It’s hard to survive with a survival mindset
The world is changing at an unprecedented rate and I don’t expect it to let up anytime soon. For example, last fall Walmart opened its first health centre where you can get an annual check up for your child for $20 and while you’re waiting, you can get your teeth cleaned for $25. And Walmart doesn’t plan to stop at one location—their goal is to be America’s Neighbourhood Health Destination.
This may make you nervous if you’re in the healthcare business. “Will I have a job?” or “Will my business will still exist?” are natural questions that might keep you awake at night. Even if you’re not in healthcare, you may also be nervous because if it’s not Walmart, there is likely someone else out there who is going to disrupt the way your business or industry operates.
Formerly, there only a few analogies (like buggy whips and candles) but today when you look for examples, there are countless industries that have been shocked by disruption and reeling to recover if they are not already extinct—newspapers, taxis, music, books, video rental, photography film to name a few.
While I do not have the specific advice to prevent your company from being disrupted and made irrelevant but I do know this—if you approach survival with a survival mindset, you will fail. In order to deal with complexity and generate innovative ideas, you must draw on the executive function of your brain. This is the part of your brain that enables strategic and creative thinking but it only operates when you are in positive frame of mind. Being stressed or in a negative frame of mind, or fearful, are markers of a survival mindset which effectively renders your brain’s executive function as useless.
Therefore you need to approach survival with a thriving mindset. To draw on the full resources of your human capacity, and that of your team, you need to be in a positive emotional state. Based on my experience and a drawer full of social science research, being grateful is the easiest and simplest way to build and maintain a thriving mindset. When you have this mindset, you are much better equipped to deal with the largest challenges facing you and your company.
I encourage you to make building a thriving mindset your leadership imperative for 2020.
Here are three simple strategies to ensure that you spend more time with a positive, thriving mindset:
Make a list of 3 things you’re grateful for—do this daily
Whenever confronted with a challenge, make your first response be this question—“Where is the good in this challenge?”
Pay attention to children playing—depending on your life, this may be frequent or infrequent. Regardless, use the experience of “children playing” as a touchstone reminder to thrive
