Team building has become somewhat of a buzz word in corporate circles over the past few years. Many corporate event planners toss the term ‘corporate team building’ around willy-nilly as part of their marketing talk – but their events don’t always live up to the team building promise. For an event to actually transform and cement new ways of working together, it has to offer more than just lip service and a group trip to go fly-fishing.
Successful corporate team building events have a number of elements in common:

1. The opportunity to see the roadblocks to successful communication and teamwork

2. The chance to see co-workers in unfamiliar roles and situations

3. The necessity to work together toward a common goal

4. The support needed to forge productive new ways of working together

Good corporate event planners take those cut-and-dried concepts and turn them into a fun learning experience. The true geniuses in the corporate event world can create amazing and transforming events that will shake up your organization and wake up inspiration that you never knew existed in your company. Experienced planners of team building events know how to bring your coworkers and employees together in new ways that highlight the strengths you know they have, and show them how to use those strengths to build a solid service or production team that simply can’t be beat.

Teambuild, a norwegian company that specializes in corporate events and group tours, explains that team building challenges can be beneficial in highlighting how work obstacles are overcome by working together. Among the great teambuilding they offer is group tours in the norwegian wilderness, where cooperation to reach the goals is a must. Supervised by professionals.

Other companies plan ‘Service Days’ that may include building a children’s playground for charity or doing work for a local charity. In any case, the value of the day is in the lessons carried home at its end – that the team can overcome anything by getting to know each other and working together – as a team with unique members.

Det er helt riktig! Å forstå tyngden i det å trenene på holdninger vil du kunne øke produktiviteten til bedrift din.

Ved århundreskiftet pleide det å være vanlig at ansatte fikk vite at de kunne komme seg opp og frem i organisasjonen hvis de koblet av hjernen deres ved inngangen. For å komme seg fremover ble ansatte oppfordret til bare å gjøre som arbeidsgiver dikterte og ikke tenke for mye mens de gjorde jobben sin.

Med kompleksitetene i dagens multi- teknologiske arbeidsmiljø, kan ansatte og gründere avansere mye ved å ta en kikk på og legge igjen dårlige holdninger i døra og ta på seg et positivt tankesett.

Vi har gått fra arbeiderrobotikk, til arbeiderneurotikk. Ansatte må nå transformere fra å stole på sin egen IQ til selvtillit på egen EQ (emosjonell intelligens). Den raskeste måten å tilegne seg emosjonell intelligens er så enkelt som å lære å kontrollere ens holdninger.

Hva er en holdning? Holdning er disposisjon, væremåte; det er en måte å gjøre ting på. Det er ånden som ligger til grunn for vår oppførsel. Det er den bærende og rett og slett følelsen vi har med handlingene våre og temperamentet som definerer hvem vi er og hva vi gjør. Mens en god holdning antyder en omsorgsfull, positiv og oppegående tilnærming, blir en dårlig holdning assosiert med uhøflig, frekk og negativ oppførsel. Dårlige holdninger i en organisasjon kan bli en solid kraft å kjempe mot, noe som kan føre kunder og gode ansatte bort fra organisasjonen. Det som ofte skjer når arbeidsgivere fortsetter med å nedbemanne, slå sammen og effektivisere kostnader – ofte fremskaffet av teknologi – blir de ansatte fanget i et emosjonelt press, og litt trening i riktig retning kan utgjøre en stor forskjell for videre drift.

Hvordan endrer vi holdningene til ansatte og frustrerte gründere? Et treningsprogram om holdninger er en perfekt løsning. Riktig opplæringsprogram kan bidra til å fremme et mer positivt arbeidsmiljø for alle ansatte, øke ansattes moral, forbedre ytelsen og produktiviteten til organisasjonen, eller plassere gründere i de situasjonene som er nødvendig for å lykkes.

Å overvinne det første hinderet – å navngi treningsprogrammet. Når du vil endre en persons holdninger ved å tilby trening, burde et kurs nevnes på en måte som skaper begeistring og inspirasjon til å delta. Obligatorisk holdningstrening forårsaker for eksempel automatisk harme og motstand. Noen personer vil si at de ikke har en dårlig holdning, hvorfor prøver de å fikse meg, eller hva gjorde jeg galt for å være med på dette programmet. Om en liker det eller ikke, er det menneskets natur å tenke det verste om denne typen trening. Det sentrer seg rundt noe ganske sentralt i oss som mennesker, så det er kanskje ikke så rart vi har «guarden» oppe når vi presenteres for denne type ting. Det er derfor lite hensiktsmessig å bruke titlene på denne type seminarer som: «Hvordan endre holdningene dine» eller « hvordan endre holdninger i dine ansatte», vi liker alle å tro at holdningene våre er mer eller mindre eksemplariske. Seminartitler som “Hvordan bli motivert hele tiden” eller “Hvordan bli bedre i alt det du gjør” fungerer bra.

Det er nyttig å sette et mål på viktige holdninger du vil endre med treningen. Det er også nyttig å ta stilling til at denne innsatsen ikke bare er opplæring av ansatte, men langsiktig utvikling fordi du ønsker å endre atferd på sikt. Du burde vurdere den nåværende situasjonen i organisasjonen eller virksomheten din som fører til at du ønsker å endre de ansatte eller dine egne holdninger. Still spørsmålene: Hvilken oppførsel oppstår som er symptomatisk for dårlige holdninger? Det kan være at du har observert eller opplevd atferd som korte frister, dårlig kundebehandling eller respektløs behandling av andre, noe som kan føre til at du konkluderer med at holdningstrening vil være til nytte for din organisasjon. En kort undersøkelse (ved hjelp av en noe som er målbart) av ansatte for eksempel før opplæring, da fungerer det godt med spørsmål som angår hvordan de ser på det nåværende miljøet og deres egen atferd. Den samme undersøkelsen kan administreres flere måneder etter at opplæringen har blitt administrert for å se hvilke gevinster som er oppnådd.

Hva er innholdet for effektiv holdningstrening?

Enkeltpersoner vil kunne glede seg over opplæring som er relevant for hele livet, ikke bare på arbeidsplassen. Opplæring skal være interaktiv og deltakende og bruke praktiske eksempler for læring, fokusere på individet og deretter organisasjonen. Treningsmål for deltakerne: Det er ikke sikkert du liker jobben din eller andre rundt deg. Det kan hende du ikke en gang kan endre posisjonen eller situasjonen din. Kanskje føler du på begrenset eller mindre utviklingsmuligheter der du nå befinner deg. Men den ene tingen du kan endre er din egen holdning.

