Humility Is the New Smart by Edward D. Hess

Author:Edward D. Hess [Hess, Edward D.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Berrett-Koehler Publishers
Published: 2016-06-15T07:00:00+00:00

1. Psychological distancing

The self-control expert Walter Mischel explains that you can psychologically distance yourself from your negative emotions by imagining that you’re a “fly on the wall.”13 You can look down at yourself and the situation as if it’s happening to someone else in order to think about it impartially. Ray Dalio teaches a similar psychological distancing process to his team at Bridgewater Associates by advising them: “Get above yourself.”14

2. Reframing

Another way to manage your emotions is to reframe a perceived negative situation. In her best-selling book The Creative Habit, Twyla Tharp refers to this as facing down your fears.15 “No one starts a creative endeavor without a certain amount of fear; the key is to learn how to keep free-floating fears from paralyzing you before you’ve begun,” says Tharp.16 Likewise, Tom Kelley and David Kelley, IDEO’s founders, explain in Creative Confidence, “Creative confidence depends on an absence of fear of failure and judgment.”17 For example, if you’re feeling fearful or anxious, acknowledge exactly what that fear is and consider whether you can credibly look at the situation as a less fear-inducing one.

Can a performance review be recast as a learning opportunity?

Can a critique of your thinking be recast as an opportunity to get to the most accurate answer, thus helping you avoid a big mistake?

Can you logically reduce the magnitude of the situation’s perceived potential harmful effect by downplaying the likelihood of something bad happening?

For example, if you’re fearful of looking stupid in a brainstorming session, you could think about the fact that many people will come up with ideas that won’t be good. Gregory Berns, a professor of neuroeconomics at Emory University, recommends these kinds of reframing techniques in Iconoclast: A Neuroscientist Reveals How to Think Differently.18

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.