creativity – TranscendingSquare

January 20, 2021January 20, 2021

Strategic Mindset & Grit – try, try, try again, but a little bit better each time.

Strategic Mindset – thinking critically about goals and outcomes, and whether methods are working or need to be modified. (1)

Grit – sticking with a tough problem or a long complex job. (1)

Having grit without a strategic mindset might leave you eventually all tired out but not at the goal you might have hoped for. Keep trying, but check the progress and redirect the craft as needed to get you to where you want to go. Trying to row a boat across a rapid river requires rowing slightly upstream against the current or you will just be pushed downstream. (1)

Our choices can make us healthier, wealthier, wiser, more productive, and feeling better about ourselves. Or they may lead to chronic illness and feeling unproductive, tired and listless, and it might seem difficult to go to work or look for a job, or to study for that important test or new job skill.

Support can help us stick with the difficult choices and tasks, or or negative, lack of support, may make us give up or feel like we can’t accomplish our goal. If someone is consistently negative to you, let it go, that is them, your choices are you. This also may mean letting go of well meaning advice that was intended positively, yet doesn’t match your goals, or you already had learned the suggestion didn’t work for you.

“Don’t try to win over those who ridicule, mock or hate. You’re not called to be the jackass whisperer.” -Scott Stratten

Health or lifestyle habits can be generally helpful for most, but we are individuals and health habits may not all be as helpful for each of us in the same way. Tuning into our own needs can help us learn what seems to lead to feeling energetic and happy and what tends to add to the tired and listless, or headachy and irritable.

“Our self-respect tracks our choices. Every time we act in harmony with our authentic self and our heart, we earn our respect. It is that simple. Every choice matters.” – Dan Coppersmith

Sometimes the grit might be needed to wade through the deluge of information available to us in our modern virtually connected world, to find the nuggets that will be of most value for our own needs. The information in a book can help you plan a strategy that might get you to your goal, it won’t get you there while it stays in the book though. You have to try the techniques, and practice and modify the strategy, refining it as needed until it is effectively helping you to reach your desired goal.

“Information is not knowledge. The only source of knowledge is experience. You need experience to gain wisdom.” ~ Albert Einstein
“We are drowning in information but starved for knowledge.” – John Naisbitt
“There seems to be an inherent eagerness of this next-gen workforce to avoid starting from scratch, but to seek out the best of what exists and build upon it. This may be a condition of pressure put on them earlier in their career to produce results and solutions at a more rapid pace than has ever been expected before. Companies would be wise to harness this energy and, through technology, give them better and more instant access to those building blocks. ” – KeySafety (thinkkeysafety.com)

Nutrition science – we need all the building blocks to build health, enough of each in balance with the others to support a stable structure.

Experience knows how to create a stable structure from the rudimentary knowledge.
(Image found online, original source unknown, via @ProfFeynman .)

Practice makes perfect it is said, but not if what you are practicing is not a good technique for you, or in general.

“In theory there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice there is.“ -Yogi Berra (via @nonludic)

Knowledge is collected from Experience that is shared by others or that you had learned first hand by trying something, whether once or with ongoing practice until the skill was mastered. Creativity can take that information and imagine new ways to look at it, and Wisdom may see connections that others didn’t see.

**Knowledge** is collected from **Experience** shared by others or learned first hand.
**Creativity** can take that information and imagine new ways to look at it,
and **Wisdom** may see connections that others didn’t see.
(Graphic found online, original source unknown, via @ThinkingWiseman.)

What creativity and collective wisdom did it take the ancient people who created Stonehenge as a giant astronomical calendar to get the circle of stones in alignment with the passing stars? That is hard to imagine, or how the giant stone blocks were cut and moved by hand.

“*Sunrise at Stonehenge today (17th January) was at 8.02am, sunset is at 4.32pm*, “
Image by Stonehenge, U.K., @STONEHENGE.