Du kan ikke være i stand til å kontrollere følelsene dine, men du kan kontrollere holdningen din. Holdningsstyring er evnen til å kontrollere hvordan vi utfører følelsene våre.

Noen nyttige elementer i et effektivt holdningstreningsprogram inkluderer:
Egenvurdering og personlig inventar – for å inkludere personlig vurdering av hvor godt en ansatt føler at de samhandler med andre i og utenfor arbeidsmiljøet.

Utvikling av personlig effektivitet – for å inkludere muligheter for deltakere til å visualisere suksess og egne kapasiteter og evner, for å styrke indre ressurser og mental holdning.

Vurdere begrensninger og styrker – for å inkludere å ta et realistisk blikk på begrensninger og styrker og vurdere muligheter for å utnytte personlige styrker. Identifiser de begrensningene som faktisk ikke er forankret, men som påvirker individers evne til fullt ut å bidra, skape eller anvende ferdigheter.

Å forstå dynamikken i positive og negative holdninger – for å inkludere utvikling

Have you ever wondered, while interviewing a candidate, how will you suspend your own personal biases during the interview?  Well, if you have, you might want to read on and learn how to do just that.

Behavioral interviewing is a relatively new mode of job interviewing. Behaviour and attitude at the workplace is increasingly important, and we see an increasing amount of companies also implementing standards for how to map this in an interview. Behaviour interviewing can be an effective tool, and because an increasing numbers of employers are using behavior-based methods to screen job candidates, understanding how to excel in this interview environment is becoming a crucial job-hunting skill. 

What is Behavior Based Interviewing?  Behavior-based interviewing focuses on your past experiences, behaviors, attitudes, personal skills and capacities that are job-related.  It is based on the belief that past behavior and performance predicts future behavior and performance.  You may use work experience, outsides activities, hobbies, volunteer work, school projects, family life as examples of your past behavior.  However we suggest to focus on job related performance as much as possible. And to also remember that attitudes can be trained to some degree. Attitudes for the root of behaviour, so we do belive that people can change, keep that in mind.

Behavioral Interviewing Questions.  This is the key to matching behavioral interviewing questions with specific soft sills or competencies.  Below is a short list of 22 competencies with their definitions, suggestions for effective interviewing hints and a sample question for each.

1.  Conflict Management:  Addressing and resolving conflict constructively.

• Listen for proactive identification and resolution of concerns and issues.

• Sample question:  “Describe the most difficult conflict you’ve ever had to manage.”

2.  Employee Development/Coaching:  Facilitating and supporting the professional growth of others.

• Listen for a belief in the potential of others and promoting of learning and development.

• Sample question:  “Describe your personal experience with a mentor or coach.”

3.  Interpersonal Skills:  Effectively communicating, building rapport and relating well to all kinds of people.

• Listen for self-awareness, understanding and an ability to communicate effectively with others regardless of differences.

• Sample question:  “Describe the most difficult working relationship you’ve had with an individual.”

4.  Teamwork:  Working effectively and productively with other.

• Listen for a strong commitment and contributions to team members working towards a specific goal.

• Sample question:  “Give me an example of one of the most significant contributions you made as a member of a high performing team.”

5.  Self-Management: Demonstrating self-control and an ability to manage time and priorities.

• Listen for composure, assertiveness and emotional stability.

• Sample question:  “Give me an example of when you were able to meet the personal and professional demands in your life, yet still maintained a healthy balance.”

6.  Empathy:  Identifying with and caring about others.

• Listen for genuine caring, compassion and initiative in assisting others without expectations of rewards.

• Sample question:  “Give me an example of when you identified with someone else’s difficulties at work.”

7.  Planning/Organizing:  Utilizing logical, systematic and orderly procedures to meet objectives.

• Listen for logical, organized and systematic approaches.

• Sample question: “ Describe the most complex assignment or project you’ve worked on.”

8.  Customer Service:  Anticipating, meeting and/or exceeding customer needs, wants and expectations.

• Listen for extraordinary efforts in responding to customer needs and wants to insure satisfaction.

• Sample question: “ Give me an example of when you went out of your way for a customer.”

9.  Written Communication:  Writing clearly, succinctly and understandably. Look for clear and understandable knowledge or written communication.

Sample question:  “Give me an example of something you wrote for work that was effective in achieving a communication goal.”

10. Presenting:  Speaking effectively to small and large groups.

• Listen for awareness, accuracy and composure.

• Sample question: “ Describe a situation when you had to give a presentation to a group of people you have never met.”

11.  Persuasion:  Convincing others to change the way they think, believe or behave.

• Listen for persistence, determination and a “never-give-up” attitude in efforts to meet goals.

• Sample question: “Describe a situation where you were able to convince others to your way of thinking.”

12.  Goal Orientation: Energetically focusing efforts on meeting a goal, mission or objective.

• Listen for the ability to maintain their direction in spite of obstacles in their path.

• Sample question:  “Give me an example of the most significant professional goal you have met.”

13.  Flexibility:  Agility in adapting to change.

• Listen for a positive attitude towards lots of activity, multi-tasking and change, in general.

• Sample question:  “Give me an example of when you were forced to change priorities or direction.” 

14.  Continuous Learning:  Taking initiative in learning and implementing new concepts, technologies and/or methods.

• Listen for a positive attitude towards self-improvement, learning and the application of knowledge.

• Sample question:  “How do you keep current on what’s going on in your field?”

15.  Personal Effectiveness: Demonstrating initiative, self-confidence, resiliency and a willingness to take responsibility for personal actions.

• Listen for a strong sense of self, personal responsibility, courage and resilience.

• Sample question:  “What do you think has enabled you to meet your goals?”

16.  Problem Solving:  Anticipating, analyzing, diagnosing and resolving problems.

• Listen for an analytical and disciplined approach to solving problems. 

• Sample question:  “Describe a situation when you anticipated a problem.”

17.  Negotiation:  Facilitating agreements between two or more parties.

• Listen for seasoned expertise in negotiating “win-win” agreements.

• Sample question:  “Give me an example of when you were able to facilitate a “win-win” agreement between two or more adversarial parties.”

18.  Management: Achieving extraordinary results through effective management of resources, systems and processes.

• Listen for shrewd business sense, understanding of operational issues and an ability to improve the bottom line.

• Sample question:  “Describe the largest budget you’ve ever developed and had responsibility for managing.”

19.  Leadership:  Achieving extraordinary business results through people.

• Listen for an ability to obtain the trust, commitment and motivation of others to achieve goals and objectives.

