The Adaptas 7-Steps to Learning: #5 REPETITION| Repeat, Repeat, Repeat!

Updated July 28th 2023

We are what we repeatedly do.
A common thing I hear from people I am working with is something along the lines of ‘I’m too old to change’ or ‘I’m too old to learn anything new’, or ‘The damage has been done, it’s too late for me’ or ‘ you can’t teach an old dog new tricks’!

In the 4th step of the 7 steps i.e. ‘Memory’, a few weeks ago, we learned that incoming data is held in short term, or working, memory and will be quickly lost if not consolidated. How well we encode a memory is critical to how effectively we will be able to recall it at a future point. And this my friends, is regardless of what age we are!

As Alfred Edward Perlman says; “Learning is what most adults will do for a living in the 21st century”.

Storage of information takes place in SEVERAL neurons at the same time. You have to give your neurons the chance to repetitively communicate with each other so that the learning sticks.

Recent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies show the important role of the neurotransmitter, dopamine, in the learning process.

Dopamine is the brain’s chemical reward and is triggered in response to positive feedback during the learning process. When we eat in response to hunger, feel the warmth of the sun, or receive a smile for an action taken, the brain releases a short dopamine burst to signal its pleasure and give us a quick reward for gaining it. This dopamine reward mechanism serves to reinforce the neural connections in the associated network, strengthening it with each repetition of the thought or behaviour that caused it. This is the biological process that embeds learning.

In other words, we have to repeat, repeat, repeat, because initial changes are only temporary. Stronger and faster connections between neurons form through repetition and the feedback about the outcome of the try, versus what the brain wants.

The challenge for us is to actually repeat, because sometimes we just didn’t grasp the learning the first time, and sometimes we just don’t think we can prioritise repeating new behaviours because other things take precedence i.e. just getting through all the things we need to do every day.

Ultimately, it comes back to how badly you want something. As per the first step ‘Imagine’, have you imagined what you want the outcome to be? Or if you are managing other people, have you assisted them in imagining what they desire the outcome to be; how it will benefit them; how things will be different? People will only repeat new behaviours if they can clearly see the personal gain or benefit.

One of the jobs of a manager, in my opinion, (for everyone’s gain), is to keep noticing, and to continuously support and coach to encourage repetition. I’m also a great believer in some type of buddy or peer system, where people are held accountable to doing what they need to do to make the learning stick, i.e. repeat, repeat, repeat.

One of my favorite sayings is “Amateurs practice until they know it, Professionals train until they OWN it!” Clinton Swaine.

You can teach an old dog new tricks…just follow the 7 Steps to Learning 😉

The Adaptas 7-Steps to Learning: #4 MEMORY – Encoding, sorting & retrieving information.

Updated July 28th 2023

Memory is crucial for learning.
“Memory is a process of encoding, sorting and retrieving information” (Carlson, Martin & Buskist, 2004).
The brain creates predictive models about where it thinks it is going, models about performance during an attempt and models that reflect cumulative learning of those attempts to create the desired outcome. The actions that are attempted and those that resulted in better performance must be remembered. Otherwise learning cannot occur.

Theorists of memory agree that there are various stages of memory; 1) short term memory (STM) or working memory and 2) Long term memory (LTM).

Atkinson and Shiffrin’s multi-store memory model (1968) states that we take information from the external environment through our sensory organs (e.g. eyes, ears, skin etc.). This information gets moved to the STM where it stays for a short time (i.e. less than one minute; STM has a limited capacity and duration). Only with rehearsal can information be moved to the LTM. Peterson and Peterson (1959) found that the more time information goes unrehearsed in the STM the more difficult it is for participants to retrieve this information.

“Short term memory is the set of processes that we use to hold and rehearse information that occupies our current awareness” (Robinson-Riegler & Robinson-Riegler, 2008).

LTM consists of:

Declarative (explicit) memory: Knowledge of facts and events.
Procedural (non-declarative, implicit) memory: Knowledge of how to do things.
Skills and abilities.
Conditioning and subconscious responses.

Other than rehearsal, there are other ways to help the encoding of information from the STM to the LTM. For example, mnemonic devices are “special techniques or strategies consciously used to improve memory – make use of information already stored in LTM to make memorisation an easier task” (Brunswick & Buskist, 2004).

