4 Empty Your Bucket

The Bucket

The first tool I introduce for critical thinking and clarity helps you get your head in the right place. We all have a bucket that contains the memories of our experiences: past projects, interactions with other people, or attempts at solving a problem. When you encounter a situation that is similar to one you remember, many of the memories you first invoke tend to be negative. Specifically, they focus on why this prior task was unsuccessful or the constraints and barriers you faced. Figure 4.1 shows what a typical bucket looks like.

The problem is there is no room in a filled bucket for critical thinking and creativity. You can't think critically or be innovative from the perspective of the memories in your bucket—because it's filled with prior experiences that significantly affect the way you reach conclusions. If you're thinking from the perspective of the things in your bucket, then your conclusions are going to be heavily biased based on those items. As a result, your breadth of conclusions will be narrow. If, however, you understand and can learn to ignore what's in your bucket, then you're much more likely to be able to create new conclusions.

For example, let's say senior management issues a directive about a project that they've labeled as a top priority. Perhaps you have had experience with this statement, and your initial reaction is something like, “Yeah, this and every other project. I'll just wait a few days to see if the priority changes.” We don't want to discount your experience; you might be perfectly correct. This is your knee-jerk reaction, and maybe it's accurate; in a few days, the project's urgency will pass. However, suppose this time the project truly is a priority. Then you've made an assumption based on past experience that's to your detriment. If you empty your bucket, forget about the past, and take a closer look at what this issue is, you'll get a better idea about what's different this time. One way to do this might be to ask a few questions about this project's importance relative to the other projects on which you are working.

When looking at a headscratcher, you must have the attitude of there is always a way. Although this might not always be the case, you're much more likely to find a way if you start by believing there's one. You're putting yourself at a disadvantage if you approach the headscratcher with the moaning-and-groaning-filled bucket containing the stories of how something didn't work in the past.

Of course, you can't wipe out your memories, nor would you want to. Many of your memories are good ones you don't want to throw out, and many contain useful information you'll want and need to call upon. What you want to do is understand what's in your bucket and how those memories might be affecting the way you think.

How do you empty your bucket and prevent those experiences from adversely affecting your thinking? There's always a way. Think, for example, of someone in the past for whom you cared dearly, who may have had a significant health issue, economic hardship, or difficult family or social situation and managed to work through it, perhaps someone such as a cancer survivor. Think about the problems that individual had to endure and solve. Now realize that if he or she can solve that problem with all those hardships, surely you can solve your problem despite—and occasionally with the help of—the items in your bucket.

Admittedly, you might have some pretty huge items in your bucket. Perhaps a business partner once conducted shady deals behind your back, leaving you with trust issues. Maybe you've had a history of running out of time on certain projects, or your team has consistently run over budget. Not all bucket items are easy to overcome. But there's a much greater chance of doing so if you think in terms of “There's always a way,” as opposed to “I can't do that.”

Getting Started with Emptying Your Bucket

Here are a few situations where you can start emptying your bucket:

• In meetings: Listen to the conversations. When you hear the bucket items coming out, such as “We tried that before” or “Here we go again,” it's time to give a little speech. Perhaps make a short comment: “Folks, I know we have seen this situation before, and perhaps this time we will end up with the same result. We have a choice. We can all sit here moaning and groaning, or we can use our heads and figure out a way to solve this problem. Although we might not be successful, we're more likely to figure this out by trying to figure it out, than by just talking about why we couldn't figure it out the last time.”
• Before a conversation: Prepare to have a conversation, not with the memories of conversations gone bad, but with the optimism that this time it will be different and productive.
• When curbing your initial reaction: We tend to interpret e-mails, memos, and conversations immediately with respect to the memories in our bucket. This might result in a very positive or negative reaction, and neither might be warranted. Remember that your brain discards and distorts things, and you may have misinterpreted the situation. If your enthusiasm is premature, you'll probably recover from your disappointment. However, if you err with a negative reaction, you can do some serious morale and credibility damage. Approach the issue with an empty bucket.