A Whole New Mind by Daniel Pink
Mr. Pink broadened my horizons with this book. I went on to listen to another audiobook of his afterward as well. This one ultimately just led me to think about things differently than I was before listening to this audiobook. One major takeaway for me was in regards to the way that we can understand others in the workplace. The author challenged us to have the entire business conduct this practice.
As a manager, it is essential to understand what everyone within the company is experiencing, especially those that directly report. The exercise is called, “A day in the life.”
It’s all about understanding what work is like for your colleagues. Activity with highs, lows, and frustrations. You initially go around took and write in the answers for each person and then at the end, each person whose position it is will reclaim their sheet and shares their true thoughts.
Another thing that I thought was interesting and I intend to begin this year is a birthday gratitude list. This is a simple practice but will undoubtedly shape some of our perspectives in many ways. As we do this each year it will be cool to see the difference between one year and the next, what carries over year after year and what varies? Beyond that, if we are turning 40, those are 40 things that we are grateful for, we more often than not, do not express gratitude for all 40 each day, but we probably should.
Birthday gratitude list: make a gratitude list on your birthday with an item for each year that you possess in your age
I loved this part and implemented it right away. Especially as I follow up the note that I took about gratitude, we are fortunate to have challenges in our lives.
Get around roadblocks
Example: “I’d like to eat better but I’m surrounded by sugary snacks.”
Replace but with and
This makes it active
So, change it to, “I’d like to eat better AND I’m surrounded by sugary snacks.”
Now what? Now, we have the sugary snacks around us and we must react, we must respond. Now, because we use “and” and not “but” we have to address the issue, there is no excuse.
