Thinking with a Tomorrow Mind

While reading ‘Tomorrowmind’  by Kellerman & Seligman, we started thinking about how this relates to the Habits of Mind.  Assuming all past thinking processes will suffice for future problems is probably not a good bet.  The faster technology, globalization, and time restraints increase, the pressure to perform increases.

Five psychological powers , the most critical for workplace thriving in the 21^st Century is PRISM.

1. P – Prospection: The meta-skill positioning us ahead of change.
2. R – Resilience and cognitive agility: The bedrock of thriving through change
3. S – Rapid rapport to build social support: The connection we need to flourish
4. I – Creativity and Innovation: Our uniquely human gift, restored to workplace prominence today after its assembly-line decline.
5. M – Meaning and mattering: The motivation to propel us forward.

The ability to think about the future is called prospection.  HOM: Remaining Open to Continual Learning. As Karen Clark said, “Life is change, Growth is Optional, Choose Wisely.”

“For my generation we were more like a sailboat.  Today we need whitewater kayakers, quickly analyzing and responding to an everchanging flow.  We must be able to read the environment, scanning broadly for threat and opportunity.  We evolved to be generalists who could seize on local opportunity with great agility.  The same recipe for success applies to the unknowns of today’s market.”

HOM:  Taking Responsible Risks.  We all must assess the risk reward dynamic.  Taking a responsible risk means considering the safety of the system.  Amy Edmondson (2023), The Right Kind of Wrong wrote about trying solutions that inform future directions.

Wicked Problems have multiple causes and lack a single “right” answer. Terrorism, poverty, and global warming are all examples of wicked problems. [Bill’s note:  See a source for VUCA and Pachanowsky wrote about Wicked Problems]

“For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong”

HL Mencken

            Confucius, 500 BCE said, “the more many of us meditates upon good thoughts, the better will be his world and the world at large.”  HOM: Managing Impulsivity.  Kahneman in Thinking, Fast and Slow talked about two ways.  System 1, quick responses to immediate concerns or threats and System 2, slow and more reflective consideration. This is a decision of short-term and long-term thinking.  We contend most major decisions are System 2 which requires reflection for future outcomes.

            Another HOM: Applying Past knowledge to New Situations.  Former solutions may not work as well, AND learn from the past while addressing the newer problems.  This involves reflecting on the past, consideration in the present, and formulating possibilities in the future.

In Seligman’s prior book (2011), Flourish provides five keys to being successful in professional and personal life.      PERMA:

P:  Positive emotions

E:  Engagement – engagement is work, love, and play

R:  Relationships

M:  Meaning and Matters

A:  Accomplishment, achievement, and mastery

Here are some more possible connections from the Habits of Mind research:

P:  HOM – Listening with Understanding and Empathy

E:  HOM – Responding with Wonderment and Awe

R:  HOM – Thinking Interdependently

M: HOM – Creating, Imagining, and Innovating

A:  HOM – Thinking and Communicating with Clarity and Precision

“The Key to psychological fitness is resilience”

General George W. Casey Jr.

Chief of staff of the Army

      Two of the most important emotional regulations skills are:

1. Slowing down
2. Cognitive reappraisal.

Cognitive Agility gives us options. People in the lowest quartile of cognitive agility scores improve in this capability by 77% in just three months of coaching.    Yes, cognitive agility can be learned and extended by coaching and relationships. Below are suggestions from Tomorrowmind.

Bolstering Meaning at Work: As Individuals – 7 Most common drivers of workplace meaning:

1. Personal Growth – your work contributes to the development of your inner self
2. Professional Growth – You feel your work allows you to activate your full professional potential (knowledge workers want this the most)
3. Shared purpose – you feel that you and your colleagues and your leaders are working toward a common purpose
4. Service: You find meaning in acts of service for other people
5. Balance: You find meaning in the work of balancing your personal and professional attitudes and priorities
6. Inspiration: You feel inspired by your company’s vision and leadership
7. Honesty: You hold as a core value straightforward communication and the realistic assessment of work

      The presence of a companion makes the task ahead less daunting to our mind’s eye.   Again, HOM – Thinking Interdependently is a value-added habit to our own thinking.  Find your thinking partners and learn from and with them.

Synchronicity – In a  minute or two we can significantly strengthen relations.  Kindness performed asynchronously, via email or test or social media creates significantly less positivity resonance.  Being together in real time is an essential ingredient for depth of connection.  Shared time, shared experiences, matter.

“Cultures that don’t position every employee as an innovator will rapidly fall behind”

            Conscious attention is essential to creative output.  

“The unconscious generates the pieces. Consciousness puts them together.  Interfere too much with consciousness and creativity suffers.

Roy Baumeister

      Two unique superpowers are

• Prospection
• Creativity

Prism Powers of Prospection, Resilience and agility, innovation and creativity, social connection by way of rapid rapport, and mattering.

Rehumanizing and reconfiguring our organizations to stop splitting workers’ attention between work and personal needs. The movement to an innovating workplace will require a learning culture. There are estimated costs of $400 billon of training and $15,000 per employee in related health care costs.

The Habits of Mind are transferable skills that tend to be consistent as new learning and new applications emerge.

            “We need to grab hold of the tools that exist and put in the work to develop our Tomorrowmind,  Change is coming faster every day.   HOW WILL YOU RESPOND?”

References:

Costa, Arthur & Kallick, Bena. (2008).  Leading and Learning with Habits of Mind:16 Essential

            Characteristics for Success.  Alexandria, VA:  ASCD Press.

Edmondson, Amy. (2023). Right Kind of Wrong:  The Science of Failing Well.

New York:  Atria

Kahneman, D. (2011). Thinking, Fast and Slow. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux.

Kellerman, Gabriella Rosen & Seligman, Martin. (2023). Tomorrowmind. New York: Atria

Seligman, M. (2011). Flourish.  New York:  Free Press

Ward, Rosie & Robison, John. (2020). Rehumanizing the Workplace.  Denver, CO:

Conscious Capitalism Press.