Adapt or Get Left Behind: The Importance of Developing a Flexible Mindset
Many people fall into the trap of “knowing.” But if there’s one thing you can be sure of, it’s that what you knew yesterday may not be true today.
That doesn’t mean that “everything has changed,” but it may mean that the context has changed, or that something has changed in part.
So I challenge you to challenge yourself and reconsider your deep-rooted beliefs (on business, the personal stuff is your business). We’re going on a journey to develop the skills that enable us to look at things from a different perspective.
Let’s start with an example.
For 20+ years, SEO has been the gold standard for free traffic (that was cute). One year ago no one was even thinking about SEO being under threat. It’s been a tried-and-true (albeit more and more difficult) way to drive traffic.
Sure, SEO tactics have changed, but SEO is here to stay right?
Then, ChatCPT launched a shot across the bow. Faster than a Kardashian can post a selfie, Google freaked out. And they should.
SEO hasn’t disappeared (yet), but an AI that will answer your query and which improves at the speed of machine-learning, poses a serious threat.
Everyone from search engines to content creators are going to have to rethink how we attract new eyes to what we do.
SEO in some form may still be a thing, but at the very least, it WILL be different.
That’s one example of how fast an entire ecosystem can get disrupted.
And almost no one saw it coming. So if you think your thing is safe and you can keep doing what you’ve always done, think again.
But you can navigate the threats if you’re flexible in your thinking. Learn to assess things objectively and avoid beliefs that are too dogmatic. Otherwise, the dog will be eating more than your homework.
How to Get More Flexible In Your Thinking
Here are 6 suggestions to get you started in developing a more flexible mindset:
Create Mashups. I don’t mean song mashups, though that can be fun. I’m talking about mashing up different businesses, ideas, technologies, industries, etc… that you might not normally put together. This is a creative exercise as much as anything. But the exercise will open you up to new ideas. (See The Future is Faster than you think below).
Do something you know how to do, but do it differently. This one is a little counterintuitive because we learn how to do something so it becomes easier and more efficient to do in the future. Changing the way you do it feels like going back to ground zero. But remember, the goal is to develop more flexible thinking. And you can’t do that by doing things the way you’ve always done them.
Pursue new challenges and experiences. New challenges and experiences will pose new problems to solve or the same problems in a different context. Either way, the “new” part is what’s key. Novelty stimulates your brain and forces you to come up with new solutions or consider new ways of approaching a situation.
Hang out with new people. While doing the same old thing doesn’t get you anywhere the same is often true of surrounding yourself with the same old people. New people bring new perspectives. So go grab a beer or coffee with that person you just met. Meeting new people will spoon-feed you new perspectives. It’s the lazy man’s approach to developing cognitive flexibility (and I endorse this method!).
Give yourself time to think. Thinking time is hard to come by some days, but giving your brain space to think and explore other possibilities is necessary to develop a more flexible mental framework.
Design thinking: This is a problem-solving process that emphasizes empathy, creativity, and iteration. It involves identifying and understanding user needs, brainstorming multiple solutions, and testing and refining those solutions based on user feedback. This is best applied to something specific and something you can control. It’s similar to how I design a website.
For more ways to develop flexible thinking, see the “Other things that grabbed my attention” section below.
Developing a flexible mindset might be one of the most valuable skills you can develop. Especially if you don’t want to be the next thing to get disrupted.
In the next few newsletters, I’m going to be diving more into creativity, and how the things that got you here won’t get you there.
Change is happening at an ever-increasing rate. Adaptation is necessary for survival. A flexible mindset is the tool that will help you survive in an ever-changing world.
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Other Stuff That Caught My Attention
The Future Is Faster Than You Think: How Converging Technologies Are Disrupting Business, Industries, and Our Lives
If you want to give your thinking flexibility a turbo boost, check out this book. The last time I checked, the Audible version was free.
Master Class – Neil DeGrasse Tyson
You’ve seen the ads. Now it’s time to dig in. NDT does a great lecture on “How to Think.” You can get a 14-day free trial which is plenty of time to rock through his class and it will set you up for a more flexible mindset.
Is the Creator Economy Cratering?
Speaking of thinking differently, Adam Ryan delivers some insightful thoughts on the creator economy. Spoiler: It’s not cratering, but a lot of the assumptions about creators and the creator economy ecosystem are wrong. The cracks are starting to show and the money is moving elsewhere. (Click through for the thread).
My take: The “creator” model is still very viable if you apply the Personal Enterprise Framework and treat your business as a business (imagine that), even if it’s a one-person business. But this is another good example of how “traditional” thinking just got flipped on its head.
How Justin Welsh makes $1.7M a Year With Zero Employees
If you want examples and inspiration for the one-person enterprise here you go.
Check it out on Spotify or iTunes.
The opening quote is the perfect setup for Justin’s mindset:
“Every day on social media someone tells me the same thing, which is, you could grow ten times faster if you did X, you could make five more million if you did Y. If you just did Z, your business would scale.
I don’t give a shit. I don’t want anything that puts me out of control. I am the owner of every part of my business. I don’t want a publisher involved. I don’t want a partner involved. I don’t want an investor involved. I don’t want anybody involved except for myself. Because I’m accountable to myself. I can go on vacation when I want. I don’t answer to anybody, and I no longer have fear of losing that control.
And that’s what solopreneurship to me is all about.”
Justin is my kinda guy.
I started a social media marketing company with $50 after getting laid off. Now I bring in more than $70,000 in monthly revenue.
More goodness from the Internet. Manu Muraro’s story is a great real-world example of the Personal Enterprise Pyramid in action. Go forth and be inspired.
Bonus if you made it his far.
The song mashup I linked to earlier is “The Final Countdown (Europe) and Smells Like Teen Spirit (Nirvana)… and it works oddly well.
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