Tell me quick, what do you say when someone asks you who you are? Do you struggle or do you get to the point in one seamless flow? To tell you the truth, I struggle. Do I talk about my work? My family? Or who I want to be? Which part of who we are, do we want to reveal at what time to who becomes a crucial question. Perhaps more important is another question, do we know?
You see, identity is built over time. One story, one memory at a time. If this is a case for us as individuals, imagine a collective identity, like that of an organisation. Now imagine,changing it! If you are interested in the business of fostering change read the piece titled “And Who Are You?” One particular line caught my attention: “Change that doesn’t challenge our identity is never transformative, it simply pushes us into finding another way of remaining who we are. “
On the same boat is another interesting piece titled “How to foster a culture of belonging at work”. A quick answer: watch for transition moments. It seems intuitive and a few quick applications rest in there. Simple good stuff! One line there that caused me to sit up was this: “A study analyzing emails showed new employees who do not switch from “I” to “we” pronouns during the first six months at their jobs are also more likely to leave.”
Do you want to able to do all of the above and more? Well “10 thinking methods that foster innovation” could just be what you are looking for. Very good stuff. I must hasten to add a voice of caution. Read carefully and take the time to dig for more. These are giant topics encapsulated in two-three sentences.
There are two pieces that are both incisive and are light reads. One from The Economist, titled “The Two Tribes Of Working Life“. Funny read, I must say. If you have a lame networking limb like me, you would relate to it.
To round this edition off is a lovely cartoon series on Flow. Mihalyi Csikszentmihalyi’s famous work sprinkled with Cal Newport’s ideas. Something for you to think about. That is after you have thought about who you are and if you are still reading this without being enticed by the notification on your mobile phone! 🙂
That’s that for this edition. Stay cheerful and spread the good word.
