How Successful People Think Part 2

Just as people were drawn to Da Vinci and his ideas during the Renaissance, they are drawn to creative people today. If you cultivate creativity, you will become more attractive to other people, and they will be drawn to you.

4. Creative Thinking Helps You Learn More Author and creativity expert Ernie Zelinski says, "Creativity is the joy of not knowing it all. The joy of not knowing it all refers to the realization that we seldom if ever have all the answers; we always have the ability to generate more solutions to just about any problem. Being creative is being able to see or imagine a great deal of opportunity to life's problems. Creativity is having options." 5 It almost seems too obvious to say, but if you are always actively seeking new ideas, you will learn. Creativity is teachability. It's seeing more solutions than problems. And the greater the quant.i.ty of thoughts, the greater the chance for learning something new.

5. Creative Thinking Challenges the Status Quo If you desire to improve your world-or even your own situation-then creativity will help you. The status quo and creativity are incompatible. Creativity and innovation always walk hand in hand.

HOW TO DISCOVER THE JOY OF CREATIVE THINKING.

At this point you may be saying, "Okay, I'm convinced that creative thinking is important. But how do I find the creativity within me? How do I discover the joy of creative thought?" Here are five ways to do it: 1. Remove Creativity Killers Economics professor and humor author Stephen Leac.o.c.k said, "Personally, I would sooner have written Alice in Wonderland than the whole Encyclopedia Britannica." He valued the warmth of creativity over cold facts. If you do too, then you need to eliminate att.i.tudes that devalue creative thinking.

Take a look at the following phrases. They are almost guaranteed to kill creative thinking any time you hear (or think) them: I'm Not a Creative Person Follow the Rules Don't Ask Questions Don't Be Different Stay Within the Lines There Is Only One Way Don't Be Foolish Be Practical Be Serious Think of Your Image That's Not Logical It's Not Practical It's Never Been Done It Can't Be Done It Didn't Work for Them We Tried That Before It's Too Much Work We Can't Afford to Make a Mistake It Will Be Too Hard to Administer We Don't Have the Time We Don't Have the Money Yes, But...

Play Is Frivolous Failure Is Final If you think you have a great idea, don't let anyone talk you out of it even if it sounds foolish. Don't let yourself or anyone else subject you to creativity killers. After all, you can't do something new and exciting if you force yourself to stay in the same old rut. Don't just work harder at the same old thing. Make a change.

2. Think Creatively by Asking the Right Questions Creativity is largely a matter of asking the right questions. Management trainer Sir Antony Jay said, "The uncreative mind can spot wrong answers, but it takes a creative mind to spot wrong questions." Wrong questions shut down the process of creative thinking. They direct thinkers down the same old path, or they chide them into believing that thinking isn't necessary at all. To stimulate creative thinking, ask yourself questions such as...

Why must it be done this way?

What is the root problem?

What are the underlying issues?

What does this remind me of?

What is the opposite?

What metaphor or symbol helps to explain it?

Why is it important?

What's the hardest or most expensive way to do it?

Who has a different perspective on this?

What happens if we don't do it at all?

You get the idea-and you can probably come up with better questions yourself. Physicist Tom Hirschfield observed, "If you don't ask, 'Why this?' often enough, somebody will ask, 'Why you?'" If you want to think creatively, you must ask good questions. You must challenge the process.

3. Develop a Creative Environment Charlie Brower said, "A new idea is delicate. It can be killed by a sneer or a yawn; it can be stabbed to death by a quip and worried to death by a frown on the right man's brow." Negative environments kill thousands of great ideas every minute.

A creative environment, on the other hand, becomes like a greenhouse where ideas get seeded, sprout up, and flourish. A creative environment: Encourages Creativity: David Hills says, "Studies of creativity suggest that the biggest single variable of whether or not employees will be creative is whether they perceive they have permission." When innovation and good thinking are openly encouraged and rewarded, then people see that they have permission to be creative.

Places a High Value on Trust among Team Members and Individuality: Creativity always risks failure. That's why trust is so important to creative people. In the creative process, trust comes from people working together, from knowing that people on the team have experience launching successful, creative ideas, and from the a.s.surance that creative ideas won't go to waste, because they will be implemented.

Embraces Those Who Are Creative: Creative people celebrate the offbeat. How should creative people be treated? I take the advice of Tom Peters: "Weed out the dullards-nurture the nuts!" I do that by spending time with them, which I enjoy anyway. I especially like to pull people into brainstorming sessions. People look forward to an invitation to such meetings because the time will be filled with energy, ideas, and laughter. And the odds are high that a new project, seminar, or business strategy will result. When that happens, they also know a party's coming!