In building anything we need perseverance, grit, to stick with the hard work that might take years or decades to accomplish. To build effectively we need to have a strategic mindset with a plan that may be adapted along the way as methods are tested and analyzed for whether the goal is being achieved. Did the planets and stars move across the skies at the time the stone circle indicated or was modification in their placement needed? Stonehenge was initially likely a circle of smaller bluestones before all the large stones were moved from much farther away and put in place. It would have been arduous work. You wouldn’t want to have to move one of those building blocks again if you goofed.

“The oldest part of the Stonehenge monument was built during the period from 3000 to 2935 bce. … Although it once was believed that the Aubrey Holes served as pits for wooden posts, excavation and archival research by the Stonehenge Riverside Project revealed that they probably held Welsh bluestones.” – Stonehenge- First stage: 3000–2935 BCE (Britannica)

The first stage of building Stonehenge took the ancient people about 65 years, the second stage about 160 years, third, about 190 years, and the fourth, fifth, and sixth stages of building are estimated to have been completed over another 760 years. That is quite a dedicated community project. (Britannica)

The reason why Stonehenge was built is not known, however having a calendar, even a really, really large one, may have helped with determining when to plant crops to maximize yield. There was a change in climate conditions for about 700 years during the time Stonehenge was built which made growing crops more difficult and herd animals became more predominant until the cold weather improved. (sciencenewsforstudents)

To build health we need all of the nutrient building blocks and it can be helpful to have phytonutrients and other complex molecules in our diet too. Nucleotides are needed to make the RNA that is needed for us to make each protein molecule such as bitter taste receptors. We may be able to make nucleotides but there would also be some in animal product foods. It saves us energy to use ready made molecules that are small enough to be absorbed whole. Colorful plants and vegetables have many phytonutrients and phospho-nutrients that can help us directly or may be used as building blocks to help us build other molecules.

Studies on cognitive health, our mental fitness as we age, have found that the modern Western diet has adverse effects while a more Mediterranean style diet was more protective. People whose diet was estimated to be the most like the Mediterranean diet, had cognitive health equivalent to being 5.8 years younger than those with the least Mediterranean style diet.

“Western diets may adversely affect cognitive health,” Agarwal said. “Individuals who had a high Mediterranean diet score compared to those who had the lowest score were equivalent to being 5.8 years younger in age cognitively.” – Unhealthy Foods May Diminish Diet’s Positive Effects, January 8, 2021, Rush.edu, (rush.edu)

The Mediterranean Diet has anti-inflammatory benefits from the olive oil, which is rich in monounsaturated fats, and the diet tends to include a generous amount of fish and other seafoods regularly which would be a good source of omega 3 fatty acids. The Western diet uses a lot of plant/seed oils which are high in polyunsaturated fats and omega 6 fatty acids both of which can increase inflammation when eaten in excess. The ratio of omega 3 to omega 6 fatty acids is too low in the modern diet due to the use of refined plant oils like canola seed, corn or soy oil.

The Mediterranean diet also tends to have more beans, with smaller servings or less use of meats, than the Western diet. The phytonutrient rich herbs like oregano and basil might be used in far greater quantity along with other healthy vegetables and fruits than in the standard Western diet.

Another study looked at the effects of different diet patterns on the muscle mass of a group of Australian women. Interestingly The ‘plant focused‘ diet was not associated with skeletal muscle size while a traditional diet based on the Australian Recommended Food pattern was linked to muscle mass and an overall use of fewer inflammatory food and beverage choices was also. People on the ‘plant focused‘ diet may not have been getting enough protein or other nutrients involved in our production of muscle tissue.

