The Mind Shift™
Yeah, yeah, I know, Einstein’s definition of insanity―The problems that exist in the world today cannot be solved by the level of thinking that created them―is used ad nauseam.
BUT, what I want you to do is change what you BELIEVE he said—i.e. doing the same thing over-and-over again—to what he ACTUALLY said; change your level of thinking, which is a demonstration of sanity!
And, when he said change, I believe he meant radical change; the kind requiring temporary suspension of disbelieve; the learn, unlearn, and relearn kind of change. We need what I call a Mind-Shift in my book The Root Cause. This is, to use another overly used expression, a paradigm shift. The most universal example of this is rejection of the belief in geocentrism—the Sun revolves around the Earth—and the adoption of belief in heliocentrism—the Earth revolves around the Sun.
Resistance to Change
Hence the word “shift” in my expression mind shift; you’ll have to jump from the current continuum to the new one. After all, each mindset is governed by its own set of principles, which are irreconcilable. Therefore, a trajectory emanating from one mindset just does not lead to the other one. Consequently, no amount of better tools, technology, analysis, specialization, deeper deep domain expertise will help you reach that new mindset, or new level of thinking, no matter how hard you try. And no, there is no cafeteria menu from which to pick and choose principles from either mindset according to one’s mood or liking. You align yourself with one or the other mindset; there is no middle ground. I hazard to guess, that is why we are so resistant to change, real change.
Here are some examples of alternative mindsets, each with their own trajectory. The new mindset or level of thinking is unattainable by following the current mindset:
CURRENT MINDSET: NEW MINDSET OR LEVEL OF THINKING:
• Economic principles • Spiritual or humanitarian principles
• Purpose of “making money” • Purpose of becoming “The Obvious Choice Supplier”
• Growing the business system • Developing the business system
• Communication from content • Communication from process
• Mechanistic perspective • Organismic perspective
• Specialization • Generalization
• Efficiency • Effectiveness
• Knowledge • Wisdom
• Analysis • Synthesis
There IS a Difference, Though . . .
Those who have embraced change, who showed willingness to at least explore the new level of thinking―trying it on for size so to speak―CAN shift back and forth between the two continuums. They can knit together principles of the two mindsets. The new mindset does not exclude the old one; humanitarian principles are good for economic ones. Becoming The Obvious Choice Supplier cannot fail to make you money. And, the same can be said of the other examples.
However, experience taught us that the reverse does not work; pursuing bottom-line results will hardly make one one’s target audience’s Obvious Choice Supplier. Growing the business system is not likely going to develop the system’s capability and capacity. The same idea applies to efficiency and effectiveness, and all other examples.
It Depends . . . On YOU!
The cliché answer of a consultant to your question about what to do is “It Depends.” And, it depends on you; what you want to achieve; what you believe to be valid and true principles to realize what you want.
Everything is already within your grasp; data, information, knowledge, expertise, skills, and all other resources. All you need is to ORGANIZE that stuff and DIRECT it towards the realization of the purpose for which the business system was designed, structured, implemented, maintained, and managed.
Napoleon Hill called this Organizing and Directing the “missing link in all systems of education known to civilization.” Read about The Missing Link in my book THE ROOT CAUSE: Rethink Your Approach To Solving Stubborn Enterprise-Wide Problems, published by McGraw Hill in April 2022.
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