Making change work for you

In my previous column I stressed the need to adopt a creative and positive approach to the rapid changes occurring in our social and business environments, In this column I am going to concentrate on practical methods to ensure that change does not become an intimidating enemy but rather an ally in your quest for personal fulfilment.

"Management," implies control and "creative," suggests a new approach. Are we really capable of controlling change in a new and innovative way? You can bet on it, and this is how it can be done.

It is a fallacy that some people are born to be innovators while others are destined to be implementers. All of us have the ability to think creatively; we simply have to discover a new way of thinking.

Change need never be the enemy. In fact it can nearly always be your friend.

Jill Hamlyn, MD of The People Business

What then are the characteristics of an innovator? Broadly speaking a creative person has the following profile:

• .         An unerringly optimistic outlook on life.
• .         A strong sense of adventure, actively seeking new experiences.
• .         Quickly becomes bored with routine.
• .         Prefers action to endless planning and debate.
• .         Alert, observant and intensely curious in everything happening around them.
• .         Enthusiastic, positive and resilient.
• .         Prepared to take risks.

It appears to be common human behaviour that we tend to manufacture artificial and imaginary hindrances to all facets of our mental ability. In terms of creativity, these self-imposed obstacles include:

• .         A slavish commitment to logic and practical thinking.
• .         An unwillingness to question tradition or rules.
• .         An overwhelming fear of failure.
• .         An aversion to having fun, exploring new territory and being unconventional.
• .         A belief that only artists, musicians, inventors and eccentrics can be creative.

All it really takes to discover and unleash your inherent creativity is a change of attitude.

I am not engaging in psycho-babble when I promise that if you really believe the following facts, then you will experience an amazing improvement in your ability to think creatively.

• .         Understand and accept that your brain is as capable of responding to creative thinking as anybody else`s. It is your preconditioned thinking, prejudices and learned behaviour which limit you, not the construction of your brain.
• .         Furthermore, IQ (a misleading and unsatisfactory measurement of intelligence) has little to do with creativity. Instead, it is your emotional intelligence (EQ) which determines creativity. Nobody is "too dumb" to think creatively. Consider the fantastic imagination of all children!
• .         Believe that your ideas are as valuable as those of your colleagues or bosses. Ignore the inference that you are not paid to think.
• .         Explore reasons why even the most outlandish of your ideas could work before even beginning to contemplate why they won`t be practical or appropriate.
• .         Pay no attention to people (or the voice within) who don`t believe that you could possibly invent a new way of doing things.
• .         Be prepared to make mistakes.
• .         Be determined to have fun.

Having discovered that you too can be creative, the next step is to develop your creative faculties to their optimum capacity. Utilising your new-found belief in your capabilities, apply the following approach:

• .         Be passionate! Passionate abut learning, passionate about experiencing new things and passionate about yourself.
• .         Develop acute powers of observation. Look at familiar concepts and practices in a completely new light and find ways to improve them.
• .         Assume responsibility for gaining formal and informal education.
• .         Delve into areas beyond your immediate scope of employment and be receptive to different mindsets. Revel in the stimulation of being way beyond your comfort zone.
• .         Tackle all those tasks which you previously believed were too different for you to handle and discover the vast capacity of your brain.
• .         Encourage and listen to your intuition.

Primarily out of ignorance and fear, many people tend to instantly condemn change without bothering to objectively evaluate its merits. Before falling into this trap, endeavour to understand the need, circumstances or motivations for transition. If you are still not convinced about its merits, try to influence the decision to the best of your abilities. If this fails, don`t waste energy on negative reactions. Commit all your efforts to finding positive and workable solutions based on fact, not on uninformed prejudice.

Instead of avoiding change and never venturing beyond the familiar, actively seeking change in even the smallest aspects of your life. You will soon become accustomed to the stimulation and mental refreshment which it brings.

Sometimes change can mean hardship and suffering. It is my experience, however, that even change which initially seems to be undesirable can bear hidden benefits. I can find no better illustration of this philosophy than in a parable related by Anthony de Mello in his delightful book, "One Minute Wisdom".

"Each day a bird would shelter in the withered branches of a tree that stood on the middle of a vast deserted plain. One day a whirlwind uprooted the tree, forcing the bird to fly a hundred miles in search of shelter - till it finally came to a forest of fruit-laden trees.

"If the withered tree had survived, nothing would have induced the bird to give up its security and fly."

Change need never be the enemy. In fact it can nearly always be your friend. A simple change in attitude, an enquiring mind and the realisation that you have at your disposal virtually limitless creative abilities, will allow you to make change work for you.