Dear friend,
Today’s post is a 2 for 1. It started as a story about how to shift your perspective. Then I realized I could share a formula for the creative thinking process I used while writing that story.
So, here you go.
Watching kids fly
I’m tucked in the corner of the local aerial dance studio, observing a class of 9-year-olds (including my daughter) hang from swaths of fabric rigged to a very tall ceiling. It’s aerial sling, a type of acrobatic dance where a person balances and twists in what they call “silks” high above the ground.
It’s all girls. None of them seem to be listening to the instructor. She hops, claps, and sings, “Hey! Ok! So now it’s time to paaaayyyy attennnntion! This is immmmportant that you lissssten so you don’t hurrrrt yourself! Look at me pleeeeease! Thank you.”
She backs into a sling and shows them the right way to begin the pose. Then she makes her way around the room, helping each girl get into position.
One by one, the girls lay back on their slings, hook each leg around the corresponding “pole” of fabric, and completely invert their bodies.
Meanwhile, I’m sitting on the floor.
Actually, I’m on one of those thin Mexican serape blankets on the floor. I’m trying to sit cross-legged but it’s not enough padding and it hurts my ankle bone. I keep shifting. I’m thinking about how to get comfortable.
Ugh. There’s that word again. Why must I always be comfortable?
I look at my daughter and wonder if she is comfortable hanging in the sling.
She smiles at me, upside down.
I wonder what she sees.
I tilt my head and study the ceiling, picturing it as a floor instead. I imagine walking across it.
I imagine what it must feel like to be in the sling, the fabric supporting my weight (significantly more than a 9 yo), gravity pulling at me in unfamiliar ways. Blood rushing to my head.
Not only would it be disconcerting and confusing, it would be physically uncomfortable to take that different view.
It’s uncomfortable to take a different view.
That’s interesting.
Take a different view.
Change your perception.
Broaden your perspective.
It can be uncomfortable.
I wonder… How might I learn from this?
Creative thinking exercise: Random input
That how-might-I-learn moment got me thinking about random input. How seemingly dissimilar situations (aerial sling + perception) can actually bring great insight if you stop and focus.
I learned the random input creativity exercise from lateral thinking guru Edward De Bono1. The concept involves comparing a random object or situation to whatever thing you need ideas about. You come up with a lot of wacky stuff, but hopefully some gems, too.
Note: The most simple form of this exercise is to imagine a random object. In this case, I am observing the actual thing. The benefit of real observation is that you see things that you might not have thought about. Reality is actually quite robust compared to memory. It’s what you actually see, rather than what you think you see. What you think you see is influenced by your perspective, which is informed by past experience and bias, which is why I’m writing about this in the first place.
It’s not necessary to structure this type of exercise. In fact, I find it helpful to just see where my mind takes me. But, if you’ve not done this before, structure can be helpful.
Here’s a formula! It might help next time you need new ideas or a different perspective on an old idea.
Random input observation
Set your intention
Find space and time where you can observe without distractions. No phone, no multitasking. Just focus and taking notes.
Observe
Watch, listen, feel, smell, touch.
Wonder
What do I see? (or hear, feel, etc)
What might be true about it?
What is interesting about it?
Write it all down. Even the bizarre or seemingly unrelated thoughts.
Apply
How might this relate to the work I’ve been doing? (For me, that’s unlearning, broadening perspective, etc).
What is similar?
What is different?
Write it all down.
Leave it
Put it aside. Sleep on it. Come back to it another day. Read over what you wrote. What jumps out?
Examples
Here are ways I considered aspects of the the aerial sling class to generate ideas about perspective.
Observation
I see the girls hanging upside down. If your body is upside down, you’d see the room upside down.
Insight
Changing what you see helps change how you think. You can change what you see – your perspective – by physically changing your body’s position.
Ideas
When I want to broaden my perspective, I should move my body. How might I change my body’s position? I could change rooms, buildings, or towns. Go offsite. Sit, stand, lay on the floor. Get upside down? Still, in motion. Walk, bicycle, drive, ride a train.
Observation
Inverting your body goes against gravity. Blood would rush to your head. You’d get dizzy.
Insight
It can be uncomfortable to take a different view. Discomfort is common with growth.
Ideas
How might I prepare for discomfort? Get more comfortable with being uncomfortable for the sake of learning? Remind myself it’s temporary. Have safety nets/mats. Have another person with me.
Observation
The kids are smiling and laughing.
Insight
Kids want to have fun. Period. They don’t want to work. Adults were once kids. Play is more fun than work. Work is serious. We take ourselves and our perspective very seriously.
Ideas
How might we take ourselves less seriously? Make work more like play? Turn it into a game? Make a competition to gain as many new perspectives as possible. What about playing vs winning? Find ways to enjoy the process, not only the result.
Observation
The instructor guides the students. She sees what the girls can’t see or don’t yet understand. She helps them shift into better positions.
Insight
Outside perspective is helpful. Other people help you see what you’re unable to see. A coach is an expert who knows what to look for and how to help you see yourself objectively.
Ideas
How might I remind people that trained advisors offer valuable outside perspective when you’re trying to grow? How might I show that I can help others shift their perspective? Write about it.
Tada!
Watching kids grow
Back in the studio…
I watch my daughter do the position a third time. The teacher asks, “How did that feel?”
“Weird,” she answers. “But better than last time. I knew what to expect.”
The first few times are always weird.
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Thanks for reading. If you enjoyed this post, would you share it with someone else?
Love,
Kate
My favorite Edward De Bono book is Serious Creativity. Look it up wherever you get books, or learn more at https://www.debono.com/serious-creativity-article