How Can We Become ‘Brainier’?

Updated July 27th 2023

Has it ever dawned on you that your brain may be the best piece of technology you have?

You might ask whether we have any control over that technology that rests on our shoulders?

The answer is YES.

Brain plasticity, is a term that refers to the brain’s ability to change and adapt as a result of experience. In this technological age we live in, machines have the knowledge and know the facts. It is nevertheless down to how creatively we can use our brains to interpret and use this information to a high-level that drives our success.

This week, my colleague, Dr. Celine Mullins, is speaking at the Learning & Technologies Conference (www.learningtechnologies.co.uk) on the topic ‘Why change isn’t easy and how to help people tackle it’ Celine, together with Brid Nunn (Learning & Development Design Manager, Marks and Spencer Retail) will validate how engaging employees creatively and in a way that the brain best commits to change, makes real business sense. Positive engagement by staff inevitably leads to higher rates of customer satisfaction directly impacting on bottom line sales. Whilst all at the same time, employees are happier too!

This talk will be all about putting the employees and customers in the centre of the action. But how can we put ourselves in the centre of the action everyday? How can we engage our minds to make the best use of this technology available to us? From the latest research in neuropsychology, here are some simple no-nonsense tips:

1. Concentrate on what is working and the motivation will naturally follow When we focus on what is working more than what is not, our brains become positively charged. As a result it is less likely for negativity to set in. The brain finds it tricky to be positive and negative at the same time! When you are in this frame of mind, you will naturally be more motivated to produce really good quality work, and your colleagues and customers will enjoy being around you too. Find out what things trigger you to enjoy yourself more in general, and explore whether you can integrate them into your work in any way. That way you are creating the motivation to become the best version of yourself, inside and out. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy!

2. Bite-sized goals (i.e. chunking down) Why clean the house from top to bottom in one evening and be so wrecked that you are not inspired to do it again for a month? The brain likes good memories of things so when we break goals or jobs into bite-sized pieces, the memory of the ‘job’ is not so bad and we are happy to take on the task again and again.

3. Keep doing it until it becomes habit If you are having fun and chunking things down, new habits (e.g. going to the gym) will become easier to repeat. The more we repeat things and the more we want to repeat things, the more hardwired the new habits become in the brain. I liken this to programming a computer! Using this approach, we are less likely to slip into bad habits again.

4. Keep the self-judgement to a minimum Finally, if you do fall off the bandwagon with a change/new habit, don’t give yourself a hard time. Negative self-chat imprisons you in your own fear and makes it difficult to take action to get back on track again. It also blocks channels in the brain from seeing solutions as it goes into blinkered survival mode. There is always a positive way to reframe a mistake or stumbling block. Just make a decision to love learning and move on! If we are not learning we are dead!

If you have just read this entire blog, you have already begun to use many of the principles of neuroplasticity. You are on your way to becoming a very ‘brainy’ person. Go forth and conquer!

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!

Habits Are For Breaking

Updated July 25th 2023

Following on from last weeks discussion on habits, let’s explore the science of habit forming a little more…

You may recall, I said previously that neurons link up with each other and form strong bonds based on your experiences, emotions, thoughts, and interactions, and that this is how behaviours, habits, and memories are formed. Once a linkage is made, we can either weaken it or strengthen it, based on our experiences etc.

Did you do your homework after last weeks blog? Did you think about what bad habits you might have? Well if you did, consider this:

The more you do something, the harder the habit is to break due to the strengthening of connections in the brain, and the easier it is to find yourself back in the behavioural pattern again, even if you make some attempt to change it. A protein blend collectively known as myelin insulates the wiring between the neurons. Every time you give in to that habit, (the thicker and more dense the myelin coating), the faster a neuron fires, and the more easily it fires.

Now, this is where it gets really interesting:
If you don’t fire the neurons, the myelin starts to unravel and fade away over time. How else would we eventually lose the feelings we felt towards our first love?!

The key to getting rid of unwanted habits, is to choose a new habit to replace the unwanted one with, and then strengthen the neurons through repetition, exposure, and emotions to the point where it becomes an easier path to take than your former one.

As I mentioned in last weeks blog, most of us think of bad habits as things such as eating junk food, smoking, drinking too much alcohol, not doing exercise, checking in on social media pages too much etc.

But if you did your homework from last week, what bad habits did you notice you have, habits that if changed could improve your relationships at home and at work, habits that if changed could improve how you do your job, making you more effective, or less stressed?

What new habit could you choose to develop which you could, with repetition, exposure and emotion (to strengthen the neurons), replace the unwanted one?

Sure, it may take 21 days, it may take 66 days and it may even take 245 days to become unchangingly automatic, but it will surely be worth the effort for a healthier life, more effective communication in the workplace and at home, and hence more successful and rewarding relationships, won’t it?