“Three a posteriori dietary patterns were identified from the PCA and named: i) plant-focused, ii) western, and iii) traditional. The plant-focused pattern was characterised by positive factor loadings on fruits, vegetables, legumes, fish, nuts, rice, tofu, yogurt, red wine, and eggs, and negative loadings on white bread. The western pattern included positive factor loadings on pizza, potato chips, processed meats (sausage, meat pies, salami, bacon), tomato sauce and pasta, and negative loadings on fruits. The traditional pattern was characterised by positive loadings on vegetables, jam, tinned fruit, red meat (beef and lamb), biscuits, ice cream, fish, and high-fibre cereals, with no negative loadings (Jacka et al., 2010).” – Diet quality and a traditional dietary pattern predict lean mass in Australian women: Longitudinal data from the Geelong Osteoporosis Study (Davis et al, 2021)

It takes knowledge to know which foods are more beneficial or less inflammatory, and it takes experience to try them and find out if they are also not inflammatory for your personal metabolism and health. It takes creativity to prepare interesting meals from a wide range of healthy foods, and wisdom to see the long term value in going to the effort to do so, most days. It also takes wisdom or strategic mindset to watch for patterns in your symptoms and health and modify your choices as you age or your health changes.

Every decade our metabolism slows down a little so we need about 10% less calories than we did in the previous decade – this would vary somewhat with the amount of physical and mental effort we expend and our personal thyroid hormone level and other factors.

Disclaimer: Opinions are my own and the information is provided for educational purposes within the guidelines of fair use. While I am a Registered Dietitian this information is not intended to provide individual health guidance. Please see a health professional for individual health care purposes.

Reference List

The Mindset You Need to Succeed at Every Goal. bbc.com, https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20200722-the-mindset-you-need-to-succeed-at-every-goal?ocid=ww.social.link.twitter
Unhealthy Foods May Diminish Diet’s Positive Effects, January 8, 2021, Rush.edu, (rush.edu) https://www.rush.edu/news/unhealthy-foods-may-diminish-diets-positive-effects
Jessica A. Davis, Mohammadreza Mohebbi. Fiona Collier, et al., Diet quality and a traditional dietary pattern predict lean mass in Australian women: Longitudinal data from the Geelong Osteoporosis Study. Preventive Medicine Reports, Vol 21, March 2021, 101316, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2211335521000073

May 17, 2018May 17, 2018

What do daisies have to do with autism and Alzheimer’s risk?

Daisies have nothing to do with autism and Alzheimer’s risk but in order to simplify complex topics into real world strategies for preventative health care guidance the complexity has to be thoroughly understood. In the last post the medical and chemistry jargon got thicker than a field of daisies and taking a break can help the brain sort through the field to find a bouquet – metaphorically speaking.

In my real world I also found some online courses to help brush up on making sense of medical and chemical jargon for the lay reader or the health professional. I’m taking some online courses available through Coursera.org: Writing for the Sciences, Stanford University and Medical Neuroscience, Duke University, and for later in the summer: Essentials of Global Health, Yale University.

My own health has been helped by the information I gather – the bouquets of daisies can turn into good hair days and the ability to grow skin. It is easy to take health, and skin, for granted until you lose it and then a physician with a prescription pad is not always available with a helpful answer. “We don’t know what causes it or how to help you but this pain killer might leave you addicted and/or cause uncomfortable side effects” – not a helpful answer and may be a more dangerous answer than “Your lab tests are normal, why don’t you go talk to a therapist about your problems (probably psychosomatic/hypochondria).” Thanks, I’ll go for a walk and think about that, maybe I’ll be able to pick some daisies and get some fresh air and sunshine while I’m out.

Taking a break sometimes is just what is needed to allow the brain to sort through a complicated issue – the solution is there but it may need to be selected out of a field of many possible answers. Some exercise and a little time to not think consciously about it can be what the subconscious needs to put together the pieces so the larger puzzle can be seen. (Don’t Solve Your Problems – Lolly Daskal) Taking a walk was a strategy that Charles Darwin and Charles Dickens liked to use: “If I couldn’t walk fast and far, I should just explode and perish.” – Charles Dickens – (For a More Creative Brain, Take Breaks – Inc.com) (Michael Simmons Quote)

A completed puzzle of a picture of marbles arranged in a rainbow pattern – it was more difficult than it looks.

Taking a walk may not help you solve all your tough puzzles but the exercise is still good for you.

A field of dandelions in front of a mountain (Note: Objects may be closer than they appear).

