What can you STOP DOING in order to improve? Reflections on creative destruction in the light of a New Year

As the new year settled in with its first sunrise, I drew twelve grapes and wrote in them qualities I hope to cultivate in 2022. New Year’s resolutions are a common practice. We think of all the things we want to do in the year, visualising our improvement and setting ambitious goals, adding activities to a schedule that - at least in my case - is already quite full. Then I remembered a Liberating Structure we have used in our workshops at Hevas: TRIZ.

The exercise consists of figuring out what you need to STOP DOING in order to help a project reach its goal. Pinpointing and letting go of counterproductive activities and behaviours creates space for innovation. In a workplace, TRIZ can help teams identify factors that hinder success and it can catalyse a process of creative destruction, transforming a system and paving the way to new and improved form of work. 

This year I brought TRIZ into my New Year doodling ritual. I finished shading in the grapes and started on a list of things I want to stop doing. We live in an extremely fast-paced society, with extreme and overwhelming standards. Rather than seeking out a greater task-load, I realised I might gain more from letting go of some practices:

• Stop overthinking, when we do this we move away from our objectives and risk falling in conversation loops that don’t take us anywhere. 
• Stop putting our well-being aside to please others. There’s no way we can be effective in anything if we are not well and balanced ourselves. Stress can be an obstacle for most tasks.
• Stop stressing over that which we cannot change. Be stoic, meaning change what’s in your hands to change and accept that which we cannot change. 
• Stop micromanaging, it consumes too much energy on irrelevant details and inhibits freedom and creativity in your team.

Can you think about any other things that you can STOP DOING to let things flow better this year?

We invite you in this New Year to avoid adding even more things to do to your load and think instead of that which you can stop doing. Download our TRIZ support template. 
Happy New Year from us at Hevas!
- Ema