Mental Rehearsing
When we think about the future, we are often rehearsing what we will think, do, and feel without being aware that we are rehearsing. This is a problem.
As with physical rehearsing, when we mentally start to rehearse what we will do in the future, the way we rehearse matters. Ideally, we would think about how we want to mentally rehearse and for how long. Like physical practice, mental practice improves with structure.
And there are tools we can use. Intention matters, but so does environment, boundaries, and techniques.
The next time you are thinking about your actions in the future, try to rehearse them as you would a physical rehearsal instead of leaving them to fate.
When we think about the future, we are often rehearsing what we will think, do, and feel without being aware that we are rehearsing. This is a problem.
As with physical rehearsing, when we mentally start to rehearse what we will do in the future, the way we rehearse matters. Ideally, we would think about how we want to mentally rehearse and for how long. Like physical practice, mental practice improves with structure.
And there are tools we can use. Intention matters, but so does environment, boundaries, and techniques.
The next time you are thinking about your actions in the future, try to rehearse them as you would a physical rehearsal instead of leaving them to fate.
Emergence
Knowledge is rarely gained by incremental steps. Einstein did not arrive at the Theory of Relativity by improving an existing explanation. Instead, his curiosity and imagination led him to a completely new way of explaining space and time.
New discoveries are often completely different ways of explaining things since they uncover information that was previously hidden. This uncovering of previously hidden explanations is called emergence.
When we try to solve a problem, we often rely on our experience and perhaps the experience of others around us. However, like Einstein, we should not discount our creative ability to imagine solutions as well.
Fundamental knowledge is rarely gained by incremental steps. Einstein did not arrive at the Theory of Relativity by improving an existing explanation. Instead, his curiosity and imagination led him to a completely new way of explaining space and time.
New discoveries are often completely different ways of explaining things since they uncover information that was previously hidden. This uncovering of previously hidden explanations is called emergence.
When we try to solve a problem, we often rely on our experience and perhaps the experience of others around us. However, like Einstein, we should not discount our creative ability to imagine solutions as well.
Unintended Consequences
You have probably heard only one side of the story regarding unintended consequences, or events we did not intend by our actions. Many times we are told that the unintended consequences we experience in life, those we obviously did not try to achieve, are usually negative. However, this is incorrect and maybe the result of a negative bias rather than what we actually experience.
We are just as likely to receive positive unintended consequences than negative ones. When we make the right choices in a moment, we often increase the odds of positive unintended consequences down the road. When we make the wrong choices, the opposite.
In commercial real estate there are often choices that paralyze our thinking because of the unknown. As leaders, we can focus on the negative unintended consequences of each decision and lose progress. However, since unintended consequences are neutral, and we can increase the odds of positive ones by making the right choices, our focus should be making the right choice in the moment.
You have probably heard only one side of the story regarding unintended consequences, or events we did not intend by our actions. Many times we are told that the unintended consequences we experience in life, those we obviously did not try to achieve, are usually negative. However, this is incorrect and maybe the result of a negative bias rather than what we actually experience.
We are just as likely to receive positive unintended consequences than negative ones. When we make the right choices in a moment, we often increase the odds of positive unintended consequences down the road. When we make the wrong choices, the opposite.
In commercial real estate there are often choices that paralyze our thinking because of the unknown. As leaders, we can focus on the negative unintended consequences of each decision and lose progress. However, since unintended consequences are neutral, and we can increase the odds of positive ones by making the right choices, our focus should be making the right choice in the moment.
Legibility
David Perrell’s outstanding “Mega Thread” on Twitter includes a concept called legibility. David writes,
Legibility We are blind to what we cannot measure. Not everything that counts can be measured, and not everything that can be measured counts. But people manage what they can measure, so society repeats the same mistakes.
People and organizations tend to have a blind spot when it comes to the immeasurable. Furthermore, they have a bias towards managing only the measurable.
In corporate and industrial real estate, we tend to measure a lot of things and like to manage them. However, when we talk about our people and places contributing to the purpose or mission of the organization, we should not forget the immeasurable qualities about them.
Data and managing measurable information undoubtedly can contribute to your personal and organizational success. But making sure you look beyond the measurable aspects of what you do, and how you do it, is the only way to see the entire pathway towards your purpose and mission.
David Perrell’s outstanding “Mega Thread” on Twitter includes a concept called legibility. David writes,
Legibility We are blind to what we cannot measure. Not everything that counts can be measured, and not everything that can be measured counts. But people manage what they can measure, so society repeats the same mistakes.
People and organizations tend to have a blind spot when it comes to the immeasurable. Furthermore, they have a bias towards managing only the measurable.
In corporate and industrial real estate, we tend to measure a lot of things and like to manage them. However, when we talk about our people and places contributing to the purpose or mission of the organization, we should not forget the immeasurable qualities about them.
Data and managing measurable information undoubtedly can contribute to your personal and organizational success. But making sure you look beyond the measurable aspects of what you do, and how you do it, is the only way to see the entire pathway towards your purpose and mission.