Vision Stuck?

Why is it so easy to miss part of an illusion?   Check out the Mask of Love, in the Best Illusion of the Year Contest. Did you find yourself viewing the solution or looking at the animated version before you saw more than one vision?

I'm still curious about the couple ready to kiss. No matter how hard I tried, I missed seeing them inside the "mask."  That led me to look at the solution. Did you experience that, too?  Once your brain perceives both solutions it easily flips from The Mask of Love or the couple about to kiss. But the lesson here goes a bit deeper.  How so?

When leaders do not see other views in business interactions, they miss opportunities.  For example, when Goal-Free Living, was featured on the cover of O, The Oprah Magazine,  publicity connected to Oprah nearly killed Stephen Shapiro's business. Though Stephen moved his vision 90 degrees, for radical new possibilities, many of his clients were unable to shift more than 5 degrees from their narrow view or stuck position as Shipiro now did.

Because he had an innovative vision, Stephen Shipiro capitalized on national publicity to shift-up content and open different distribution channels.  Sadly, his clients fell into a routine, so they missed greater opportunities through Steve's bigger vision.

Curiosity opens your awareness.  Ready for adventures to arise?

What Do Looks Have to Do with Success?

Good looks impact success

Good looks provide people with a wow factor that overwhelmingly lands the job, promotion and raise. That's because good-looking people charm interviewers, get hired faster and are more likely to make more sales, Sue Shellenbarger of  Wall Street Journal points out.

"Attractive people are likely to earn an average of 3% to 4% more than a person with below-average looks.  That adds up to $230,000 over a lifetime, Daniel Hamermesh, an economics professor at University of Texas claims.  "Even an average-looking worker is likely to make $140,000 more over a lifetime than an ugly worker."

Not that much alters attraction, Hamermesh claims.  Though looks can be altered by clothing, cosmetics and other short-term investments, effects are minor.  Surgery pays back less than $1 for every $1 spent, but you might feel better overall.

Unfair, but why are people attracted to good looks?

People focus more on people they find attractive, recent research shows. And, individuals tend to view beautiful people as more intelligent, friendly and competent than others.  Participants in a recent University of British Colombia study were able to "order" personality traits of attractive people more accurately than others.  Traits examined were: agreeableness, conscientiousness, extraversion, neuroticism, and openness.

Personality Traits Influence Attractiveness in the Eye of the Beholder

Women and men, who display honesty and helpfulness are perceived as better looking.  In contrast, people who are rude and treat others unfairly appear to be less attractive.  This shows that cognitive processes and expectations modify judgments of attractiveness. It pays to develop your interpersonal intelligence.

Too Good Looking?

In some cases, you can be too good looking for your own good, and it works against you, Heidi Halvorson reports.  Being beautiful can cause jealousy and a variety of other emotional responses in others, even in universities where we would least expect it.  Advantages of being beautiful don't guarantee greater successes.

Not too surprisingly, "attractive applicants for a graduate scholarship received more favorable ratings from opposite-sex raters, psychologist Maria Agthe found, "but not from same-sex raters. Men were not necessarily impressed by another man's handsomeness, whereas women actually penalized female applicants for beauty.

Countering Attractiveness Bias

What if... applicants solicit peers' advice on ways to stand out during interviews?

What if... you spend time developing your interpersonal intelligence?

What if... you consider a conservative, professional look if interviewer is of the same sex?

What if... leaders are more aware of their own biases when promoting someone?  Ask how much a person's looks influence you.

What if... you question your own reasoning?

Collaboration Revs Results

Bantering ideas back and forth triggered new insights for me and four other leaders around around the table.  Innovative possibilities spoken helped us see past familiar approaches to consider the experimental.  At times ideas were spoken so quickly it was hard to keep up!

Intellectual bantering takes energy and focus. Intellectual bantering led all of us to shape a new product based on joint input. How does that happen?

The session was disruptive since we named insights as we experienced "ahas."  Ellen Weber introduced a "Talking Stick," with the rule that the person holding the stick was the only one who could speak. But we blurted our "ahas," bypassing the rules.  Sharing novel ideas before "losing them" seemed a priority. The talking stick just didn't work this time around. Brains in high gear can't easily be reigned in.  Our disruptive session resulted in plans for an innovative product.

Why does unconventionality work?

New Associations Since the five of us were from unrelated fields, we came with a variety of questions, other than those usually asked.  Our perspectives were vastly different and from the onset, we knew our brains approached problems uniquely.

Novelty Three leaders outside our field, with different talents, knowledge and experience came at what we do at the Mita Brain Center with very unique suggestions... completely outside our box. Our brains leaped to possibilities with new targets in mind.

Pull While it's so easy to default to favorite approaches or wisdom learned along the way, we were forced by the "pull" to sail in new seas. Visiting leaders introduced us to The Power of Pull: How Small Moves, Smartly Made, Can Set Big Things in Motion, by John Hagel III, John Seely Brown and Lang Davison. We continually challenged one another, leading us to rely on working memory throughout the session.  The working memory, holds very few bits of new information.  I outsourced ideas by jotting them down so I could research them more after our session.

Energy Each one of us came to the table with a passion to innovate.  As the team kept firing questions, we explored possibilities for a joint product.  Through this framework, the five of us considered what's broken in bureaucracies to develop a tangible product that's needed.

Shape Future meetings are on the docket, and we look forward to reviewing initial blueprints.  We've exchanged several emails wondering how this or that piece might be helpful.   Big ideas were shaping themselves, prepping us for our next meeting.

The human brain comes wired for cooperation.  Getting together with leaders outside our field launched a mutual dance.  Beginning steps carried the rhythm of promise.  Now we anticipate next steps together and where this leads.

