The Hindu Business Line : Ordinary people get good ideas everyday

TELLING most people how to get an idea is like telling a first grader to find x when x+1 = 2x+4, says Jack Foster in How to Get Ideas. "An idea is nothing more nor less than a new combination of old elements," is how James Webb Young defines idea, and what Foster likes best. Because it is simple and makes idea creation like "a recipe for a new dish" with ingredients you already know of. "Ordinary people get good ideas everyday," notes Foster. "Everyday they figure out different ways to repair cars and sinks and doors, to fix dinners, to increase sales, to save money, to teach their children, to reduce costs," and so on. First suggestion to get your mind into idea condition is to have fun.

"People who enjoy what they're doing, do it better. If you are waiting to start anything, know that it is `always wrong'. Break the inertia and start it rolling, urges the author. You'd then find an idea take on a life of its own, and go into areas you'd never dreamed of. "It creates opportunities; it bowls over barriers and leapfrogs objects and overwhelms logic." Fun read!

A subtle whisper in the soul?

AFRAID of shifting jobs? Here is Marky Stein with help in Fearless Career Change. The end of a career may stir up feelings of uneasiness, frustration or depression, says Stein. "These feelings may fester into burnout and exhaustion, or they may take the form of self-sabotaging behaviour like being late to work or not meeting deadlines," he cautions. "The need to cease what you're doing or how you're doing it may manifest as physical symptoms, such as tendonitis, neck pain, or back pain, or as psychophysical issues like overindulgence with food or alcohol, problems with sleeping, gastrointestinal problems, or sexual difficulties." Or, it may be a subtle whisper in the soul that `there must be something better'! Eight `fearless career change strategies' that Stein walks you through in the book include transferable talents, internship, volunteering, and entrepreneurship. A book for the survival kit!

Plan B isn't failure

DOMINICK J. Misino worked as Primary Negotiator for the New York City Police Department. "Life is a negotiation," he writes in Negotiate and Win. Negotiating isn't an exotic and mysterious art; nor is it about fooling someone, points out Misino. The job involves three roles — negotiating, keeping track of what is going on, and deciding. "One-man teams should build in ways to separate the roles," points out the author. But first, the negotiator has to be `in the right place'. Negotiate from `a metaphoric position of strength,' that is. Success doesn't mean that you get everything you want 100 per cent of the time, reminds Misino. "You ain't going to get what you want every time you negotiate; that's why you need the guys with guns, or Plan B," he writes with police examples. Plan B isn't failure, it's the alternative, he explains. Helpful tips.

Vision is never an answer

THE first function of leadership is to evoke spirit with vision, writes Harrison Owen in The Spirit of Leadership. No, he's not talking about `vision statements' that are posted on the wall. "Usually they are the product of the titular leader's description of what the business is all about, issued very much in the style of a policy directive," says Owen. The vision must be big enough for all the current players and also provide room to grow, he insists. "Vision is never an answer but always a question that initiates a quest toward the fulfilment of the participants."

The second function of leadership involves collective storytelling to grow. Maintain `open space' to constantly clear away the obfuscation of jargon, suggests Owen. "Invite people back to the level of storytelling, to move them away from abstractions." Inviting read, though with an overdose of `spirit'.

Expect to bounce back

MASTER change, thrive under pressure, and bounce back from setbacks. But how? With Al Siebert's The Resiliency Advantage. Don't explode and get enraged, nor implode and go numb, or consider yourself a victim, advises Siebert. Instead, be resilient and flexible, adapting to new circumstances quickly. Also, "Expect to bounce back," without getting into the trap of blaming others for your setbacks.

Resilience isn't a settled state; "highly complex, resilient, synergistic individuals are always curious, exploring, trying new ways of doing things, and learning." Siebert emphasises that such people maintain mental and emotional stability by keeping themselves in a state of mild disequilibrium! "They are open to take in, examine, and process new inputs, ignore or let go what is not of value or interest, and move on to the next experience."

Enlightening!

Do a stress audit

WHEN `there's no time to lose', grab Carol A. Turkington's Stress Management for Busy People. Stress is that `eye-popping, stomach-gripping, face-flushing intensity' and `it's everywhere, it's inescapable, and it's definitely unhealthy.' Stress hits at the ability to cope; as a result, less than 20 per cent of people are effective in crises such as fires or floods — an alarming statistic from the book!

Among the scores of tips in the book is this one, which can be implemented straightaway: "Expect less from people who are likely to disappoint you. It makes coping easier and less upsetting that way." Another tip is about stress audit, that is, taking up a sheet of paper and writing down "everything that bothers you" and then focussing on "the ones you can rectify". Healthy read.

Books courtesy: Tata McGraw-Hill (www.tatamcgrawhill.com)

Tailpiece

"Today is bar-uh, bar-uh."

"Uh?"

"And, oh five!"

"Uh, uh?"

ReadingRoom@TheHindu.co.in

D. Murali

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