💡 Be yourself. But also don't.

The weekly newsletter that helps people be more successful at work, by enjoying it more.

Hi Reader! 👋

I hope you've had an amazing week. It was a fun one on my end, highlighted by facilitating an energizing board meeting workshop for my friends at ThinkLA.

I have somewhat contradictory ideas to share this week — but both lead to great things, I promise. The first is on the power of being ourselves — and the second is on the power of imagining we're someone else.

Amplifying our us-ness.

A major contributor to the soulcrusher population is the mismatch between what-makes-us-us and how much we're able to express that at work.

But a great majority of the time, this is a self-inflicted limitation. Nobody told us to leave our uniqueness at home — we simply do it unconsciously.

There's a social psychology concept called "normative social influence" which observes that people often change their behavior to fit in with a group because they want to be accepted. And boy oh boy, does that ever happen like crazy in the workplace.

Not that anyone wants anyone else to be all nutso-weird at the office, mind you. But we also don't want the office equivalent of a Robert Palmer video. (Go ahead and Google that reference, kids.)

This behavioral mimicry happens even when we don't perceive it as a bad thing. "Company Culture" is something that many companies strive to cultivate (and it can be a powerful positive force), but it can also stifle creativity and breed frustration by encouraging conformity.

This isn't good for the company, but it's even worse for us as individuals. Because it's our differences that make us valuable. By ironing those out, we accidentally make ourselves less valuable — and not only does that multiply exponentially over a career, it's also no fun.

So, let's challenge ourselves to deliberately NOT blend in. Let's develop a tone of voice that doesn't sound like everyone else. Let's be proud of getting nerdy about certain topics. (Here's my nerdy little secret.) Let's get credit for interesting hobbies. Let's do things differently, just 'cuz.

It's more fun, it makes us more memorable, and it makes us more valuable in the long run.

This week's creative thinking workout:

Pretend we're someone else.

As important as it is to embrace our unique selves, a powerful approach to developing creative solutions is to imagine we're someone else. (Contradictions can be fun.)

This has a liberating effect on our brains — taking "hopes" and "fears" and putting them up on a shelf for a bit, where nobody will trip over them.

It's called "counterfactual thinking." It's a "what if" style of ideation where we reflect on how different actions or circumstances might lead to different outcomes.

So, instead of thinking about how we would solve a problem...

Think about how our biggest competitors might solve it.
Consider how a historical figure might approach the issue.
Imagine how a child, with their unfiltered view, would tackle the challenge.
Picture how someone from a completely different industry might handle it.
Imagine how our future selves, blessed with more success, experience and wisdom, might deal with it.

Thinking in this way unlocks insights and ideas that our "regular selves" never would — as unique and wonderful as we are.

Let's crush this,
-Tim-

Let's Lightbulb - Founder / CEO / Crusher of Soulcrushers

Let's Lightbulb is a strategic facilitation consultancy, specializing in outcome-based workshops, off-sites, sprints and trainings. We specialize in working with leadership teams, inspiring creative thinking, and keeping things soulcrusher-free.

If you know of anyone looking for a facilitator for any of the above, we'd appreciate you sharing our info.

Every week in this newsletter, I share how to reduce the stuff that makes our work not-fun, and increase the stuff that makes work fun.

It's 98.3% Pollyanna-thinking-free.

Thanks for reading, and please share with friends and colleagues that might find it valuable — because we need more fun people in the world.

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Crushing the Soulcrushers

💡 Be yourself. But also don't.

Amplifying our us-ness.

This week's creative thinking workout:

💡 Don't over-think. Don't under-think.

💡 Fixing a Glitchy Focus Switch

💡 How to fight "not feeling it"