These devices do not simplify or lessen information, they create a more detailed version of the information in such a way that the information is easier to retrieve at a later time. This is possible because of the way in which the information is elaborated upon. The information is strung together in a meaningful way.

Most approaches to training soft skills in people are missing an approach that enables learners to elaborate on what they are learning in the classroom. In my experience, the solutions are as follows:

A) Learning must be ‘applied’ in the training room, i.e. create more meaningful, emotional and elaborated opportunities to practice while in the training room, to engage both hearts and minds.

B) In line with the 70:20:10 rule, make sure that people get the opportunity to apply and practice in the context of work. In his excellent book, ‘The Learning Challenge’ (2014), Nigel Paine refers to ‘at the moment of need’ and ‘just in time’ learning, and quotes Nick Shackleton-Jones approach to learning ‘for people who care’. Here people care deeply about learning something because they have been challenged and want to/ need to solve the problem, and therefore are motivated to learn.

For a case study of the approach taken by Nick Shakleton-Jones (Director of Online and Informal Learning, BP) see Nigel’s book. You might see Adaptas mentioned there too ;-).

Ultimately, there is no point in sending a person to attend a training if they are not going to be able to apply their learning immediately (either actively in the training or ‘on the job’), because it will not get stored in their Long-Term Memory, unless they get a chance to use the information supplied immediately.

Plain and simple, we all forget what we have learned unless it is dynamic, motivating, emotionally stimulating and useful in the here and now!

Click here for more Adaptas 7-Steps to Learning

The Adaptas 7-Steps to Learning: #2 MOTIVATION | The Power of Knowing ‘WHY’

Updated July 28th 2023

MOTIVATION – For change, we need to be clear on our ‘Why?’
We recently published the 1st of our 7-Steps to Learning. We received a great response to our IMAGINATION blog, where we explained that ‘neurons that fire together, wire together’, so to continue as promised, outlined below is the 2nd Step – MOTIVATION.

MOTIVATION is a key factor in brain plasticity: It can be looked at as a cycle where thoughts influence behaviours and behaviours then drive performance; an inner drive to behave or act in a certain manner. It is the driving force that causes the change from desire to trying to achieve in life. If you are going to commit to making changes in your life, then it requires dedication and practice to create lasting change. Understand your motivation and you’ll understand the process that arouses, sustains and regulates your behaviour.

In Step 5, you will see that repetition is the key to making stronger connections. Repetition will only occur if people are motivated. People need to see a personal need, or a reason for them in making the change. For change, we need to be clear on our ‘Why?’.

People must think about two things in answering this question. Emotionally, what we can gain, by creating this new behaviour, and what do we stand to lose by not creating it? Performance impacts thoughts.

Our role as educators and learning leaders is to help people to become aware of what is not working for them or where the gaps exist, why they want and need to change (emotionally and logically) and where that will take them in their life and career. If someone does not want to learn, no change will take place.

The question then is, what is stopping them from wanting to learn? I refer back to point Step1: Have they been given the opportunity or given themselves the opportunity to IMAGINE & dream big?!

Click here for more Adaptas 7-Steps to Learning

The Adaptas 7-Steps to Learning: #1 IMAGINE

Updated July 27th 2023

Have you ever considered yourself and your learners as potential addicts?

Have you ever heard of the neurotransmitter Dopamine? Dopamine is a chemical released when people are doing something they enjoy. Dopamine consolidates new circuits and causes addiction.
Addiction is a plastic change in the brain.

Imagine for a moment, if you could turn all the people you are looking to develop into ‘learning addicts’. They are so addicted to learning, they cannot wait to apply everything they have learnt so that they can come back and learn more. The impact of the “learnings” would then ripple across the organisation, affecting the bottom line, as your training budgets would expand twofold, threefold and more. Wouldn’t that be something? From my perspective, we should be looking to turn everyone into addicts who enjoy learning and thus consolidate new neural pathways, which in turn leave people wanting more. We all know how challenging it can be to change an existing habit.