Just remember that it may take longer than you think to change the habit, but that if you fall off the wagon for a day or two, you can get right back on and keep going. Just because you stop doing the new behaviour, does not mean you are unable to form this new habit. It just means that it is challenging for you because the neurons are linked strongly to each other based on repetition etc.

The great thing is, that the bursts of doing the new thing will be strengthening the neurons each and every time you do it! So if you fall of the wagon, get back on it, don’t beat yourself up and move forward!

And if you want to speed up the process, tune in for upcoming weekly blogs…

What Do Rats Tell Us About How We Learn?

Updated July 25th 2023

My mother is terrified of rats. Actually anything that resembles a rat, e.g. mice, guinea pigs, gerbils, hamsters, in fact anything that is small and furry, with a tail, and could potentially sit in your hand. This fear does not extend to miniature dogs…yet!

I haven’t got to the bottom of what caused her fear, but I am now scared of rats too! I don’t even know how this happened, because I used to think her fear was ridiculous! It’s something I am now working on getting over!

As terrifying as they may or may not be, the great thing about rats is that they tell us so much about our own brains and behavior.

Did you know, that when rats are raised in a complex and challenging environment, their brains increase in the size of the cortex, the length of neurons, the number of synapses, and the level of neurotransmitters and growth hormones (Guzowski, et al., 2001; Ickes et al., 2000; Kempermann et al., 1998; Kolb & Whishaw, 1998).

The benefits of stimulating environments are not just reserved for the young. When adult rats are exposed to training and enriched environments, the effects of earlier nervous system damage and genetically based learning deficits can be ameliorated (Altman et al. 1968; Kolb & Gibb, 1991; Schrott et al. 1992; Schrott, 1997).

Although it is not possible to do such invasive research with humans, there is much evidence to suggest that our brains react in the same manner (Cozolino & Sprokay, 2006).

The brain has been shaped by evolution to adapt and readapt to an everchanging world (Cozolino & Sprokay, 2006).

The ability to learn is dependent on modification of the brain’s chemistry and architecture, in a process called “neural plasticity”. Neural plasticity reflects the ability of neurons to change their structure and relationships to one another in an experience-dependent manner according to environmental demands (Buonomano and Merzenich, 1998; Trojan and Pokorny, 1999).

My point is, that everything you think you know and feel now, can change for better or worse depending on what you focus on. Although rats freak me out, I can get rid of this fear!

All this applies to things like communication skills training and customer service training – Courses just actually need to be designed to take what we know about the brain and learning into account. We obviously make every effort to do this at Adaptas™.

By the way, I am still one step ahead of my mother because I am at peace with guinea pigs, gerbils, hamsters!

I believe there is a hamster hotel in France, that gives guests the chance to live like a hamster – where you can eat grain, run in a giant wheel and sleep on hay. See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJW4RAUDBBo for a short video.

Let us know if you visit it!

Communication In The Workplace – Not An Easy Task

Updated 11th July 2023

Communication is complicated. Perhaps because we do it so easily and often, we generally do not appreciate just how complicated a process communication is. Without even considering the non-verbal elements of communication, just speaking on its own requires the speaker to perform two cognitively demanding tasks simultaneously: conceptualizing the information to be conveyed, while also formulating a verbal message that is capable of conveying it. The number and complexity of the factors that must be taken into account is dauntingly large (Levelt, 1989).

The level of awareness we need to have to be clear communicators is not something we talk about in everyday life. We take it for granted. The first time many people really start thinking about the complexities in communication is if they attend counselling, or a personal development course or a staff training on communication in the workplace or customer service. People generally leave these courses or events with very little change having taken place in the level of positive and worthwhile communication in the workplace and beyond.

Consider this: The meaning of even the most banal utterance is grounded in a set of fixed assumptions about what the communicators know, believe, feel and think. People experience the world from different vantage points, and each individual’s experience is unique to the particular vantage points he or she occupies. The vantage point all depends on so many factors including, background, experience, knowledge, education, gender to name only a few! To accommodate conflict or variation in perspective, communicators must take each other’s perspectives into account when they speak. As the social psychologist Roger Brown put it, effective communication “… requires that the point of view of the auditor be realistically imagined” (Brown, 1965).

However, the content of another person’s point of view is not always obvious. In his classic studies of childhood egocentrism, the Swiss developmental psychologist, Jean Piaget, demonstrated that the ability to take on another person’s perspectives represents a major milestone in the child’s intellectual development. Young children are unable to detach themselves from their own point of view, and, in effect, seem to assume that the world appears to others as it does to them (Piaget &Inhelder, 1956). This reduces their effectiveness as communicators (Krauss & Glucksberg, 1977). Although adults do better, they are far from perfect, and like children their judgments of others’ perspectives tend to be biased by their own points of view. Under time pressure or when preoccupied, adults are likely to formulate messages that neglect their addressees’ perspectives (Keysar, Barr & Horton, 1998). Moreover, adults perspective-taking efforts display an egocentric bias similar to that found in children.

