Mindset and 4 New Behaviors to Boost Antifragility
by Scaling Up Coach, Patricia Heyman
Antifragility is a method for creating success beyond what you thought was possible, especially as you move through this time of challenge and opportunity.
For several years now there has been a movement toward resilience in the workplace to deal with the many stresses that are part of a fast paced environment and many changes that are quick and sometimes difficult to absorb and to implement. Now it becomes evident that rather than resilience or recovery, we want to make a new commitment to greater strength and openness, which is an opportunity for growth and learning that is being presented now.
Antifragility is a concept that is emerging which suggests new capabilities that can bring happiness and success in the workplace as well as personal life. This overview includes the Growth Mindset of Antifragility and 4 behaviors that can be altered to increase the impact within and outside of your business.
The study and teaching of this aspect of Antifragility can exponentially increase the impetus for stated outcomes. As we begin to Scale Forward it is important to know that now is the time for new thought and an altered mindset.
ANTIFRAGILE MINDSET
Rather than view stress as negative or something to avoid, look for the opportunity to embrace it. We do not look for resilience and recovery, but welcome and embrace stress as a muscle builder for strength. The next question to ask is:
Am I operating from a FIXED or a GROWTH mindset?
FIXED MINDSET
- Avoid challenges
- Give up easily with obstacles
- Effort uncomfortable
- Avoid or ignore useful negative feedback
- Threatened by success of others
- Look smart
GROWTH MINDSET
- Embrace challenges
- Persist in face of setbacks
- The path to mastery requires effort
- Solicit criticism for learning
- Inspiration in success of others
- Desire to learn
To begin this process for yourself, think of these four behaviors that you can foster and track.
Pause—When an e-mail or a conversation creates irritation or upset, pause and do not react in the moment. Learn to use breathing as a way to pause and set that intention so that when you feel irritated the first reaction is to breathe. This gives you time to respond rather than to react.
Daily Bold Action—As you create an essential Goal take a daily bold action in that direction.
Difficult Conversation Opportunity—Think of the conversations you might be avoiding and create an opportunity to have one.
Invite Feedback (Criticism)—Seek opportunities to hear feedback and criticism on ways you can improve. Challenge yourself to have these conversations that we often avoid.
Let’s now dive into each of these behaviors more in depth.
The Pause
The Pause creates the opportunity to develop breathing as an automatic response to reactiveness especially where there is upset or distraction.
The breathing is a clear opportunity to move into the present which takes away reactiveness coming from past experience. The breathing process eliminates the fear that comes from concern for the future.
Breathing Exercise
Stop and close your eyes
Set the intention to relax
Inhale counting to five and exhale counting to 7 for three sets
Set intention to forget the past
Inhale and exhale as above for three sets
Set intention to stop thinking about the future
Inhale and exhale as above for three sets
Set the intention to “take a vacation in the present” and Be Here Now.
Inhale and exhale as above for three sets
The Pause is extremely valuable as it lessens the outcome that comes when we respond too quickly in the moment. We want to respond from the strength of our best self rather than react without the pause that creates clarity. What you will find through this practice is that there are new ways of looking at the situation. This will create a thoughtful intelligent response rather than a reaction.
2. Daily Bold Action
Daily Bold Action Rule
We build confidence by taking Bold Action.
We take Bold Action by Stepping into Fear.
Identify your fears, such as Loss, Difficulty, or Uncertainty.
Do’s, Don’ts, and Obstacles
Regularly ask yourself if you are operating from a Fixed or Growth Mindset.
Don’t assume that you are unable to build Antifragile confidence.
Obstacles
Where to Start:
The Pause
Daily Bold Action
Daily Bold Action is a behavior that supports the creation and achievement of big goals. An exercise you can do to create and achieve a goal that is large and may seem difficult is to use the WOOP.
Each letter of the WOOP is significant.
Wish—What do you Want?
Outcomes—What benefits will you experience?
Obstacles –What reality might get in the way?