I recently spoke at The 2014 Learning Technologies Conference in London. Following that talk, they asked me to write an article for their Inside Learning & Technologies & Skills Magazine which was published this June. In this speech I outlined 7-Steps or areas that need to be considered and applied in learning to make it addictive, to enable people to learn and for neural changes to take place in the brain that have lasting impact. Over the coming months I am going to outline these 7-STEPS here. They all overlap as you will see:

1) IMAGINE

Neurons that fire together wire together: The brain strengthens connections between things that happen in real time and predictions of possible outcomes. The brain blends what happens and the predictions together. The expected outcome and the reality of the outcome; the brain weaves its own explanation of reality that is the basis of new skills. Therefore, people need to get clear on what the benefits of changing their behaviour will be. We need to help people think bigger for themselves. My experience of many approaches to working with changing people’s behaviour, is that the time is just not put into this. We’ve got to allow people to dream, to IMAGINE and to see all the possible outcomes. Otherwise, there is very little chance they will commit.

We look forward to sending you the 2nd-Step in this 7-Step process. We are currently delivering an interactive workshop to teams and groups in organisations to actively assist them in applying these 7-Steps. Get in touch if you’d like us to talk you through what we can do for your organisation.

The Necessity of Learning and Embracing Change

Updated July 27th 2023

Do you know what the workplace of the future will look like?
I don’t, but I do however know one thing, it will be very different to the workplaces we see nowadays.

Many would argue that more changes have taken place in the world of how we work in the past 5-10 years than had in the previous 100 years. There is new technology, new approaches to management & new roles in the workplace than ever could have been imagined in the past.

I was present at a talk Bob Savage, MD and Vice President of EMC Ireland, gave at a recent conference (National Stakeholders Conference on Science Education).

EMC Ireland in Cork is their largest manufacturing site outside the US, spanning 600,000 square feet, with 28 business functions and 44 nationalities on site speaking 26 languages. Bob leads this Centre of Excellence’s team of highly skilled people serving the global market. Bob said, “the ability to build relationships with customers, to relate to others, is one of the differentiators for employees and companies of the future. Another differentiator is a culture which encourages people to have an openness and ability to transform their skills, with a compulsion towards life-long learning”. Many people don’t see their job as a place to learn. However, in another interview Bob did last year, he was asked what he looked for in people working for EMC. He said, “The ICT area is a fast moving environment and people need to be able to handle and embrace change.” He also mentioned that he looks for a team of dynamic players and career minded people with integrity and passion who think outside the box.

Therefore, the more responsibility we take to learn within and outside the workplace, the better our chances for success are. If you have read previous articles we have written, you will know that we see one big happy connection between learning, change and relating to others. In my mind, learning in the workplace is best looked at with a sense of wonder. The wonder at the extent of endless possibilities that could be explored when we are open to change and willing to challenge how things have always been done.

What’s more, this is further charged with more possibilities because everything we learn at work about embracing change and relating to others and ourselves, can feed into our personal lives, creating even more positive relationships with our family and friends for example. John Henry Newman once said, “To live is to change, and to be perfect is to have changed often.” And well, if Bob and I agree with him, then he must be right 😉

The Power Of The Domino Effect in Organisations

Updated July 27th 2023

I was in Heathrow airport recently. I had just joined a fairly long queue to go through security to make a connection flight, when the man beside me gently alerted a passing staff member and asked “Excuse me, has the fast track through security been removed?”. The staff member responded defensively, and in an accusatory, bordering on angry tone “there were two escalators, you should have taken the other one!”. The man innocently responded “I wasn’t told”. The staff member looked at him, shrugged her shoulder in a ‘not my problem!’ fashion and marched off. The customer was left stunned! He had asked a valid question in a friendly manner and he might as well have been spat on.

From an observers viewpoint, this staff member treated the customer with disdain and disrespect. He looked embarrassed. Everyone in the queue who had been bored of queuing and had watched the interaction appeared to be likewise feeling embarrassed for or with him, with all of us looking at each other, wondering ‘what just happened there?’, ‘what’s her problem?’ or maybe ‘what’s wrong with queueing with us?’.

Now, this staff member might have been on the defense because she was sick to the back teeth of being asked this same question, or because a customer had previously been angry at her about the same situation, or perhaps she was just generally having a bad afternoon.

Either way she seemed to be making some sort of assumption, and living in a reactive mode in that moment. She had possibly assumed that this customer was going to be cranky or have some sort of problem; that he might in fact take out on her. The thing is, in her reaction, she turned a fairly content yet curious customer who simply wondered if there was a way to avoid a long queue (who wouldn’t?), into an irritated customer, who then took his irritation out on her colleagues as he moved through security. I watched, and I can tell you there was no more ‘Mr. nice mannerly guy’.

