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And that perspective seemed to strike a nerve with others too. That Thursday Thought generated a lot of conversation, comments, and dialogue \u2013 exactly what I hope for when posting my thoughts!\u00a0
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Which got me thinking about what perspectives we have in our lives. What lenses we view the world through on a regular basis. For example, in Mary Ann Sieghart\u2019s brilliant, must-read book,\u00a0The Authority Gap<\/a>, she writes that \u201cOn average, women read roughly 50:50 books by men and by women.\u00a0For men, the ratio is 80:20<\/a>.\u201d Men, in this case, are getting their perspective largely from other men.
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But it has been definitively proven that\u00a0diversity of thought<\/a>\u00a0brings more creativity, smarter decision-making, reduced turnover in corporations, better problem-solving, and a host of other advantages. Yet how much of our regular life is influenced by diverse thought and different perspectives?
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So this week, let\u2019s dive into just that! New perspectives, and hopefully new thoughts, ideas, and knowledge!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
PERSPECTIVE: WORKING FROM HOME…<\/mark><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n I greatly admire Malcolm Gladwell and his way of exploring new perspectives.\u00a0This interview<\/a>\u00a0with Dan Harris on the\u00a010 Percent Happier podcast<\/a>\u00a0was a fascinating discussion. Gladwell\u00a0is particularly eloquent in this episode, describing seeing some of his endeavours as a journalist from a new perspective and the humility of that lesson. He also offers a fascinating viewpoint on why we shouldn\u2019t do away with working together in the office altogether: we learn from each other, and while perhaps you are at a stage in your career where you are happier working solo, you may be depriving someone else (someone potentially at an earlier stage of their career) of the learning they would have by working with and collaborating with you in person. That was an argument for office work I hadn\u2019t thought of before. A new perspective!<\/p>\n\n\n\n PERSPECTIVE: DIFFERENT PROCESSES…<\/mark><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n How often have you felt you weren\u2019t doing things \u201cthe right way\u201d?? We can easily get sucked into the false belief that there is only one right way to do things. Want to be productive? Use the Pomodoro Technique! Want to be a successful leader? Get up at 5am! Want to have mental health? Meditate!\u00a0 PERSPECTIVE: TOOLS…<\/mark><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n It seems self-explanatory that tools should be constructed for us, not us constructed for tools, don\u2019t you think?? And yet, that is so rarely the case! PERSPECTIVE: SKILLS AUDIT…<\/mark><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n One of the areas we rarely see from a different perspective is our own strengths. Sure, we\u2019ve all answered the \u201cwhat are your top 3 strengths?\u201d question in an interview, and hopefully you do know that you have a few more strengths than that! But as Gill Whitty-Collins so convincingly states in her interview on the\u00a0Story of Woman podcast<\/a>, \u201cThey [the 7% of women CEOs] all knew from really early in their lives and their careers, they knew their strengths. They knew their superpowers. They knew what they were good at, and they leveraged it<\/em>.\u201d WHAT I’M READING…<\/mark><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Years ago I started a virtual book club on Facebook. As an avid reader, I love having friends to discuss books with, and also to get new book recommendations. The virtual book group is an absolute treasure trove of book suggestions!! And I know that if someone in that group recommends a book, I\u2019m almost certainly going to like it.\u00a0![\"\"](\"https:\/\/jnhcoaching.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/TEN-PERCENT-HAPPIER-1011x1024.jpg\"){kind=spacer}
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But of course, there are as many ways to do things as there are people. What is right for you might not be right for me! As I mentioned in the last newsletter on\u00a0Productivity<\/a>, I am a morning person \u2013 getting up early to get things done works so much better for me than working late. My husband is the opposite. And that\u2019s okay! My process isn\u2019t his process.\u00a0
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This podcast on\u00a0Different Processes<\/a>\u00a0highlights exactly that perspective. We shouldn\u2019t necessarily blindly imitate those we admire, because what makes them good at what they do is their process, not ours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/jnhcoaching.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/THE-LONG-AND-SHORT-OF-IT-1024x803.jpg\")
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Did you know, for example, that when pianos were first invented, they came in a range of sizes? Just as violins, and flutes, and other instruments have different sizes, pianos were constructed to fit the player. Cool concept, right? Except at some point in the late 1800s, pianos became a standard size.\u00a0\u00a0So that nowadays \u201cthe standard piano keyboard is too big for 87 per cent of women and 25 per cent of men<\/a>\u201d?? What a loss of potential talented pianists, just because their instrument is the wrong size. Isn\u2019t that a strange perspective?<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/jnhcoaching.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/VISIBLE-WOMEN-1024x876.jpg\")
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So how do we go about getting a different perspective on our strengths? One way is to do a Skills Audit! Sit down and literally start making a list of all the skills you possess. It will definitely be a much longer list than you anticipate now!
Another option is to do a professional\u00a0Skills Audit<\/a>. I absolutely love this concept and it\u2019s on my Wish List for this year. To really get a broader and deeper perspective of where my strengths lie. We (well primarily women) spend so much time concentrating on our weaknesses, and not nearly enough on what our strengths are and how we can leverage them!<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/jnhcoaching.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/THE-STORY-OF-WOMAN-1024x979.jpg\")
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The fun part of that is that I\u2019ve discovered many books through this group that I would not have picked up on my own! And so it was when someone recommended Gabrielle Zevin\u2019s\u00a0Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow<\/a>.\u00a0It\u2019s the story of two friends who meet as tweens in a hospital and bond over their shared love of video games. The pair go on to become video game programmers and build one of the world\u2019s most successful video game companies.\u00a0
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Now as someone who never really played video games, this doesn\u2019t really sound like a story I\u2019d be into. But it was SO good. Zevin does an absolutely masterful job of creating beautifully 3-dimensional characters whose story engages and captures your interest. The video game plot line is surprisingly interesting, and the friendship between Sam and Sadie is so real. You can really empathise with each of the characters \u2013 their decisions, their misunderstandings, their motivations. It was wonderfully realistic, and I found it a great read.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/jnhcoaching.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/TOMORROW-AND-TOMORROW-AND-TOMORROW-673x1024.jpg\")
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