Flexible Thinking

My last tip was inspired by my youngest family member beginning kindergarten. My question, “where do you need to suit up and show up?” resonated with many of you and I was happy to receive a number of reply notes and comments. I always appreciate your feedback.

For this week’s tip we return to the classroom… If you are a parent you are probably familiar with the importance and the process of teaching your child “flexible thinking.”

What do you think about when you see the term flexible thinking?

How does flexible thinking show up in your life? Is it a skill you actually work to develop?

Flexible thinking is listed as one of the all-important executive functioning skills and is considered a critical skill for learning and living well in everyday life.

At a glance, flexible thinking:

• Allows us to switch gears and look at things from a different perspective
• Requires the ability to “unlearn” old ways of doing things
• Plays a key role in all types of learning. (Remember, embracing change and continuously learning were listed as critical skills in the HTA 2018 Workplace Trends Forecast.)

It’s pretty easy to think, “Oh yeah, I got that. I’m good.” Or, maybe you think “man, I wish there was more of that today.” There doesn’t seem to be much flexibility in the national dialogue, does there?

While flexible thinking is a teaching focus of elementary school teachers, it is equally important for adults to challenge ourselves and check in on how we are thinking…..

Consider a couple of my recent coaching conversations:

• The managing director whose Sr. Level team members refuse to have face to face conversations with other members of the team.
• A director who shouts “No, that won’t work” before the individual has finished speaking their idea.
• The meeting that didn’t go as planned due to an executive-level attendee who monopolized the agenda with irrelevant ramblings.

Can you relate to any of these? They all three present demoralizing situations for those involved and the ripple effect can be large. We will continue to explore this topic in a couple of future tips but in the meantime remember that we basically have two types of thoughts when things don’t go our way:

1) flexible thoughts – which can help us stay calm, think clearly and make healthy choices

2) inflexible thoughts – which can allow anger to root, cloud our thinking and lead to choices with unpleasant consequences.

I opt for #1 – how about you?

As always, I welcome your thoughts and ideas.