I see this and hear of this all the time in organisations. It’s like a domino effect until one of us takes action not to pass the blame, irritation, frustration or anger on. Are you taking responsibility and action to break the domino effect that cascades through organisations? If you can take responsibility for your own tendency to pass on the blame, or to put your own frustration and irritation onto other people, it will result in a large improvement in your general wellbeing, communication with others, and effective leadership skills! If you can get a few others to also take responsibility to be where “the book stops”, you will then work in a nicer and more successful space. Sometimes it’s that simple!

Judging Less for More Success

Updated July 27th 2023

There is more than one way to skin a cat

Did you know that Virginia Satir (famous american family therapist) through her research discovered that there were more than 250 different ways to clean dishes, and that in all cases the dishes got washed equally well in the end?

Story

My friend’s brother recently remarked that she is now 34 years of age, and that he would like to see her becoming more financially independent and for instance, buying a house. He said, “this is not about the money, it is about you committing to something.” She reflected that there could be a good deal of truth in what he said. She ended up feeling that based on the choices she had made in her life, she didn’t measure up to people of her age and age-based achievements. All in all, she had the common feeling of “I’m not good enough!”. In her heart and soul, she knew there were many things she had deeply committed to. Yes, financially these developments may not yet be producing rewards, but in previous years she had found out who she really was, what she loved, valued and desired from her life, and she was clearer than ever of the impact she really wanted to have on the world. In short, other than her brother’s judgement, she felt like a happy little camper; emotionally, mentally, spiritually and physically, and with a new business to boot. Committing to the house or a relationship may indeed be a part of the journey, but she should be free to progress through her journey in her own time.

The psychology piece

As family, we think we understand each other. This assumption could be made because we have the same parents, the same genes and the same background. We rarely question whether our family members may want to do things differently to us, and that we may all actually have different expectations from our lives and careers. In light of this, we all have a tendency to assume that we know what’s best for each other. We believe that we truly understand each other’s deepest needs, values and motivations. We unconsciously wrap ourselves up in each other’s identity.

When help and judgment collide

When assumptions and emotions run high, a blurred line can occur between helping and judging. This is because, when providing ‘guidance’ which is often guided by our map of the world, we have a tendency to favor information that confirms our own personal beliefs (confirmation bias) and not always supports the position or beliefs of others.

Our brain’s part in all this

Our brain’s mechanism of making shortcuts to comfortably understand our reality (and cut through information overload) together with high emotions which release the fight or flight hormone adrenaline, can cause a reduction in our peripheral vision and therefore our capacity to see the entire truth (kind of like wearing blinkers). More often than not, this causes our well-meaning intention to ‘help’ to become and be experienced by others as more ‘judgmental’ and not actually all that helpful at all!

Judge less, help more

You see, we are all on our own unique journey, and as we evolve and move forward, we do so in different ways, at different speeds, with different values, motivations and desires. When we can accept this and at the same time take personal responsibility, it leaves lots of room for embracing the truth and good in each person we come in contact with. Understanding and empathy are antidotes to judgment and when we judge less, we help more. Yes Virginia, there are certainly more ways than one to do anything in this life!

The Man Who Was The Victim Of His Own Assumptions

Updated July 27th 2023

Setting the Scene

Yesterday morning as I arrived into the train station, there was a young man ahead of me about to put his ticket through the machine to go on to the platform. Mid-movement (his ticket had not entered), there was an announcement on the tannoy; something about the trains being delayed. I couldn’t make out what the man on the tannoy was saying but I noticed the look of displeasure on the young man’s face. I asked him if he had heard it properly as I had not. He rolled his eyes to heaven, he sighed, and said ‘the trains are running 30 minutes late! I can’t believe this! It’s f***** ridiculous!’. He then stormed out of the station. I took my phone out and looked up the train timetable.

Another Perspective

According to the timetable the trains were running on time. Another woman came into the station behind me. She was looking to purchase her ticket. I was about to tell her that there might be a delay with the trains when she started giggling. I looked at her, and she said ‘yer man’s asleep’, referring to the guy at the ticket desk. We both giggled. I noticed how different her reaction was to not being able to get what she wanted compared to the young man before her.

The Journey

Anyway, I took my chances and proceeded through the machine and towards the platform. Just as my foot lifted from the last step a train pulled in!