Focuses on Innovation, Not Just Invention: Sam Weston, creator of the popular action figure GI Joe, said, "Truly groundbreaking ideas are rare, but you don't necessarily need one to make a career out of creativity. My definition of creativity is the logical combination of two or more existing elements that result in a new concept. The best way to make a living with your imagination is to develop innovative applications, not imagine completely new concepts." Creative people say, "Give me a good idea and I'll give you a better idea!"

Is Willing to Let People Go Outside the Lines: Most people automatically stay within lines, even if those lines have been arbitrarily drawn or are terribly out of date. Remember, most limitations we face are not imposed on us by others; we place them on ourselves. Lack of creativity often falls into that category. If you want to be more creative, challenge boundaries. Inventor Charles Ket-tering said, "All human development, no matter what form it takes, must be outside the rules; otherwise, we would never have anything new." A creative environment takes that into account.

Appreciates the Power of a Dream: A creative environment promotes the freedom of a dream. A creative environment encourages the use of a blank sheet of paper and the question, "If we could draw a picture of what we want to accomplish, what would that look like?" A creative environment allowed Martin Luther King, Jr., to speak with pa.s.sion and declare to millions, "I have a dream," not "I have a goal." Goals may give focus, but dreams give power. Dreams expand the world. That is why James Allen suggested that "dreamers are the saviors of the world."

The more creativity-friendly you can make your environment, the more potential it has to become creative.

4. Spend Time with Other Creative People What if the place you work has an environment hostile to creativity, and you possess little ability to change it? One possibility is to change jobs. But what if you desire to keep working there despite the negative environment? Your best option is to find a way to spend time with other creative people.

Creativity is contagious. Have you ever noticed what happens during a good brainstorming session? One person throws out an idea. Another person uses it as a springboard to discover another idea. Someone else takes it in yet another, even better direction. Then somebody grabs hold of it and takes it to a whole new level. The interplay of ideas can be electric.

I have a strong group of creative individuals in my life. I make sure to spend regular time with them. When I leave them, I always feel energized, I'm full of ideas, and I see things differently. They truly are indispensable to my life.

It's a fact that you begin to think like the people you spend a lot of time with. The more time you can spend with creative people engaging in creative activities, the more creative you will become.

5. Get Out of Your Box Actress Katharine Hepburn remarked, "If you obey all the rules... you will miss all the fun." While I don't think it's necessary to break all the rules (many are in place to protect us), I do think it's unwise to allow self-imposed limitations to hinder us. Creative thinkers know that they must repeatedly break out of the "box" of their own history and personal limitations in order to experience creative breakthroughs.

The most effective way to help yourself get out of the box is to expose yourself to new paradigms. One way you can do that is by traveling to new places. Explore other cultures, countries, and traditions. Find out how people very different from you live and think. Another is to read on new subjects. I'm naturally curious and love to learn, but I still have a tendency to read books only on my favorite subjects, such as leadership. I sometimes have to force myself to read books that broaden my thinking, because I know it's worth it. If you want to break out of your own box, get into somebody's else's. Read broadly.

Many people mistakenly believe that if individuals aren't born with creativity, they will never be creative. But you can see from the many strategies and examples I've given that creativity can be cultivated in the right supportive environment.

Thinking Question

Am I working to break out of my "box" of limitations so that I explore ideas and options to experience creative breakthroughs?

4.

Employ Realistic Thinking "The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality."

-MAX DEPREE, CHAIRMAN EMERITUS OF HERMAN MILLER, INC.

As anyone knows who's been out of school for a few years, there's usually a huge gap between a college education and the reality of the working world. Honestly, early in my career, I went out of my way to avoid too much realistic thinking because I thought it would interfere with my creative thinking. But as I've grown, I've come to realize that realistic thinking adds to my life.

REALITY CHECK.

Reality is the difference between what we wish for and what is. It took some time for me to evolve into a realistic thinker. The process went in phases. First, I did not engage in realistic thinking at all. After a while, I realized that it was necessary, so I began to engage in it occasionally. (But I didn't like it because I thought it was too negative. And any time I could delegate it, I did.) Eventually, I found that I had to engage in realistic thinking if I was going to solve problems and learn from my mistakes. And in time, I became willing to think realistically before I got in trouble and make it a continual part of my life. Today, I encourage my key leaders to think realistically. We make realistic thinking the foundation of our business because we derive certainty and security from it.