• Sample question:  “If you have held a leadership position in the past, draw the organizational chart above and below your position to illustrate the scope of your leadership responsibilities.”

20.  Decision Making:  Utilizing effective processes to make decisions.

• Listen for an ability to make timely decisions under difficult circumstances. 

• Sample question: “Give me an example of when you had to make a quick decision when the risk of making an error was high.”

21.  Futuristic Thinking:  Imagining, envisioning, projecting and/or predicting what has not yet been realized.

• Listen for optimism, predictions and a commitment to future possibilities.

• Sample question:  “Describe a situation when you were correct in seeing a future trend that others didn’t.”

22.  Creativity/Innovation:  Adapting traditional or devising new approaches, concepts, methods, models, designs, processes, technologies, and/or systems.

• Listen for “out-of-the-box” thinking and unusual approaches.

• Sample question: “ Describe a work situation when you adapted a concept, design, process or system to meet a need.”

Be sure to probe for as many details and specifics as possible such as names, dates and other verifiable information.  Skilled interviewers will also ask candidates for their thoughts or feelings about a situation to gain further insight.

How Can I Prepare for A Behavioral Interview?

• Be familiar with the type of positions for which you’re applying.  • Reflect on your own background.  What skills do you have that relate to the job you are applying for?• Think of examples from your past experience where you demonstrated those skills.  How can you give an example about your use of particular skills or knowledge?  • Be prepared to provide examples of when results didn’t turn out as you planned.  What did you do then? In hindsight, what would you do differently?• Identify two or three of your strengths and determine how you will convey these assets during the interview.• Once you land your desired position, keep a personal achievement diary to help document demonstrated performance.
How Do I Prepare For a Behavioral Interview If I Am The Interviewer or Company Hiring?
• If the job could talk; what would it say?  About:- The behaviors of the person who will always be able to deliver superior performance?- The attitudes of the people doing the job?- The attributes or soft skills needed for superior performance?
• Job Benchmarking with a system such as Trimetrix, reveals why, how and what an individual can contribute to a job. 
• It identifies a complete hierarchy of competencies or personal skills.  It allows you to clarify any position issues.  It prioritizes and validates the competencies required.
• This can be done for any:- Leadership/Management Exempt position- Professional Exempt position- Hourly non-exempt position
• Anytime you need an unbiased opinion about whether someone is right or wrong for the job, the computer will analyze the input of up to ten respondents to identify the importance of the 23 soft skills competencies.
• Where can you do this…through the Internet!  Have up to ten respondents identify the importance of the 23 soft skills competencies and then see how your candidate matches up.
The premise behind behavioral interviewing is that the most accurate predictor of future performance is past performance in similar situations.  Behavioral interviewing, in fact, is said to be 55 percent predictive of future on-the-job behavior, while traditional interviewing is only ten percent predictive.

Good luck with the process of Behavioral Interviewing and hope the concepts encourages you to use the Behavioral Interviewing questions provided in this article to get you started.

Et problem når en bruker psykologi og metoder som innbærer psykologi som verktøy er psykologi som vitenskap. En ting som er viktig å understreke når en bruker disse verktøyene, uansett hvor verifiserte de påberopes å være. Er at de bygger på noe som er vanskelig å både teste og bevise. Det du faktisk ønsker når du hyrer noen som mener de kan bruke ulike verktøy og metoder som bygger på psykologi for å løse et problem. Det er i stor grad en økt forståelse av problemet, for videre å kunne definere det og implementere en løsning. For å gjøre dette må en kunne skape en forståelse. Å skape en generell og universell (en oppfatning av en problem som deles av de involvert) forståelse av et problem som omfatter psykologi er ofte vanskelig.

Forklaring handler om retroduksjon (retoduksjon/ abduksjon er måten å finne den beste forklaringen) –  å bruke lover for å vise hvordan ting skjedde. Prediksjon bruker lovene for å vise hvordan ting vil skje, altså hvordan ting skjer. Så når det gjelder å forså noe, så ses forståelse som forklaring og prediksjon kombinert. Problemet i psykologi er da at vi hverken kan vite sikkert hva som vil skje, selvom vi har flere gitte faktorer og mye data. Psykologi har også det problemet at det er vanskelig å finne en god forklaring på ting. Psykologi er derfor av natur vanskelig å forstå. 
Vitenskapelige teorier, som et semantisk syn, ( altså språkets innhold, sammenhengen mellom ord, fraser og setninger og deres betydning eller mening) er sammenslåing av virkelighetsmodeller. Disse er empirisk meningsfulle bare i den grad de er empirisk (direkte og derfor semantisk) anvendelige på et begrenset område. En typisk vitenskapelig teori er ikke konstruert med forklarende og prediktive mål i tankene. Tvert imot: valget av modeller innlemmet i det dikterer den endelige suksessen med å forklare universet og forutsi resultatene av eksperimenter. 

Så er psykologiske teorier vitenskapelige teorier etter noen definisjon (forskrivende eller beskrivende)? Neppe.Det er derfor også vanskelig å bevise eller motbevise i noen særlig grad teorier på hvorfor ting er som det er, eller forutse hva som vil skje selvom en har uendelig mengde data på noe. 

Psykologi er derfor i sin natur vanskelig å forstå, og bygger på plott eller historier om vi kan kalle det det for å kunne skape forståelse.

Det er fire grunner til å redegjøre manglende evne til å teste og bevise (eller forfalske) psykologiske teorier:

Etiske – Eksperimenter må gjennomføres med involvering av pasienten og andre. For å oppnå det nødvendige resultatet, må forsøkspersonene være uvitende om årsakene til eksperimentene og deres mål. Noen ganger må til og med selve utførelsen av et eksperiment forbli en hemmelighet (dobbeltblinde eksperimenter). Noen eksperimenter kan innebære ubehagelige eller til og med traumatiske opplevelser. Dette er etisk uakseptabelt.

Det psykologiske usikkerhetsprinsippet – Den første tilstanden til et menneske i et eksperiment er vanligvis fullt ut etablert. Men både behandling og eksperimentering påvirker emnet og gjør denne kunnskapen uten betydning. Selve prosessene for måling og observasjon påvirker det menneskelige subjektet og forvandler ham eller henne – det samme gjør livets omstendigheter og omskiftelser.

