AS we approach midyear, it’s a good time to reassess and reconsider how we look at things. After all, everything is changing around us—brought about by the pandemic that we still have to cope with, world events, and closer to home, national elections. And how we approach these challenges will certainly matter.
In an article in Inc.com, Minda Zetlin, coauthor of The Geek Gap, says that “the best minds are willing to rethink their assumptions and change their opinions.”
That insight comes from Wharton organizational psychologist and best-selling author Adam Grant, whose latest book Think Again, invites readers to rethink their assumptions just about everything. It is those, after all, who are willing to change their viewpoints that “keep learning forever at the top.”
Citing his own thought process as an example, he shows how these can upend your usual beliefs and practices about how to be a good leader, a persuasive speaker, or even a good friend. And their all good things to think about as the year progresses.
Here, Zetlin lists 5 things Wharton Psychologist Adam Grant wants you to rethink in 2022.
1. Experience
How much do you value experience when choosing somebody to work with? Do we look for people with proven track records or are we willing to consider potentials?
Zetlin says that Grant would like us to rethink the belief that experience is all that matters, citing a meta-analysis of 81 studies that compared the previous experience of job candidates with their performance once they got a job. While experience counts, Grant believes that “it’s how people can learn to do a job, not how long they’ve done it.”
In our own experience, there are many factors to consider when choosing a person to work with. People are gifted with different skills, strengths and weaknesses, and we can only realize this when they are on the job. Sadly, many do not even bother to develop these skills, and right away seek the assistance of an agency especially when they have the budget.
And then, there is the matter of adaptability and flexibility, as each situation and each corporate culture is different. Of course, we welcome new ideas from different workplaces, but they should also be able to adapt these to the matter at hand.
At the end of the day, experience and potential should work together and adapt to the time.
2. Rest
taking time off to rewind, relax, and reenergize—has always been an important part of the work-life balance. In unhealthy cultures, Grant wrote, “people see rest as taking your foot off the gas pedal.” That is, you go for as long as you can, doing as much as you can and when you’re too tired to do anymore, you rest.
Grant suggests that we instead think of rest as the fuel that allows the gas pedal to work, and that we “take regular breaks to maintain energy and avoid burnout.”
In other words, even if you don’t think you’re tired—which most of us are bad at recognizing anyhow—you should take a break now to have more energy later on.
3. Writing
As communicators, writing is an essential part of our work. There are many tips on how we can improve our writing. But why do we write? Most, likely, says Zetlin, “it’s because we have something to say.”
Whether it’s a memo to your team, a blog post, an opinion piece, or even a book, the reason we take to write something “is so that you can share your ideas, insights, experiences, and learnings with others.”
That’s an excellent reason to write, but Grant wants you to consider another one: It’s a great way to think through and understand your own thoughts and ideas.
“Writing exposes gaps in your knowledge and logic,” he says. “It pushes you to articulate assumptions and consider counterarguments. One of the best paths of sharper thinking is frequent writing.”
4. Opening other people’s minds
In communications, we have to create awareness about the brands, the events, and the company we work for all the time. It’s not an easy task, especially when we have to convince people with a certain mindset and set of beliefs.
How do you ask others to rethink their own assumptions? How do you get them to recognize they could be wrong?
This is where many of us bring on the data—facts and figures collected along, sharing anecdotes and personal experiences, or use the force of our arguments to persuade them.
Grant wants you to set aside these tactics, and instead as he describes in a New York Times essay from his book, try what is called motivational interviewing with a vaccine-rejecting friend.
Rather than present his friend with the science, Grant asked his friend his views on how to deal with the pandemic. In the end, both opened their minds, at least a little. The friend allowed that vaccines may make sense in some circumstances. And Grant changed his own mind about the value of convincing others of his opinions.
5. Disagreement
“The clearest sign of intellectual chemistry isn’t agreeing with someone. It’s enjoying your disagreements with them,” Grant tweeted.
While most of us tend to spend our time with people who share our views and vision, can you spend some time with those who disagree with you, but who you still respect?
Zetlin believes that when you find someone who doesn’t share your beliefs, but you enjoy discussing your ideas with them and listening to what they have to say, that’s someone you should try to keep in your inner circle. They will keep your thinking sharp—and maybe they’ll broaden it as well. Maybe they’ll even help you do some more rethinking of your own.
PR Matters is a roundtable column by members of the local chapter of the United Kingdom-based International Public Relations Association (Ipra), the world’s premier association for senior professionals around the world. Millie Dizon, the senior vice president for Marketing and Communications of SM, is the former local chairman.
We are devoting a special column each month to answer the reader’s questions about public relations. Please send your comments and questions to askipraphil@gmail.com.
Image credits: CHRISTINA MORILLO | PEXELS.COM