So what did daisies have to do with yesterday’s post – they represented the pause I took to let all the material that I had read settle into a few take home points about real world strategies that might help protect people with a genetic predisposition to Alzheimer’s Disease or autism – vigorous exercise regularly may help; a diet with a lower than typical balance of calories from carbohydrates versus fats and protein (30% carbohydrate calories); and occasional fasting for a day or afternoon (14) may all help the body to clear out the protein deposits that seem to collect and lead to Alzheimer’s or autism changes in the brain.

January 31, 2018October 13, 2018

Make the mission more important than the leader or followers

When is a goal more important than the personal success of a leader or teammates? When it is about long term success. Current business practice has become more focused on quarterly profits to please shareholders and board members and it has cut into spending for employee development and retention and for research and development in too many industries.

The simple message (paraphrased) “Make the mission more important than the leader or followers” was a main take home point in a book I just read. when a book is important I like to read it in one sitting as my memory works kind of like an e-book reader, I want to upload the entire file in one batch.

I recently saw a one-liner question along the lines of if you were on a deserted island what is the one book that you would want to have with you (also paraphrased). I thought at the time, tough question, and I didn’t have an answer. All the books that I’ve read across my lifetime are all still sloshing around somewhat in my memory bank so I’m never deserted. They are like good friends I can browse whenever I want. After uploading this latest one into my memory bank I came up with an answer – it wouldn’t be the one to have on the island, Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations would be. I have a copy but I also have it bookmarked on my laptop. It gives favorite quotes or passages from many great works from earlier eras which can be memory triggers for the larger work or just set the imagination to work filling in whatever may be generated by the words of wisdom.

The latest book is slightly dated for a business world type book as its references are to the 90’s. The concept of faxing is included. Having also recently read some more dated books and long papers about economics written by economic theorists from the 1800s, (Principles of Economics, by Carl Menger, a translation in English), and 1950s, 60s and 70s (fee.org) I will just point out that it is very interesting to see social differences change across time. Women weren’t really mentioned much at all in relation to the business world in the older economic papers and the mention of female workers in the book from the 90s would likely no longer be included if the book was edited for today’s market. Women are mentioned as bosses occasionally but secretaries and receptionist references are always female throughout the book. A section on empathy offers the example that if your receptionist seems in a bad mood find out why before sharing the fisher-person and mer-person joke that you had in mind. – My point – times have changed a lot and for the better overall.

Back to the main point – this book I just read is the most valuable I’ve ever read. I might not pack it for a deserted island but I will never forget it and it made me feel like I should finally right that Last Will and Testament that I’ve never bothered writing, just so that I can leave the book to someone. Now you, my dear reader, do not have to wait until I kick the bucket in order to find out if I left the book to you. You can just go to a resale shop and look for a used copy of your own. It includes a lot of quotations too including many I was not familiar with along with a discussion of humor and how to improve your own ability to tell a joke. The tone is kind and gentle, self deprecating humor or persuasion tactics are more powerful is also a take home point that we all might benefit from in our business or personal lives.

Secrets of Power Persuasion; Everything You’ll Ever Need to Get Anything You’ll Ever Want, by Roger Dawson, 1992, Prentice Hall. It has also been reissued in paperback or can be picked up used online barnesandnoble.com. The author gained his business experience in the real estate industry but went on to become a popular speaker and author on the topic of sales and negotiating. The book is written fairly open ended though rather than being directed only to salespeople or business executives. Examples include common parenting and relationship issues as well as sales and other negotiating issues a business person might run into and the tactics are useful for the buyer as well as the seller. No one wants to walk off the car lot with a car they didn’t want or a timeshare week in a vacation resort that they couldn’t afford.