As I settled into a seat with a perfect view of Dublin Bay, I reflected on my good luck and found myself thinking about the young man who had rushed off in a huff. He was now off somewhere, finding alternative arrangements to get to his destination. He probably had to walk to the other end of the village to get the bus or go home to get a car to drive to the city and park. Either way he had probably added at least a half hour to his journey, and cost himself even more money if he was making alternative arrangements having already paid for his train ticket.

His journey could have been so much simpler if he had just stopped, taken a breath and used the resources to hand (e.g. his phone), or woken the guy at the ticket desk up to ask his advice (another resource), or even asked me to check the timetable on my phone (I am happy to be used as a resource sometimes). I also reflected on how his reaction appeared to be one of victimization at the hands of the rail system, as though they planned for the trains to be running 30 minutes behind schedule.

My Question To You

Where in our lives and in work are we playing the victim? Where are we not checking the facts? Where are we making assumptions based on initial information and getting angry or upset about it? And are we actually making choices about how we react to situations and people?

Take a few minutes to reflect, because almost 100% of people we work with, regardless of background, organization, culture, and experience, rarely catch or are aware of themselves doing these things, until we draw their attention to where all these things are showing up for them. If you take the time, your train might just come in when you want it to 😉

How to Bore Friends and Lose Employees

Updated July 26th 2023

Only a select few can successfully “talk at” others, relying on their charm and storytelling prowess to captivate their audience. However, the majority of us lack such innate abilities, yet we often find ourselves constantly talking at others instead of engaging in meaningful conversations by asking questions and actively listening. True active listening means dedicating genuine attention, not merely waiting for the other person to pause so that we can interject with our own thoughts. Regrettably, this skill of truly listening eludes many of us.

Not knowing how to listen is doing massive damage in organisations: “Not being really listened to by my manager/s” is one of the most common complaints we hear from the people and teams we work with. This is no trite matter. The extent of this is losing people to absenteeism, and more long-term losing them forever to other organisations. When it takes on average 25,000 euro to recruit and train a new person, it is quite incredible to think that we are losing this money spent over something as humanly basic as listening, don’t you think?’

You may be thinking to yourself that the people who say they are not being listened to are just playing the victim, but we see it with our own eyes all the time. People think they are listening to others, but in actual fact they are not!

Research in neuroscience (Spunt, 2013), indicates the presence of two large-scale systems in the human brain that play a major role in successful listening: the putative mirror neuron system, which likely facilitates the relatively automatic perception of the how of speech (i.e., how it is being said); and the so-called mentalizing system, which likely underlies our ability to actively reach conclusions about the why (i.e., why it is being said) of speech behavior. The dynamic interaction of mirroring and mentalizing processes may be pivotal for successful listening and social interaction more generally. Often managers are more focused on the tasks that must be achieved, thinking about their next meeting or worrying about something they can do nothing about, than fully engaging these systems.

Neuroscience has confirmed what we have always known, that there is an important difference between hearing and listening. Neuroscientist Seth Horowitz: “While it might take you a full second to notice something out of the corner of your eye, turn your head toward it, recognise it and respond to it, the same reaction to a new or sudden sound happens at least 10 times as fast.” Horowitz says hearing has evolved as a more essential tool for survival than sight. So we have no excuse. We have the hardware , we just don’t have the focus and we don’t take the time.

However, we humans are not totally at fault. Some would argue that the technological age we live in, where we are constantly looking at screens (computers, iPads, texting on phones) is etching away at our ability to listen. Horowitz says ‘The modern world of sound—and more often, noise—is being overrun by digital distraction and information overload’.

Many managers wonder why their teams aren’t as productive as they might be. In our experience, we see time and time again that when managing performance, as with much of the interacting we do in life, people often “wait to speak” rather than listening attentively and actively. Yet listening tunes our brain to the patterns of our environment faster than any other sense, and paying attention to the nonvisual parts of our world feeds into everything. Our reactions to what we hear are less processed and more instinctive than our reactions to what we see.’ Horowitz describes the auditory sense as the human “alarm system” that operates constantly, even while asleep.

If we truly listen, we can tune into what might be holding a team member back, that small nudge that someone needs to help push them over the finishing line. Ask questions, and listen to the variation in people’s words, and their tone of voice NOW instead of waiting until they are shouting for attention or worse still, they’ve left the building, and you’ll never hear their voice again!

