Think in terms of systems, not machines

Here is some interesting advice to get you out of the machine-thinking box:

1. Learn to be comfortable with contradictions. See your own life as a movie.

2. Learn to look at problems as possible opportunities. If you want to improve processes and systems, look in the very places where the problems appear. Use beyond-tangible and beyond-linear ways.

3. Learn to focus on people's "better sides." Use win/win, not win/lose. See the beyond-tangible elements. Make new relationships with beyond-linear reasoning.

4. Pause to look for connections in the "big picture." Things get done in the white space in between.

5. Look for systems and develop an appreciation of them, e.g., anthills, baseball fields, etc. Look for systems everywhere. The effect will be logarithmic.

Source: Naomi Rose, Bringing the Soul into the Workplace