Plan—How will you overcome each obstacle?
Stick to the plan of one Daily Bold Action a day and keep track with a weekly review of each part of the WOOP.
3. Difficult Conversations
Another Basic tenet of Antifragility is that we show up as a professional rather than as an amateur. The definition of this state of being is:
The Amateur—I do things if I feel like doing them. Feeling generates action.
The Professional takes action whether they feel like it or not. They know that action generates feelings.
Summon your most courageous self. Spend some time thinking about that version of you and ask yourself, “What does that version of me look like?” What are my fears, how would my most courageous self handle those?
The first two behaviors, the Pause and Daily Bold Action are individual or personal. We do them ourselves to enhance Antifragility.
Difficult conversations are social rather than personal behaviors. They involve interaction with others. The previous Script often says that we build our confidence to handle our fears. The flipped Script says that confidence is built by walking into fears and a means to building confidence.
Difficult conversations are often handled with avoidance. Therefore they can take too long to happen. The conversation can change a situation for the better but when delayed time is wasted in the old dysfunctional way of being. As a business professional who is concerned with the People Decision for growth and an A Player culture, the Difficult Conversation is essential.
Often the external or internal conversation about having the Difficult Conversation is:
"Did you have that difficult conversation?
"No, I'm not ready yet."
Too often difficult conversations take way too long to happen, or never happen at all, with everyone suffering in the process.
It's time to flip the script on when and how you should step into life's 'tough talks'.
1) We do not need to build confidence in order to have difficult conversation, we gain confidence by having the conversation.
2) It is essential to express what you feel and want and this aspect is often where agreement can be had if the expression is about a situation rather than blaming the person you are talking with.
3) As a step forward, Determine, what are the conversations you are avoiding?
4) Summon your most courageous self
5) Use a Framework that includes Discussion of the Situation, Complication and Resolution
The first two items, situation and complication can often be agreed upon. Beginning with the agreement gives the time to see that agreement is possible in the situation definition as well as the complication or difficulty.
Resolution: What can we do to resolve? This can include a set of choices one of which may not seem ideal, but is necessary for resolution if other ways cannot be achieved.
This Behavior that can become a habit can be an extremely effective way to affect success.
4. Seek Criticism
The fourth behavior to discuss is to Seek Criticism as a tool for learning.
Ask for feedback:
How can I improve?
How would you improve on this?
As we ask these questions we can invite thoughtful feedback even if it is deemed critical. It gives us the opportunity to receive information that we may never get otherwise, that can lead to great accomplishment. So often we see criticism as proof of our lack of value as a person and that is a mistake which holds us back.
One place to see examples of seeking criticism is in the Athletic World, most recently demonstrated by the Olympics in Tokyo. Criticism is key to the accomplishments of an athlete as well as any of us who want to grow and succeed in our chosen work.
There are many examples of this which are enumerated in the Mindset, a new psychology of success by Carol Dweck.
The Antifragility Journey For Success
Reframe your view of stress
Fortify self belief
Provide Tools to turn stress into strength
Begin your journey to become antifragile by increasing your courage and confidence
Tools for Antifragility
Mindset—growth vs. fixed
Show up as a professional vs. amateur. A professional takes action whether they feel like it or not, and an amateur does things only if they feel like it.
4 Behaviors or Habits to solidify the antifragile mindset. Once again they are:
The Pause
Daily Bold Action
Difficult Conversations
Seek Criticism
Like difficult conversations, we often avoid Criticism rather than seek it out. It is a new habit/behavior that will build confidence and strength and give you information about how to improve something that will make a huge difference in your success. As we “flip the script” we see that doing something that feels scary actually creates strength rather than only taking risks after we have built up our strength first.
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References:
Eric Partaker, The Three Alarms
Kelly McGonegal, The Upside of Stress, audio book
Nassim Nicolas Taleb, Antifragile—things that gain from disorder
Learn more about Coach Patricia Heyman by clicking here.