It's All in Your Head: Masterclass on Thriving in Turbulent Times

Grit & Growth

Welcome to Grit & Growth’s masterclass on crisis management and mindset, featuring Baba Shiv, Stanford Graduate School of Business Professor of Marketing. From mental to physical preparation, Baba provides insights on cultivating an innovative mindset to help you survive and thrive in challenging times.

Professor Shiv is an expert in neuroeconomics and decision making. He works with entrepreneurs—from Silicon Valley to emerging markets—on the practice of innovation and how to build a risk-tolerant mindset. Which he believes is especially important in times of crisis.

Baba explains that there are two types of mindsets. Type one is a fear of failure or risk-averse mindset. Type two is a fear of missing out on opportunities or risk-tolerant mindset. In times of crisis or stress, it’s harder to switch between the two if you haven’t prepared.

“What the rational brain is good at is simply rational...listing what the emotional brain has already decided to do, which means if you're stuck in a risk-averse mindset, the rational brain will come in and say, these are the reasons why you have to be risk-averse. These are the reasons why you should not innovate, etc. Whereas if you're in a type two mindset, the rational brain will come in and say, here are the reasons why you should take some chances.”

And Baba believes that taking chances, especially in times of crisis when your competitors aren’t, is how leaders and companies can succeed. Baba has seen firsthand that entrepreneurs from emerging economies are particularly innovative, “they’re facing constraints all the time and as a result are more resourceful, not in spite of their situations, but because of them.”

Top Six Masterclass Takeaways

1. Sleep. Without it, you’re more likely to wake up feeling risk-averse...the antithesis to innovation.

2. Calm your mind and the rest will follow -- develop a meditation, yoga, or tai chi practice to make your breath and brain more resilient to stress.

3. Pay attention to your heart—actually your heart rate variability—so you know if it’s a good time to make an important decision.

4. Innovation = creativity multiplied by execution divided by constraints. Don’t forget to think about your constraints in the design process.

5. Focus on building your collaborative advantage (not just competitive advantage) by developing meaningful connections with suppliers, customers, partners, even competitors. You’ll make more progress with relationships based on trust than just transactions.

6. Instill an innovative mindset throughout your company — survival is going to come from teamwork.

Listen to Baba’s insights, advice, and strategies for developing an innovative, risk-tolerant mindset and how working together can help leaders and their teams handle and overcome crises.

Resources

• Learn more about Professor Baba Shiv
• Thinking, Fast and Slow, by Daniel Kahneman
• Stanford Seed

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