Everyone believes a decision solves the right problem, but few ever ask, “Are we solving the right problem?” I can confidently say that 100% of the time, you are not solving the right issue.
The actual problem rests in the subconscious, where you can inhibit past experiences to blind yourself to better decisions. During our lives, our emotional responses to events create limiting beliefs—those that get in the way of good decisions. This can affect personal careers, teams, and healthcare system outcomes.
The stakes are higher than ever for solving healthcare-critical issues. Within the clinical arena, providers are challenged by decision-making related to error and risk management, patient/staff satisfaction, innovative product development, access to care, and more. Beyond the clinical space, providers face challenges in creating a career path, being the new member of a team, and feeling valued and recognized. Regardless of where you are in your career trajectory, as we transition from a lingering pandemic to what lies ahead, you will benefit from asking the right questions and therefore solving the right problems.
With respective backgrounds in nursing and nuclear medicine, I, along with my co-author Dina Readinger, are passionate about giving emerging leaders and career professionals the confidence to speak up, remain calm under pressure, communicate effectively, and negotiate wisely. By identifying the attitudes, skills, and behaviors that send the right signals and influence others, mentees drive better outcomes, maintain presence, and have a voice.
We are currently conducting a pilot Thinking Differently program with the first cohort from Purdue Global University School of Nursing; this 6-month session continues through December 2023 at which time the second cohort will begin. It was developed for aspiring leaders with a focus on bringing solutions, reducing fears/self-sabotage, and decreasing humankind’s divide. This foundational structure allows leaders to explore how they think. We also created a companion book to highlight case experiences and outcomes called Think Differently: 18 Strategies to Fix Broken Thinking.
We hypothesize that it all begins with decisiveness—using the parts of your thinking and brain that are seldom used. We only use 5% of our conscious thinking, leaving a 95% probability that we may be solving the wrong problem at the wrong time.
Many leaders find themselves on the island of “stuck.” This new and innovative thinking process catalyzes different leadership thought methodologies essential for performance and dissolves the feeling of being “stuck.” Learning how to think, how to train one’s mind, and how to articulate clearly and be heard fully, is essential for self-respect, self-confidence, and competency.
It is refreshing to know that there is a scientific reason for why we think the way we do and that there is a plethora of answers. You, as nurses, have them! You just do not know that you have them. Let’s dig deep into the subconscious mind and get to the hard-heart work, embracing a way of thinking that results in happiness in life and career. This is Thinking Differently!
Sharon M. Weinstein, MS, BSN, RN, CRNI-R®, CVP, FAAN, CSP®, is an international keynote speaker/coach/consultant and a member of Sigma’s Pi at-Large Chapter.
Dina Readinger, EMBA, is the founder and CEO of Ace Coaching Co. LLC.