Unikhet – Psykologiske eksperimenter er derfor bundet til å være unike, ikke repeterbare, kan ikke replikeres andre steder og andre ganger, selv når de gjennomføres med de samme metodene. Dette er fordi metodene aldri er de samme på grunn av det nevnte psykologiske usikkerhetsprinsippet. Det å gjenta eksperimentene med andre metoder påvirker den vitenskapelige verdien av resultatene negativt.

Undergenerasjonen av testbare hypoteser – Psykologi genererer ikke et tilstrekkelig antall hypoteser, som kan utsettes for vitenskapelig testing. Dette har å gjøre med naturen til psykologi. På en måte har psykologi tilknytning til noen private språk. Det er en form for kunst og er som sådan selvforsynt. Hvis strukturelle, interne begrensninger er oppfylt, anses en uttalelse som sann selv om den ikke tilfredsstiller eksterne vitenskapelige krav.Så, hva er psykologiske teorier for? De er instrumentene som brukes i prosedyrene som induserer en mulig løsning på et problem hos klienten. Dette gjøres ved hjelp av noen få innebygde mekanismer.

Så hvordan løser vi da et problem? 

Psykologi som metode har på grunn av de elementene som psykologi er bygget på en annen tilnæring til å skape forståelse og derfor også løse problemer. Jeg kan gå kort gjennom hvordan en burde tenke når en skal ta i bruk psykologi som verktøy. Mye annen vitenskap kan en også få resultater fra testing, når en har funnet problemet er det bare å implementere endring etter «best known practice» så er ofte problemet løst (til den graden det er mulig selvsagt).

Som nevnt tidligere så er såkalte plott sentralt i psykologi. Og en sentral del av dette plottet eller bruk av historier er å kunne skape forståelse hos de en forsøker å nå frem til. Psykologi gjør det vanskelig å nå frem til de en skal påvirke med fakta eller bevis, av den enkle grunn at psykologi har en manglende evne til å la seg teste. En sentral del for å nå frem med forståelse av noe er derfor historier. Enten det er en faktisk historie eller en såkalt case, et plot rundt opplevelsen av noe for å definere eller bekrefte, en fiktiv historie for å få frem noe, forklaringen rundt et eksperiment og resultatene, eller andre former for historie.

Kunsten å kunne bruke psykologi som et profesjonelt verktøy på denne måten er essensielt for å kunne få resultater i terapi, veiledning, kurs eller workshops. En kan jo ta et eksempel som i økende grad kommer opp. Det er kommunikasjons problematikk på arbeidsplassen. Enten det er i form av konflikt som har fått etablert seg, eller ulike profesjonelle som rett og slett snakker forbi hverandre fordi de er fra ulik profesjon og bruker for mye faguttrykk. En tar jo utgangspunkt i at andre har samme eller tilsvarende forståelse av noe som en selv. La oss si et kontor som også har jurister, og de er gnisninger mellom hvordan de kommuniserer sin oppgave videre. Et problem som ofte oppstår.

For å løse et slikt problem går en jo ut ifra at de en ønsker å skape en adferdsendring hos er tenkende vesner. Om en har gjennomført tester som viser til et mulig problem, så hjelper det lite på forståelsen å presentere disse dataene til gruppen som har behov for endring. Men kunsten er da å kunne skape en forståelse, og et ønske om forbedring etter denne etablerte forståelsen. Om du skjønner? Psykologi er ikke et strukturelt problem, og må derfor ikke behandles som det.

Om vi ser på en annen bruk av psykologi som er blitt økende populært med tiden. Bruken av psykologi i markedsføring. De fleste tenker på markedsføring som en banner, løp og kjøp 50% på klær, eller fly til Spania kun 399kr med en bilde av en strand. Det er selvfølgelig psykologi i dette også.

Når du aktivt bruker psykologi i markedsføring så blir du med på reisen målgruppen din har. Reisen deres er jo at de har et problem eller har et latent problem de ikke er klar over. Ved hjelp av å skape en historie i form av innholdet du lager, så er du med på å forme en forståelse. 

Jeg beveger meg mye rundt og snakker med folk som har problemer, noen av problemene kan få drahjelp ved å bruke kunnskap rundt psykologi på elementer av problemstillingen. Dette gjelder både innenfor organisasjoner og samhandlingen med mennesker. Og det de fleste tenker på når de hører psykologi tilknyttet individuelle og i noen tilfeller klinisk problematikk.
En artig opplevelse er når en snakker med mange som aktivt bruker psykologi som verktøy innenfor elementer av det de foretar seg innenfor spesielt tjenestesektor mot bedrifter.. En ting som ofte går igjen er fokuset på teorier, nesten et slavisk fokus på å analysere og kommunisere rundt en simplifisert og overfladisk bruk av teorien en anvender. Jeg får noen ganger dette spørsmålet: «hvilken teori eller rammeverk bruker du for å løse dette problemet».

Det er jo selvsagt en del adferden rundt dette fenomenet, det er ikke noe galt å tenke sånn på et problem. Det gjør det i det minste mye lettere å selge en løsning når en har en helt konkret løsning til et gitt problem, selvom det sjeldent gir noe løsning uten en «verktøykasse». Du kan jo visualisere en «verktøykasse» som den samlede forståelsen, kunnskapen og innsikten noen har i et gitt problem.

Jeg syntes det kan være viktig å få frem noen elementer jeg syntes veier tungt når en fremtrer med psykologi som verktøy. Det å være klar over at psykologi har sine utfordringer som vitenskap og derfor også som verktøy er viktig å forstå.

Vitenskapelige teorier tilfredsstiller mange spørsmål og lager en viss struktur innenfor det å forstå de mange og komplekse elementene innenfor psykologi. Men denne tilsynelatende gode tanken er feil. De viktige elementene testbarhet, etterprøvbarhet, tilbakevisbarhet, forfalskbarhet og repeterbarhet – mangler alle stort sett psykologiske teorier og plott. Ingen eksperiment kunne utformes for å teste utsagnene innenfor en gitt situasjon, for å etablere deres sannhetsverdi og dermed konvertere dem til teoremer (et utsagn som er bevist på grunnlag av tidligere etablerte utsagn) eller hypoteser i en teori.

Vitenskapelige teorier er allegoriske eller metaforiske. De dreier seg om symboler og teoretiske konstruksjoner, begreper og materielle forutsetninger, aksiomer og hypoteser – de fleste av dem kan ikke, selv i prinsippet, beregnes, observeres, kvantifiseres, måles eller korreleres med verden “der ute”. Ved å appellere til fantasien vår, avslører vitenskapelige teorier det en kan kalle “virkelighetens stoff». Psykologi blir først anvendbart som et godt verktøy når brukerene av det har en god forståelse i dybde og bredde rundt elementene av den spesifikke psykologi grenen en jobber opp mot. 

