Opening Yourself to Possibilities Changes Your Life

I recently spoke to a group up in New Hampshire on leadership and we spent quite a bit of the magic that happens when you blend innovative ideas with intelligent risk taking.  We discussed how innovation and critical thinking together create new opportunities. However, the only thing that transforms opportunities into a tangible result is taking a chance by acting on the idea.

Intelligent Risk Taking Strategies:

Choose Your Mountain

Plan Your Route

Build Your Courage

Climb Strong!

It is amazing how your life can change by simply opening yourself to new possibilities. Here is an email I received from one of the participants, Tom.

“My friend Karen and I were at Portsmouth for the conference. I want to share with you briefly that Tuesday afternoon as i was working out at the YMCA, I looked at the wall where people come to learn how to climb and others belay. The trainer was there and noticed me looking up at the wall. He asked if i was interested in climbing. I told him i never did that before because i was afraid of heights. He looked at me and said “C’mon give it a try.” So I did!

The wall was about 25′ high. He explained to me the steps, putting on the harness etc. I started upward and mentally i would not allow the old tapes to play. I not only reached the top but i came back down and I climbed it again. I can’t express in words what that feeling was like. When i got to the top i just savored it for thirty seconds or so. I didn’t realize that it was always there within me to do that. I am 54 and something i feel within me has changed - emotionally as well as spiritually. I feel i have tapped into a power that has always been there waiting for me just to trust. The results were magnificent. I left the Y that day with a whole new sense of energy. And i know the steps regarding intellectual risk taking were right there with me, like a guide. I let go and found the COURAGE and that courage picked up a partner called PASSION and then when i got to the top a lot of things about my purpose and whose mountain i was on became clearer.

Barbara, thank you for helping me risk!”

The simple act of possibility thinking allows amazing things to happen in our lives both personally and professionally.

Possibility Curve Program

I gave a Possibility Curve presentation a few weeks ago and spoke to several hundred women at the Women’s Foodservice Forum, WFF,  in Washington DC. The Possibility Curve is a blend of Innovation, Critical Thinking, Intelligent Risk Taking and Change. It allows for individuals, teams and organizations to create and act on viable opportunities.

As a part of my presentation I had a ‘common sense’ quiz. It was a True/False test to see just how much we can trust our own common sense. Try it now:

1. Apples are more efficient than caffeine in keeping people awake in the mornings.

2. In Texas, it’s against the law for anyone to have a pair of pliers in his or her possession.

3. In Kansas it’s legal to throw knives at men wearing striped suits.

4.  Alaska law says that you can’t look at a moose from an airplane.

5. Bats always turn right when exiting a cave.

6. Nose prints are used to identfy dogs, just like humans use fingerprints.

7. In the state of Colorado, a pet cat, if loose, must have a tail light.

8. Smelling bananas and or green apples will help you lose weight.

Well, how do you think you did? Only numbers 3 and 5 were False. Surprised?

The reality is that we get stuck in our filters without even knowing it. We move forward or dismiss ideas without really stopping to think them through. Why? Because we are too busy.  That is why it is so important to blend innovation with critical thinking.

And what good is it to have a really great idea if you aren’t willing to take action. Action usually means ‘risk’ which is where the Intelligent Risk Taking part comes in. The best way to move your business forward is by expanding your Possibility Curve.

Please visit our website www.IntelligentRisking.com to learn more about how we can work with you through consulting, speaking, coaching and training.

Most of us don’t take enough risks. Why? It is human nature to want to feel comfortable, safe and in control. Risk, by its very definition, makes us feel uncomfortable, insecure and out of control. The difficulty in taking a significant risk is that it creates a direct and unavoidable internal conflict. This conflict is exaggerated by another aspect of our human nature: our tendency to doubt ourselves too quickly, even though we know we have more strengths, talents and skills than we are using. This combination often starts a domino effect. We question ourselves. Internal alarms go off warning us that we may not have what it takes. We hesitate and in our hesitation we allow fear, anger and ego to slip in; if we don’t regain balance quickly, we can become lost, which reinforces our belief that we don’t have what it takes.

This undermines our true abilities and causes us to underestimate ourselves. This domino effect most often results in our giving up and quitting too soon. With a true risk you will never be sure of what will happen next or how it will turn out. There is only one thing you can truly count on and that is yourself. Risk is the difference between how difficult you perceive the challenge to be and how much you believe in your own abilities.

The Intelligent Risk Taking Premise from the book Positive Risk

If you underestimate yourself, then you are overestimating the risk.

“It is easy to risk.

Yet, to take the right risk, in the right way, for the right reason at the right time is very difficult.”

IntelligentRisking, Inc. specializes in helping individuals, teams and organizations learn how to reduce their risk through Emotional Intelligence. This process begins with an IntelliegentRisking Inventory which allows us to evaluate both the willingenss and ability to take strategic risks. This will allow you to see where you may fall on the Possibility Curve. The Possibility Curve is the ’sweet spot’ where through LINK Thinking (innovation) blended with IntelligenrRisking, you are able to maximize your return while minimizing your risk.

Writing my book, IntelligentRisking for Women, has been an interesting journey. I have had the privilege of meeting tons of fabulous women and surprisingly enough men. As it turns out intelligent risk taking is not exclusive to women. Both men and women have the same basic challenges with taking risks. What is different between the two sexes is their approach and style. Men have the advantage of being much clearer about how they define success, while women tend to want to ‘do it all’. Men are helped out by their ego, while women tend to be held back by theirs. The key difference is that men have learned to set themselves up for success, while women have learned how to set themselves up to avoid failure. The key for a woman to succeed is to learn how to approach risk by setting themselves up to succeed. Barbara Stoker, speaker and author of IntelligentRisking for Women

This amazing example of a Rube Goldberg machine is what can happen when you ride The Possibility Curve. The most amazing part of this innovative commercial is that there are NO computer graphic or special digital effects used in this film. Everything you see happened in real time on the 606th take.

This commercial took 3 months to create at an estimated cost of 6 million dollars. This is a clear example of LINK Thinking. Is it innovative? Continue reading »

Welcome to my Possibility Curve Blog. This special place was created so that everyone could share examples of Possibility Thinking (the blend of innovation and smart risk taking). Please send us your stories, videos or links to great examples of how you or others combined intelligent risk taking with creative ideas. Can’t wait to see what you come up with that will challenge the way we think?

Barbara Stoker, former executive for Walt Disney, Mattel Toys, Hallmark Cards and Coors.