Disrupt The Usual
By Les Mottosky
The idea of something being 'right' feels wrong. That term carries unintended moral weight and can work as distraction. Where efficacy is the goal, this is not effective. (And if 'effective' doesn't feel right – typo intended – use a word like wholesome, skillful or healthy).
Regardless of your chosen adjective, here are some conclusions we collectively accept, but in other cultures and/or other times, the opposite was standard.
Infants Out In The Cold. "Put on a warmer coat or you'll get sick". The recent popularity of cold exposure is just one practice that's crushed your Mom's warning. Danes – and other northerly cultures – have long known the benefit of cold water and air. During Denmark winters, groups of new moms routinely convene in a cozy cafe while their delicate infants remain outside, bundled-up, napping in their strollers. Common practice since the 1800s, there are no signs of warming-up to a different tradition. Where's the win for those of us who can't fit in a stroller? Recent sleep science recommends as low as 15 degrees celsius in your bedroom for optimal Z's. Have some magnesium, crack a window, rock a beanie and get that slumber.
The Healing Sun. Society believes three things are necessary to enjoy a beach day: water, sand and sunscreen. The water and sand provide the pleasure and those SPFs provide the cancer protection. Or do they? This notion is rapidly being turned on it's freckled head. The benefits, purpose and understanding of vitamin D from sunlight has expanded drastically in the past decade. More than a mere vitamin, it's now understood to act as a hormone in the body. Beyond the immunity boost we get from adequate D – in part to fight off cancer cells – it also optimizes calcium uptake and distribution to benefit our muscular, skeletal, endocrine and cardiovascular systems. While Vitamin D supplementation may be helpful, it isn't sufficient or optimal. Getting pre or post midday sun on as much of the body as possible, 30 minutes a day promotes healthy vitamin D production (something sunscreen prevents) while AM and PM sunlight in the eyes helps modulate our nervous systems and sleep cycles. Our great grandparents and indigenous cultures understood this without experts in lab coats producing studies required for them to "know" it.
Paying For Healthcare. In the West, "healthcare" as a term is a bit of a misnomer. We finance a system to get us better once we're sick. In parts of rural China, patients used to pay doctors when they were healthy and would cut-off compensation if they fell ill. Instalments only resumed once the patient returned to health. On so many levels this makes sense. The doc is incentivized to keep patients healthy. And from the patient's perspective, they're more equipped to earn and pay when they're healthy, while illness impedes that. How different would our collective health be if we were to adapt to such an approach?
The above are just several examples where the opposite of conventional thinking provides uncommon benefits. Which begs a valuable question:
What else are we confidently wrong about?
TAGS: #Radical Reframe #Disrupt The Usual #Wisdom In Leadership #Curiosity Is Our Nature #Adaptation As Innovation
Les Mottosky
Adaptation Strategist // I help leaders build aligned creative cultures that can measure their vitality and adapt to rapid change. It's not easy. But it's simple.
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