Adaptability Challenge

 By: Bushra AlMansour

As we frantically try to adjust our life routines and work habits following the onslaught of COVID-19, time could never be better to use some little inspiration to keep our sanity intact. So, I have made a resolution to embark on an intellectual expedition and explore productive and meaningful endeavors. As the Nerd in me start feverishly searching the internet for a host of enlightening online courses, one specific program from Stanford University immediately caught my attention, namely the Stanford Executive Education 7-Day Challenge Series, which was a month-long program of daily activities on (Humor, Adaptability, Purpose, and Creativity).

Adaptability: Comfort with Uncertainty

To be agile in a shifting environment, it is imperative to be spontaneous, which can be uncomfortable, especially for someone who is infatuated with clear plans!

Personally, I feel at my best when I am prepared, but who would not?

While planning is not bad, the fear of failure has hindered our brain’s ability to adapt to unanticipated changes. Fact of the matter is that we constantly find ourselves in situations where we are not able to plan out, or when something abruptly happens without prewarning.

As Mike Tyson once said, “Everyone has a plan until they get punched”.

I was introduced to a challenge by Stanford Executive Education designed to flex our brains away from having to have the right answer, and work towards the convenience of making mistakes and becoming more receptive to ideas that can flow naturally. 

Here is my experience in a nutshell:

The challenge 

One of the challenges was to listen to an audio exercise and follow specific instructions that involved pointing at surroundings and naming them, where each round of the exercise required a different skill. 

There is no right answers and no constraints!

The objective of the exercise was to gain greater comfort trusting our subconscious thought processes without judgement.

Reflecting on my experience with the exercise, I considered pointing at objects and naming them sounded silly at the outset. Yet, I felt anxious when I failed to generate a word, even when any word will do! and the harder I tried, the harder the task gets! and I worried about judgement in a task that had no consequences!

Key Takeaway

• Our mind judges its output, even when there is no basis for judgement.
• It is important to separate idea generation from idea evaluation.
• We are inclined to be original and shrewd and tend to keep judging ourselves on whether the ideas are original and clever enough.
• Depending on the circumstances, it is useful for us to be able to allow when our minds generate arbitrary ideas and association, and when they generate connected ideas.
• What we do not want is a hard-wired desire to get things right, to ironically sabotage our ability to think creatively on our feet.

Worry not to let your mind “off the leash” occasionally. It will pay you mental state huge dividends.