Sunday, 23 February 2014

The solo sole trader. 6 Thinking Hats

                                                             Artwork by M'reen
The solo sole trader.

You are setting up business out there or in your home.
Or you have a position within a company
or organisation that leaves you somewhat isolated.

In such a setting you need to be your own coach, cheerleader,
board of directors, counsellor, devil’s advocate and inspiration.

It has been found that in many small businesses the proprietors are not playing to their skills
but are washing toilets and emptying bins. 
They are not running the business as the business is, in fact, running them.
Or they are not ‘getting through’ to their staff or indeed to their self.

If this is the case then I suggest that you read the book: 
The Six Thinking Hats by Edward De Bono.
Don’t grown and think ‘yet another thing to do’ or ‘I buy them and never read them’
this book can be read very quickly and the ideas implemented straight away.
It really is a case of ‘a stitch in time saves nine.’
The de Bono Group LLC describe the process thus:
“Used with well-defined and explicit Return On Investment success in corporations worldwide,
Six Thinking Hats is a simple, effective parallel thinking process that helps people be more productive, focused, and mindfully involved. A powerful tool set, which once learned can be applied immediately!
You and your team members can learn how to separate thinking into six clear functions and roles. Each thinking role is identified with a colored symbolic "thinking hat." By mentally wearing
and switching "hats," you can easily focus or redirect thoughts, the conversation, or the meeting.”
You can look this up on the internet or buy the book, which is reasonably priced and very easy
to read. It provides a way for you to think about all the different ‘sides’ of your proposed action. 
Staff meetings will be over in a productive but very short amount of time.
For the solo sole trader it enables you to discuss with 6 ‘other you's’ in order to arrive 
at a fully functioning decision.
You might also like to consider another of his books.
The six value medals, I do not know this in detail but it looks to be really valuable – no pun intended.

You obviously need to look after your physical and emotional health.
Consider taking the train as opposed to driving or taking the scenic route. These have been proved to be valuable strategies for your physical and emotional health with the bonus that you can have uninterrupted thinking time. In my nursery school we all took it in turn to clean the bathroom and this was valuable thinking time with no home worries to get in the way. Time tabling time to read your favourite magazine serves the same purpose. However, if you spend too much time doing the suduko then there is something else going on. In which case you might find it useful to look up www.innermindreading.blogspot.com to find a potential solution.

M’reen Hunt

Perhaps you’d like to check out my sister blogs:
www.innermindreading.blogspot.com            gives many ways for you to work with the stresses of life
www.turbochargedreading.blogspot.com       describes the steps to reading in the way your mind prefers
www.happyartaccidents.blogspot.com          just for fun.

To quote the Dr Seuss doctor himself, “The more that you read, the more things you will know.
The more that you learn; the more places you'll go.”




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