Why You Should Recognize the Importance of Realistic Thinking If you're a naturally optimistic person, as I am, you may not possess great desire to become a more realistic thinker. But cultivating the ability to be realistic in your thinking will not undermine your faith in people, nor will it lessen your ability to see and seize opportunities. Instead, it will add value to you in other ways: 1. Realistic Thinking Minimizes Downside Risk Actions always have consequences; realistic thinking helps you to determine what those consequences could be. And that's crucial, because only by recognizing and considering consequences can you plan for them. If you plan for the worst-case scenario, you can minimize the downside risk.

2. Realistic Thinking Gives You a Target and Game Plan I've known businesspeople who were not realistic thinkers. Here's the good news: they were very positive and had a high degree of hope for their business. Here's the bad news: hope is not a strategy.

Realistic thinking leads to excellence in leadership and management because it requires people to face reality. They begin to define their target and develop a game plan to hit it. When people engage in realistic thinking, they also begin to simplify practices and procedures, which results in better efficiency.

Truthfully, in business only a few decisions are important. Realistic thinkers understand the difference between the important decisions and those that are merely necessary in the normal course of business. The decisions that matter relate directly to your purpose. James Allen was right when he wrote, "Until thought is linked with purpose there is no intelligent accomplishment." 6 3. Realistic Thinking Is a Catalyst for Change People who rely on hope for their success rarely make change a high priority. If you have only hope, you imply that achievement and success are out of your hands. It's a matter of luck or chance. Why bother changing?

Realistic thinking can dispel that kind of wrong att.i.tude. There's nothing like staring reality in the face to make a person recognize the need for change. Change alone doesn't bring growth but you cannot have growth without change.

4. Realistic Thinking Provides Security Any time you have thought through the worst that can happen and you have developed contingency plans to meet it, you become more confident and secure. It's rea.s.suring to know that you are unlikely to be surprised. Disappointment is the difference between expectations and reality. Realistic thinking minimizes the difference between the two.

5. Realistic Thinking Gives You Credibility Realistic thinking helps people to buy in to the leader and his or her vision. Leaders continually surprised by the unexpected soon lose credibility with their followers. On the other hand, leaders who think realistically and plan accordingly position their organizations to win. That gives their people confidence in them.

The best leaders ask realistic questions before casting vision. They ask themselves things like...

Is it possible?

Does this dream include everyone or just a few?

Have I identified and articulated the areas that will make this dream difficult to achieve?

6. Realistic Thinking Provides a Foundation to Build On Thomas Edison observed, "The value of a good idea is in using it." The bottom line on realistic thinking is that it helps you to make an idea usable by taking away the "wish" factor. Most ideas and efforts don't accomplish their intended results because they rely too much on what we wish rather than what is.

You can't build a house in midair; it needs a solid foundation. Ideas and plans are the same. They need something concrete on which to build. Realistic thinking provides that solid foundation.

7. Realistic Thinking Is a Friend to Those in Trouble If creativity is what you would do if you were unafraid of the possibility of failure, then reality is dealing with failure if it does happen. Realistic thinking gives you something concrete to fall back on during times of trouble, which can be very rea.s.suring. Certainty in the midst of uncertainty brings stability.

8. Realistic Thinking Brings the Dream to Fruition British novelist John Galsworthy wrote, "Idealism increases in direct proportion to one's distance from the problem." If you don't get close enough to a problem, you can't tackle it. If you don't take a realistic look at your dream-and what it will take to accomplish it-you will never achieve it. Realistic thinking helps to pave the way for bringing any dream to fruition.

HOW TO RECOGNIZE THE IMPORTANCE OF REALISTIC THINKING.

Because I'm naturally optimistic rather than realistic, I've had to take concrete steps to improve my thinking in this area. Here are five things I do to improve my realistic thinking: 1. Develop an Appreciation for Truth I could not develop as a realistic thinker until I gained an appreciation for realistic thinking. And that means learning to look at and enjoy truth. President Harry S. Truman said, "I never give 'em h.e.l.l. I just tell the truth and they think it is h.e.l.l." That's the way many people react to truth. People tend to exaggerate their success and minimize their failures or deficiencies. They live according to Ruckert's Law, believing there is nothing so small that it can't be blown out of proportion.

Unfortunately, many people today could be described by a quote from Winston Churchill: "Men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing has happened." More recently, television journalist Ted Koppel observed, "Our society finds truth too strong a medicine to digest undiluted. In its purest form, truth is not a polite tap on the shoulder. It is a howling reproach." In other words, the truth will set you free-but first it will make you angry! If you want to become a realistic thinker, however, you need to get comfortable dealing with the truth and face up to it.