Patience

Losing it! If you sort and review all Tweets referring to patience, you'll find a majority speak of losing patience, or needing more patience.  Why do so many people lose it daily?

Flying in the fast lane Seems like the pace of life's more like a sixty-yard dash than a marathon. On the job,  individuals are asked to do more. Naturally folks rush at what they do to fit more into a day. Frazzled feelings and impatience results in rushing. So even more time's needed to reach daily targets. That's not too surprising since adrenaline races through your body and without even realizing it, you're in "fight or flight" mode. Not only does rushing wear you out, it ages you prematurely.

Power of distractions Little joy's present - when folks rush. No wonder diversions bring momentary pleasure and relieve stress. A conversation with a buddy, daydreaming about a vacation getaway or simply doodling diverts focus from repetitive tasks. Whoa... diversions create more stress by taking away precious time. Consequently, folks must break a world record finish time to complete their laps for the team project by the deadline.

What is patience? "Simply put, it's the art of learning to wait and then of turning that waiting time into something good for you. Of course, this isn't always easy, not even close. Whether it's waiting for something good, like a birthday party, or dealing with deep pain like the death of a loved one, patience is all about time."

10 tactics to grow patience  Try one or many on for size... 

1. Daily targets - help organize your time. Jot them on a daily planner or list them on your phone. See if you get the same pleasure as me as you check these off. I learned to manage my time more efficiently when I began doing this daily. See how these work for you.

2. Hourly beeps - can focus attention and steer you clear of distractions.  You will get more done and have time for activities you enjoy at the end of a day.

3. Exert more wait power "Instead of exerting our willpower to get everything done as fast as possible," Boston Globe columnist Deborah Kotz points out, "we need to exert more 'wait power,'" as described in The Power of Patience, a best seller by M.J. Ryan.  "If not an intrinsic part of your personality, this habit -- like all others -- must be practiced and learned slowly over time," Kotz notes. "What better time to start, though, than this week, which would try the patience of even the calmest souls?"

4. Sleep's dividends - When you feel well-rested, "you have more energy, mental clarity, resilience for the hard things, patience, and wholehearted caring for others," neuropsychologist Rick Hanson notes.  Sleep primes your body and brain.  How much capital did you deposit in your sleep bank this week?

5. Power through knowing Most people are not aware of the events that drain patience. By writing to know you can be your own change agent. If you are willing to journal about losing it, you can develop a personal patience process.  Try a short paragraph daily so that it's quick and easy!

6. Three deep breaths When you feel you are losing patience concentrate on breathing deeply at least three times.  This takes focus off the problem and gives you a chance to step back and calm down.

7. Be attentive to events causing you to lose it   As you tune in more you can tune out by physically stepping back. Try smiling or say, "Let me think about that more and I'll get back to you."  More thought on your part will help you gain needed patience.

8. Baroque music Baroque's pace equals that of your heartbeats as you work at your desk.  See if it helps you pick up the pace of your work as it does for me.  Baroque helps you focus!

9. Picture your caricature  Imagine yourself as a cartoon character when you lose patience and how you'd prefer to be caricatured.  Begin to live the new reality.

10. Act opposite of problem Dr. Ellen Weber shows how stress masks as savior and strikes as killer. Your ability to spot good plummets with the cortisol chemicals’ effects from stress. While you’ll be typically hit with about 22 stressors on any ordinary day, it takes an awareness of stress to use serotonin strategies for well being in response to daily stress strikes. Ellen lists 10 brainpowered pathways away from stress.

Brainfire for Twitter

Brainfire for Twitter

"Don't let Twitter rewire your brain," Connected Manager, Wayne Tramel advises on the heels of a fast-paced and adventurous interview with Dr. Ellen Weber, of the Mita Brain Center. "If it feels like all social media and online communications managers use is somehow changing us, you're right. The way most of us work in the constant world of "tweetfacelinkblogging" can literally make you crazy," Wayne points out.

At the end of the day, the human brain is not static, nor is this interview. For options to wire your brain intentionally rather than letting Twitterverse reshape it for you, tune in Cranky Middle Manager Show titled, Inside the Brains of Slugs.

Enterprising

Enterprising

"I'm planning to start a business to earn more money," the fifteen-year-old boy shared confidently.  "I'm not earning all I need with just my paper route."

"What kind of business do you plan to start," I responded inquisitively.

"A snow shoveling service."

"How will you get customers, Kelby," I quizzed, since I was very anxious to see how much he thought this through.

"I'm planning to send a letter to five of my paper route customers at a time."  I will tell them if they want their driveways clean on the mornings we get a snow fall, I am willing to come and shovel their driveways.

"Wow, Kelby, that's a lot of work. Do you think you can get up that early to get to their homes and do the shoveling before school?"

"Yes, that's why I only want about five customers.  I could only handle that many.  If some of the first five people do not want my service, I will send letters out to five more."

6 enterprising ways Kelby designed his business:

1. saw the big picture.  Kelby thought through the possibilities of a feasible business in his community.
2. planned well ahead of the winter season.
3. built on his successful paper route inventively.  He'd received ongoing tips for his dependable work so paper route customers knew his character.
4. figured out how he could get customers with a ingenuous marketing scheme.
5. problem-solved to fit the work into a narrow time frame.
6. did not take on more than he knew he could handle.

When so many college students are unable to find work after they graduate, it does not look any better for a teen Kelby's age in the economic climate ahead.  It is refreshing to see Kelby's start-up approaches in action, since he's building problem-solving savvy no matter what he intends to do in life.  This gives him opportunity to gain business experience at a young age and prepare himself for future applications.

Enterprising skills are so needed in the 21st century.  Think creatively about how each of us can support our youth to prepare.