Learning Strategy (3)
More on the Five Principles for Success...
4. Have behavioural flexibility
Richard Bandler might say 'if something that you are doing isn't producing results, do ANYTHING else. If what you're doing isn't working, ANYTHING else has more chance of success'.
If you know your outcome, you've taken positive action to achieve it and you have enough sensory awareness to know that you are not getting the results you want, you have a choice to make.
You can either carry on doing the same things and continue to produce unwanted results, or you can adapt your behaviour as necessary until you get your outcome. Which one works best for you?
From the field of cybernetics comes the Law of Requisite Variety which states:-
'...the greater the variety within a system, the greater its ability to reduce variety in its environment through regulation.'
In layman's terms in a system of interaction (i.e. between individual human beings) the part of the system with the greatest flexibility in it's behaviours will control the system.
As a useful example consider the relationship between parent and child. The parent is expected to behave in a certain manner, conform to certain patterns of belief laid down by his peers as to how a 'good parent' should behave. On the other hand, in our society we are more tolerant of behaviour demonstrated by children - they're only children afterall. Hence children often have greater behavioural flexibility than adults which they often use to their advantage i.e. when they hear the magical chimes of the ice cream van and, very often, they end up controlling the system by adapting their behaviour until they get their outcome - an ice cream. (My tongue is very firmly in my cheek as a write this but I think it illustrates the point very well.)
Another, perhaps more succinct consideration is this - if you always do what you've always done, then you'll always get what you've always got. Flexibility increases choice.