2. Do Your Homework The process of realistic thinking begins with doing your homework. You must first get the facts. Former governor, congressman, and amba.s.sador Chester Bowles said, "When you approach a problem, strip yourself of preconceived opinions and prejudice, a.s.semble and learn the facts of the situation, make the decision which seems to you to be the most honest, and then stick to it." It doesn't matter how sound your thinking is if it's based on faulty data or a.s.sumptions. You can't think well in the absence of facts (or in the presence of poor information).

You can also find out what others have done in similar circ.u.mstances. Remember, your thinking doesn't necessarily have to be original; it just has to be solid. Why not learn all that you can from good thinkers who have faced similar situations in the past? Some of my best thinking has been done by others!

3. Think Through the Pros and Cons There's nothing like taking the time to really examine the pros and cons of an issue to give you a strong dose of reality. It rarely comes down to simply choosing the course of action with the greatest number of pros, because all pros and cons do not carry equal weight. But that's not the value of the exercise, anyway. Rather, it helps you to dig into the facts, examine an issue from many angles, and really count the cost of a possible course of action.

4. Picture the Worst-Case Scenario The essence of realistic thinking is discovering, picturing, and examining the worst-case scenario. Ask yourself questions such as: What if sales fall short of projections?

What if revenue hits rock bottom? (Not an optimist's rock bottom, but real rock bottom!) What if we don't win the account?

What if the client doesn't pay us?

What if we have to do the job short-handed?

What if our best player gets sick?

What if all the colleges reject my application?

What if the market goes belly up?

What if the volunteers quit?

What if n.o.body shows up?

You get the idea. The point is that you need to think about worst-case possibilities whether you are running a business, leading a department, pastoring a church, coaching a team, or planning your personal finances. Your goal isn't to be negative or to expect the worst, just to be ready for it in case it happens. That way, you give yourself the best chance for a positive result-no matter what.

If you picture the worst case and examine it honestly, then you really have experienced a reality check. You're ready for anything. As you do that, take the advice of Charles Hole, who advised, "Deliberate with caution, but act with decision; and yield with graciousness or oppose with firmness."

5. Align Your Thinking with Your Resources One of the keys to maximizing realistic thinking is aligning your resources with your objectives. Looking at pros and cons and examining worst-case scenarios will make you aware of any gaps between what you desire and what really is. Once you know what those gaps are, you can use your resources to fill them. After all, that's what resources are for.

SUPER BOWL, SUPER DOME, SUPER SECURITY.

Our country received lessons in realistic thinking following the tragedy of September 11, 2001. The destruction of the World Trade Center buildings in New York City far surpa.s.sed any worst-case scenarios that anyone might have envisioned. In the wake of that event, we now find that we don't have the luxury of avoiding or neglecting realistic thinking.

I was reminded of that on Sunday, February 3, 2002, when I attended the Super Bowl in New Orleans, Louisiana. I had been to the big game twice before, to root for the home team-first San Diego and later Atlanta-and had seen both teams lose! But I had never been to a game like this. The occasion had been designated a National Security Special Event. That meant that the U.S. Secret Service would be overseeing it; military personnel would work with local law enforcement; and security would be of the highest caliber. The Secret Service brought in several hundred agents and secured the area. In preparation for the game, access to the Super Dome was highly restricted, with intensified screening. Officials blocked off roads, closed the nearby interstate, and designated the area a no-fly zone.

We arrived early at the dome-officials suggested fans arrive up to five hours ahead of game time-and we immediately saw evidence of the precautionary measures. Eight-foot fences surrounded the whole area, and concrete barriers prevented unauthorized vehicles from getting close to the building. We could see sharpshooters positioned at various locations, including on the roof of some adjacent buildings. When we reached a gate, police officers and security personnel patted us down and examined everyone's belongings. After that they directed us to go through metal detectors. Only then did they allow us into the stadium.

"That's all well and good," you may be saying, "but what would have happened had there been a terrorist attack?" The Secret Service had that covered too, because they had prepared for the worst-case scenario. Evacuation plans had been put into place, and personnel at the Super Dome had been drilled to make sure everyone knew what to do in case of an emergency.

New Orleans mayor Marc Morial said the day before the Super Bowl, "We want to send a message to all visitors that New Orleans is going to be the safest place in America." 7 We got the message. We didn't feel the least bit worried. That's what happens when leaders recognize the importance of realistic thinking.

Thinking Question

Am I building a solid mental foundation on facts so that I can think with certainty?