The Power of Divergent Thinking to Transform Organizations | Rick Beaton
What Do You Know To Be True?September 03, 202400:51:24

The Power of Divergent Thinking to Transform Organizations | Rick Beaton

Divergent thinking and courageous alternative perspective sharing is what’s needed to transform organizations, challenge the status quo, and evolve our human systems so people and organizations can thrive and flourish. Our problems will not be solved with the same thinking that created them.

Our current systems feel broken because they were designed as technical systems instead of human systems. They do not work for the complexity of human beings and the speed of change today. And we need people who can help us think differently, challenge our assumptions, and offer alternative perspectives.

Humans are more complex than the One Size Fits All of corporate policies or personality assessments that force individuals into pigeonholes that do not accurate represent the complexity of humans.

You are not a yellow strategic thinker penguin. You are not a blue process-oriented orca.

Rick Beaton, CEO of Motis, works with clients to help them reveal how they can evolve the human systems within their organizations so that companies can achieve their business goals and people can flourish and thrive in the workplace.

Rick joins us to share his superpower, a Kaleidoscope of Perspectives, which is the ability to see the world through a multitude of filters based on a diverse set of experiences. Rick is able to see and hear things differently that most people and share them back as a gift to others.

In addition to a variety of experiences, Rick pulls on a vast background of systems-thinking, neurobiology, technology, academia, philanthropy, and music to inform his perspectives.

For those also struggling to pronounce the name of the grandfather of Flow State, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, according to Wikipedia, it’s “Cheeks send me high.”

In this episode, Rick answers the following questions:
- How to shift thinking with divergent view points?
- How to help people flourish and thrive in business?
- How to think differently / out of the box?
- What are the positives from offering different perspectives?

My favorite quote from the episode: “The whole structure of organizations are based on ‘why would you trust anybody?’”

This is kind of a dark truth Rick shares with us that speaks to the broken quality of our current systems and the inherent conflict between our “one size fits all” principle within our systems of business, education, politics, religion. We deserve human systems that recognize the complexity of human nature.

What I know to be true about the episode: I am impressed with Rick’s humility and measured approach, and realization that although he might know the answers for his clients, he knows that they need to discover the correct answers for themselves.

What I learned from the episode: Rick talks about the difference between knowledge and wisdom, and the latter comes from knowledge learned, unlearned, and relearned through a diversity of experience that only comes with time and a willingness to enter the discomfort of new experiences that stretch us.

Resources mentioned in the episode:
- Rick’s company Motis: https://www.motispeople.com/

- Book: “Don’t Step on the Rope” by Walter Wright https://bookshop.org/p/books/don-t-step-on-the-rope-walter-wright/7184480?ean=9781842273593

- Book: “The Speed of Trust” by Stephen M. R. Covey https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-speed-of-trust-the-one-thing-that-changes-everything-stephen-m-r-covey/8477420?ean=9781416549000

Chapters & Timestamps

00:00 Opener – What it feels like to offer different perspectives
02:23 Welcome Rick Beaton
03:10 What does Kaleidoscope of Perspectives mean
06:20 Complexity of people and the friction with outdated systems
11:32 The inspiration for Rick’s s superpower
14:39 Approach for developing and sharing perspectives
22:57 Positive intent and the role of trust in teams
31:46 What does it feel like when superpower has had a positive impact?
33:57 Connection between superpower and purpose
40:01 Everybody can be a kaleidoscope with empathy, grace, and curiosity
43:39 Learning to let go of perspectives
45:37 Lightning Round
50:23 Bloopers

Music in this episode created by Ian Kastner.

"What Do You Know To Be True?" is a series of conversations where I speak with interesting people about their special talent or superhero power and the meaningful impact it has on others. The intention is to learn more about their experience with their superpower, so that we can learn something about the special talent in each of us which allows us to connect more deeply with our purpose and achieve our potential.

For more info about the podcast or to check out more episodes, go to: https://www.youtube.com/@WDYKTBT

"What Do You Know To Be True?" is hosted by Roger Kastner, is a production of Three Blue Pens, and is recorded on the ancestral lands of the Duwamish and Suquamish people. To discover the ancestral lands of the indigenous people whose land you may be on, go to: https://native-land.ca/

Empathic leadership, Perspective Sharing, Divergent thinking, Convergent, Purpose, Agency, Joy, Adaptability, Courage, Potential, Meaning, Coach, Coaching, Mentor, Leadership, Impact, In Service of, Meaningful,