ZIGZAG
February, 2008
...a monthly eZine


Dr. Pamela Armstrong

Dr. Pamela Armstrong
Psychologist, Therapist and Kolbe™ Coach




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The weather and the climate...

As I write this, the winds are blustering outside here in Maryland.  I am relieved because yesterday it felt like spring, and it's not time yet.  We have the weather (temporary) and the climate (usual patterns) and many people are becoming more aware of both. Windy Days!
 
We also have the economic weather and the economic climate that can strongly affect our decisions, actions, beliefs and optimism.  For years, many of our large companies have focused on the quarterly reports and not on the long-term effects of their actions.  This emphasis on this quarter's "bottom line" and temporarily looking good now to the stockholders can cause blindness to the long-term erosion of what the real core strength of any company or organization represents.  This reminds me of what led up to the Dust Bowl--plow more land, sell more wheat, ignore the realities of the climate in the plains.
 
This feeling of crisis can be paralyzing because it creates a generalized fear that all may be lost. The Depression-era generation never lost that lesson--that all can be lost.  They lived with extreme caution, the kind of caution that is alien for most generations born after World War II.  

We have a great opportunity to use this time of uncomfortable change to create more clarity in our personal lives, our families, our entrepreneurial efforts,our companies, agencies, and organizations.  What are our core values?  Does our mission reflect our values?  Is our mission consistent with what people need and what matters to them now?  Are we agents of constructive change in what we are doing?  Do we have tools to help people adjust to change so they can actually use it to their advantage and use the experience of change to grow?  Can we lead others to take positive action when they feel they are in quicksand?
 
My answer is yes.  The blustering outside is noisy.  But we know more about who we are than the wind can know.

Creativity and Boredom

I have noticed that bored young people react to boredom in a variety of ways.  One "bored" young man I know decided to turn over a desk at school.  I see girls age 10 and up with drawings and words written all over their arms because "class was boring".  These actions (or signs of frustration) could both get a kid in trouble. 
 
Boredom for many people relates to feeling that things are too much the same, that tasks are too tedious, that there is no "spark" of involvement in learning.  Merriam-Webster defines boredom as "the state of being weary and restless through lack of interest".
 
So what is the opposite of boredom?  Merriam-Webster presents a very interesting list: " being beguiled,  bewitched, captivated, enchanted,fascinated, absorbed ,engaged, immersed, involved, animated, enlivened, excited, invigorated,  stimulated, amused, entertained" !!
 
Linda Naiman, founder of Creativy at Work, states that creativity is "the act of turning new and imaginative ideas into reality...If you have ideas, but don't act on them, you are imaginative but not creative."  She says that part of the creative process must be the producing or implementing of the idea.
Her website is at www.creativityatwork.com
 
So my question becomes -- how much room for creativity is there in your home?  How about your local school?  And, how about in your work life?
 
When I say "room for creativity", I am thinking about a mindset.  If the carpets are all white, this certainly limits what goes on in your space, and in your mindset.  Do you have a space set aside where you are free to create?  If not, can you carve out a space that you feel encourages that freedom?   Can you set aside a special time to create?  If not, and you fear you cannot jumpstart your imagination, you might at first structure this time together  with a close friend or colleague.
 
In general, we need to reflect in order to create.  To reflect, we need a certain amount of:   (1)  distance from our daily grind, and  (2) relief from the critic/censor that lives in our left-brain.   Some people also need quiet to reflect, and certainly freedom from interruption by the world that lies outside of our creative process.Creativity
 
Daniel Pink, author of A Whole New Mind , emphasizes that creativity thrives best in work environments that "tolerate failure, value diversity, encourage open communication, and have high levels of trust and respect."  When the workplace is fostering creativity, it makes the work team much more comfortable with things that the right brain appreciates most.  The right brain tends to be attracted to things that are ambiguous, that have uncertainty, and that bring up paradoxes in the process of learning.
 
There are some important differences in how people create, and learn, best.  The Kolbe System (tm) created by Kathy Kolbe is built around the instinctive talents we are born with, and illuminates this vital aspect of how students and learners of all ages engage best in the learning process.  
 
Kathy Kolbe points out that some students are attracted to school subjects that allow them to be "hands on" in the learning process..  The "hands on" learner is poorly accommodated in most schools and colleges.  This type of learner can actually see and build things in three dimensions that are being presented in class.   What a gift!
 
"Jump in and experiment" learners are also poorly accommodated in these settings.  These learners learn by testing the existing framework and questioning the conventional wisdom  that is presented in existing systems and theories.  "Jump in and experiment" learners like to innovate, and the freedom to question is a vital part of their engaging in learning.
 
The needs of "researcher" learners tend to be better accommodated in schools and colleges, because most instructors have considerable instinctive talent in factfinding. This type of learner needs to know the factual basis for the conventional wisdom taught in class. The "researcher" learner, however, needs to be certain of the context within which the facts can be understood.  For these reasons, "researcher" learners may be very frustrated by and poorly evaluated by the usual standardized, multiple choice, timed tests given in schools and colleges. They may also be frustrated by a curriculum or teacher that hops around and does not bring closure to each topic.
 
The "systems" learner learns by arranging and systematizing, and needs to be able to find and/or create order in any new learning experience.  The categories that new learning falls into, and how those categories are related, are of great interest to a "systems" learner.  New learning tends to be less systematically presented as students move up into high school and college, and "systems" learners may often need to create their own categories and systems as they put new learning into a framework that has enough clarity for them to absorb.
 
We desperately need the talents of all these learners, and we need for them to be encouraged strongly to use these natural strengths, not to mold themselves into some clone of the teacher.  In the long run, educational reform along these lines is crucial to engaging with these diverse kinds of learners.  Kathy Kolbe is working toward those goals in her program "Perfectly Capable Kids", which is available for educators and parents.  She also is sponsoring research via her own nonprofit organization at www.conativeabilities.org.
 
 

If your son or daughter is in the last two years of high school, or is questioning their major during college or graduate school, contact me to find out how the Kolbe A Index can make a huge difference in guiding their decisions.  Knowing these results can keep you from spending thousands of dollars in tuition on an education that is like "the bridge to nowhere" for a young person.  Knowing your Kolbe profile is like having a blueprint for your educational and career plans, because you are fully armed with the knowledge of your natural instincts.  You need a match between your instincts and your career choice to be happy and successful.




Thanks for reading Zigzag. Please forward this Ezine to any friends who may share your interest.

Dr Pam is a psychologist, therapist, and Kolbe™ coach. She can be reached at www.instinctivecoach.com

Her office is located in Elkridge, MD. Her phone number is 410-995-0760.

Her weekly Internet-based radio show “Do You Mind?” will be starting in January 2008 at: www.vivacitymedia.com

The times for the show will be posted on that website soon.

To submit questions and topics for the radio show, go to Dr. Pam's website. Those shows will also be made available for purchase as podcasts on her site.

All content © Copyright 2008 - Dr. Pamela Armstrong. All rights reserved.