Uansett hva en bruker psykologi kunnskap til, så burde den som bruker det ha «hierarkiet» av tanker godt forankret. Det jeg mener med «hierarkiet» er at vi som mennesker i stor grad bruker en form for «hierarkisk» tankemåte. Det er også en bias, der løsninger og svar ofte kommer som det siste en hadde i hodet. Når en jobber med psykologi er det ingen unntak, en må bare bruke det som et verktøy. Verdien ev dette kommer i stor grad fra kunnskap, erfaring og i hvor stor grad den som praktiserer fyller hodet sitt med disse relevante problemene. Det er ikke som en ingeniør, der det er en eller fler klare fremgangsmåter som er «best practice» for å løse et problem.

La meg utdype dette:

Fortsatt er det en generell enighet om at vitenskapelige teorier må være abstrakte (uavhengig av spesifikk tid eller sted), intersubjektivt eksplisitte (inneholde detaljerte beskrivelser av emnet i entydige vilkår), logisk strenge (gjøre bruk av logiske systemer som er delt og akseptert av utøvere i feltet), empirisk relevante (tilsvarer resultater fra empirisk forskning), nyttige (i å beskrive og / eller forklare verden), og gi typologier og spådommer.
En vitenskapelig teori bør ty til primitiv terminologi, og alle dens komplekse begreper og begreper generelt bør defineres i disse udelelige begrepene. Den bør tilby et klart, utvetydig og konsekvent koble operasjonelle definisjoner til teoretiske konsepter.

Teoretiske konsepter trenger ikke nødvendigvis være målbare, kvantifiserbare eller observerbare. Men en vitenskapelig teori skal ha råd til minst fire nivåer av kvantifisering i dens operasjonelle og teoretiske definisjoner av begreper: nominell (merking), ordinal (rangering), intervall og forhold.

Som vi var inne på, er vitenskapelige teorier ikke begrenset til kvantifiserte definisjoner eller til et klassifiseringsapparat. For å kvalifisere som vitenskapelige må de inneholde uttalelser om forhold (hovedsakelig årsakssammenheng) mellom begreper – empirisk støttede lover og / eller proposisjoner (uttalelser avledet fra aksiomer/ grunnleggende regler).

Filosofer som Carl Hempel og Ernest Nagel ser på en teori som vitenskapelig hvis den er hypotetisk deduktiv. For dem er vitenskapelige teorier sett med innbyrdes relaterte lover. Vi vet at de er innbyrdes relatert fordi et minimum antall aksiomer (grunnleggende regler) og hypoteser gir, i en ubønnhørlig deduktiv sekvens, alt annet kjent i feltet teorien gjelder. Som jeg var inne på tidligere, så mangler psykologi denne logikken på angitte grunnantagelser. Metoden der en ved hjelp av logiske prinsipper kan løse et problem er i stor grad manglende innen psykologi. Så det er derfor ikke alltid like lett å påberope seg en universell løsning på et problem en mener en kan fikse. En sliter rett og slett med å finne en god forklaring på ting.

Forklaring handler om retroduksjon (retoduksjon/ abduksjon er måten å finne den beste forklaringen) –  å bruke lover for å vise hvordan ting skjedde. Prediksjon bruker lovene for å vise hvordan ting vil skje, altså hvordan ting skjer. Så når det gjelder å forså noe, så ses forståelse som forklaring og prediksjon kombinert. Problemet i psykologi er da at vi hverken kan vite sikkert hva som vil skje, selvom vi har flere gitte faktorer og mye data. Psykologi har også det problemet at det er vanskelig å finne en god forklaring på ting. Psykologi er derfor av natur vanskelig å forstå.

 
Jeg kan ta frem et enkelt eksempel på dette for å gjøre det mer forståelig, om problemet du sitter på er av mekanisk art, som for eksempel at du skal designe en bygning. Så er fysikkens lover ganske absolutte, om du er bygg- ingeniør så er det ikke vanskelig for noen som kan det, å beregne hvor mye vekt, bæreevne, volum og radius et materiale har når du skal bruke teorier som metode for å løse dette. Dette gjør det også enkelt å forklare og snakke om for noen som kan dette. Det er derfor også mulig å skape seg en nødvendig forståelse av problemene tilknyttet det å bygge en bygning. Men er arbeidsmiljøet og det psyko-sosiale miljøet på ingeniør kontoret dårlig, så er det umulig å ha noen prediktiv formel på å forutse hva som vil skje. Det er også vanskelig å forklare problemet, eller finne noen retroduksjon tilknyttet det. Forståelsen av et slikt problem vil derfor være begrenset.

William Whewell forsterket dette noe forenklede synspunktet med sitt prinsipp om “samvittighet av induksjoner”. Ofte observerte han induktive forklaringer av forskjellige fenomener uventet til en underliggende årsak. Dette er hva vitenskapelig teoretisering handler om – å finne den vanlige kilden til det tilsynelatende separate.

Mange teorier – særlig teorier med bredde, bredde og dybde, som de fleste teorier innen psykologi såvel som Darwins evolusjonsteori – De er ikke deduktivt integrert og er veldig vanskelige å teste (eller forfalske) eller skape noe endelighet til. Forutsigelsene deres er enten knappe eller tvetydige.

Vitenskapelige teorier, som et semantisk syn, ( altså språkets innhold, sammenhengen mellom ord, fraser og setninger og deres betydning eller mening) er sammenslåing av virkelighetsmodeller. Disse er empirisk meningsfulle bare i den grad de er empirisk (direkte og derfor semantisk) anvendelige på et begrenset område. En typisk vitenskapelig teori er ikke konstruert med forklarende og prediktive mål i tankene. Tvert imot: valget av modeller innlemmet i det dikterer den endelige suksessen med å forklare universet og forutsi resultatene av eksperimenter. 

Så er psykologiske teorier vitenskapelige teorier etter noen definisjon (forskrivende eller beskrivende)? Neppe.

Vi må skille mellom psykologiske teorier og måten noen av dem blir brukt på (psykoterapi og psykologiske plott). Psykologiske plott er fortellingene som skapes for å forklare ulike fenomener. Disse fortellingene er resultatene av å anvende psykologiske teorier og modeller til en pasient eller klients spesifikke omstendigheter. Du kan jo selv prøve å forklare noe du har opplevd som innebærer psykologi uten å fortelle en historie. Det er ikke som å fortelle du mistet en stein på 1 kg på foten fra 45 cm høyde, noe som tar seg forstås av de fleste.

