How To Increase Innovation By Eliminating 'Behavioral Waste'

Recently I met a business growth expert in the UK whose philosophy meshes well with my own. Neville Gaunt is the CEO of Mind Fit, which provides business and management coaching to organizations and entrepreneurs. What does it mean to be “mind fit?” As one of its foundational tenets, Mind Fit tests entrepreneurs and executives at all levels for their mental attitudes, which fall into three general points of focus:

• The Can-Do attitude (powerful and in control) – the upper right quadrant
• The Can’t-Do attitude (helpless and out of control), and
• The Won’t-Do attitude (Defensive, and over control)

Nearly every behavioral or cultural issue within a company, such as conflict, avoidance, aggressive or passive aggressive behavior, is the result of dysfunctional behavior that can be identified and improved through attention to where people’s attitudes and thinking fall on the Mind Fit map.

The primary approach to addressing poor “mind fitness” is training and exercise. Thankfully, Gaunt’s team provides mechanisms in a manner that encourages people to willingly become engaged, motivated and energized to succeed in the same way a physically fit body is bursting with energy and delights in addressing movement and challenge. Conversely, organizations improve dramatically when we can learn to eliminate what Gaunt and his team call “behavioral waste.”

 

For example, picture the leader who is habitually 15 minutes late to every meeting. On the face of the situation, the 15 minutes of waste is compounding by the 15 minutes also wasted by each of the individuals in the room.  For 12 people, this is bad enough—3 hours of wasted time per week, equating to 300 hours per year or 7 ½ weeks.

Read More: https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidkwilliams/2017/03/13/how-to-increase-innovation-and-growth-by-eliminating-behavioral-waste/#b183efc98b9d 

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