Keeping Current\r\nGet Creative with a Walk\r\nStuck in a creative slump?\r\nConsider going for a walk. Recent\r\nresearch from Stanford University\r\ndemonstrates that people who\r\nwere walking were more creative\r\nthan people who were sitting,\r\neither inside or outdoors.\r\nResearchers administered\r\ncommonly used creative tests to\r\nexamine how volunteers performed\r\nwhen walking as opposed to sitting.\r\nSome volunteers walked on a\r\ntreadmill, some walked outside,\r\nand others were asked to sit\r\nbefore taking a creativity test, in\r\nwhich they were asked to come up\r\nwith alternative uses for everyday\r\nobjects and creative analogies.\r\nWalking had residual effects,\r\nallowing participants to come up\r\nwith creative ideas even after they\r\nsat down.\r\nThis research seems to prove\r\nwhat many high-powered\r\nexecutives already know. Mark\r\nZuckerberg, Facebook CEO, and\r\nSteve Jobs, founder of Apple\r\nInc., were famous for conducting\r\nwalking meetings. These meetings\r\nranged from general discussions\r\nto clinching multi-billion-dollar\r\ndeals. It’s a concept that’s gaining\r\nsome traction. Nilofer Merchant’s\r\nTED talk, “Got a Meeting? Take a\r\nWalk,” is proof of this popularity,\r\nwith the video garnering more\r\nthan 1.4 million views.\r\nWhen looking for creative ideas\r\nfor a new workshop or new\r\nmarketing strategies, start your\r\nbrainstorming session with a walk.\r\nThe creative effects of the walk\r\ncan resonate shortly after, so allow\r\nyourself some time to document\r\nany new ideas or continue to\r\ndevelop fragmented ideas when\r\nyou sit down afterwards. Consider\r\nadopting the walking meeting\r\nconcept for your next coaching\r\nsession (if distance is not an issue)\r\nand see if it makes a difference in\r\ncreative thinking for the client or\r\nfor you.\r\nCreativity is a vital part of any job,\r\nbut it plays a fundamental role in\r\ncoaching. The coaching process is\r\ndirectly creative and flexible based\r\non the client’s goals, and the client\r\nis often encouraged to tap into his\r\nor her creativity when mapping out\r\nactionable strategies. Try walking to\r\nboost creativity; it could result in big\r\ngains in a coaching engagement.\r\n—Lindsay Bodkin\r\n\r\nThe Stress Switch\r\nHow many times per day do\r\nyou transition between social\r\nsettings? Chances are, if your\r\nnumber of switches is high, so\r\nis your stress level, according to\r\na recently published study from\r\nCornell University.\r\nTransitioning frequently between\r\nsocial settings, such as from home\r\nto office, or changing social roles\r\nfrom parent to employee, can be a\r\nparticularly stressful daily hassle.\r\n“[T]he more switching you do, the\r\nmore stressful life is,” said Benjamin\r\nCornwell, a social network analyst\r\nand assistant professor of sociology\r\nin Cornell’s College of Arts and\r\nSciences, who authored the study.\r\n“Leaving one social context and\r\nentering a new one forces you to\r\nshift mindsets, to think more about\r\nwhat you are doing and saying. You\r\nswitch from an automatic mode of\r\ncognition to a deliberative mode, and\r\nyou have to shift a whole complex\r\nof social concerns, including status\r\nissues [and] modes of language.”\r\nThe study, titled “Switching\r\nDynamics and the Stress Process,”\r\nused time-diary data from the\r\nBureau of Labor Statistics’ 2010\r\nAmerican Time Use Survey to track\r\nworking individuals’ “switches”\r\n\r\n