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5 Simple Exercises to Break your
Patterns
Contributed by Gijs van Wulfen on May 27, 2015 in General
It is not the strongest of the species that
survives , nor the most intelligent that
survives . It is the one that is the most
adaptable to change.
This wonderful quote of Leon C. Megginson is
still so relevant in our fast changing world.
That’s why it’s important for you to break
your routines once in a while and be
innovative at work. In practice however we’re pretty much stuck in our habits.
Why is it so difficult to break our routines? It’s hard because our brain is programmed to
recognize patterns and to respond automatically. That’s why you don’t think anymore on
“how to drive a car,” “which route to take to the office,” or “how to log in to your computer.”
The Indian business tycoon, Azim Premji, once said, “When the rate of change outside is
more than what is inside, be sure that the end is near.” So, learning to break your patterns is
essential in leading your organization to change. First of all, I like to suggest 5 simple
practical exercises to help you become aware of your pattern:
Try to write with your other hand, just for one minute. Do you notice how strange
and difficult this actually is…
Take a different daily route to work. You will be amazed what you discover on your
way.
Wear your watch on your other hand for a day. It will feel strange, which is a great
reminder for you to be more flexible.
Go to your favorite restaurant. Now really look around and observe. You will see things
you really never noticed before.
Reach out to one new person per day at work during a week. Pick once person a
day, you never talked to before, reach out to him or her and ask them what’s on their mind.
Of course these exercises only make you aware of how strong your habits are. Once you
became aware of them and your mind is open for change, you might take it a step further.
You have similar habits in your work: in the way you design your products/services, the way
you deliver them to (internal) customers and the way you work together with your
colleagues. Start to stimulate breakthrough thinking at work, by asking yourself (or your
team) questions like:
What would we do if we were a new start-up company?
What would we do if we had unlimited access to money and resources?
Or if we had on the other hand no access to money or resources at all?
What would Google do?
What would we do if the law would forbid our present products/services?
Be sure to defer your judgment and to elaborate on the ideas that emerge instead of killing
them right away.
If at first the idea is not absurd, then there is no hope for it. – Albert Einstein
About Gijs van Wulfen
Gijs van Wulfen (1960; Dutch) is a keynote speaker on innovation and the founder of the FORTH
innovation method, a proven structured way to ideate new products, services and business models. He is
a LinkedIn Influencer with more than 260,000 followers worldwide and he was chosen in the top 10 of the
International Top 40 Innovation Bloggers 3 years in a row. He is a best selling author on innovation with
his latest book titled "The Innovation Expedition: A Visual Toolkit to Start Innovation."
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