Sometimes the best approach to a challenge is to start from scratch! When Jenny Cotie Kangas lost most of her memories as a result of a head injury, she had to undergo a process of extreme relearning. Though the experience came with hardships and frustrations, it turned out to be hugely beneficial to her professional life.  During this episode, Jenny shares how learning to explain things in their simplest form, eliminating biases and blindspots, and employing reverse engineering strategies can lead to true organizational change.

 

Key Points From This Episode:

 

• The life-changing event that Jenny experienced in 2020. 

• Systems that Jenny has created to enhance her productivity and well-being. 

• Jenny’s approach to recovering after her head injury. 

• The difference between an issue and a symptom. 

• Why being able to simplify information is such a valuable skill. 

• How to build optimal processes within an organization. 

• An example of how incorrect assumptions can affect a business. 

• The benefits of reverse engineering. 

• Why Jenny delved into UX research after her head injury. 

• One of the biggest changes that took place in Jenny as a result of her head injury. 

• How to become aware of your blindspots and biases. 

 

Tweetables:

 

“When resources are thin and budgets are thin, it’s absolutely critical that you build your strategies that are going to mitigate issues, not mitigate symptoms.” — @CotieJenny [0:24:27]

 

“In the HR and talent acquisition space, the terms that we use, even within our organizations, they’re in our vernacular and we understand them, but we don’t always level set the definitions of those.” — @CotieJenny [0:25:56]

 

“When you storytell something in a way that makes sense to a 10-year-old – all of a sudden everybody can understand it. Not just the top 10% or the most experienced in your organization, but everybody can. And when you’re trying to actually make change happen, your goal is to hit everybody, not just the top 10%.” — @CotieJenny [0:28:00]

 

“If you don’t know what good looks like, you can’t actually reverse engineer good.” — @CotieJenny [0:29:39]

 

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

 

Jenny Cotie Kangas on LinkedIn

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