Habitsareafunnything。Wereachforthemmindlessly，settingourbrainsonauto－pilotandrelaxingintotheunconsciouscomfortoffamiliarroutine。“Notchoice，buthabitrulestheunreflectingherd，”WilliamWordsworthsaidinthe19thcentury。Intheever－changing21stcentury，eventheword“habit”carriesanegativeconnotation。

Soitseemsparadoxicaltotalkabouthabitsinthesamecontextascreativityandinnovation。Butbrainresearchershavediscoveredthatwhenweconsciouslydevelopnewhabits，wecanevencreateentirelynewbraincellsthatcanjumpourtrainsofthoughtontonew，innovativetracks。41_____________________________

Allofusworkthroughproblemsinwaysofwhichwe’reunaware，saysDawnaMarkova，authorof“TheOpenMind”。Researchersinthelate1960sdiscoveredthathumansarebornwiththecapacitytoapproachchallengesinfourprimaryways：analytically，procedurally，relationallyandinnovatively。42________________________

Thecurrentemphasisonstandardizedtestinghighlightsanalysisandprocedure，meaningthatfewofusinherentlyuseourinnovativeandcollaborativemodesofthought。43__________________Thisemphasisclearlyleadstoordinaryperformance。Onthecontrary，knowingwhatyou’regoodatanddoingevenmoreofitcreatesexcellence。

44________________________Figureoutwhathasworkedforyouwhenyou’velearnedinthepast，andyoucandrawyourownmapfordevelopingadditionalskillsandbehaviorsforthefuture。Ms。Ryansays，“Ifyouhaveapathwaytolearning，useitbecausethat’sgoingtobeeasierthancreatinganentirelynewpathwayinyourbrain。”

Ms。RyanandMs。Markovahavefoundwhattheycallthreezonesofexistence：comfort，stretchandstress。Comfortistherealmofexistinghabit。Stressoccurswhenachallengeissofarbeyondcurrentexperienceastobeoverwhelming。It’sthatstretchzoneinthemiddle—activitiesthatfeelabitawkwardandunfamiliar—wheretruechangeoccurs。

Gettingintothestretchzoneisgoodforyou，accordingtoMs。Ryan。Ithelpskeepyourbrainhealthy。Itturnsoutthatunlesswecontinuetolearnnewthings，whichchallengesourbrainstocreatenewpathways，theyliterallybegintoweaken，whichmayresultinbraindiseases。Sherecommendspracticingatechniquecalledkaizen，whichcallsfortiny，continuousimprovements。

45__________________________Thatcanbefatalinbusiness，particularlyforexecutiveswhosurroundthemselveswithlike－thinkers。Ifseniorityandpromotionarebasedonsimilaritytothoseatthetop，chancesarestrongthatthecompanylacksintellectualdiversity。

[A]Thisiswheredevelopingnewhabitscomesin。Ifyou’reananalyticalorproceduralthinker，youlearnindifferentwaysthansomeonewhoisinherentlyinnovativeorcollaborative。

[B]Ratherthandismissingourselvesasunchangeablecreaturesofhabit，wecaninsteaddirectourownchangebyconsciouslydevelopingnewhabits。Infact，themorenewthingswetry—themorewestepoutsideourcomfortzone—themoreinherentlycreativewebecome，bothintheworkplaceandinourpersonallives。

[C]Aftertheconfusion，thebrainbeginsorganizingthenewinput，ultimatelycreatingnewsynapticconnectionsiftheprocessisrepeatedenough。

[D]“ThisbreaksthemajorruleintheAmericanbeliefsystem—thatanyonecandoanything，”explainsM。J。Ryan，authorofthe2006book“ThisYearIWill。。。”

[E]Butif，duringcreationofthatnewhabit，the“GreatDecider”stepsintoprotestagainsttakingtheunfamiliarpath，peoplemaykeepdoingthesamethingoverandoveragain。

[F]Atteenageyears，however，thebrainshutsdownhalfofthatcapacity，preservingonlythosemodesofthoughtthathaveseemedmostvaluableduringthefirstdecadeorsooflife。

[G]Simultaneously，takealookathowcolleaguesapproachchallenges，Ms。Markovasuggests。Wetendtobelievethatthosewhothinkthewaywedoaresmarterthanthosewhodon’t。