The Funniest and Most Enjoyable Thing About Charisma Is…

Updated July 26th 2023

I have managers coming to me for coaching quite regularly, telling me they want to develop their charisma, so that they will be in the running for a position opening up for VP, director or partner. They seem to think there is a potion I can give to them that will make their charisma magically grow.

Oh how wonderful it would be if I could create this potion. We could all swallow it and become as charismatic and as influential as JFK, Oprah, Obama, Princess Diana, Gandhi, Reagan, Clinton (insert your favorite here). Love them or hate them, they’ve got charisma! And like all of us, none of them are, or were perfect!

Can you think of a charismatic person you know or have met? What was it about them that made them charismatic in your opinion? Did they talk endlessly about themselves with unbridled enthusiasm and confidence? Or was it a two-way conversation where they engaged by asking questions, showing genuine interest in your responses, and spoke about themselves only when they had information, a fact, a story, or an experience that could be of assistance or interest to you?

(If you don’t want to read this article but would like to see 2 new jokes I learnt today, skip to the end)

What most people in search of charisma don’t realise is that research shows us that charismatic people are those that display not only confidence, but consideration and empathy. They are people who offer social support to others, and are trustworthy. In organisations, they are the people who have close interaction and exchange with the people on their teams, and who build strong social networks.

Charisma and Leadership are often seen going hand in hand. Have you heard of transformational leadership? Transformational leaders are those leaders able to inspire their followers to accomplish great things i.e. to move their followers to a high level of performance by affective and inspirational engagement through idealised influence, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation and individualised consideration. To do this, they are required to be mindful of the needs and motivations of others, facilitate complex interactions in group dynamics and steer their employees forward in the course of their managerial/decision-making responsibilities.

Research finds that transformational leaders are regarded as charismatic. These leaders do the following:
• Display consideration and empathy
• Possess mature moral development
• Have close interaction and exchange with their people
• Build strong social networks within their organisations
• Offer social support to the individuals and teams they manage

Effective leaders are transformational and charismatic. Those who display traits listed above exhibit high standards of performance and ethics and are deeply trusted and respected by their followers. Because of that people identify with and want to emulate them. Would you like people to identify with and emulate you?

Interestingly, a meta-analysis of trust and effective leadership has shown that when leaders are perceived as trustworthy, this translates into perceived organizational trustworthiness and results in positive employee and organizational outcomes (Dirks & Ferrin, 2002) such as higher organisational citizenship behaviors (Krosgaard, Brodt, & Whitener, 2002).

By the way, charisma isn’t the same thing as confidence, but appearing confident can make you more charismatic because your confidence will put others at ease and inspire faith in your abilities. If people see you as a confident person, they will naturally want to be around you.

There is no magic potion, funny that!. Charisma is not about being an extrovert or about pretending to care about other people. It’s about genuinely liking other people. The emotional component of that is really hard to fake! But when you have it, other people feel important. Furthermore, if you don’t have it now but are willing to start practicing the true traits of charismatic people, you will even end up enjoying yourself more, regardless of who you are with!

Some charismatic people tell jokes!

Two snowmen are standing in a field. One says to the other: “Funny, I smell carrots too”.

That didn’t make you laugh…Ok try this:

A magician was driving down the road, then he turned into a drive way…

Ah I give up…

Gaining Insight: Are You Observing All the Elements Necessary for Change to Take Place?

Updated July 26th 2023

In previous blog posts, we have extensively discussed the influential role of visualisation in acquiring new skills and cultivating beneficial habits while replacing old ones. Many accomplished individuals now employ techniques long embraced by successful athletes to enhance performance, motivation, and focus. However, it’s essential to acknowledge that not everyone possesses a natural talent for visualisation, making the process of creating lasting, meaningful change in both personal life and the workplace more demanding for some individuals than others.

As far back as 1932, Bartlett (One of the 1st psychologists to relate memory performance to peoples learning strategies) found that he could classify his research participants on the basis of their informal comments as ‘visualisers’ who claimed to rely mainly upon visual imagery in remembering, or as ‘vocalisers’, who claimed to rely mainly upon language cues rather than mental images. Vocalisers tended to be less confident in their recall. Bartlett regarded this distinction between ‘visualisers’ and ‘vocalisers’ to reflect a relatively stable characteristic of individuals or in other words a dimension of cognitive style.

