CHAPTER 7
A World That Can Be, Not a World That Is
A FEW YEARS BACK I caught a bad cold and the doctor prescribed a few medications and sent me on my way. I was hopeful when I arrived at the pharmacy to pick up my meds, but all hope was dashed when I discovered that the meds she’d prescribed did nothing for the cause of my cold; they only treated the symptoms. A cough medicine and a nasal decongestant—that was it. Luckily, I felt better quickly, but one thought has stayed with me: there was a direct parallel between business and cold symptoms. Most business treat symptoms, not the root cause of the problem.1 Although there are many in medicine who are working bravely to solve the root problem of countless diseases, it seems not many of us are looking to solve the root cause of problems in our businesses or even in ourselves.
It’s not surprising to me that issues are not being fixed because the analytical mindset has limited potential to fix problems. It seems that we rely on the same old antiquated policies of managing the symptoms of problems in business instead of fixing the root causes of those problems. Fixing those issues takes imagination, a construct of creativity, and we must relearn how to use it.
I’d like you to do another exercise. Imagine a world that is not bound by limitation, a world that is not bound by constraints or physical barriers. Right now, on these very pages, I will reveal to you a secret that is not really a secret, though we can call it one if we want to. This secret is beautiful in its simplicity and elegant in its candor. Like everything else in this book, it relies on reawakening what you already know and are able to use just by willing it. Are you ready?
Close your eyes and take a deep breath. Now open your eyes and imagine a world that can be shaped by any idea that you have simply because you declare it. But as you declare the idea, say it with positivity, not negativity. Creativity is the playground of the positive thinker. Negativity is the playground of the irrelevant: the company or career that has been, the product or service that no one wants anymore. Positivity is the fertile ground of creativity, and it is a key ingredient in enabling innovation in The Creator Mindset. The secret is the power of positivity.
Imagination, as you used it in the last paragraph, depends on mastery of the language of positivity. That language is a tool in The Creator Mindset that allows you to focus on the positive outcome of what happens even if the outcome is not what you have envisioned. It’s a shift in mentality that allows the creative side of the brain to see “yes” while the analytical side is screaming “no.” It’s a tool to lower the volume on the “no” so that you can hear more “yes.” Its focus is the very words you use to describe the effect that you want. Instead of saying “this doesn’t work,” say “this is different from what I thought.” Instead of saying “this is terrible,” say “this is unexpected.” It’s a slight shift but an important one because there is a strong cause-and-effect process in The Creator Mindset that allows the language of permission to guide you to places that you were unaware that you needed to go. In other words, while we spend so much of our time trying to control (analytical) the narrative of our businesses or our careers, allowing input to differ from your predetermined outcome (creative) just might spark that new idea.
We spend so much time trying to control outcomes that we leave little time for something new and fresh to happen. That new idea cannot spark if you kill it before it’s born with pessimism, negativity, and ego. A study in Psychology Today said that 80 percent of our daily thoughts are negative thoughts.2 Holy cow! Eighty percent? That made everything click for me. I now understand that analytically, it’s just so easy to say “no,” and “no” tends to squash any creative endeavor before it begins. Words like can’t or won’t and not do the same thing. Instead, start using words that encourage creativity such as maybe and let’s see where this goes and even yes to allow more creative ideas to be generated.
Where are we at today? Most businesses envision a world that is. It is full of problems, limitations, caps, boundaries, and other things that bar you from success. This is the one and only view of the world that is pushed by the analytical mindset. But I am here to argue that it is useless. Why view something in a rubric that gives you limited and uncreative options bound by past pessimism and tried-and-true solutions that are irrelevant today? Moreover, why view things the way everyone else does? You are an individual, and your business or profession is an extension of that individuality. It’s what gives you your identity, your edge, your brand.
The Creator Mindset thrives when it is partnered with positivity. At its heart lies the simplicity of looking at the glass as being half-full. There is a magical transformation that occurs when you allow yourself to think about problems creatively. Allowing creativity to make a plan full of optimism breeds options to overcome adversity, and let’s face it, when a business challenge emerges, all we want are options for overcoming that challenge. To allow creativity to activate fully, though, we must embrace the language of positivity as we enact The Creator Mindset. This positivity sometimes is difficult to conjure, but it is a critical element in the full breadth of executing The Creator Mindset.