Can we learn how to respond optimistically and hopefully to events that challenge work life balance? According to psychologist and researcher Martin Seligman, the answer is YES. While some folks appear to be hardwired to respond optimistically to ups and downs in life and work, others are wired for pessimistic responses. Fortunately, you do not have to settle for the wiring you were born with. Find out how you can improve your resilience and hopefulness by acquiring positive thinking skills. Belive it or not, it will have an effect on your co-workers how you reach to things.

I like to think of the process of building hopefulness, resilience and positive thinking skills as an analogue to building physical fitness: it takes attention, concentration, commitment, and repetition. If you approach a workout program with those qualities, you can almost always improve your fitness.
The first hurdle to get over is the belief that you already need to be different in order to succeed. You don’t. You are the way you are and you can start from here, overwhelmed, worried, anxious, whatever. Don’t fall into your story about how you feel, but take a stand for what you intend to accomplish to restore your work life balance and where you plan to go. You do not need to feel better before you try these practices — do them now. Another caveat: Do not interpret your progress in the short term — measuring increase in strength and endurance after a single workout would be silly.

Seligman points out that people with an optimistic approach to life habitually accept positive thoughts and dispute negative thoughts. Those of us who are wired to be more pessimistic tend to dispute the positive and accept the negative. Optimists tend to assume that their life balance will be restored, good events will happen again and that bad events are an exception; pessimists assume the reverse. I am oversimplifying his rigorously considered arguments, and I encourage you to read the book if the science of this is important to you.

Here’s a practice he recommends for shifting from hopelessness to hopefulness. I successfully use it with my clients to help them restore their work life balance. He calls it ABCDE for:

Adversity — Beliefs — Consequences — Disputation — Energization.

A – Adversity: Start by spelling out the nature of the situation. Notice that you can experience hopelessness in response to ostensibly positive situations as well as to negative ones. For example, getting a new client or being accepted into a final round of interviews can upset your balance and send you into a whirlwind of anxiety and fear that produces just as much hopelessness and overwhelm as not getting the job or not making the cut.

B — Beliefs: This is your opportunity to spell out the thoughts and beliefs that are fueling the negative response.

C — Consequences: Look at the consequences of your beliefs — what happened as a result? How do you behave? What happened then?

D — Disputation: Actively dispute the beliefs that break your life balance and send you into the downward spiral. This is where you practice arguing with yourself in a productive way.

E — Energization: When you have been effective in disputing the problem beliefs, you feel an influx of energy, a sense of renewed hope, or at least of peacefulness.

So, here’s an example on how to handle a situation:

Adversity: Edward was excited about moving forward on two projects when he fell on his bike and cracked his ribs. He was okay and working hard with this for almost three days, then depression and anxiety set in and his usual positive thinking ability left him. Instead of feeling like moving forward he felt like bursting into tears.

Beliefs: How will he ever restore his work life balance and get things done if he can’t stop these mood swings? Maybe he is just not meant to lead these projects, he was thinking. He don’t know enough and he can’t seem to get started — he probably should have said no in the first place. It would be better to bow out now, as embarrassing as that will be, than to keep going and have a bigger train wreck later when I just can’t make the grade.

Consequences: These beliefs leave him feeling very sad and small, like a six year old he thinks, and then suddenly he wonders how a six year old can possibly be a leader. Brian find it hard to concentrate and just want to hide.

Disputation: Constant low-grade pain can take it out of anyone. The world is not going to come to an end if you delay things because you’ve been injured. And who says you have to do it alone anyway? Some of the problem is that you don’t have enough information to go forward. That calls for making requests of others, not for blaming yourself. And when you’re not leaning on yourself so hard, your positive thinking ability starts coming back and your mood lightens — so maybe it would be smart to cut yourself some slack this week after letting folks know what is going on. You don’t have to crawl under a rock — you can reach out instead to restore your work life balance. And even if some work projects end up being passed on to others, there will always be other opportunities.

Energization: Brian called and emailed colleagues to regroup. Not only did these conversations relieve his anxiety, they made simple next steps quite clear. In one case, my summary of a conversation ended up being exactly what our group needed to move forward. Who knew? Brian had been worried about making things happen on his own when all along his strength was in articulating and clarifying complex input from many sources.

See how this works? I do strongly recommend implementing a positive way of thinking in your work life. If you struggle with hopelessness and challenge yourself to work through this one exercise on a regular basis (and if that means five or ten times a day, so be it), your positive thinking skills will grow and you WILL get relief. Remember — don’t measure change before it can happen — keep doing the practices long enough for significant positive shifts to take root and grow.

Among a number of fears possessed by the people today, public speaking tops the list. Having to talk about something in front of a huge number of people where everyone has their focus on you can make you a bit shaky and nervous. This is a general problem with a majority of the people. But, in today’s world if you want the people to know what you are up to, you have to practice speaking in front of the public. Look around and see you can recall the name of the people who made it big in their own field by recalling what they spoke. Therefore, you can see that how much speaking in front of the public is important. 

In order to improve your communication skill when you are standing in the middle of a huge crowd of people and giving out lectures, you need to follow 5 basic tips for improving your oratory skills: 

5 tips: 

1) Do a lot of Homework 

This essentially means practicing in private so that you can perform better in front of the people. Practice in front of the mirror as if you are talking to someone, practice in front of your closest friend who will rectify you without being too critical. Practice well so that you can get the entire subject matter by heart. In that case you won’t have to make up a story when you are up on the dais. “Practice makes a man perfect” as the popular proverb goes, repeatedly rehearsing will make you a perfectionist in the speech you will be delivering and if you prepare well, then you are bound to enthral the audience with your speech. 

2) Be a good listener 

One of the astounding element that can make you am exceptional speaker is listening. Listen to how other people say, how they communicate their message. Listen to what your audience say or want you to answer. The more actively you listen to what other say, the more you will be able to be a good speaker. It is true, that not everyone holds a rich opinion, but somehow you will be getting a clue out of them which can make you prepare well for your forthcoming speech. 

3) Record and Watch 

Do a video recording of your speech instead of taking a selfie. Then play the video a number of times to pinpoint what are the basic flaws you are having while you are talking. This is a bit painful, but nonetheless important, as this will help you in self-evaluation. You will be able to rectify your speech. You will see using a lot of extra and unnecessary vocabularies like, “ok, just, umm, like” and many more. These words hinder you from delivering the exact message in a clear way. Repeated recording and watching your own videos will help a lot in improving your diction and speech. 

