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 Issue 3 - Opening Minds and Changing Mindsets

We have a scientific slant to this issue of Time 2 ...

Throughout the ages scientists have led the way in new thinking. Often their work has been met with a closed mindset in their own community as well as the community at large. We can draw a parallel with leaders in organisations who are continually being required to think differently to meet an increasingly competitive and complex set of challenges.

It has been my pleasure over the last few months to bring science and organisational leadership thinking together by collaborating in the design and delivery of our new workshop Putting Appreciation at the Heart of Leadership. For information about this workshop and feedback from participants click here.

Opening Minds and Changing Mindsets are powerful acts which we have seen performed successfully by the world's great leaders. Opening Minds and Changing Mindsets create powerful outcomes in organisational life and are an essential component of great leadership. We know of course that this vita-brevis theme is inextricably linked with the other themes:

• Learning from different perspectives
• Innovation and creativity
• Building trust
• Stretching comfort zones
• Risk-taking
• Living with uncertainty

Enjoy this issue of Time 2 ... Great leaders know that they have to 'be the change they wish to see in the world' (Ghandi).

Please forward Time 2 ... to any of your colleagues who would be interested. They can register to receive it regularly by clicking here to contact us >>.

Anne Lonsdale

IT'S THE THOUGHT THAT COUNTS

Not just a cliché, but scientific fact: thoughts make real things happen; thoughts bring about change. All thoughts and emotions, regardless of their nature, have physical consequences. Dr David R Hamilton, until 1999 a scientist in the pharmaceutical industry, has written an exclusive paper for Time 2 ... setting out his analysis of the science behind mindsets and the effect they have on all of us, all over the world, all of the time. If you would like to read his article click here: >> and ask us to send it to you.

David's book entitled 'It's the Thought that Counts: The power of thought, feeling, and faith' is available from all good bookshops and from Amazon.co.uk. Click here for Amazon.

A TIP FOR OPENING YOUR MIND AND CHANGING YOUR MINDSET

'If you think you can do a thing or think you can't do a thing, you're right.' (Henry Ford)

- Focus on your language and observe how often you say 'can't' and 'can'.

- Ask a colleague to keep count of your 'can'ts' in a meeting!

- Replace 'can't' with 'could' in your thoughts - then in your speech and writing.

- Language affects thought and thoughts generate results and reality.

Let us know your tips for Opening Minds and Changing Mindsets >>. Our favourite will win a copy of 'It's the Thought that Counts' by Dr David R Hamilton.

Pamela Aitcheson of RBS responded to our invitation to share a top tip in the last issue of Time 2 … and has received her copy of 'Who moved my Blackberry?' If you want to find out what she said contact us we will put you in touch with her >>.

A SHORT HISTORY OF ALMOST EVERYTHING

For even more science, and great examples of individual and collective mindsets at work through history, pick up a copy of Bill Bryson's book. At one point he writes: "Physicists as a rule are not over-attentive to the pronouncements of Swiss patent-office clerks and so ... Einstein's papers attracted little notice." In his characteristically entertaining style he exposes the minds - many open, some not - of the people who have brought us the knowledge we have today. And he alerts us to mindsets which continue to hold us back. Link to Amazon.co.uk.

SOME EXAMPLES OF OPENING MINDS AND CHANGING MINDSETS  
Repeated exposure to an idea: mobile phones - we saw the fictitious Captain Kirk and the crew of the Starship Enterprise using them for years, began to believe they were achievable, and now they're inescapable!

Traumatic events: in one day the mindset of the population of the United States changed from one of confidence in their security to a profound sense of vulnerability. Even more recently our confidence in the stability of our own civilization has been dented by the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf Coast region of the US.

Specific, targeted action: Daniel Barenboim has opened the minds of musicians on opposite sides of the Arab-Israeli divide to the possibility of making music together. The West-Eastern Divan Orchestra has played in Morocco - and Edinburgh. Click here to find out more.

Persistent pursuit of a vision: Nelson Mandela, chosen by many as one of the greatest leaders of all time, changed the mindset of the population of South Africa - how DID he do that?!

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NEXT ISSUE
Issue 4of Time 2 ... will focus on: Learning from Different Perspectives

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