Sunday, August 14, 2011

Feeling Uncomfortable Yet?

We tend to pay attention to the things we can relate to, things we can see and things that are familiar to us.
These "attention" triggers get us going.  We know our frame of reference, know how to solve the problem; or address the situation that has arisen.

We either judge it, try to fix it, take pride in it or ignore it.

We do this all in a blink of an eye.  We know what to do with these triggers. We do what we have always done; we take some action within the confines of what we know.

But what about those triggers that are unfamiliar?

Those that we cannot see or those to which we cannot relate to; those that are new and provide us with very little frame of reference to find a solution.

What do we do with these?  Over a period of time, we have no choice but to step back from them and try to find a more familiar angle from which to view the situation.

When we are unable to do this we get uncomfortable; feel a bit worn down and may even question our own problem solving ability.  The desire to "get out of there" also starts to resonate in our brain.

But if we don't let you out and force you to deal with this uncomfortable situation, then you have to come up with a new way of looking at the situation.

This causes you to start eliminating what you have always thought, believed or felt.

Not surprisingly, this automatically puts you into a new way of thinking, of looking at problems, of examining potential solutions to the situation and being more creative then you ever have before.

What would happen if you made your employees uncomfortable by challenging them to think of new solutions to new problems?

You might just be able to come up with some ideas for new products and services which will create new revenue streams.Wouldn't that be cool?

Now go make somebody uncomfortable.