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Oya's Newsletter: "Roots & Wings"
May 2005: Volume 2, Issue 5.
Newsletter
Archive
Written &
Published by Philippa Kennealy, MD, MPH, CPCC
Contents
Wish
You Were More Innovative? 7 Steps to Enhance
Your Creative Thinking
Oya News
Recommended
Reading
for Clients on the Move Welcome
Note
Welcome
to new "Roots and Wings" readers this
month! Please share this resource with anyone
you feel might enjoy reading it.
Out
of respect for your time and your burdened
e-mail inboxes, I am shortening my newsletter to
just one monthly article, and a book or magazine
article (or occasional movie) review.
How good are
you at generating ideas for ways to do things
better?
We
have been taught that brainstorming is the key
to unlocking our creativity - the process of
encouraging ourselves and others to entertain
and play with the wildest and wackiest ideas
without censoring them immediately.
You
might be surprised to know that this is one of
the least efficient ways to generate new ideas,
as it lacks structure and focus.
Through
studies of cognitive science, we understand more
about how our minds work. An important finding
is that our brains are highly skilled at pattern
matching. From past experiences, we are able to
generate mental patterns, which in turn help
create our perceptions of the world.
The
problem is that our thinking and perceptions
settle into a rut - our pattern-matching skills
become automatic and even subconscious - and we
are no longer aware that we are even using
pattern-recognition as a way to create order or
make sense of things. This leads to assumptions
and stale acceptance of the status quo.
Imagine
being able to step back and see clearly the trap
of your thinking and assumptions, and then use a
specific process to escape their confines. You
could then move forward by exploring other ways
to get an improved result, and testing these
ideas. You'd no longer need to attend those
lengthy "re-engineering" off-sites
with their games and child's play!
The
following seven steps will give you or
your group a focused, structured way to think
creatively about a situation or process that
needs to be changed:
- Focus
attention on "the way it is now"
(Attention). Mentally picture everything
to do with the situation you are trying to
change.
As a practical example, you decide to make
your billing process more efficient.
Begin by having a clear mental image of
everything to do with billing: the person
entering the data, the computer on the desk,
the computer program screen for generating
bills, the data source instructing the
biller what to bill, what each step of the
process is now, etc.
- Understand
the basic purpose for the process (Concept
Extraction). Ask yourself: What
purpose does this function/device/technology
really serve? For our example: What is the
point of billing? I suspect it is a way to document
what got "sold" and to get paid
for the product or service that was sold.
Now ask yourself: Are there other ways to
accomplish the same basic purpose?
- Be
provocative (Provocation). Tell
yourself or your team the state has just
passed a law barring the use of some vital
part of the process. Such as having a human
being doing billing! Now you are jolted into
having to come up with alternatives. This
isn't wild brainstorming - it is being
imaginative and curious about other ways to
accomplish the same result.
Make a list of as many alternatives as possible,
bearing in mind the purpose of
billing.
- Escape
from "the way it is now" (Scene
Modification). Return to your detailed
mental image of the billing department (or
your desk, if you do it yourself!). Now
imagine selecting one or more of the items
in that mental scene and modifying,
replacing, or using them in new and
different ways. Be willing to move anything
and everything around and challenge its current
use!
- After
escaping the way it is now, get into action
(Mental Movement). This is the
place to mentally test different
alternatives - in this case, how to bill without
using a human being!
- Think
of ways "it's done in other places,
industries etc." (Using Analogies). Think
about how other industries or companies do their
billing. Banks? Supermarkets? Stockbrokers?
Research and discover how others do it and
see which ideas you can use in your
situation.
- Plan
ways to get it done (Implementation). It
is daunting to think of changing everything
at once. Address potential objections
(even your own internal ones!) by planning
to implement in stages wherever possible.
You might aim for 50% of the planned change
in place in 6 months, to test it out, with
the rest to come over the rest of the year.
Concerned
that you don't have the gift of creative
thinking? If you can think, you can think
creatively!
With
these seven "starter" techniques, you
will soon be generating a host of new approaches
or ideas, for any process you want to
reinvigorate or situation demanding a fresh
approach.
This
article is excerpted from "No Special Gift
Needed" by Paul Plsek, in the Health Forum
Journal, March/April 1999, on Visionary Leadership:
Managing the Creative Process.
To
learn more about how to tap into your creative
thinking,
contact
me, for a free 40-minute coaching
consultation.
May
will be a busy month with several new corporate
and individual coaching and team development
clients, and two presentations. It appears that
"Preventing Flameout: How to Avoid
Professional Burnout" is a current
favorite, reflecting the challenges that organizations
and professionals face!
If
your organization is sponsoring a special
event and wants a lively provocative and
entertaining speaker, please contact
me,
so that I can make your event a
success.
I
noted that Marcus Buckingham has two of his
books on some of the best-seller lists and all
three on others, so I was happy to pick up a
copy of The
One Thing You Need to Know at my local
bookstore.
Buckingham
has the audacity to suggest that there is just
one explanation that is vital to know, to be a
great manager, a great leader and to have
sustained individual success. This One Great Thing
for each area is so powerful it becomes a
"controlling insight" - an explanation
that applies across a wide range of situations,
serves as a multiplier to produce exponential
results, and guides action.
With
clarity, persuasion and good stories, he
articulates the One Great Thing for each area
and then proceeds to make his case:
-
Great
leaders discover what is universal,
or unifying for teams and large groups of
people, and capitalize on it.
-
Great
managers discover what is unique
and individual about each person and
capitalize on it.
-
Individuals
who are able to sustain their personal
success discover what they don't like
doing and stop doing it.
As
an extra, he throws in a secret uncovered by research
- the "controlling insight" for a
happy marriage!
As
a coach who dwells in these realms when working
with my clients, I found Buckingham's arguments
to be a reinforcement of and testament to what
happens in a powerful coaching relationship!
Please
forward this newsletter to a client, friend,
relative or acquaintance that might enjoy
reading it.
Philippa Kennealy MD MPH CPCC
The Vision Realization Process™
President, Oya Consulting
Dr. Philippa Kennealy is an Executive and
Personal Coach, dedicated to your professional
and personal success and fulfillment. To
schedule an initial FR*EE consultation, to learn
more, or to inquire about having her speak to
your group or organization, contact her at:
pkennealy@oyaconsulting.com or
click here.
SHARE THE WEALTH
If you enjoy this newsletter and want others to
benefit, please forward this copy to family,
friends or colleagues. I truly appreciate your
loyalty and interest.
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