Just Breath, Lean In and Jump for it!

Unless you have been living under a rock without access to tv, internet or other engaged human beings, you have no doubt a heard about Sheryl Sandberg's new book, Lean In.  From the devoted followers to the diligent detractors there are a lot of people talking about this book.  I guess it stands to reason that the COO of one of the largest social media platforms in the world would know how to create some buzz!

I first became a fan of Sheryl Sandberg about 2 years ago when I heard her 2010 TED talk, "Why There are So Few Women Leaders".  Her three key points were: (1) that you need to step up and sit at the table instead of volunteering to take seat in the back row, (2) pick a life partner who is a true partner and (3) don't leave before you leave.




Sheryl's new book, Lean In, follows the same theme but expands greatly on those key points.  I really liked her use of real facts and figures, as well as, examples from her own career to substantiate her points in the book. But the thing that most drew me in when I read the book was to hear Sheryl's confession that she often feels like a fraud and like someone is going to realize she doesn't belong.  I couldn't believe this extremely smart, well spoken and wildly successful Harvard grad turned corporate executive battles the same self-deprecating internal dialogue that I sometimes hear in my own head.  I have always assumed that really successful people (i.e. people higher up the food chain than me) feel, well, really successful.  Who knew many other successful women also have a tendency to sometimes "feel like a fraud" at work too??

It was Nelsen Mandela who said "Courage is not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it."  He was probably talking about facing challenges that are much more life threatening than life in the corporate world, but I think the principle applies here as well.  You have to find a way to overcome your fears if you want to succeed.  My new mantra these days - just breath, and lean in and then jump for it.  I repeat it to myself whenever I am doubtful I can do something.  So far all the leaning and jumping is serving me very well and I (surprise surprise!) I haven't fallen yet!!

So what about all the criticisms to this book?  Well, I think a book can be very valuable and inspiring even if not every single word in it speaks to your personal situation.  Take what works for you and leave the rest for someone else.

You do not have to aspire to a C-suite job or have the perfect life partner or even be able to afford a nanny to find something of value in this book.  Your version of leaning in might look different from Sheryl's plan for her life and that is ok.  Maybe your version of leaning in involves be just having more confidence in your abilities or seeking a board position for non-profit or starting to speak up more in front of your manager or teaching your daughter how to seek leadership roles in her extracurricular activities or teaching your son how to value leadership traits in the girls in his class.  There are lots of ways to lean in and seek a higher challenge.  It is up to you to pick the challenge that you want to take on - then just breath, lean in and jump for it!

Imagine - Inspiring Creativity

There is nothing like the rush of a great creative thought when you know you have had a real moment of insight.  Like the runner's high a person gets after completing a long race, a creative epiphany can leave you tingling and flush all over with excitement.

Most people think creativity is something you are born with - you either have it or your don't.  I would argue that creativity is a skill most people had a child before school taught them that they had to color within the lines and circle the one and only right answer for each question.  The good news is: if you had it and lost then there is no reason you can't get it back again!  That is why I love really good books on creativity.  They can remind us what habits will help cultivate our creativity.

I thought Jonah Lehrer did an excellent job with Imagine.  This book made me want to immediately relocate my office to a bustling city, spend more time letting my mind wander in early morning drowsiness, establish more interactions with divergent people throughout my day and completely rethink how I structure brainstorming sessions at work just to be able to spark more of those fabulous remote associations that lead to creative epiphanies that will become elegant solutions to work projects!

Below are some of the key take-aways I got from Imagine.


Book Notes:

• Happiness promotes creativity. 
• Early morning drowsiness is a great time for insights.  Get up 10 minutes earlier to allow time to linger in that drowsy state before you get up and fully engaged.
• Day dreaming is associated with creativity - along as you don't get so lost in the day dream you don't take notice when the insight comes.
• Direct personal interaction is important!
• Increasing the number of office interactions/conversations will increase insights.
• Set up teams to have to physically interact - Seating the cross functional teams in close proximity will increase creativity because it increases the "coffee room chats".  Put the bathroom, break rooms etc in the middle so people have to bump into each other.
• Typical brainstorming sessions where "there are no bad ideas" are not effective.  You need that feedback loop about what doesn't work so well about a proposed idea so that people can add on and build until it becomes a great idea. (Pixar's idea of "plussing")
• Bigger cities (with the right rules) foster more creativity and productivity because people have to interact with each other more.  
• Creativity doesn't flourish in isolation. You need more loose associations rather than a few close ties to increase productivity.  The popular idea of the lone creative genius is more fiction than fact.
• Business people who cultivated large diverse social networks (lots of diverse weak ties) are much more creative and productive than people who socialize with a smaller close group of colleagues.
• Business should encourage interaction, dissent, conversation and social networks to most creative thinking and productivity.
• You want to create a multiplier culture.
• One of the brute realities of the creative process is that creativity is work!  You have to stick with it and work hard to be creative.  The single best predictor of success - grit!

I got a lot of fantastic ideas from this book for stepping up creativity on my team.  A few of them are easy like starting each big meeting with a funny video to spark creative thinking.  A few of them may take a little more effort to implement like wanting to relocate the bathrooms and break room to promote interaction. (Yes, the facilities manager is going to get a good chuckle over that one.)

I recommend Imagine if you are looking to jumpstart creativity for yourself or your team.