Inspired careers...                   Newsletter    Issue 3

Hello and welcome back!  This monthly missive from Career Wisdom aims to inform and provoke thought, inspiration and hopefully, action!  It is dedicated to you and your career satisfaction.  This issue has a focus on the way you think.

Feature Article – Thinking of thought

Two events led me to choosing this theme for this article.  One was a book that I have just finished reading (refer below in Riveting Resources).  The other was a business challenge that my husband and I were trying to overcome.  Our library at home is stuffed with books on personal development of all kinds, many of which advocate the power of the mind, what you think about comes about, change your thinking - change your life, etc.  Plus plenty of other books, which quote the classics, on these same themes.

So it was ironic that we sat in the office, amongst this collective wisdom on our bookshelves, with what one author refers to as "stinkin' thinkin'" !  We were getting negative, thinking unclearly, and had hit an impasse in our problem solving.  No small wonder, as we had closed off many avenues of assistance.

A combination of events - some encouraging words from a close friend, the titles of spines of books leaping out at us, and a break with a cup of tea (this alone can do wonders) saw us starting to tap back into our creativity and possibility thinking.  "Ok", we said.  "Accepting all that has been said...how could we make this work."  As scribe, I then got active with the whiteboard and markers and together we came up with 7 new ways to tackle the problem.  Not only that, but we felt better - more empowered, no longer mere victims-of-circumstance.

I'm sure that you can relate to similar experiences yourself. Our thinking can serve us, or do us in.  Your challenge this month, (if you decide to accept it) is to become aware of your thinking. Catch yourself when you start to use your brain in a way that doesn't serve you.  And while you're at it, why not look towards your creative side and embrace some activities to encourage your creativity to flourish. 

Photo used with kind permission - Neil Gould (www.sxc.hu)

Riveting Resources:

"A Whole New Mind", by Daniel H. Pink. I loved this book. Probably partly due to seeing myself as a 'right brain' kind of person, it gives credence to the belief that we can't live with 'left brain' logic and analytical thinking, alone.  The author points out that we are moving from the Information Age, to the Conceptual Age. In this new era, 'left brain' dominance is giving way to a new world in which 'right brain' qualities - inventiveness, empathy, meaning - predominate.  So for all those parents out there hoping your kids will go for a "good job" in law, accounting, software engineering....Daniel Pink gives a different and enlightening view.  With the outsourcing of such work overseas (much more cheaply), our world is shifting fast.  In his book, he describes six aptitudes which need to be developed to succeed in the Conceptual Age. Far from being a 'touchy / feely'  kind of book, it is written with realism and backed up by studies and examples. Great reading.

Facts and Stats:      

Presenteeism, describes a situation of lost productivity cost, attributed to employees actually showing up for work, but not being fully engaged or productive (due to personal / life issues).  It is estimated that presenteeism accounts for as much as 61% of an employees total lost productivity and medical costs. In other words, presenteeism is more costly than absenteeism.  (New Cornell University study, April 2004, Journal of Occupational and Environental Medicine.) 

And I quote:

No amount of energy will take the place of thought. A strenuous life with its eyes shut is a kind of wild insanity. 

~ Henry Van Dyke

Until next time, I wish you good thinking and creativity!

Lois