Keynote Speaker Courtney Clark presented on day one of the 2024 National Registry Summit in Nashville, TN. Her talk on Revisionary Thinking and Adapting to Change encouraged attendees to challenge their way of thinking and evolve it to better serve them and their teams.  

Clark emphasized the importance of ‘changing the plan’ and how to shift from an expectation when the unexpected happens. She broke down how to change the plan and think like a revisionary thinker in three stages: let go, think up, move on. 

For the first stage (let go), Clark explained the importance of letting go of the plan and how trusting your gut can actually hinder you in revisionary thinking. She illustrated how this can be especially difficult for those who have been in their career longer or who favor being in control of things. To demonstrate how letting go may look in practice, Clark performed an exercise with the audience where she put them in an unfamiliar situation where trusting their gut instincts limited them.

‘Thinking up’ is the second stage of Clark’s method. Clark mentioned that this stage can be the ‘trickiest’ because it is action-based. ‘Thinking up’ requires individuals to brainstorm as many options as possible to pave a path forward. Clark shared that the more ideas you can think of, the better, because you are able to pick wisely. She challenged the audience to come up with as many uses for the props she provided as they could to demonstrate how many creative ideas can come forward in this stage.

Lastly, Clark described the third stage as ‘moving on.’ She explained that this stage involves selecting an option from your pool of ideas and moving forward with it. However, actually choosing the best option can be difficult, so Clark recommended involving others in your decision-making process. When you involve others, it allows for more perspectives and experiences to blend to make the most informed choice. Input from others helps you to better consider your options. Clark provided an example of the error exposure training that is implemented in the U.S. military.

Overall, Clark’s method for becoming a revisionary thinker encouraged attendees to flex between paths to find the best solutions in both their professional and personal lives.  

Learn more about Courtney Clark here: https://courtneyclark.com/. 

October 2024