By Lisa Hochgraf
How often do you get out of your usual habits and think or take action in new ways? If you're like most of us, you don't do this all that often.
During CUES' all-staff strategic brainstorming session in April, session co-leader Scott Isaksen (the guru who leads The Creative Problem-Solving Group, Buffalo, N.Y.) had us all try two exercises to illustrate our habits--and the idea that we could choose to break with them at times.
You can try these, too.
First, Isaksen asked everyone to sign their names using first their "accustomed" hand (for me, that's my right) and then their "unaccustomed" hand. Here's what my result looked like. While both hands were able to do the job, I think it's pretty clear which hand was more comfortable with this task!
The second exercise was to fold our hands with the fingers of one hand intwined with the fingers of the other, kind of like kids do for the "church and steeple" game. And then to carefully refold them with the other thumb on top. Refolding was surprisingly difficult and uncomfortable.
It's not good to ask people to spend too much time outside of their deepest habits, Isaksen emphasized, and yet all of us can do so for a time when it's needed. When's the last time you bent your usual approach for a while? What was the outcome?
Lisa Hochgraf is a CUES editor.
Read about successful brainstorming, based on ideas from these all-staff sessions, in this CU Insight article by CUES President/CEO Chuck Fagan.
Read other Skybox posts from the all-staff sessions here and here.
