When change and transition are upon us, I can’t stress enough the importance of thinking differently; of using novel approaches to deal with and face what the change or transition presents. We’ve spent the past two weeks exploring strategies that help us think differently in times of change: irreverent thinking and new style of thinking (or thinking beyond the conventional). This week’s strategy is innovativeness and while similar to irreverent thinking and new style of thinking, it provides a slightly different twist giving yet another way to stay sane and positive amidst the change.
By definition, an innovation is the introduction of something new (idea, method, process, service, product, or device) that by using, allows one to do something different. There are many lists of notable innovators. My personal list includes Christiann Barnard, Florence Nightingale and Alexander Fleming for influencing the world of medicine; Archimedes, Marie Curie, Albert Einstein and the Wright Brothers for altering the direction of science; Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, and Mark Zuckerberg for revolutionizing technology; and, Alexander Graham Bell, Thomas Edison, Benjamin Franklin, and Henry Ford for transforming the status quo. So, what does all this have to do with dealing with change and transition? Just as those on my personal list of innovators had to look at common items and see something different, so must we if the expectation is to positively and successfully ‘survive’ the changes and transitions that we encounter.
Innovativeness requires us to think across borders and through boundaries. Innovativeness is a way of thinking that questions and challenges prevailing thought and opens us up to numerous solutions rather than just the way something has always been done. Innovativeness permits us to exceed our own expectations. When we are innovative, we are creative. When we are creative, we think “outside the box;” we use our imagination. Thinking or acting in an innovative way and with a purpose may be just what it takes to propel us through the change and its transitions to a new beginning.
The nine dots puzzle (challenge is to connect the dots by drawing four straight, continuous lines through each of the nine dots without lifting the pencil from the paper) is frequently used to demonstrate the need to think outside the box because one of the many solutions to the puzzle is to go beyond the boundaries of the area created by the nine dots to link all dots in four straight, continuous lines. (See end of post for puzzle solution.)
I tried to use ‘out of the box thinking’ when I was a classroom teacher. Once when teaching a middle school math class to a group of special education students (I was giving coming attractions to a class on what was next in math) everyone moaned and groaned when I mentioned fractions. “They’re hard,” I would hear. Others offered, “I’ve never been able to understand fractions.” So one day, during a language arts class, I had the students read a recipe and make the recipe (we made no bake candy). I made sure one group had to half the ingredients and another decrease their recipe by a quarter. While the students indulged in their final products, I did a lesson summary and announced that they had just used fractions to make their candy. “No way,” I heard. “That was easy.” Indeed, I told them, fractions are easy once we know the trick to handling them. By providing the class with a creative activity, it took no time for their pre-conceived notions and fears about fractions to fade away.
Thinking creatively, thinking in an innovative way allows us to overcome the fear we might experience with the change/transition. Being innovative also helps us avoid getting into a rut with our thinking; it helps create a new routine with our way of thinking about and approaching what faces us. If you really want to be successful in the changed environment, you must change the routine way of doing things so that the results are different and meet the desire needs or goals.
This strategy of innovativeness also helps us deal with change and transition because it challenges us to put aside comfortable habits and try something new (both of which are vital to remain sane and positive in times of change and transition). The shift from our comfort zone may have us falling back and relying on old habits rather than trying something new. In conducting workshops on change, I frequently have participants do an activity that illustrates how habits interfere with listening. For example, I might say, “Papa Bull, Mama Bull, and Baby Bull are out in the pasture. Baby Bull gets hurt. Who does Baby Bull run to for help?” Most will answer, “Mama Bull” coming from a stereotypical view and a traditional habit of thinking that children will first run to their moms for help. What they fail to realize is there are no female bulls, so baby bull would run to Papa Bull.
How can we cultivate this strategy, this skill of innovativeness? Here are a few techniques. (More can be found in the book Facing the Sunshine and Avoiding the Shadows: Strategies to Stay Sane and Positive amid Change.)
- Practice seeing things differently. A cloud is just a cloud is just a cloud. Not so. Really look at clouds. There are so many different shapes and figures. I frequently can see dragons, dinosaurs, faces, and flowers. Cloud “art” is a great way to get one’s mind to think differently about things. After ‘floating in the clouds’ for a while, return to reality and apply the technique to the situation at hand.
Just a cloud or angel wings?
- Develop a creative uses for common things list. Take an object and think of all the potential uses for it: traditional, standard, absurd, silly. For example, ice cube trays can also be used to organize jewelry, office supplies, small Christmas ornaments, and small items. (An egg carton can serve the same purpose.) Muffin tins can become a caddy for craft, sewing, or other small items. Think about gift boxes. They can also be used as pull out “drawers” in deep cupboards; small boxes can be used to store paper clips, pencils, etc. in drawers. They also double as cupcake carriers (cut crosses into the box lid or bottom). This is a wonderful activity to get the creative juices flowing.
- Have a sounding board. Talk through ideas that address the issue or situation. Throw out one idea and ask a friend to add something to it. (Remember Drew Carey’s show Whose Line Is It Anyway? They did routines where someone would begin a story and when a sound was made that person stopped talking and the next person would have to continue the story. A similar technique will work wonders for generating creative ideas.)
4. Ask a young child for suggestions. Children are naturally unconventional thinkers. When trying to be innovative, a young child’s take on an issue (presented to them in a way they would understand) might provides a spark of creativity that provides just what is need for the issue at hand.
Because how we think and approach change is so vital, try being innovative the next time you struggle with a change or transition in your life. Question and challenge prevailing thought and the status quo. Shake things up by thinking outside the box. Tap into your inner child and use your imagination. You will be surprised and pleased by the results.
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Example of a solution to the nine-dot puzzle, showing how one must go outside the boundaries of the dots to successfully solve the puzzle.
Author Becky Johnen 