Hello

If we ever think that we can do no more or go no further, is that actually true, or is that simply an example of a fixed mindset? Much is being made about the difference between a growth type mindset and a fixed mindset in education these days. That is good news, because I firmly believe that most children can do most things really well. One of the things that tends to get in the way of that happening is having a fixed mindset, and that fixed mindset can sometimes be instilled or reinforced by a ‘teacher’.

‘I can’t’. ‘That’s not me’. ‘I’m no good at’.

A fixed mindset massively reduces a child’s ability to do well. It can at best, cause a child’s natural ability to stagnate, and at worst it can destroy natural curiosity and self belief. On the other hand, a growth type mindset can help unlock so much of an individual’s potential. That type of ‘possibility thinking’ is essential for success.

What about outside of the classroom? Well, in business we can swap the word ‘child’ for ‘mentee’ and ‘teacher’ for ‘leader’. A real leader will (amongst other things) mentor their team. A real leader will encourage ‘possibility thinking’.

A stagnant, fixed mindset, is likely to be synonymous with unchallenged and unchanging individual and team habits. Habits are those things that we can do without thinking about them, and it’s the ‘without thinking about them’ part that can cause us to just presume that we’ve reached full potential, whereas in actual fact we simply need to do some things differently.

That particular thinking trap is a little bit like how some organisations such as Amazon send notes and ‘prompts’ about things that we may be interested in buying. The predictive algorithms responsible for this can be highly accurate, as they can spot preferences and trends based on our buying history. That’s fine…except that it can lock us into loop of self-referencing procurement. For example, if you are interested in light bulbs and forks, you’ll tend to see a lot of adverts for these. The challenge is that if you rely on these buying ‘prompts’ you may never find out about the wonders of candles and spoons, or indeed heavy bulbs.

(One of my goals is to keep Amazon guessing, which is why my last order included a go-cart, a juicer, a workbench, a fish tank, a popcorn maker, tennis balls, crampons, and a red dress. An added bonus was that it was a great party).

So how can we avoid getting locked into a rigid, fixed mindset, habitual type of thinking? Well, there are several ways to combat that, but one fast and effective way is to utilise the people who have not yet become institutionalised. I can recall one leader who told me that every new employee was encouraged to call out anything that they didn’t understand or were puzzled by. The leader’s reasoning was that seeing things through a fresh pair of eyes was one of the best ways to spot where inefficiencies (and stupidities) had become ‘normalised’ and were so familiar that no one realised that there were better ways of doing things.

So how many people have you got in your team challenging the ‘that’s just the way we do things around here’ mentality’? Creating an environment where people feel comfortable enough to challenge the ‘current thinking’ may lead to some real light bulb moments.

Best wishes
Mike

A link to this month’s podcast can be found below:

https://soundcloud.com/user-786911924/braver-leadership-podcast-6

 

Hello

The new year is now well under way, and it won’t be too long until Spring, in this neck of the woods at least. Traditionally this is a time for new year’s resolutions, which in my opinion, are generally about changing habits. I’m not going to write about resolutions, goals, and habits here, but I do want to ask you a question.

What would you say is the culture of your organisation and/or team?

Does it lean towards the performance end of the spectrum, or towards the political end?

I’ve stopped counting how many times employees, managers and leaders tell me that they don’t like to have to deal with politics. They would all rather get on with the job in an environment which is both challenging and fun.

So where does this political dimension come from? I think the answer is that it can come from different areas and individuals. The challenge is that it can be very destructive, and I think that it is time for bosses, teams and organisations to make a concerted effort to ensure that the dial is consistently turned towards performance and not towards politics. It’s important to differentiate here between social intelligence and politics. There are situations when we have to, for example, choose the right time to give the bad news e.g. not when someone is already blazing mad about something else. That’s more an example of common sense and also of being emotionally intelligent.

The nebulous and destructive beast of politics appears in the shadows, out of the corner of your eye. It’s a beast that loves the murk and the twilight of half truth and innuendo. It favours only fear and chaos and it has no place in a high performing team or business.

There are many things that can be done to tackle a toxic political culture, and many of them would of course have much more impetus if they were supported from those in leadership positions.

However, what one thing could you do, what one thing could we all do tomorrow, to begin the process of moving away from a political culture? (Presuming that you want to move towards, or remain at, the performance end of the spectrum).

Try this out. Whenever you are in a conversation, and you begin taking about someone who is absent from that conversation or meeting, before you speak, ask yourself why you haven’t been in contact with this person about this issue already?

It may be that there has been no time of course, however you may also just catch yourself about to complain, moan, gossip about that person, or criticise them in a way which is quite unbecoming and unprofessional.

Secondly, if you are talking about someone, please ensure that you only say what you would say if they were physically present. And please don’t go down the road of, ‘I’d say this if they were sitting there’, when in actual fact you know fine well that your language, demeanour, body language and tonality would likely change if they actually were present. Respect the person as if they were actually in the room with you.

I believe that cultures are made up from, amongst other things, the habits of the people within that culture. I also believe that if the culture is one where everyone has integrity, it’s harder for the Machiavellian style of politics to flourish.

What then is integrity? Essentially, I think that it is doing what you said you would do, being open and transparent. I also think that it could be described as what we do when we think that no one else is listening and/or observing.

Try it out. Respect the absent. Adopt an approach of high integrity, even when you think that no one is looking.

Best wishes
Mike