Dear Subscriber,

In business, surprise is frowned upon. Managers tell their employees, "I don't want any surprises!" (Of course, that really means, "I don't want any bad news," not the more useful, "Tell me about trouble before there's a disaster.")

In fact, many people - in business or in personal life - claim they don't like surprises, even the fun sort. (This is a tell-tale sign of a control freak, by the way. You know who you are!)

But there's real power in surprise. I advocate not just staying open to surprise, but consciously expecting it and actively seeking it out. When you expect to be surprised, you remain open to possibilities that otherwise would go unnoticed. Your ability to take advantage of whatever happens is significantly improved. Flexibility and adaptiveness - buzzwords used to describe successful companies and successful people - become a way of life.

It takes some practice to let yourself be open to whatever comes your way, rather than trying to squash random circumstance into your plans. And it takes a willingness to surrender your attempts to maintain control (which, of course, you never had to begin with). Here are a few tips on how to cultivate surprises.

Be clueless
Yes, I know - this isn't quite the reputation you want to have at work. But most people go into situations (meetings, conference calls, projects, and even their workday) with a pretty exhaustive list of expectations. Those expectations include details of exactly what you want to happen, what you believe will happen, and whether there will be difficulties.

There's nothing wrong with plans and preferences. However, expectations tend to be self-fulfilling prophecies. If you expect Joe to be difficult and argumentative, you'll start out being defensive and aggressive - which will, of course, put Joe's back up and lead him to be difficult and argumentative. If you expect budget cuts to impact your favorite project, you'll muster up all the reasons why they shouldn't - creating a tendency on everyone's part to argue with those reasons instead of seeking creative compromise.

Be clueless - have no expectations. You'll have better results and more fun.

What Doesn't Fit?
In every situation, there's something that doesn't quite fit. The normalreaction is to ignore it - maybe it will go away. Instead, when you notice that something isn't fitting into the schedule, plan, or expectation, take a good hard look at it. It could be that adapting to allow it to fit will bring significant improvements to whatever you're doing. It could be that it's just fine to ignore it. Or it might turn out to be a monster in disguise: an unexpected risk factor that's trying to sneak up on you.

Looking for what doesn't fit means you'll find problems earlier, when they're cheaper and easier to fix. It also means you can take advantage of the unexpected and unusual to make your end result that much better - whether it's an email you're writing or a long-term project you're managing.

So play the "Which of these things is not like the other?" game. It was fun back when you were a kid, and it's fun and productive today.

Follow the Unexpected
When something catches your attention, check it out instead of brushing it aside. It's easy to think that you're too busy, don't have time, it's not pertinent. In fact, most of the time you probably go through that mental loop without even realizing it. Instead, take a minute or two - just 120 brief seconds - and see what's up with whatever it is. If it's intriguing, pursue it further.

Your mind is wired to notice things that apply in some way to what's important to you at any given time. Perhaps you've noticed that there weren't any blue Hondas on the road - until you test-drove one and loved it. Now you see them everywhere you go.

That's an obvious example, but the tendency is there in much more subtle ways as well. So when something "pings" your attention for no apparent reason, follow your curiosity and see where it leads.

Practice
Pick a meeting, a phone call, a day, and put one or two - or all three - of these suggestions to work for you. Write the headlines on a PostIt note and stick it to your desk. Put a reminder in your calendar. You never know what might happen!

"A line is a dot that went for a walk." Paul Klee, Swiss painter of German nationality, 1879 - 1940

Author's Bio

Grace L. Judson

It's not magic. It's just positive workplace politics!

Stop by Svaha Concepts' website to learn more and check out my free resources.