The ideas for helping to learn other’s motivations can also be helpful for learning to recognize your own. One example has fast-forwarded into modern news – “a Donald Trump” type person is paired opposite of “a Mother Theresa” type person as examples of people at the extremes of “self-centered versus externally centered” motivations. Recognize what motivates someone to help identify what might motivated them to make a purchase or other decision. The self-centered motivated individual looks at how things benefit themselves versus the externally motivated person looks at how things would benefit others:- “The self versus external sorting continuum” “Narcissists – Persuaded by how it affects them+ and “Martyrs – Persuaded by how it affects others“. (page 154, Secrets of Power Persuasion)

Tips for working for a narcissist boss: (How to Work for a Narcissistic Boss, hbr.org)

It can be difficult to recognize that extreme narcissism is not typical behavior if you grew up with it in the family (Toxic Parents or Emotionally Immature parents) and for an empathy- external oriented person, it can lead to adult relationships that are at risk for not recognizing the need for safe boundaries against the self-oriented demands of a narcissist. (The Toxic Attraction Between an Empath and a Narcissist, elephantjournal)

The techniques in the book include many strategies that I’ve read about in psychology and other business books, as well as many personal strategies of the author’s that may have been developed from other business strategists that I’m not familiar with or are clearly his own tips learned from his experiences. The style of teaching the material is easy to follow and has helpful summary point lists.

A sales pitch for the book, or self-deprecating humor example from the author’s past, is from the section on how-to-tips for remembering people’s names:

‘Similarly, there is no easy way to remember names. As my high school teacher used to say, “Don’t waste any time looking for an easier way to do this. If there were an easier way, Roger would’ve found it years ago.”‘ – Secrets of Power Persuasion, page 217.

Why would a dietitian care about power persuasion techniques? Because it is actually fairly difficult to try to encourage change in personal habits. The author includes as an example in one area his own weight loss plan which was effective for him. It is valid but time and additional research has modified one dietary point – focusing exclusively on cutting fat calories may not be as helpful as working to reduce simple carbohydrate calories as well, either from sugar or refined grains and white potato products. The more processed a food the quicker it can turn into blood sugar which can increase insulin which can increase fat storage which can be made from calories from fat, carbohydrates or alcohol, and as a double whammy, increased insulin levels can cause an increase in appetite leading to more eating.

Regarding something I saw recently regarding a weight loss fad – gluten free products as currently marketed are often based on very refined starches and are often lower in fiber and nutrients than a whole grain item. I do not recommend gluten free diets for anyone who is not gluten intolerant or for weight loss purposes. It is not an easy diet to follow for those who truly need to stringently exclude all gluten for autoimmune reasons and it is not a joke for them either. The problem can be life threatening and cause long term symptoms in digestion and in other areas of life. People with thyroid problems might benefit from trying gluten free diets as the protein chemically is similar in shape to the thyroid hormone and autoimmune thyroid problems may have something to due with autoimmune gluten reactions for some people. If interested seek a qualified nutritionist or Registered Dietitian to help create a balanced diet. I personally use whole grain rice, quinoa and amaranth and other gluten free whole grains rather than buy many commercially available gluten free products. In addition to being low fiber they often include corn which I have found also affects my own autoimmune symptoms.

So why would a dietitian care about persuasion tactics – because pomegranate peel is not on anyone’s menu plan – yet, that I know of, except for my own and I find it amazing. The blueberry juice did make it more palatable as a diluted beverage but adding a chaser of fennel seeds as a follow up snack helped even more. I tend to eat about a teaspoon of them after most meals now as they seem to help with digestion. After trying the pomegranate extract as a beverage when I made a fresh batch (I had stopped trying it in quantity as it is very acidic) I had a couple teaspoons worth of the fennel seeds after trying the blueberry/pomegranate mixture and it helped. Why would I bother trying it in quantity – because it has an amazing mood boosting effect and helps the numbness in my fingertips problem more when I use more of it rather than only a few spoonfuls added to my bowl of soup.

Pomegranate seeds and the fennel seeds are quite crunchy. I’ve had a couple people mention they can’t chew such crunchy things without pain – that may be a sign of inflammation throughout the body rather than tooth or jaw trouble. During the worst of my inflammatory years I also developed pain with chewing my favorite crunchy things like raw carrots, apples, and my favorite whole grain rice cakes which are more dense then the more commonly available type.

One learns by trying – a motto of mine from my childhood. I don’t know where I heard it or if I just made it my own slogan. Maybe it is a modification of “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.” That is one my mother would say.

