There But For I - Go Me

There was a beautiful blonde woman in great shape in the front row of my cycling class this morning.  She worked hard the whole class, a very serious rider, but seemed to enjoy the class too. At the end of our workout she came up to me and thanked me for a great class. She let me know she was visiting from Arlington, Tx (near Dallas/Fort Worth) and mentioned a few things about instructors there. Her words were a compliment to me.  She wistfully mentioned she would love to be an instructor but thought they wouldn't consider her because of her age.  Thinking she couldn't possibly be any older than me, I mentioned that there were several instructors our age and some even a little older and she shouldn't let that stop her at all. Then she told me how old she was. Inside I am sure my jaw was dropping because she looked much younger.  Without skipping a beat, I told her I could tell she would be good, her form was great, her physique would be motivating and her love of the sport would shine through.  She said, "Maybe I will look into that".  I hope she does.  I wish that I had thought to get her contact information to check in with her. 

When I was in my mid forties I was finally able to do the splits for the first time (see profile picture).  I joked to my yoga class that I should try out for cheerleading now because I couldn't when I was little. Not being able to do the splits prevented me.  I tried out for the Houston Texans cheerleader squad with a 20 year old girlfriend.  I made it through to the second round. My friend had to quit after the first round because her back and neck hurt so much from all the bending, fllipping and hair whipping.

Don't let your age hold you back from taking a risk. 

"There but for I - go me!

What If?

What If?  A simple question - with endless possibilities for answers.  The use of this question can open up so many opportunities for you and your organization. 

In a training class on Creativity the instructor posted several flipchart pages on the walls with one question at the top of each chart.  The one that intrigued me the most was "What if there were 48 hours in a day?  Wow - what a cool thought.  What if there were?  I would certainly spend about ten of them sleeping without any guilty feelings.  There would be time for everything including time to just sit there and do nothing more than enjoy the beauty of the world around me.  To have twice as much time as we have now.  Hmm.  "Oh the Places You'll Go" - as Dr Seuss says. 

Then we were instructed to write our own "What If?".  I wrote "What If I Went to Bed Early?". You can tell from the time of this posting that isn't happening tonight, but what would happen if I did?  I started with the negatives. I would miss my favorite late night show - The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. But the list quickly turned to positives.  Books would be written and lack of sleep wrinkles would disappear.  A smile crossed my face as I thought about the changes that would occur with a simple alteration of my sleep schedule.

What will you do with this question?  Use it for your own self discovery?  Share it with friends? What "What If" would you post in the lunchroom or on the agenda for your next meeting? What do you think would happen at work if you opened up the thinking process of your coworkers with that simple question? 

Try it and tell me what happens.

Clutter Cramps Creativity

How can you think when stuff is falling down around you?  When your office or your home is full of things that you don't really need; that fall on your head when you open up closets; that make it difficult to close drawers - it is time for an overhaul.  The simple act of throwing something away can lift your spirits and clear you head for creative ideas to flow.  Many people don't ever start on it because it seems like an overwhelming task to declutter.  They think that it will take hours or days to make an impact and that they don't have the time to do it right now.  So they keep waiting for the day when they will have that precious break in their hectic schedule.  It never comes. 

Starting small and just starting are the ways to make it happen.  Dump a drawer upside down on the floor or counter, pull all of your clothes off a closet rod, or open up that file cabinet and just start sifting.  Commit to fifteen minutes a day and delight in the difference a little bit at a time can make.  May your creative ideas start flowing the minute the "stuff" starts flowing out the door. 

Time to Create

I start my presentation on Creativity asking for a show of hands in the audience of who thinks they are creative.  Surprisingly, not every hand shoots quickly to the ceiling.  There are various reasons for that; as varied as the people in the room.  Some people really don't believe they are creative and others don't want to appear arrogant about their amazing flow of ideas.  The truth is that everyone is creative; we just don't take the time to let our creativity work. 

Here are some simple ways to incorporate creativity into your busy life when you only have a few minutes to spare:

- Attend an organizational meeting of a group you don't typically associate with (if you are an engineer - go to a writers club meeting).  Hanging out with a different crowd can inspire new ways of thinking and ideas.

