Uniquely Brilliant Podcast

Becky and Diana discuss the perils and pitfalls of not trusting what you know.

• At some point we have to stop learning and start doing.
• We can fill our heads with so much information that there’s no room for a solution to appear.
• Sometimes just making a decision, whether it’s right or wrong, allows us to move forward.
• When we trust ourselves to make decisions we instinctively make better ones.
• Sometimes we just need a knowledge detox.
• Decision fatigue can be managed by creating habits.
• We can give ourselves permission to decide what is right, right now.
• We need to appreciate and acknowledge what we have done.
• A vision becomes a habit when we decide to follow through on it.
• The only person responsible for deciding where you go is you.

Becky and Diana navigate the sticky subject of money. 

• There are a lot of social taboos around money.
• Rules about talking about money change constantly.
• When we are dismissive of money we are disrespecting it.
• Money is often a major stressor.
• How do we talk about money ourselves?
• Do we talk about money? Do we talk about it from the perspective of never having enough or having plenty?
• Knowing how to earn money and how to manage money are not the same thing.
• When we’re looking for a job, we should be aware of each company’s attitude towards money. Does it align with our attitude?
• Emotions and money go hand in hand.
• Money is just one currency that has value.
• Always be actively grateful for the money you have.

After attending a great conference, Diana springs the topic of the Truth on Becky. 

• When we don’t know what the truth is we can’t move forward effectively.
• How much of what we call truth is really just something we want?
• Whose truth is it anyway?
• We must identify how much of the truth we are working with.
• Natural talent only gets us so far.
• It can be much easier to help others find their truth.
• What is it that has us saying “I can’t” instead of “I can”?
• When we feel unsettled about something it is a sign we’re missing some element of the truth about the situation.
• Sometimes things have to play out before we can see the truth.
• When we are reconciled with identifying truth, it is easier to navigate reality.

Becky and Diana explore the power we gain each time we evolve as a person. 

• Evolution is “The gradual development of something, especially from simple to complex.”
• It’s easy to forget we are in a constant state of evolution.
• “It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change.” Charles Darwin
• We aren’t who we were yesterday.
• If we don’t evolve, we're a drag on the system!
• Zombification of companies occurs when they don’t evolve.
• Once we’ve evolved and gained new powers, we don’t lose them. They’re just stored away in our treasure boxes.
• Evolving allows us to build a foundation we can use to create bridges to others so we can establish relationships with them.
• The key to continual evolution is to remain curious.

Becky Berry and Diana Bader investigate the gaps in understanding that keep people and businesses from reaching their full potential. 

• The generational gap works both ways.
• “We’ve always done it this way,” isn’t a legitimate reason to do something.
• Building a bridge of understanding between generations is the ideal.
• The first step in closing the generation gap is developing mutual respect.
• Anytime we develop better communications and understanding of each other helps us build and reinforce the bridge.
• Merging skills from all generations is game changing.
• The education system - how it values of certain skills, teaching methods and curriculum choices - also fosters gaps in understanding and respect.
• Maintaining limits and restrictions perpetuate gaps in understanding.
• Gaps also appear when we fear, resist, or are unable to re-imagine ourselves.

In the 3rd and final part of their series on innovation, Becky and Diana talk about incremental innovation. 

• Incremental innovation is the art of tweaking.
• When we have Uniquely Brilliant minds, we’re naturally inclined to innovative thinking.
• Businesses are looking for people who can improve upon things without reinventing them.
• Many of us who are Uniquely Brilliant can identify problems and see solutions other people cannot even imagine.
• Some innovators do a lot of internal processing before they share their ideas, while others present their ideas proceed to process them out loud.
• Innovation can only take place when there’s space to talk about it and then space for people to embrace it on their own terms.
• As innovators, when we identify the pain points that people are experiencing, it helps those people connect with our ideas.
• We coaches use innovation to help our clients become the best versions of themselves that they can right now.
• It’s critical to detach from the outcome when we share innovative ideas.
• Incremental innovation is about aging ideas and allowing them to come to fruition in their own time instead of ours.

In the second installment of their innovation series, Becky Berry and Diana Bader consider End User Innovation. 

• End user innovation creates something that fills an unidentified and unmet need.
• End user innovation can happen in the heat of the moment using the resources at hand to make what we need.
• Tenacity is a critical strength of end user innovators.
• Sometimes it is hard to explain a vision until it has evolved to a point where others can understand it.
• As Mike Dooley says, the cursed hows are a deterrent to innovation.
• Little innovations can have major impact on people’s lives.
• When we talk about innovation, we frequently talk about vision. Visions involve all 5 senses and include action and space, otherwise they are just pictures.

Becky and Diana begin a three part series on innovation beginning with disruptive innovation. 

• Uniquely Brilliant people are always innovative.
• Disruptive innovation attacks the traditional way of looking at and doing things.
• Collecting data around the problem we’re solving makes our innovations more effective.
• Innovation is one application of creativity.
• To be innovative we have to be willing to fail and then try again.
• Questioning reveals where disruptive innovation is needed.
• Innovation doesn’t happen without grit and a growth mindset.
• Disruptive innovation always receives push back from supporters of the status quo.

Becky and Diana discuss what it is like to be stuck and what to do about it. 

• We stay stuck because we are numb to the pain we’re in.
• When we’re first stuck, we thrash around and fight it. But if nothing changes we give up.
• We stay stuck when we lack the imagination and trust to believe there’s another way out or through our situation.
• Visualization is a great way to move towards getting unstuck.
• Neural plasticity in our brains creates neural circuits and new connections in the brain which allows us to change both our thinking and the way our brains work.
• Sometimes we have to put aside aside things when we’re stuck and pick them up at a later date.
• When we choose what we know over what could be, we are assuming that there are no better choices out there for us.
• We often create a gap in understanding our potential and the possibilities out there in the world that prevents us from moving forward.
• Numb is not a passive state; it constantly drains your energy.
• It takes some kind of catalyst, even something as small as a thought, to propel us out of stuck.
• While getting unstuck is usually not pleasant, the end result is!

Becky and Diana talk about the difficulties that ensue when we take critiques and mistakes personally.

• When someone criticizes your work, do you feel like they’re criticizing you?
• It can be hard to separate ourselves from our work, but we must.
• We need to maintain space between who we are and the work do so we can maintain our objectivity.
• We are not the products/ work we create.
• Taking things personally is like donning one heavy coat for every critical comment and carrying them around with us!
• One of the most effective skills to develop for handling critiques and mistakes is to have a short memory. Quarterbacks do not stomp out of the stadium after a bad pass!
• We don’t need to poll others for approval.
• Being professional means accomplishing the role we’ve accepted in our jobs along with their standards and then performing to those standards. We are not the job.
• When we take everything personally, we stop taking risks and stop growing.
• The Learning Zone – where we grow by making mistakes, listening to critiques, and develop the understanding that we’re not failures.