I can imagine that you may be feeling a bit queasy about this. I mean, having excessive inventory piling up instead of going out the door will bring up many feelings, most of them negative. Having to buy new and expensive machines to fill an order may bring up similar feelings. These negative feelings, such as frustration, annoyance, dread, and maybe even anger, along with any other negative feelings, are not constructive or actionable. They are destructive.
When you are angry, you tend to make decisions that are not thought out, not prepared, not premeditated. Instead, you tend to act out in anger with swiftness and severity and without considering the options you so badly need. Instead of anger, positivity will bring up options. It will create a road map to emerge from the situation in which you currently find yourself. It will move you away from impulse, and positivity will build an actionable plan.
How will the language of positivity build an actionable plan? Let’s take a look at an excessive inventory issue as an example. The immediate thought here probably will be negative. Excessive inventory sucks no matter how you look at it. I’m not naïve. I get it. It sparks questions that are hard to answer, such as What is contributing to this issue? Is it lack of effective sales? Did we overorder? Are things not moving in a certain market in which we thought they would move? Almost inevitably, these questions lead to someone to blame or punish. But if you shift to The Creator Mindset, these issues turn into potential catalysts for solutions that will be obvious only if you view the problems positively. I know that this may seem counterintuitive, but it works. I’ve seen it work, and it will work for you. You can move mountains by approaching problems with the language of positivity.
Let’s try looking at this problem of inventory with The Creator Mindset by viewing what is working instead of focusing on analytical negativity. Ask yourself these two questions:
1. How can we look at this problem positively to allow options to seep into our consciousness?
2. How can we look at this problem to allow ideas to come up without relying on the old way of viewing it?
Think of any issue you have in your business today and apply these two questions. When you think creatively about problems in your business or profession, you open up options that can touch different areas and lead to effectiveness for not just the problem you are working on but for other problems as well: both the symptom and the root cause. My example here is vague on purpose. I want you to think of whatever specific issue you are encountering and see the parallels. If you take a creative view of the stuff piling up at the warehouse, ask if it perhaps is time to cut your losses and clear out stuff that isn’t moving. Sometimes things are blessings in disguise. Maybe this will lead to a clearing out that will allow you to take on the next order more efficiently. Maybe the market is telling you something about your product. If that is the case, what? Are you listening? Have you been listening, and have you listened lately? Perhaps this is the time to talk to customers and see what their perception is. When was the last time you hit the road and really talked to your customers? Maybe this is the time to engage with your team members to see what their perception is.
Rarely is a problem an island in a business. It usually is tied to a couple of different things that work in concert to bring either success or failure. I am not privy to your particular problem, and these suggestions are all generic. But they are based on The Creator Mindset and rooted in the two questions we just discussed. You know far more than I do about your issues and their history in your company. Now it is time for you to declare that looking at issues with the old view is no longer relevant. Getting creative about solving problems positively will allow you to attack the core issue, not just the symptoms.
But why are we so predisposed to the negative side of life? Why is it so much easier to look at the glass as being half empty? Why is it in our human nature to react negatively so easily? Why are we humans not easily disposed to positivity as a matter of course? The human condition is designed to survive and not do what we are doing today. We are doing far more than just surviving; we’re thriving.
Our experience as humans has changed drastically in just the past 50 years, and tens of thousands of years of evolution are still catching up to the current situation. Anger used to give us the boost of this or that hormone to have the strength to defeat the attacking beast the way Harriette did in Chapter 6. But today that anger produces the same hormone it did for our ancestors while we stare at boxes piling up in a warehouse. Do you see how terribly misplaced this reaction is for dealing with the problem in front of us? Without the language of positivity to absorb our perspective in a Creator Mindset, we are simply following along like everyone else, forever stuck in the dogma of our past. We need to retrain our minds to see things a different way.