Developing a Hunter Mindset

"We are hunters; we are only truly alive in those moments when we improvise; no schedule, just small surprises and stimuli from the environment"

- Nassim Nicholas Taleb ( extract from 'The Bed of Procrustes')

Monday morning again. How many of us are getting into the groove of work: same commute (same seat on the packed train or rat-run through the back-streets?) to the same cubicle - email open, ready for the onslaught?!

Yet in this "groove", don't we lose the magic in life and in work? The creative force doesn't spark around such rigid and formulaic scheduled environments. Fresh ideas clam-up. We carry on perpetuating the same old stuff. Hoping for a different (improved) result.

Contrast this with the feelings and experience of travelling to a new venue to work or, even better, a trip for pleasure (especially to a different country): your senses are alive. There is no "routine" to follow. You are living in the moment. Responding to your new unknown environment. A hunter (for a moment).

This is how we are meant to "be". Our closeted worlds of routine take away that tingle of excitement and possibility. We are at our best when we are living moment to moment - improvising. Exploring possibilities and absorbing feedback from the world around us. From here we can gain new insights and develop new (better) ways of doing things. We are living on the edge. This is where innovation can be found.

But it all starts with getting back to the beginner's mentality. Stripping away our comfort blanket of known routines. Returning to "unknowns". Following cues from the environment. Becoming white-belts again.

The only way that I know of to return to the improvised beginner's mind is to find ways to break out of the rigid schedules by, for example, travelling to new venues to work (new places), constantly growing your network (new people) and trying new experiences wherever possible.

How do you retain the hunter mindset?