One of our associates, Erika Brodnock, is here to share the challenges she had in making the changes she wanted because of this distinction that Bartlett noticed so long ago…

Erika: Our conscious, subconscious and super conscious minds are constantly working together to keep us acting in a way we know to be true to ourselves. This understanding is the first step toward lasting change – getting an awareness of who we are, what we do, our needs, triggers and the person we want to become will enable us to make even the changes we believed were impossible.

The awareness of who we are now, what we do, our needs and our triggers are important, as with this awareness we can self correct and make more conscious decisions to think, do and be ‘better’. But these elements collectively are only 1 tenth as important as the ability to see the person we want to become.

According to Dr Steve Peters, author of ‘The Chimp Paradox’ and trainer to top Olympic athletes; the unconscious mind is at least 5 times the strength of the conscious mind. Peters also asserts that the unconscious does not process things logically with words and numbers. The language of our unconscious mind is sight, smell, sound, taste and feeling. Being completely sensory, the most effective mode of communication is seeing you as the person you wish to become and the things you will think do and be at that time. Hearing the sounds you will hear, feeling the way you will feel and tasting what you will taste will strengthen this communication further…

But what if you’re like I was, and whenever you close your eyes all you see is darkness (with a hint of red if there is a light source in the room)… I remember sitting in many a coaching, training and staff training course, as others described all the wonderful things they could see in their minds eye and feeling a familiar block of envy sinking from my chest to the pit of my stomach. I could see nothing, it didn’t matter how many times someone told me “We can all see, your pictures are just moving too fast” or whatever else it was they decided to say to console me. I still couldn’t see anything and the more I tried the less I saw…

Join me in coming weeks for the step-by-step account of what I did to access my visualisation skills.

Erika Brodnock is one of our associates at Adaptas™. Erika is an energy psychologist, specialising in cutting-edge techniques that embrace Quantum Physics, Epigenetics, Noetic Science and Energy. She qualifed as an EFT Master Practitioner and Trainer (AAMET), NLP Master Practitioner and Coach (ABNLP), Matrix Reimprinting Practitioner, Psych –K advanced facilitator and is an accredited Heartmath provider of workshops and training. She is also the CEO and Founder of The Centre for Positive Children Ltd.

Caveman Communication in The Workplace

Updated July 25th 2023

In ancient times, our ancestors had to engage in life-or-death battles against both wild animals and other humans merely to stay alive. Fortunately, the majority of us no longer face such dire circumstances. Nowadays, there are designated areas in the world such as safaris and zoos where we can choose to experience encounters with potentially threatening animals safely. As for our food, skilled individuals are responsible for preparing animals for consumption, and this processed meat is readily available in our grocery stores.

Regarding the act of taking someone else’s life for the sake of our own survival, it is disheartening to acknowledge that in certain regions of the world, this is still the case. People murder others in the name of land ownership and religion amongst other reasons. However, for the most part, the majority of us live in relatively safe and civilised societies where we ideally care for one another—or so it is commonly presumed.

Recently, numerous conversations with individuals employed across various levels of medium to large organisations have left me concerned. These discussions revealed distressing accounts of certain individuals or entire teams deliberately creating obstacles or failing to take necessary actions, thereby forcing others to shoulder heavier workloads or appear inadequate in front of their peers. Consequently, this causes undue stress among colleagues, and if not appropriately addressed, it could potentially lead to severe health issues such as strokes, heart attacks, and other adverse outcomes.

To what extent does this approach deviate from the core values and beliefs of the original founder/s of the respective companies? How distant is it from the organisation’s vision and mission? To what degree have the employees drifted away from the very purpose for which they were initially brought together? Why do some individuals feel entitled to come to work each day and get paid to make their colleagues’ lives more challenging? Shouldn’t we have progressed beyond such primitive behaviors of the past?

Is this phenomenon evident within your organisation? If so, in which areas is it manifesting? Are you turning a blind eye to its existence, or could you possibly be contributing to its occurrence? Perhaps it’s time to take responsibility for your actions and consider whether it’s necessary to challenge the behavior of those around you or modify your own actions for the better.

Is it time to become more conscious of the impact you are having on the future of yourself, others, and the place you work? Is it time to evolve and grow?

Are you ready?

The Adaptas 7-Steps to Learning: #5 REPETITION| Repeat, Repeat, Repeat!