Furthermore, we rarely are given the opportunity to be told or to receive feedback graciously regarding how our communication is effecting others around us. People may get irritated with us, but even then they are unclear half the time what it is you did that rubbed them up the wrong way. How often do employees wane in their productivity because of lack of comprehension of the task at hand, often because the communicator (their colleague or team lead) has failed to take their perspective. How often do clients and customers just walk away because you didn’t take their perspective on board? Most of the time they won’t tell you either. In fact, they just won’t come back.

Did you know that any conversational speech is produced at a rate of about 2.5 words per second, often in noisy environments and with less than-perfect articulation. Production and comprehension could pose formidable problems for two individuals. Yet participants typically come away from conversations believing they have communicated successfully, and objective evidence probably would indicate that they have. But as stated already it is not this simple, and other people rarely provide us with useful feedback to let us know what we did wrong and what we might do better next time!

Communications skills training is perhaps the most important thing an organisation must consider if it wants its people and its customers to avoid many mistakes that are made in seemingly simple interactions. Getting communication in the workplace correct is inherently difficult as we are not taught elsewhere to be aware of the intricacies of communication and do not appreciate how complicated a process it actually is.

If you would like to have the people in your organisation become more aware of how their communication style is serving or not serving them, contact us and we can discuss how we can help you.

Being Human – Effective Communication Training

Updated 11th July 2023

The ability to communicate is vital to a species’ survival. All animals have the ability to communicate, some in ways that are impressively proficient. However, no other species have achieved the precision and flexibility that characterises human communication, a capacity due in large part to the uniquely human ability to use language (Deacon, 1997; Hauser, 1996).

When it comes to communication, animals have it easy, in many ways, compared to us humans. Robert Krauss (2002) points out that, upon returning to its hive, a foraging honeybee communicates the direction and distance of a source of nectar by engaging in an elaborate waggle-dance (von Frisch, 1967). Vervet monkeys (native to East Africa) have three distinctive vocal alarm calls that signal the presence of leopards, eagles and snakes, their three main predators. Upon hearing one or another call, a Vervet will respond appropriately–climbing a tree in response to the leopard call, scanning the ground when the snake call is sounded (Seyfarth, Cheney & Marler, 1980).

We humans similarly use sounds and body language to communicate. However, we have this complicated system of words and a developed frontal cortex which make us more advanced and effective communicators. Unfortunately, this advanced system also just seems to make the process of communication way more complicated than in the animal world.

Bertrand Russell once remarked that “No matter how eloquently a dog may bark, he cannot tell you that his father was poor but honest.” Krauss (2002) points out that although the observation is self-evident, even banal, it points to a fundamental difference in the expressive capacities of language and other communication modalities. Vervets can signal the presence of a predatory eagle, but even the most articulate Vervet cannot refer to the eagle that attacked a week ago; their communication is limited to what is immediately present. Perhaps more than any other feature, it is the capacity of language to convey displaced messages that distinguishes it from other communication modalities.

The ability of language to generate an unlimited number of meaningful novel messages that are not bound to the here and now, combined with the cognitive capacity to exploit these properties, allows human communication to be extraordinarily effective and versatile… and complicated in my view.

We learn to speak from a very early age, which shapes and defines our communication. This is something I am always harping on about and build into almost all staff training programs. As babies we learn to communicate by picking up all the signals around us, we learn about the structure of our mother tongue and how to write in school. Many of us, also have to opportunity to learn the languages from other countries and cultures. Nevertheless, we do not have a class in ‘communication’ and all the subtleties that go with language, body language, the parts of communication that are conscious and unconscious and all the nuances that go with this. The complications of language – verbal and non-verbal cause arguments time and time again amongst people, both people who know each other and who don’t know each other. In families and organisations alike, an inability to understand and utilize communication effectively, and results in things not getting done, because people don’t know how to ask or how to empower others through their communication. On the frontline, staff don’t know how to ask customers/ clients what they need, or to pick of subtle cues of interest or disinterest in their customers.

The way we communicate sets us apart from other animals, makes us human. But in order to utilise this we must learn how to communicate with others effectively. So many problems can be avoided and so many possibilities can arise when people understand the subtleties of communication. When the majority of people spend a minimum of eight hours of the day at work with or near other people (colleagues an customers) it is vital to improve communication in the workplace.

In fact, if people attend effective communication training there is often a knock-on effect on their private and family lives, meaning people arrive happier to work in the first place, and are therefore more productive.

Contact us if you would like to know more about how Adaptas™ can develop and deliver effective communication training for your organisation.

How Can We Become ‘Brainier’?