thinking process and precludes anything from happening.
Spend some time today thinking about your thinking. Which of the above three steps are you best at? Which could use some intentionality and focus to improve? Just being aware of the process should help you see things in a new light -- and hopefully do something with those thoughts.
-- beth triplett
leadershipdots.blogspot.com
@leadershipdots
leadershipdots@gmail.com
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