A New Mindset for a New Decade

Welcome to 2010! I believe the beginning of a new decade is an exciting time. The past ten years have presented many obstacles to us as individuals, families, organizations, communities, and as a country. This means there is great opportunity for a bright future for all of us.

We have to think differently, act differently, and yet maintain certain core attitudes, values and behaviors that have not and should not be changed. There are things to retain, new things to learn, and knowledge itself is now a commodity to be developed. With the onset of a new decade, there needs to be a new mindset for the administrative profession and those that call this their career of choice.

You can achieve success starting today if you apply the Adminology formula: Art + Science = Success! For every administrative competency, there should be the Art approach and the Science approach.

The Art side is the soft/interpersonal skill set. It is about flawless execution, precision, and using a holistic approach. It is seeing the big picture, having a vision, working with abstract information and making sense of it.

The Science side is having all your processes in place. It's knowing the very best way to:

• track and follow up on assignments (and follow through)
• schedule and reschedule appointments and meetings
• manage e-mails (even more than that, it is streamlining the entire process)
• organize your day in a way that makes sense & use your time wisely
• and be technically savvy

Let me give you an example of the Art + Science application. The Adminology Skill Set^TM contains 15 competencies for success in 2010 and beyond. One competency is Critical Thinking.

The Art side means you would:

• Take into consideration your intuition about a situation.
• Be aware of the people dynamics when managing a crisis.
• Listen and sense any underlying issues.
• Step back and see the big picture of the situation.

The Science side brings the following kinds of thinking into play:

• Reason (there is a reason why you do what you do, choose the solution you choose, etc.)
• Analysis (this is important in business; you can't just rely on your gut)
• Structure (giving structure to your day, work, and activities)
• Procedures (creating and/or implementing procedures and policies); this can be something as simple as writing your "Desk Guide" for your job
• Control (meaning keeping things on track; getting a situation back on track; rerouting the direction of an event when it doesn't go right and more)

There are two other elements under Adminology, for each administrative competency. They are PPF (past, present, future) and Optimization. I am still focusing on Critical Thinking.

In the Past, of course administrative professionals used their brains. Because we did not have the speed of technology pressuring us, we could take a little more time to digest information or an event, think through it, and develop possible outcomes.

What about the Present? You need to engage your senses all day so you can anticipate potential problems and be proactive. If you can combine emotional intelligence and critical thinking, you will be a powerful source.

What will the Future bring? Leaders will rely more heavily on their administrative partner to manage daily events. You must educate yourself in all aspects of business and your manager's scope of work and not just wing it.

Optimization means to enhance the effectiveness of something-make something function at its best. Your goal should be to make yourself perform at your very best and by assisting your team, they will perform at their very best. This is a must for 2010 and beyond.

So how would you optimize critical thinking?

1. Use good old common sense. There is something to be said for "street smarts."

2. Learn from the best. Watch the thoughtful leaders in your organization. How do they think? How do they approach problems or challenges? Why do they make the decisions they make? Get inside their head.

3. Study the kinds of thinking that takes place in various parts of the brain and delve deep into how you think. Some people naturally rely on their intuition/gut (right brain thinking); others heavily rely on logic, analysis, and reason (left brain thinking.)

Opportunities will be presented to those administrative professionals who can truly differentiate themselves from the crowd. That can be you!

For more information on Adminology, visit Adminology.org.