4) Honesty 

Be honest when it comes to improving yourself. There is no better way than to being honest to yourself and think of putting your best efforts to reach the zenith. Nobody is telling you to be the unbeaten champion in public speaking, but you should be able to convey your message clearly without a fail. And while doing this, honesty is something you need to possess. 

5) Get a hold of your subject and audience 

When you are making a speech on something, you should do a good homework to know the topic you are dealing with. For example, if you are delivering a speech on the retail or food industry, you must know every detail of the industry. Another thing you must consider is knowing your audience. You must know whom you will be talking to. Make presentations by keeping that in mind. Keep such substances in your subject which will evoke responses from your audiences.  

In addition to the above points, another point can be added to this. There is no harm in carrying the notes you prepared for your speech. In case you lose out some points or can’t remember what you were to tell, you can keep the notes handy and have a look at them. Don’t worry, your audience won’t react to that.  

By following the above points, you can surely aim to become a professional speaker. 

Conflict is a natural part of every relationship between human beings. In fact, it would be quite odd to have a relationship with someone and never get into conflict situation. Conflicts are often unpleasant because they involve strong emotions which sometimes may reduce the ability of rational thinking and may lead to some sort of escalation. But, with different approach and quality communication, conflicts can offer the valuable opportunity to truly hear what opposite side has to say.

Organizations are a very fertile environment for developing and growing conflicts. Not only does it consists of people, but also integrates other factors that may serve as catalysts for conflicts: stress, pressure, unclear situations, quick decision making, responsibility etc. When there are poor communication and bad strategies for solving conflicts, an escalation may easily occur and from tiny flame of disagreement overgrow to fierce fire that treats to expand and create a great damage. Off course the articles use of illustrations are somewhat exaggerated, but behavior like this has happened.

Conflict can be defined as disagreement between two or more members of organization who shares resources and/or working tasks, but have different goals, attitudes and perception. Conflict may be present between two or more groups of people with different interests, especially when there is a belief that it cannot be resolved with no damage for one side. There are many feasible reactions to conflict situations which are not quite appropriate for working environment such as aggression, rage outbursts, soreness, threats, crying, anxiety, depression and many others. Those unpleasant emotions and behaviours usually create discomfort for everyone involved, which can further lead to avoiding conflict at any costs.

Sources and ways of resolving conflicts

Besides two or more opposed sides, every conflict has its source. Knowing the source may be the key for resolving it in a constructive way. Thus, their causes may be situated in one of these two most common sources:

• Interpersonal differences between employees – which can be the consequence of poor communication, a lack of tolerance or trust, personality traits, different perception of the same problem etc. Those conflicts are expected in almost every human relationship, at certain point.

• Organizational sources – which include many factors and the most common ones are: sharing limited resources by two or more individuals or groups, co-dependence in performing work activities, high differentiation between organizational units, different criteria for performance assessment and reward management and organizational uncertainties and flaws.

There are numerous ways for solving conflict: it may be solved between opposed sides by themselves or by intervention of a third party. Those interventions may be arbitration – when third party is someone positioned higher in organizational ladder and he or she decides about a solution and mediation – when a third party is someone who only assists in problem formulation and solution; mediator does not come up with a solution, he or she only encourages and guides opposed sides to find it.

Is conflict always a bad thing?

The fact is – conflicts are often uncomfortable. As stated before, they can bring up loads of intense emotions and create unsettling atmosphere. So, a logical approach to them would be – let’s avoid them! However, modern theories of conflict strongly disagree with that approach. Furthermore, those theories imply that conflicts can be seen in a positive way and they can make significant contribution to higher organizational productivity. Conflicts, in certain way, bring motion and dynamics in organization and they are seen as natural and unavoidable part of organizational culture. They affect creativity and allow shedding different light on perceiving events and situations. Their resolution requires time, patience and skilfulness. When properly resolved, conflicts can bring satisfaction to everyone involved. 

Such creative approach to conflicts is based on the assumptions that conflict almost always exists and represents a natural part of life. It offers an opportunity for growth and further development. When there is a problem which generates a conflict, there is no only one solution for it. The variety of those solutions is a chance for being creative and for developing skills for finding and implementing them. The entire process should take into account needs and feelings of involved sides, because they are often an epicentre of conflicts – they are their fuel. Only acknowledging them offer a space for constructive solution. The definition of a problem is a key for its resolving and solution might be acceptable for all sides involved in conflict.

The role of broader context

Aforementioned creative approach has certain requirements, which are firmly embedded in organizational culture. If that is not the case, that requirements are changeable and might serve as goals in developing productive and conflict-friendly environment. Those requirements are:

• Self-respect and respect for others.
• Willingness to hear what others have to say and understanding their points of view.
• Recognition and satisfaction of one’s own needs, without jeopardizing needs of others.
• Cooperation.
• Openness and readiness to explore alternative options.
• Readiness for self-questioning one’s own behaviour and attitudes and willingness to work on it.
• Perseverance throughout the entire process.
• Imagination, creativity and flexibility.

Most organizations already have its own ways for dealing with conflicts. If they are directed towards the “All conflicts are bad and we should avoid them” philosophy, it may be pretty challenging to switch to another approach. But, that “switch” is a process which requires both change and time. And the catch with changes is that they are often hard. They cannot survive without effort, dedication and patience.

Conducting a transition from one philosophy to another is, in the first place, a task for managers. They can serve as agents of change and role models for all the others employees. Lead by example, all the others may become aware that having a conflict does not mean a war or endless passive-aggressive games. Also, providing a setup for showing emotions, with acknowledging that they are acceptable and normal part of everyone’s life may lead to seeing a conflict as natural, normal and mundane phenomenon.

Such a transition requires huge investments, but not in money. It demands time, effort, patience and willingness to make a change and maintain its effects, once when it has been accomplished.

Human characteristics are full of surprises. One of the interesting facets is the way we are motivated to do certain work. If you really want to know more about motivation, consider the following two contradictory questions at first: 

1) When you reward someone, do you get more activity out of that person than you expected? 

2) When you punish someone, do you get less from that person? 

In order to get to the core, The M.I.T conducted a study on a large group of students and presented a number of challenges in front of them that would challenge their physical and mental ability.  

The mental tests included number games, memory games, solving word puzzles, Sudoku etc. 

The physical ability tests included throwing a ball in the basket etc. 

