The flags on the dock are blowing sideways as a strong wind pushes the waves into whitecaps. The birds overhead are doing acrobatics with the wind, diving in for fish and hovering in place. Schools of fish are scurrying to avoid becoming bird food. It’s wonderful to wake up to a flurry of activity.
Going Deep
One of the joys of my life is having deep conversations with friends, especially smart ones. Over the past five years I’ve become close to a doctor I was going to who is one of the smartest and most tuned-in people I know. Not just tuned in to medicine, but tuned into the latest research and trends, and also very aware of trends in business and in marketing. We’ve had some amazing conversations over the years. This week he and his wonderful family visited us for a couple of days and we had the opportunity to sit up late at night to pontificate about all of our interests.
A Shocking Moment
During our conversation, I was talking about some of the frustrations or roadblocks I experienced in my business. Then he asked me a very point-blank question: “What is the very best way to grow a business fast?” I paused, pondered it for a moment, and gave him my answer. In fact, I was emphatic about my answer being the only way.
A moment later he chuckled and said, “The only way? You are dead wrong. In fact, there is current research about that topic, and you’re not only wrong about it being the top way to grow a business, the way you’re suggesting isn’t even on the radar of top businesses. You have a major blind spot — a bias.”
Though it was all light and fun, it was one of those moments of clarity when I had to realize and admit he was right. I do have a bias about the way certain things are done. Though I had considered the thing he suggested, I had no idea it was proven to be more important than what I was suggesting.
My friend had called me out. Not to be critical, but as good friends do, to point out that my bias was blinding me, and probably impacting my results.
I was flabbergasted.
Discovering My Bias
I would never have considered that I had a bias. Yet the more I pondered the idea over the following days, the more excited I became, realizing that there was something new to me, something I was not doing that could make a major difference in the growth of my business. And because he opened a new door in my mind, I started asking myself about other things I thought of in only one way, realizing that I had biases in other areas of my thinking.
Finding out was exhilarating and brings me new hope.
Stuck in Our Ways
Have you ever been in a situation where you’ve done something the same way for so long, you’re shocked when you learn there is a new and different way you had never considered? I love to see people light up when I point out things their smartphone will do that they have been doing wrong for years. One time someone pointed out the little arrow on the gas gauge of my car, which is an indicator of which side the tank fill is on. I’d been driving for four decades before someone pointed it out. How had I not seen it all these years?
Meaningless Routines
We all have a bias about the way we think, the ways we do certain things, and we run on autopilot more than we would like to admit. I pretty much showed up at the office and followed my routine the same way every single day … that is, until a book I just read pointed out that there is a better way. At first I resisted it, but then after some thought, it was a game-changer.
I don’t know how to discover my own bias. I think we’re all blind to them. But the first part of discovery is about realizing they exist, examining everything you do, and asking, “Why do I do it this way?” I have routines I started 30 years ago that I do the same way.
Brain Games
A great way to challenge your brain is to force yourself to do things differently. For instance, I realized that I have a pattern that the washcloth follows every day in the shower. So I switched hands, which was very uncomfortable and almost overwhelming to my brain. Try brushing your teeth with the opposite hand. Close your eyes and walk backwards, or sideways. These little brain games can be invigorating, but also help rewire your brain to try new things differently.
Break habits. Go to a different grocery store. Visit different restaurants. Don’t order the same things in the places you always go. Don’t go home the same way, try new roads. Try to write or comb your hair with your opposite hand. Stimulate your brain.
I learned a good lesson this week. Surround yourself with people who are willing to challenge your assumptions.
Runner No More
I was telling my doctor friend that the Mayo Clinic told me 25 years ago that I had to stop running because the pounding was pressuring a nerve, and if I continued, I’d be paralyzed for life. My friend pointed out that they used to believe that, and that the science has since proven that not to be true. Yet I held on to that assumption and advice for over two decades, when I could have revisited the assumption just a few years later and discovered I could be a runner again. I’m more than a little irritated with myself for not revisiting this.
Avoid Eggs!!
What are you not doing today because someone told you it was a bad idea? Remember it used to be a bad idea to eat eggs and fat? And now science has proven that it’s healthy. That’s why it’s important to read and be willing to accept what you know to be true. My doctor friend told me that almost 100% of the things doctors believed 30 years ago have since turned out to be wrong. Who knew?
I’m a little embarrassed about how stuck I’ve been. But it’s a good reminder to listen to others, read like a madman, and check all assumptions at the door and keep an open mind to new possibilities.
What is your bias?
What are you still believing?
What do you do because of something that was told to you decades ago? Has it changed?
Dig deeply and you’ll find a bucket full of bias you did not know you have. I know I did.
Eric Rhoads
PS: An artist friend of mine said “never” when I asked if he had ever done plein air painting (painting outside in nature). In fact, he reacted violently: “Why would I ever do that? There are bugs, the light is always changing, and you have to deal with the mud and the rain.” He had a bias about something he had never done. I urged him to try it and he said no several times, but finally I convinced him to go out and paint with me. “This has been the best painting day of my life! Why didn’t you make me go out sooner?” SInce then he has become addicted and it’s his preferred way to paint. His bias got in the way.