The idea of making a Last Will and Testament to leave the book to someone is kind of a joke – the book cost me ten cents. The pomegranate peel extract probably cost me even less figuring people buy the fruit for the juicy seeds, but information has more value than dollars alone. In the recipe post I included a lot of detailed measurements about yield for food industry and dietitian type people to show the percentage that is currently being thrown away when instead it might be able to be made into a valuable health boosting product.

So what is the mission that is more important than the leader or followers – to me – effective health care that supports a more sustainable population. Whether you believe the Earth is 6000 years old or millions, the more important question currently seems to me whether we want humans and other species to still be around 6000 years from now.

The paraphrase I used in the title of this post is from the last chapter in the book (pp 276-289) and the example given is a story about a team that reached the top of Mount Everest – one team member that is but the team rejoiced together via audio and the team got the credit – no one person is going to reach the top of most any mountain all by themselves. I haven’t climbed a mountain or seen Mount Everest but I have seen Mount McKinley and met a wonderful Japanese couple at the base. My family were camping near their camp and one night they invited us all to join them and my main memory from this childhood adventure was the dried seaweed they shared with us. It was like paper but you could eat it – I was enchanted. And all of us enjoyed the wild berries we could pick in the wilderness area. Our planet is a treasure worth far more than dollars.

A sustainable vision of a future Hawaii is described in an article suggesting we need more imagination to help guide us towards a peaceful and sustainable future: We Need Radical Imagination, Wake Up World.

Imagination is a critical part of creativity and innovation for any new product development whether in the area of healthcare and diet or sustainable agriculture and infrastructure.

A discussion of how leadership can help foster creativity in a team – a main point is to give it space to grow naturally rather than demands and time limits: How to Nourish Your Team’s Creativity. hbr.org

A book I mentioned in a recent post reinforces some of the concepts in Roger Dawson’s book but with more recent business examples:

For more information on thinking creatively and effectively working towards a better solution to difficult decisions rather than feeling forced to choose one of two less preferred choices I recommend the book Creating Great Choices: A Leader’s Guide to Integrative Thinking, by Jennifer Riel and Roger L. Martin (2017, HBR) (hbr.org/Creating Great Choices)

January 26, 2018August 5, 2018

Thinking Outside the (Tote) Box

This post is a discussion of creativity and a return to an earlier post about a do-it-yourself project for travelers – a sleep platform for the backseat of a car in case of emergency stops or for the person willing to sleep in a car occasionally instead of getting a hotel room. the sleep platform is better than sleeping on the seat but not as comfortable as a hotel room. It can save time however for the person traveling fast to be able to have a nap when needed to make a long car trip less a risk of drowsy driving. See this post for more tips about signs of drowsy driving and tips for staying awake or signs that it is time to pull over and nap in the front seat or on your handy sleep platform built on storage totes if you are me. (Traveling Shows the Beauty of Our Land and People)

Regarding creativity and “Thinking outside the box” – that doesn’t mean start from a blank page it means start with the box – start with the present known knowledge base. A box is a great invention and if you add a hinge then the lid is easier to use, add wheels and you have a wagon or a cart or a car. Even the blank page is a great start. That phrase dates back in time to school children who started with a blank slate each day. Paper was rare and so were books. The teacher would copy out sections from a book on the large chalkboard/slate on the wall and all the school children would copy it to their individual personal slates to memorize the text or practice the math or grammar exercise. The chalk would rub off when they carried the slate home in their lunch pail so the memorization of long passages of speeches or poetry was common. See works by Laura Ingalls Wilder for more information about slates and teaching in the 1800s. (biography/Laura Ingalls Wilder)

This website is not named for the phrase Think outside the box. It was named for a passage from the Tao Te Ching – start with the universe – start from traditional knowledge – start from square and transcend that, think beyond our limits and explore the great unknown. (Tao Te Ching, Verse 41)

Do It Yourself, storage totes to sit on or use as an exercise bench or mini-couch, or to sleep on in the back seat of your car: