May 17, 2011 • Volume 2, Issue 10 • ISSN: 2154-3240

In This Issue

♦	Feature Article: Creativity Is Messy
♦	Ask Amanda: My boss’s attitude is affecting my health, help!
♦	Practical Tips: Develop Audience Awareness

Creativity Is Messy

Innovation is a hot topic right now as companies scramble to stay ahead of the changes that are occurring in almost every sector. Being “creative” has always been a highly valued skill, because what is created (a new product, idea, and/or solution) often directly drives revenue. The creative experience itself, though, is often misunderstood.

We judge most workplace activities on their efficiency. That’s an assumption derived from the industrial era when efficiency was the be-all and end-all of measures. Chaos is a necessary part of creativity and a little bit of chaos is good as long as people can focus on what they need to do. It may make things a bit harder but it doesn’t necessarily make people less efficient.
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	Competing does not mean "follow the follower."

Practical Tips: Develop Audience Awareness

The amount of intel you can develop simply by being aware of your audience is astounding. Very few people actually pay attention to how others respond to them/their message. For instance, when someone responds to something you’ve said, you’re probably formulating a reply in your mind rather than observing the other person. Your focus is on you, not them. When you’re presenting to a group, staying focused on your audience will reduce your anxiety. You can’t be thinking about how nervous you are if you’re interpreting what others are communicating with their body language.
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My boss always assumes the worst and his anxiety has me second guessing everything. This is starting to affect my health, help!
V.A., Basalt, CO

Emotions are contagious, and when your boss is anxious it’s only natural for you to mirror his anxiety. It’s likely that your boss uses very dramatic and extreme language when he communicates. Anxiety and excitement both create exactly the same physical sensation, but the way we experience them depends on how we characterize them.
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Recommended Resources

Time for some spring (career) cleaning. Consider these strategies to dispel on-the-job doom-and-gloom.

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About Us: Our Corporate Life LLC (OCL) is a company that offers a new system for reducing unnecessary workplace suffering caused by the organizational, interpersonal, and ethical issues of our time. It is founded on the belief that adhering to core human values and achieving business success are always compatible. Working with both companies and individuals, OCL helps create solutions that enable corporate employees at every level to optimize profits while enabling them to thrive in the corporate environment. OCL was founded by Amanda Mitchell to help meet the needs of people working in corporate America during this transformative moment in our nation’s history. The OCL system reflects her experience and insight gained from a 20-year corporate career working with Fortune 500 companies, and as an executive coach to senior-level corporate executives.