The web continues to yield interesting insights about life as well as job search. I recently ran across a blog post at Tickled by Life that describes 15 ways we limit our creativity, and I thought about how these same observations could apply to job search. The post is entitled “15 Elephant Tethers That Stop You From Being Creative!”, draws a parallel with the way elephants are trained. A trainer will use a heavy chain to restrain a baby elephant so that, over time, the elephant will stop trying to free itself so it can be restrained with even a light rope. We all have the same Pavlovian responses to our lives; past experience leads to blind assumptions that limit our thinking. So let me ask you, what invisible ropes are limiting your job search?
Here are some of the tethers cited in the blog post that you should consider as you conduct your job search. See if any of these are holding you back:
- What will people think? A lot of people are self-conscious and fear the unknown. If you learn to overstep your boundaries and try new things, then the unknown becomes know and the fear disappears. I always try to adopt the attitude, what is there to lose?
- I don’t have any great ideas. This may be overstated, but the point is that most people look for ready-made solutions to problems and are unwilling to stretch themselves; they become prisoners of familiarity.
- Looking for the right answer. Formal education teaches us (often wrongly) to arrive at a single answer for every problem. There often is no one right answer – that’s what creative problem solving is all about. Use that same creative problem solving for your career.
Fear of failure. We all try to avoid situations where we won’t succeed, which means our risk zone tends to get smaller over time. Use failure as a means to learn how to succeed. You can’t expand your capabilities without risking failure.
Not my area of expertise. I run into this a lot with career-changers. In our world of growing specialization, it’s harder to change disciplines or careers. You need to explore new areas and expand your expertise to discover new connections and determine which skills are transferrable.
I don’t like uncertainty. Confusion tends to make people want to resolve a situation quickly. This is stifling in the long run; it stifles a sense of exploration in favor of the familiar. Ambiguity can be a good thing, and can open up new channels of thinking.
That’s the way it’s done. Don’t be afraid to break the rules or try a new approach.
Everyone says so. Remember, in job search you need to promote your unique skills, not what everyone else is doing. Don’t become part of the herd.
How can the boss be wrong? Some managers are hung up on always having to be right. Everyone is wrong once in a while. The question is how do you learn from your mistakes? Use that new knowledge to demonstrate your problem-solving capabilities.
I have strong views and firm opinions. No one wants to hire someone who can’t let in new ideas. Be a team player and leave yourself open to new solutions.
All these so-called tethers point to ways we limit ourselves by limiting our thinking about work and life. Try to break some of those old patterns of thinking and open yourself to new ideas and new ways of viewing the world. You have nothing to lose but your chains.
