When headlights flash to suggest that you turn your lights on, do you:

1. Turn them on quickly and mentally send a "thank you" to the other driver?
2. Turn your lights on only after the helpful driver has disappeared in your rearview mirror?
3. Ignore the advice completely, convince yourself you left them off on purpose, and denounce the other driver as an idiot?

If your answer is not "a", think about how you behave when someone makes suggestions in the workplace. Be honest now. Can you admit a mistake? Are you able to hear ideas and consider good advice?

Anyone can forget to turn their headlights on, especially now that so many cars do it for you. Anyone can make a mistake, forget something, fail to think something through. Why would you want to discourage helpful people? Is it so hard to say "thank you", to agree to reconsider your position, and give credit where credit is due?

If it is, don't expect much from your employees.

I recently read that retail clerks spend 70% of their time serving their computers, not their customers ("Managing in the Next Society" by Peter Drucker). Easy to believe if you think of all the time you have spent in lines while clerks click and computers connect, recall, spew, stew and authorize.

If clerks will ignore customers standing right in front of them, imagine how computers can devour the time and energy of workers behind the scenes. Probably you don't have to imagine; probably you've been there and experienced those finicky appetites where order of entry and format are often king, reports are not quite right, and irrelevance is irrelevant. And that is when the computers are behaving, not when they are acting up!

I have seen numerous examples of computer systems, databases, spreadsheets and lists, which despite colorful graphs and exhaustive reports, have done absolutely nothing to increase revenue, decrease costs, or make customers happier. Yet, once launched, they reign supreme, and the data must be complete at all costs!

It takes fortitude to abandon these blackholes but if you can't point to the payout, it is time to consider exactly that!

Remember when you were young and you ran, jumped, pedaled, climbed, cartwheeled, somersaulted, wrestled, and more? Think of all the different muscles you strengthened and stretched daily. In contrast, think of how few you use as an adult. Kind of shocking, isn't it?

So we pursue yoga, aerobics, weights, and team sports in the hopes of remaining physically fit.

Remember also as a child how often you confronted new situations, new teachers, new classes, new schools, new field trips, new sports, new books, new assignments, new rules, and more? You were a learning machine! In contrast, think of how few variations you encounter as an adult, especially if you tend to take the same vacations, relax with the same friends, eat at the same restaurants, read one kind of book, listen to one kind of music, and remain in a steady job for years.

So where is the regimen to keep ourselves mentally fit? Where can we find the equivalent of yoga to keep our minds flexible, aerobics to retain discipline and determination, weight training to stay smart, and team sports to help us react quickly and openly to other perspectives?

You are surrounded by great learning opportunities, both in your own town and farther afield. But you won't find them if you hone your routine and avoid the unfamiliar, the intimidating, and the confusing. Mental fitness requires putting yourself in new situations, facing new challenges, and listening to new perspectives. The opportunities are out there. Are you taking them?

"In matters of taste, swim with the tide. In matters of principle, stand like a rock."

Thomas Jefferson

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Best regards,

Ann Latham

© 2007 Ann Latham. All rights reserved.

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