- Take a ten minute break from whatever work you are involved in.  Set a timer, write down one problem you need ideas for at the top of a page and then write all the ideas that come to mind as you focus on just that one problem.

- Take a break and go outside with your Ipod or other music player.  Listen to music without lyrics and let your mind wander, jotting down any thoughts that arise.

- Write down three problems at the beginning of the day and keep the short list in plain sight.  Jot down any thoughts that come up as you go through your day regarding those three specific problems.

- Ask someone  what ideas they might have about an issue that is puzzling you and see what they come up with .  Make sure they aren't involved in or familiar with concept - to open up your thinking.

- Assemble a group of seven or eight people together in a circle.  Each of you writes a problem you have at the top of your own piece of paper.  Then each person passes their problem one person to the right.  For one minute everyone writes the first thing that comes to their mind regarding the problem they are reading (advice, empathy or concerns).  When the one minute is up everyone passes their paper one person to the right.  The process is repeated until everyone has had a chance to respond to each person's problem. 

Give yourself time to create.  Your mind just needs a break from all the other things going on in it.  Give it a chance to think casually and calmly about nothing.  And then nothing will become something.

Trepidation

Trepidation - what a great word!  It means - a nervous or fearful feeling of uncertain agitation.  That is exactly what I was feeling as I walked up the back stairs to the yoga room hidden in the upper floor of the personal training studio.  I had been taking these power yoga sessions for a few months, learning a little bit every time as I mastered the previous poses.  It was exciting to be learning a new yoga format but certainly a physical challenge as every pose seemed to have a whole set of powerful movements in between it.  Tonight I was going to try the whole 90 minute series even though I had only learned two thirds of it. 

"I am going to die!",  I thought as I climbed up the stairs trying not to make too much noise as my flip flops clapped the bottom of my feet with each step.  I started telling myself that I won't know what I am doing and I will be exhausted trying to jump back and forward between every pose.  In reality, that was very possible.  It turned out that there were only two of us in the class that night. The other woman was visiting from Boston for the holidays.  It was the day after Thanksgiving, and everyone else must have been relaxing at home with a turkey hangover.  The instructor started the class and called out the poses for us as we dutifully followed along.  The we reached the part where I didn't know the rest of the sequence.  I listened carefully to the instructor and also peeked at the woman next to me to see what to do.  "Just listen to me", he instructed.  I laughed as I found myself still trying to peek at the woman next to me who obviously had been through the whole sequence before.  The end result?  I didn't die.  I actually had fun trying the new poses and didn't feel any pressure to perform - just to enjoy. 

Talk yourself into the challenge and out of the trepidation.  It really isn't going to be as bad as you think. You might even have a really good time. 

Newton's Laws

As a scientist, I had many laws and rules drilled into my head over the years.  One that is easily retrieved from the recesses of my mind, word for word, is the First of Newton's Three Laws of Motion.  It states that "Every object in a state of uniform motion tends to remain in that state of motion unless an external force is applied to it."

As we go about life, we tend to end up in routines and ruts and patterns of behavior.  Our process for getting ready for work in the morning or for bed at night may follow the same routine.  We drive the same roads at the same time on the way to work every day.  We answer our e-mails after getting our coffee, before touching base with our co-workers.  Our favorite television programs call to us at the same time on the same day every week (unless we tape them and change our viewing pattern).  Our exercise routines (it's even called a routine), approaches to the holidays, relationships, problems and just about everything we can think of seem to be repeats of the time before.

What would happen if we turned our day upside down and ate breakfast for dinner and dinner for breakfast, or dessert first instead of the salad?  What if we looked up instead of down?  What if we changed one little thing about the way we did things or looked at the world and put ourselves on a different track and pace? What would result?

I recently heard a story of a photographer who was looking for inspirational pictures for a client and went about the city taking pictures of everything he saw,  Tired from the day, he was walking through a park and rested himself on one of the grassy hills nearby.  Looking up at the sky he had a great insight.  He started to take pictures of the sky and the clouds instead of all the objects rooted to the earth and found the perfect snapshots for his customer. 

Give yourself a little kick in the side and put things in motion that weren't previously - and see where it takes you.   For more ideas check my newsletter at www.ideasandbeyond.com.

