Inside Out Work

When we conduct inside out work, we build awareness of ourselves and others. Inside out work jumpstarts personal development, which permeates boundaries and positively impacts our professional development as well. 

This is due to increasingly blurred lines between the different parts of our lives, including work and home, home and learning, learning and play, and so on. These blurred boundaries require us to become more whole versions of ourselves so we can show up in our lives more completely. Inside out work helps us do this—it helps us become more developed people, which means becoming more developed professionals. 

Here are three ways to practice inside out work.

Work With the 3i Creativity? Framework 

Creativity skills come naturally for many, but they can also be learned. The 3i Creativity? Framework can guide your inside out work as you try to operationalize creativity and use it to support your personal development. 

The first step is inquiring. Ask yourself the questions that matter; what’s been dragging you down or getting in your way? How do you want to change? Which personal characteristics or traits make you stronger and more creative, and which stand in the way of development?

After asking these questions, it’s time to improvise. You can’t perfectly plan out your life or ensure a well-manicured path is waiting for you at every turn. You have to work with the time and resources you have at any given moment, which is what improvisation is all about—it’s an invaluable skill necessary for successful inside out work.

Finally, tap into your intuition. This is the internal nudge or gut feeling you get when making a decision that guides you in the right direction. If you practice sensing your intuition regularly as part of inside out work, you’ll realize that this “voice” is always present, not just in high-stakes situations.

Be a Clumsy Student… of Anything!

When you work on a hobby or avocation where you are not the smartest person in the room, you re-wire neural synapses. This carries over into both your personal and professional life, becoming the default way in which you process the world. Being a clumsy student makes you better at asking questions, learning, and seeing things from a different point of view. These traits naturally make you more effective and creative in professional settings.

One of the most challenging—but beneficial—parts of being a clumsy student is confronting your own ego, which is a vital aspect of inside out work and building humility.

Use Inside Out Work to Understand Others

At the organizational level, people want to be seen and heard, just as they do in their personal lives. Organization leaders benefit from understanding their people on a personal level because they must tap into the things that make people who they are to create successful teams. 

The personal aspect of professional environments can’t be ignored if leaders want to see positive change and innovation through creativity. Seeing employees’ work personas as separate—almost unrelated—parts of the individual is a massive detriment to an organization.

Conducting your own inside out work allows you to see how the different aspects of yourself interact to make you into the person (and professional) you are. This also helps you recognize the same in your colleagues and employees. 

Final Words

Ultimately, inside out work helps you become a systems thinker. It helps you see the way different parts of yourself coalesce to create who you are, which allows you to more effectively work on self-development.

The insights and growth you experience when doing inside out work also positively affect your professional life and can make a profound impact on the way you lead your team.