Get Service was a reminder that there is so much we don’t know about the people around us. I’ll cop to being a fairly positive thinker and tend to think the best of people on a pretty regular basis. And still, this video reminded me that I can be self-centered sometimes and that there’s often so much more to the story. I’ll begin this week by once again keeping that in mind.
The video also reminded me instantly of my friend Hank Wasiak and his Asset Based Thinking concept – which is all about changing the way you see things. Then I headed over to Hank’s site, since I’d not been in there in awhile and wanted to catch up. I saw not only his newest book with colleague Kathryn Cramer, Change the Way You See Yourself (which I already have) but also his book for teens, Change the Way Teens See Everything. The ABT premise is simple. And powerful. It’s all about making small shifts in the way you see things. Focusing on opportunities rather than problems, strengths more than weaknesses and on what can be done instead of what can’t.
I have a girlfriend with a teenage daughter who needs help changing the way she sees the world – so I clicked to Amazon and bought a copy of Changing the Way Teens See Everything. Imagine that – I might help change someone’s life for under $10.
And that’s how I started my day. Being reminded of the fact that it’s not so hard to make an effort to be a bit less egocentric on a day to day basis, and if we have to park a little farther or wait a minute longer for our lattes, it’s not the end of the world.
Oh, and then I went and did something nice for someone else. It feels good.
Your turn.
Shelly Kramer is a Principal Analyst and Founding Partner at Futurum Research. A serial entrepreneur with a technology centric focus, she has worked alongside some of the world’s largest brands to embrace disruption and spur innovation, understand and address the realities of the connected customer, and help navigate the process of digital transformation. She brings 20 years’ experience as a brand strategist to her work at Futurum, and has deep experience helping global companies with marketing challenges, GTM strategies, messaging develoment, and driving strategy and digital transformation for B2B brands across multiple verticals. Shelly’s coverage areas include Collaboration/CX/SaaS, platforms, ESG, and Cybersecurity, as well as topics and trends related to the Future of Work, the transformation of the workplace and how people and technology are driving that transformation. A transplanted New Yorker, she has learned to love life in the Midwest, and has firsthand experience that some of the most innovative minds and most successful companies in the world also happen to live in “flyover country.”