For those who want to learn plein air painting, I highly recommend it, because you get to be outside, and you get to see light, shadow, color, and form in ways you can’t see painting from photos. And it’s very social, and it’s fun to travel the world painting with friends (I’m going to Japan soon with friends to paint cherry blossoms).
You might like my online event called PleinAir Live, coming up March 6-8. If you get your seats reserved before midnight tonight, you’ll beat the price increase. Sign up today. It’s 100% guaranteed. If you watch the first day and think, “It’s not for me,” I’ll refund all of your money. Register at www.pleinairlive.com. Especially if you can’t make it to the Plein Air Convention this year!
“a book I just read pointed out that there is a better way.” Please let us know what the title of the book is. As an avid reader, I love it when my favorite authors source other books. Whether they are art or business books.
Eric,
I admire your thoughtful messages. You often speak about such simple things and observations that encourage us to think about our interactions as people and artists.
I’m not sure how you manage to write so well and so consistently, but I enjoy your messages and I am thankful for them.
Great story as usual! I was forced to examine my bias at 18 years old. A severe hand injury forced me to use my left hand for a few months. WOW. It was an experience that opened up a different world. Uncomfortable but certainly different, but it was by force.
wonderful thoughts…..opens up a conversation….love your words! thank you, Eric
Sunday Coffee is so inspiring Eric! Thank you for sharing.
I just completed a body if work with acrylic as my base. Made color tissues on deli paper with my gelli plate then tore them to make paintings for gifts to my cousins. I didn’t start with a subject in mind but placed pieces of tissue down until I felt the painting was complete.
Wayne Dyer said, “Done leave with your music still inside!” I not! Letting it ALL out!
Art is wonderful. Creative minds solve issues. If you listen to NPR, a program called “hidden brain”. Shankar Vidantin if I’m spelling his name correctly.
I listen each Sunday. He always is digging deep into why we think as we do and how we get stuck . I recommend it
Eric, I love reading your Sunday comments. You are so open and honest with your likes and dislikes and your writing skills keep me reading and laughing.
I could never afford joining your worldwide excursions. I do enjoy watching and learning from your online teaching artists.
Because of today’s lesson, I am breaking a bias that I’ve nothing worthwhile to share.
Intriguing, Eric. Had a somewhat similar experience, recently. We artists notice things, right? So, as I was coming up the basement stairs, I noticed that the plate of apples that we had stored on the steps was clearly showing one Macintosh apple with a big, beautiful, and perfect heart on its shoulders! In yellow on red. Very distinct. I gasped and ran for my camera. Then, I texted the photo around to family and friends. Only about half of them noticed the prominent heart! I had to point it out to the rest. A very clear illustration, I thought, of how much of the time we live with blinders on, with regard to this or that or the other thing. Lord, remove my blinders, please?!! I saw the heart, but am sure I’m missing something else. TY, Eric.
that was a great read ! and it makes a lot of sense ! I will be lookin to it further ! thanks
I once had a student who was waiting and waiting years for her husband to build a studio for her in their house. When this student joined my plein air classes and painted exuberantly outside, she had an awakening and realized she didn’t need a studio to create her magnificent paintings. She had an emotional moment with me and through her tears, she hugged and thanked me for getting her out and creating her art again.
How timely your topic “Stunned by my bias” is for me. I recently held a watercolour workshop in our retirement park where I took participants from the basics of watercolour and colour theory to a finished painting. I gave them the option of painting one of two photos that I selected ahead of time. The classes were two hours long, once a week for 4 weeks. This went pretty smoothly and the group were genuinely surprised and pleased with their finished artwork. I now have a new group for a second workshop and it is interesting to have the majority of the group who weren’t that sold on my pre-planned photos. They put forth so many ideas for photos and subjects that they would like to paint that I felt I had to reign them in so that I retained a bit of control over what felt I could manage during the short 4 days of instruction. After the first day of instruction, I knew I risked losing their interest and enthusiasm with this approach. I pondered who was really benefiting from “my” approach. It then occurred to me that my bias towards trying any different teaching method would likely not only dim the groups enthusiasm but also limit the true artist within each of them from coming through in the finished artwork. Now that I realize this I’m going go with their ideas and let them select what they like. I look forward to challenging myself to handle the chaos that may occur but I am also excited to see where they take me along “their” artistic journey. Thanks Eric, I enjoy having “coffee” with you on Sundays!
over the decades in the art business whenever a project/business model failed it was mostly because of my bias to seeing the reality of the situation. the saving grace being that turfing a bunch of money usually will do wonders for eliminating bias and opening up your approach to new worlds of experience. a good swift kick in the teeth does it every time.
Well stated though provoking read. I have had situations occur that have greatly impacted me, some pleasant and others not. To have a way to move you through those times is important and each usually take very different approach and methods.