Introduction to mental flexibility
Mental flexibility is the ability to understand a situation in a variety of ways. It’s an important skill to have in your toolbox because it helps prevent you from jumping to the wrong conclusion, and it can help guide you to respond appropriately.
For example, as you’re approaching the door to your unit, a teammate slams the door in your face. How would you interpret your teammate’s behavior?
Maybe they were feeling mad, so they slammed the door. Maybe they didn’t see you, so they didn’t hold the door for you. Maybe a gust of wind caught the door and slammed it. Maybe the door is heavy or the hinge is broken so it slammed. Maybe their hands were full and they lost control of the door. Maybe they were running late so were too focused on making it to their meeting to hold the door for anyone else.
If you have low mental flexibility, you might jump to the first conclusion: your teammate is mad. This may cause you to dread future interactions with them, avoid them until you see their mood improves, or, if it’s a teammate you don’t know very well, you might label them as an “angry” person. But when you have higher levels of mental flexibility, you understand that there are multiple explanations for someone’s behavior. So, when using your mental flexibility, you keep an open-mind and consider several possible interpretations of a situation.
How to use mental flexibility
Though there are many reasons why you need to use mental flexibility in your personal and professional interactions, these 3 ways are probably the most relevant to you as a Service Member:
- Mental flexibility for mission success.
Leaders with higher levels of mental flexibility are better able to react appropriately to dynamic situations and achieve mission goals. These leaders understand complex situations and are able to identify which actions best apply to a particular situation. Leaders with lower levels of mental flexibility might not understand situations as completely and, as a result, they might respond ineffectively. For example, a leader with lower levels of mental flexibility might immediately respond to a situation with lethal force, whereas a leader with higher levels of mental flexibility might consider the benefits and consequences of multiple solutions and then decide the situation would best be addressed with negotiation.
- Mental flexibility to resolve conflict.
Instead of assuming they’re always right, people with higher levels of mental flexibility recognize multiple perspectives and demonstrate empathy during conflict. These skills help in finding creative solutions to conflict—and can even prevent future, unwarranted conflict.
Additionally, couples with higher levels of mental flexibility are better able to communicate effectively and problem solve to resolve their conflict. Conflict could be a motivator for couples to improve their mental flexibility and communicate better.
- Mental flexibility to take care of others.
People with higher levels of mental flexibility are able to provide more helpful social support to others. Because people with higher levels of mental flexibility understand that a situation or message can be interpreted in a variety of ways, they tend to think carefully about the person in need and then craft their message accordingly. This extra level of thought means people with higher levels of mental flexibility are able to come up with more tailored social support messages (which are more helpful) instead of generic or blanket statements.. And, especially if the person in need is emotionally upset, people with higher levels of mental flexibility allow them space for emotional regulation and coping first, before providing social support.
Those who serve in medical roles who have higher levels of mental flexibility help their patients have better health outcomes. Seeing their patients as complex individuals enables medical providers to get their patients to cooperate with and adhere to their treatment plan. For example, medical providers with lower levels of mental flexibility may label a patient who resists their healthcare plan as “difficult” or “unlikable.” But a medical provider with higher levels of mental flexibility might not jump to that conclusion. Instead, they work to learn more about their patient—if the patient likes to be in control, for example, the medical provider might offer them choices relating to their treatment plan instead of a “you have to do this” demand.
Ideas for how to adapt mental flexibility
Although mental flexibility is a useful tool to have in your toolbox, it’s important to appreciate that not every situation requires high levels of mental flexibility. As a Service Member, it’s important to follow orders and commands, so opportunities for mental flexibility might not coincide with your role or the situation.
As a Service Member, there are situations where you might have more autonomy but the situation doesn’t require high levels of mental flexibility. For example, your CO approaches you Friday afternoon and asks who’s covering the weekend duty. The weekend is approaching and they want an answer quickly. You look at your list and give your CO a name. You don’t think through the situation thoroughly because the spot needs to be filled for mission requirements, and it needs to be filled quickly. In this situation, it’s not practical to consider the multitude of angles: Does the person getting assigned duty already have plans for the weekend? Do they think getting assigned weekend duty means they did something wrong? You don’t need to consider possible solutions before giving your CO a name. Sometimes quick decisions are necessary.
It can be important to recognize what level of mental flexibility the specific situation requires. So, when it comes to adapting your mental flexibility, first think about if the situation could benefit from mental flexibility or if you need to react quickly. If you decide the situation might benefit from mental flexibility, then think about how you want to use it. For example: Professionally, mental flexibility can guide your decision-making to achieve mission success. Personally, it can help you not jump to a wrong conclusion and ward off conflict.
If you’re looking to improve your mental flexibility, especially during stressful situations, consider trying to:
- Strive for an optimal level of stress. An optimal level of stress can help your mental flexibility perform at its best because at moderate levels of stress, your mental flexibility will peak. Having too little or too much stress can disrupt your mental flexibility performance. For example, at too high levels of stress, your mental flexibility becomes depleted. Visit HPRC for resources to help you find your stress “sweet spot” and keep your stress wellness tank full.
- Adopt a stress mindset. By adopting a stress mindset of stress is good for you, you can enhance your mental flexibility. Viewing stress as a resource can help broaden your perspectives and improve your mental flexibility. To check your stress mindset and create the mindset that stress helps you, visit HPRC.
- Experience positive emotions during stress. Negative emotions are often present during stressful situations. But also experiencing positive emotions, such as hope, alertness, courage, gratitude, and patience, during stressful situations can improve mental flexibility. This could be because people who experience a range of emotions during stressful situations, or who add positive emotions to how they view the situation, can also see a range of perspectives and possibilities. To learn more about how to put positive emotions into your performance, visit HPRC’s articles about the importance of positive emotions and putting positive emotions into your life.
Reflection
To help you think about when to pick up your mental flexibility tool and improve your communication toolbox, reflect on:
- Choose a situation and try to come up with as many interpretations or solutions as possible. How many interpretations and solutions did you come up with?
- Example: You wave to a friend, but they don't wave back. How many different ways can you interpret their behavior?
- Example: You want to cook a special meal for dinner but, once you open the fridge, you realize you’re missing half the ingredients. How many solutions to this problem can you come up with?
- In which situations do I already use mental flexibility?
- How has mental flexibility in those situations affected my relationships, both personally and professionally?
- In what situations do I want to use mental flexibility?
- How would mental flexibility in those situations affect my relationships, both personally and professionally?
- What situations might not require high levels of mental flexibility?
- What’s my plan to improve my mental flexibility?
- What resources can I use to improve my mental flexibility?
- What’s my plan if I’m struggling to use mental flexibility?
- What other communication toolbox skills can I try?
Additional resources: Mental flexibility
Check out these other HPRC articles related to mental flexibility: