Un articolo libero Databse

There is a scene in the classic holiday movie “A Christmas Story” (an adaptation of childhood stories of the late writer/humorist Jean Shepherd) where a boy named Flick is bragging to his friends that his father said that if you put your tongue on a frozen flag pole, it wouldn’t get stuck. (By the way, they were 8 year old boys, if you are wondering who would think of such a thing.) On a “triple-dog dare” from Schwartz, one of the other boys, Flick proceeded to do so, armed with his belief that his self-proclaimed infallible father was always right.

Well, the laws of nature – and of winters in Indiana – dictated otherwise. As Flick’s self-satisfied “See, I told ya” soon turned into the realization that he was indeed stuck, he flailed, cried, screamed “Stuck! Stuck! Stuck!” and implored the help of his friends. His friends, driven by a higher imperative – the bell that signaled the end of recess and a return to class or “you’d be in big trouble” –knew only one solution, i.e., running back to the classroom, and abandoning their friend to his “stuck” fate.

Now, poor Flick was only going by what he knew and believed, reinforced by the belief he had in his father’s infallibility. And he knew and believed only one solution – flailing, crying and screaming – to try and resolve it. Getting into this problem was easy…getting out of it was far more difficult. It took the resources of not only one observant teacher but that of the local police, fire and rescue personnel.

Inevitably, there comes a time or times in your life when you get stuck and you flail around trying to get unstuck. Midlife in general can be one of those times when you feel a strong urge to move in a different direction in your life but you don’t know how to begin. You may even know what you want to do –like write a book – but just can’t get it together. You may be in a predicament like staying in a job that you are intellectually and emotionally done with but are unsure how to leave it and still support yourself financially. Or you may be in a relationship that’s ok but not going anywhere. And it seems that no matter what you do to resolve it, no matter how much you flail about, you inevitably default to your belief system and rely on what you already know to resolve it…and the “stuck-ness” only persists. The truth is you will not solve any significant problem you face by doing things the way you have done them before.

Which brings me to the quote by Albert Einstein that I ran across again the other day while researching another topic: “The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them.” Frank, a physicist acquaintance of mine, explained to me that in Einstein’s time, “all of science thought that light waves were the product of a vibration of a substance they called the ‘ether’. But, no one could detect its presence. The puzzle was really confounded when light speed measured ‘along’ the ether’s motion was found to be equal to the light speed opposite its motion. Surely the speed of the wave must be different when the waving stuff is moving toward you, versus away from you. But it wasn’t. Einstein said, maybe the speed of light never changes, no matter how fast or slow you are moving. This was revolutionary! We now call it the ‘special theory of relativity and it represents a total departure from the way people were used to thinking about the world.”

Einstein’s original thinking solved a scientific puzzle, revolutionized and changed forever how people thought about the world. Now, true genius is a rare phenomenon. Answers seem to come to them from a region far beyond what we average-to-above-average thinkers rely on.

The brain, the marvelous computer that it is, has a glitch. When faced with a problem, it searches the data banks for existing information and knowledge. It will not automatically go to the thousands of bits of new information it has been exposed to on a daily basis but to the information that lies inside its immediate and very narrow bandwidth of consciousness.

But it is in this outer region that the answers lie. How do you access these bits of information? There are many ways but let me suggest two simple things you can do to implement a different level of thinking.

First, if you don’t already know how to, learn how to create a mind map or mind web. If you are not acquainted with these terms do an online search for them and you will find, along with explanations of the terms, the resources for learning them, including books and even software programs. These tools can be used for solving problems in personal arenas as well as business or work-related arenas.

Simply described, mind maps or webs are visual representations of your ideas with the main idea placed in the center of the paper. One then intuitively branches out from the center with ideas that relate to the main idea. Different colored pens or markers can be used to denote each branch of a related idea. Symbols can also be placed on each of the branches as well as the “tributaries” that run from each of the branches.

For example, if you’re a woman in midlife, your main problem may be not knowing where you want to go next in your life. (By the way, you may find these maps run pretty large, so be prepared with additional paper or larger sized paper or poster boards.) At the center, you may draw a cloud-like shape labeled “Where to Next?” with a big question mark placed at the center. You feel pretty confounded by the problem, so you choose grey as the color of the cloud.

You then think, “Well, to get me started, let me see where I feel pretty grounded right now”, so you draw a solid, thick line or arrow to a heart shape you label “Relationships”. From here you draw other lines to your spouse or significant relationship, children, family of origin, friendships, neighbors, community-based connections, organizations you belong to and any other kind of connections you may have. Off of each of those you might list an individual’s name. In doing so, you remember that you met Rhonda at a fundraiser for a charity you support and that she is a career counselor. You indicate through a color or symbol that she is someone to contact. (You can transfer this contact to a more linear “to-do” list if you’d like).

As you add more concepts or ideas like “My Current Job” or “My Hobbies”, you may begin to see where you can draw lines between and among these concepts or ideas. The more you do this, the more the brain starts making connections automatically and begins to draw on ideas that lay outside your immediate, narrow bandwidth of consciousness. You’ll suddenly get a flash to something you read in a magazine or an announcement you saw…things you didn’t automatically remember.

These maps or webs trigger your thinking and are a way to become consciously aware of subconscious thoughts or even feelings. You may suddenly remember how good you felt when you were doing a certain task. Make sure to highlight it in some way as it is a clue that may be an avenue to follow.

Second, form a “brainstorming” group. Invite 4 or 5 people you know with diverse backgrounds; e.g., if you are in sales, try and invite someone from totally unrelated fields such as library science or technology. Don’t invite close friends or family. Though they love you and support you, they may think a lot like you or they may try to protect you from further problems. This is not to your advantage in solving your current significant problem.

At this brainstorming session, have a flip chart or large pieces of paper adhered to the wall. Present your problem to the group and have them say out loud all the things that come to their minds as a solution to the problem. Write these ideas down on the paper so everyone can see. One idea will spark another. Do not judge, “blow-off” or negate any idea during this process. Take down the papers (hopefully you have many) and review them at another time soon after the group.

Later, you can have a more critical thinking acquaintance help you prioritize the ideas you did come up with and/or blow holes in some of them. Add the usable ideas to your mind map/web or keep a running list of possibilities in a binder or journal. By the way, don’t forget to do something to show appreciation and to return the favor to your brainstorming group.

Thinking at a different level than what got you into a problem – by using tools like mind maps/webs, brainstorming groups or the myriad of other possibilities you just haven’t thought of yet – is a true jumping off point for your growth and success.

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