To get a better performance, they gave the participants three levels of reward. Like, if they can get through the task anyhow, they will be given a small monetary reward. If they managed to get a minimum level, they will be given better prize money. If they perform excellently, they will be given a covetous monetary reward.  

Now, what was the result?  

1) As long as the task remained mechanical, they were motivated by the strategy the higher the pay is, the chance of performing well increases. They will also be intrigued by the bonus reward.  

2) But, as soon as they were given a mental ability test to check their cognitive skills, they performed resultantly poor inspite of a huge reward. 

Now, isn’t this surprising? 

Many economists and scholars from other disciplines will adjudge the second point in this way- as we surpass our cognitive ability, much to our surprise, rewards like these don’t sound fetching anymore. This is just opposite to the law stated by Behavioural Physics.  

Once when the reward was reformed, means the lowest performer will get money equivalent to two week’s salary, the medium performer will get the money equivalent to one month salary and the best performer will get the salary equivalent to two months. Not surprisingly, the highest reward got the worst performance. Higher incentives still led to worst performance. 

The fact is that it is not surprising. A number of psychologists, sociologists including myself, and other scholars from other professions believe that if the task is simple, like if you do A, you get B, people undoubtedly performed well. If they have to follow a set of rules, the typical carrot and stick approach, the better. But when it comes to a work which requires thinking, analysing, conceptualising etc, even the highest monetary rewards fall flat.  

Money is one of the biggest motivators. People won’t work if they are not satisfied with the pay package. The rule is that pay the people enough so that they think about the work only. Based on this fact, there are 3 factors which can lead to better performance and self-gratification. 

1) Autonomy– where the people fix the direction of work by themselves. If you want to keep your worker engaged to the management task, give them the autonomy to work. Don’t manipulate each and every step.  

2) Mastery– The urge to develop the skills to do better work. For example, there are a number of technically sophisticated people across the globe who have a good job are creating something and giving it for free, like the Wikipedia, Linux and many many more open source solutions etc. The question is how and why? The answer is if you master a skill, you can contribute hugely not for yourself but for the other people’s benefit as well. 

3) Purpose– Organizations work on a particular purpose so that they can get better output. But the fact is, when purpose gets alienated from profit, it will lead to poor performance. When you have a purpose driven by profit, you get the urge to do something better. 

So, when an organization can combine autonomy, mastery and purpose and treat workers as a human being, then there will be no need of extra motivation. 

This is off course one interesting research and a over- simplification of human motivation. But one interesting aspect of this is that in today’s and especially the future work market, we automate tasks, even complete professions get replaced by systems. Often what is automate are tasks that need less skill or cognitive ability, also high skilled tasks that computers can do faster and better. But for example creativity is hard to replace by artificial systems, at least for now. In the future we need top performers on cognitive ability. We need high skill performers working on various advanced technology, advanced implementation, cooperation and communication between various skill sets, and so much more that requires high cognitive ability and motivated workers with the drive to use their competence.

A solid work environment on all aspects in the human capital of future businesses will be required to stay alive as a company. Creating drive in people can be a challenging task. This makes pressure on HR, managers and recruiters to find and motivate the right people, with the right drive in the same direction as the organization.

Wouldn’t it be amazing to have a team that comes up with all the great ideas. This requires a dedication to the field they work within, someone who fills their head with work also after work. This is a tricky part of talent recruiting and management, and a tricky thing to motivate towards and train in people. But for sure worth the effort when successful. Of all the brilliant people I have meet trough my career, one thing can be sure. The people with mind blowing ideas, also has their mental habits wrapped around the topic all day.

You probably know the myth of innovation as a sudden flash of insight that comes from nowhere. We read about that “aha” moment, or that light bulb turning on in the mind of some inventor or innovator, and this is true to an extent. Einstein really did get flashes of insight while shaving in the morning. However, he was of course working on the particular problems he had insight into, and he didn’t suddenly have ideas for new kitchen gadgets or movie plots.

Einsteins innovations, in other words, no matter how “sudden” the original ideas were, came from past and present mental work. It is like a singer who works at his craft for ten years and then becomes an “overnight success.” Innovative people only have “sudden” new ideas because they have habitually worked and thought in certain ways for some time. If you want to become an innovative thinker, then, why not start cultivating those mental habits? You dont have to be a great innovator to start, but to become one you have to start thinking of your ideas.

Mental Habits Lead To Innovation

Problems can be opportunities. “Problem” may have a negative connotations, such as being a hassle or stressful, but any problem can lead to an innovation that improves our lives. Not knowing the time lead to clocks small enough to put on our wrists. Nasty diseases lead to sanitary sewer systems. Start looking for opportunity in every problem. Even a mundane problem like not having enough storage space could lead to a new innovation. You may just build a plywood floor in the attic, but you could invent a new type of outdoor storage unit.

Same goes for any problem, give it some creative thinking. Many of you who would come in here and read, maybe have a problem within your company. The complexity of today’s world is only increasing and it will continue to increase at a even faster rate. New technologies shake todays business world and many are shaken off the stage and disrupted away by others. Well this is a problem for many, but if you mange to see the opportunities within these problems. Then it is actually not a problem at all, it is a big opportunity for most. Start ups thrive these days, it have never been greater opportunities, maybe todays business need to learn a thing or two from the startup methodology and mentality?

Innovation begins with understanding the key elements. Metal, wood or glass are not key elements of a door to an innovator. A way to get in, a way to keep others out – these are key elements. Begin with these, and soon you’re imagining new ways to make a door. You could design a door that is opened by your voice (nice when your hands are full), or one that shuts and locks itself when anyone else approaches. Think of the key elements in things.

Attitude helps innovation. The creative problem-solving technique of concept-combination involves combining two ideas to see what new idea or product results. The crucial point is that you assume there will be a useful new idea. Starting with that assumption, your mind will work overtime to produce something. A shoe and a CD have nothing to do with each other, but it took just a minute to imagine a CD player with headphones that only plays the music correctly if a jogger maintains his ideal pace. When you assume there is something there you’ll often find something.

Playfulness helps innovation. A playful mind is a creative mind, and while high cognitive intelligence or high IQ as many would say, or any other forms of intelligence for that matter. Doesn’t correlate with creativity, put it together with playfulness, and you have an Einstein. Remember, he imagined himself riding on a beam of light in order to arrive at his theory of relativity. Why not start playing with ideas and things, in your mind and in your surroundings. Innovation should be fun.

Carry your ideas with you, enjoy the playfulness of thinking. Remember to take notes 🙂