Freshness of thinking is a key component of driving new ideas and innovation. Remember it is vital that we maintain competitive advantage through continuously exploring new ways of doing things. To avoid getting into a personal “rut” regularly view things from different angles.
Some thoughts on how to practice "Fresh Thinking":
Think about things in your life or career that you believe need to change - are you getting stale?
Write down the things you think need to change and prioritise them. Develop a plan of action that will drive change and a new approach.
Review colleagues' performances and ask yourself - what are they doing that I should be doing?
Simple but effective - try a new route into work, vary it every day - this will help to break established patterns and foster new thinking.
Keep your antenne out looking for new thinking and ideas - other markets, other sectors. For example if you are in an industrial market and you want to learn about customer service - go and have a look at the Ritz Carlton Hotel Gold Standards https://www.ritzcarlton.com/en/about/gold-standards
If it’s not broken, don’t fix it but remember - keep one eye on today and one on tomorrow - things can sometimes become too cushy.
Don’t allow complacency to set in - this is a danger zone - what follows complacency is poor performance.
Speak to your mentor, role model or colleagues and gain feedback on what they think you should change.
Innovation and differentiation are driven by fresh thinking - when we do something different we get a different outcome.
A fresh approach can be invigorating and rewarding - it introduces new possibilities and when it is regularly practiced it delivers amazing breakthroughs in performance.