The Answer Is Right Under Your Nose - Ok - Maybe Under Your Drink

All of the first time attendees to the conference were gathered in a hotel meeting room seated at round tables.  Seasoned attendees walked about the room placing two clean sheets of flipchart paper in the center of each table.   Another person followed behind and dumped a pile of cheetos on the paper.  A third person poured a small pile of marshmallows next to the pretzels.  A package of graham crackers followed with a giant dollop of cake frosting on a plate and a bag of giant gummi candy.  (My mind starting reminiscing about Girl Scouts and smores when I saw the marshmallows and graham crackers. Where was the chocolate?  How could they miss a key ingredient?).  The frosting was the only glue for the spaceship we were about to construct from the materials in front of us.  We readjusted our belongings, moving some onto the floor but kept our drinks (water - ok - some were wine and beer) on the table on the paper in front of us.

Several teammates started grabbing graham crackers and the glue (frosting), putting together small boxlike vehicle creations, none of which resembled a spaceship at all.  We finally decided that we needed to draw a conceptual vision of what the spaceship would look like.   It didn't take one creative lady at our table long to suggest we use the paper we were drawing on for our spaceship.  Within minutes a spaceship started to materialize before our eyes resembling a giant version of the paper airplanes we made as kids.  The engineer in me couldn't resist adding pretzels in key positions for structural support.  For the finishing touches, we added the brightly colored junkfood in strategic places for decoration.  Voila!  We had a spaceship. Ok - more like a space shuttle, but it was a flying vehicle.       

So many times when we are working on a problem, we miss the simple solution right in front of our eyes - or right under our drinks in this case.  Sometimes we need to back up and think less but differently and the answer will appear - or at least some new options. 

Please share in the comments your stories of "out of the box" or "under the junkfood" thinking that helped you solve a problem. 

Revelations in Observations

My son was taking a design class in college and had to think up and report on a possible new consumer product every week.  Part of the process was researching the idea to make sure someone else hadn't already thought of it and produced it.  We were having a brainstorming session for ideas and I suggested we start with problems in everyday life.  We listed a page full of issues and then addressed each one individually to see if we could imagine a solution - however outrageous the idea might be.  One concern of mine (other professional sunbathers can relate to) wants to stay in the warmth of the sun as we float about the pool in the lounger or down the Guadalupe River in Texas on inner tubes.  This is especially important at the beginning or end of the summer when the air and water are a little cool - according to Texan standards (my Michigan blood has thinned!).  My son came up with a Sun Catcher - a device that would automatically move your lounger or inner tube into the sun (or to the shade if you are trying to avoid the sun).  A great solution to the problem.  Our list of problems provided him with fertile ground for future project analyses.

During Monday night football station breaks a Ford Escape commercial caught my eye.  The ad showed people with their hands full using their feet to open doors.  Ford had observed the way we behave and designed a feature on the Escape vehicle to solve the problem - a hatchback that opened using your foot to activate it.

Next time you are stuck for new ideas - look at the way people do things - and see if that helps your creative thinking. 

Pass the Problems

I was speaking at a joint meeting of two professional societies on the subject of Creativity.  The boisterous crowd was enjoying the subject and the group participation activities.  I invited each participant to take a sheet of paper and write down a problem they were having at work, providing enough information so that a person reading it would understand the issue.  They were seated at round tables.  When all the pens were down, I asked them to pass their problem one person to the right. They were to read their neighbor's problem and write down their advice, reactions or comments.  I only gave them one minute to respond.  At the end of the one minute, I asked them to pass the problem one person to the right and begin writing again.  As the problems circled the table you could hear giggles and see smiles as people read the comments of the writers before them.  I continued the timing process until the problems made their way completely around each table, providing everyone with the chance to respond to all of their tablemates' problems.  When their problem came back to them, they reviewed all of the comments.  The noise level in the room arose as they perused their papers.  The responses ranged from the ridiculous and hopeless (i.e. "give up", "quit that job") to real practical solutions.  One woman came up to me as the event ended jumping for joy as she shared that she ended up with a real solution for a work problem that had been bugging her for weeks. 

It really helps to get a fresh perspective on your problems when you've been wrapped up in them for awhile.  Invite creativity and new ideas by asking others for their opinions.