One of my customers recently approached me. He wanted a new mindset for the employees in his service department.They should not only respond to requests, but also proactively address the needs of other areas of the company. After all, ‘the employees stay too much in the old ways instead of making new suggestions.’ Well, a new mindset doesn’t happen overnight. Nor does the so-called beginner’s mindset that we are talking about here.
First of all: in times of transformation processes, I recommend that you pay attention to how you call on your employees to change. Announcements along the lines of ‘Change, otherwise you’ll fall by the wayside’ can quickly backfire. It is also difficult to expect an immediate change in the way your team thinks and acts if their minds are full of other issues and are literally ‘stuck’. But how do we make the transition from ‘stuck’ to ‘unstuck’, as the saying goes? With this blog article, I would like to call on you to be more curious and human, without which I believe it is no longer possible in the working environment, and show you how you and your team can benefit from applying the beginner’s mind. I’ll also share exercises and tips to help you inspire small changes in your employees’ thinking today.
Changes in times of the pandemic
First of all, I think that a lot more has changed in recent years during the pandemic than we realise.I would therefore like to ask you as a starting point: What was unthinkable for you in your business in the last two years and yet it is feasible today? Your employees have probably already shaped and supported a lot of changes together with you. The exciting question with regard to the future is: How can we take this energy for change from the last few years into our everyday lives without still having the pressure and stress of a pandemic behind us? How can we achieve sustainable change without having to constantly work in crisis mode? The keyword is: human leadership.
Human guidance is required for the beginner’s mind
So before we dive straight into the benefits of beginner’s mind, it might make sense to pause for a moment and ask ourselves what kind of leadership style makes curiosity and openness possible in the first place. Both are fundamental to beginner’s mind. Because we can do a lot of beginner’s mind exercises in a desperate attempt to increase our creativity. But if nothing else fundamentally changes in our leadership culture, we are only scratching the surface. Human leadership starts with myself by asking myself the following questions:
As a leader, am I actually aware of my thought patterns?
How do I lead when I am under pressure?
Am I actually the driver or passenger of my mind?
Am I in control of my thoughts and emotions or is it the other way round?
Can I also put my ego on the back burner?
When you start to see yourself as a learner, you also enable your employees to be their ‘best selves’
You create a trusting environment in which they can be curious and think bigger again. You open up the space for new possibilities and thus also the minds of your employees.
What does beginner’s mind mean and how do you use it for your team?
Okay, but what exactly is this beginner’s mind? The term originally comes from Zen Buddhism and found its way to us in the West through the writings of Shunryu Suzuki, a Japanese Zen master. His most famous quote is probably this:
- ‘The beginner’s mind has many possibilities, the expert’s only a few.’
- The beginner’s mind is therefore an inner attitude that lies dormant in all of us.
- It means taking a fresh look at the challenges ahead instead of our usual, judgemental thinking.
Of course, humans are creatures of habit and for good reason:
After all, our habits and automatisms give us security and ensure that our brain is not overloaded and can save energy.
Conversely, this also means that when we are confronted with new tasks and our brain’s working memory is full, we like to fall back on tried and tested solutions.
But as Albert Einstein once said:
‘You can never solve problems with the same way of thinking that created them.’
So here are a few tips on how you and your employees can give free rein to the beginner’s mind and enable a new way of thinking in your department. Because yes, this is where you as a manager come in.
Tip #1: Approach challenges with fun and joy instead of pressure
First of all, this means finding a relaxed approach to our – let’s admit it – rather rigid habitual thinking. The best way to do this is to ‘take yourself for a ride’. Brainstorm your typical killer phrases. You know, killer phrases that we like to throw around quickly.
Here are some of my favourite examples:
‘I don’t believe it!’
‘It’ll never work!’
‘That’s how it worked before…’
You can rely on these surefire ways to nip any new idea in the bud. Now that you and your team have become aware of your own personal killer phrases, I want you to stay alert. The next time you hear someone on your team use one of these unhelpful comments in a meeting, shout out loud, ‘Wonderful! There she is again!’ This may seem a little silly at first, but it’s a fun way for you and your team to catch each other off guard.
Tip #2: ‘Yes, and’ instead of ‘Yes, but’
This is a great exercise from improvisation theatre. Every time you realise that you want to respond to one of your colleagues’ ideas with “Yes, but”, say “Yes, and” instead. So instead of immediately rejecting the idea and embarrassing the person, you can add to it and work on it together. This way, nobody is held back, everyone stays in the flow and gets out of their rusty thought patterns.
Tip #3: Establish small, healthy habits
Ever heard of Tiny Habits? The Tiny Habits® method for gradual change was developed by the social scientist BJ Fogg. It is – how could you guess – about the power of small habits. Small because that is the most sustainable way to success.
Why is that the case?
Let me put it this way: our brain is not a big fan of change. It would prefer everything to stay the same. Because that’s what has kept us alive so far. In fact, a part of our brain, the amygdala to be precise, interprets change as a threat. This means that if we make huge, grand resolutions and plans that deviate too much from our previous lifestyle, our brain gets stressed and does everything it can to sabotage us. And the planned 45-minute jog three times a week with a previously modest sporting behaviour comes to nothing. Instead, it might be advisable to start with 15 minutes. This way, the brain doesn’t feel too challenged to sound the red alert and can slowly get used to the new habits.
Which Tiny Habits would be suitable for you? Perhaps you feel like closing your eyes for 5 deep breaths before every meeting. Or make it a habit to end every meeting 5 minutes earlier than planned. Many meetings start every hour, which gives you a little more time to organise yourself for the next meeting. The main thing is to minimise the inhibition threshold. Because then we stick with it long enough to benefit from our Tiny Habits.
Try out the beginner’s mind
It doesn’t matter whether you get to the bottom of your killer phrases, start with the simple formalisation of ‘yes, and’ with your employees or establish small, feasible and healthy habits for yourself. The main thing is to get started and approach it playfully and with curiosity. I hope you enjoy the beginner’s mind and everything it has to offer. If you would like to learn more about the beginner’s mind and have been inspired to revolutionise your corporate culture, please get in touch with me. I’ll be happy to help (ps@menschlichfuehren.com).
