How Now!

I concluded my previous post with the somewhat rhetorical question: How can your thinking and attitudes benefit from daily applications of the improvisational model of ExploreFlexSupport (supported by The Now! and The Wow!)?

Well … here’s The How!

(To take a Coaching approach, I’ll frame these in the form of questions to ask yourself rather than a list of “shoulds,” since I’m sure you’re shouldering enough shoulds as it is.)

EXPLORE
· In solving problems or seeking opportunities, do you stop with the first answer that seems to work? Or do you push ahead to the “next answer,” where the real creativity may lie?
· What do you think may just be over the rise up ahead? Do you expect the worst? Can you think of past situations where something unexpectedly great and wonderful poked its head above the horizon? Can you approach the rise expecting the same thing to happen again?
· Has your daily routine become a straitjacket – or worse, a sedative? Are you even aware of how many things you do on autopilot? What can you do to push beyond or break out of these mixed metaphors – even a little bit?

FLEX
· Are you able to shift comfortably with the winds of your day?
· Do you fail with grace - or fail alone? Are you able to bounce back quickly after a stumble? Do you beat yourself up mercilessly over a mistake, or do you quickly move past it – and even question whether anyone else noticed?
· Can you see beyond your own mental filters and really get behind someone else’s eyeballs? Can you see the world as they see it?

SUPPORT
· Do you say “Yes and” to new ideas – your own as well as others’?
· Do you know, respect, and leverage the strengths of those around you?
· On the job, do you treat other people as work processors – only there to give you input and receive your output? Or do you treat other people as (gasp!) people? Do you go beyond a Joe Friday “just the facts” level and inquire into feelings as well?

THE NOW!
· Are you fully present – head, heart, and gut?
· Do you go beyond just listening to others and fully attend to them?
· In the lunchroom, are you really giving that co-worker your attention, or are you looking him in the eye while your feet are pointed toward the door? (Made you look.)

THE WOW!
· Are you saying “Ain’t it fun”?

Improvisational training can help you develop in each of these areas – again, by helping you change your thinking and your attitudes.