Building Social Worlds

People build social worlds as they meet and talk to others. Interestingly, when two people interact, their brains also become a single complex system, Andreas Roepstorff finds.

As we meet more people online, we network with those who inspire and take our thoughts to new places. We count these fold as friends. Two online friends, who share compelling ideas and noteworthy posts are, Liz Strauss and Mark McGuinness. Recently, each asked me to write a guest blog - for me an opportunity to collaborate with them and extend my work with MITA International Brain Center in new arenas. I leaped to the challenge...

The Blogging Brain - Ever wonder what goes on in the brain of a blogger? Liz Strauss was curious about that and asked me to write a post for Successful Blog.

The 8 Types of Creative Intelligence - Mark McGuinness, author of Lateral Action, wanted to know more about creativity and the brain. Interestingly, creativity often comes through novelty. The multiple intelligences open pathways to creativity, especially as you tap into the ones you don't tend to use.

Mark emailed me midweek to say that the article "really took off on Twitter!"

The internet dramatically increases possibilities for social interactions along with the type and number of friends we might have. In this case, an invitation to write a guest blog for two top-notch bloggers, opened an opportunity for me to interact with their regular readers and consider what they had to say. You could think of this experience as an adventure into Liz and Mark's social worlds.

Dr. Ellen Weber and I recently met Liz Strauss and Steve Roesler at the Bloggers Hub at the World Business Forum 2009. What fun!

Left to Right, me, Dr. Ellen Weber, Steve Roesler, Liz Strauss

Who Shoulders Blame and Why Should We Care?

Ever miss seeing a person in your side-view mirror? When something goes wrong, pointing a finger's more often a first reactions rather than admitting a mistake? Ever wonder why blaming someone else comes so easily?

Photo by a2gemma

Consider this scenario...

At work, a note with an outlined project got lost in the pile on my desk. A week later when Dr. Weber inquired if the project was ready, I asked for the details. It was humbling to realize I had been careless. I confessed that I somehow lost it.

Why is it so hard to admit a mistake?

Ego and social conditioning.

We all want to look good. A natural instinct arises to protect our self-image. Over time, unless we learn to own up to mistakes and be accountable, we easily blame a circumstance to "save face."

We see many other people blaming others in the course of a week. Blaming others is soon embedded in our brains, since we witness it frequently. It works like a mirror-image. The old saying, "Monkey see, monkey do," best describes the action as discussed by Dr. Daniel Glaser.

However, letting ego and social conditioning shape our actions often spells disaster. And in this recession, fear can become more of a factor driving actions...

"Blame creates a culture of fear," Nathanael J. Fast of Stanford said, "and this leads to a host of negative consequences for individuals and for groups."

A manager can keep a lid on the behavior by rewarding employees who learn from their mistakes and by making a point to acknowledge publicly his or her own mistakes, Fast says. Managers may also want to assign blame, when necessary, in private and offer praise in public to create a positive attitude in the workplace.

Or, managers could follow the lead of companies such as Intuit, which implemented a "When Learning Hurts" session where they celebrated and learned from mistakes, rather than pointing fingers and assigning blame. The blame contagion research provides empirical evidence that such a practice can avoid negative effects in the culture of the organization.

Capitalize on more magic from your mirror neurons! By paying more attention to leaders who "celebrate and learn from mistakes," we'll create a brain-friendly work culture where people thrive and productivity reaches peaks.

How might you use these strategies to create a more brain-friendly climate that energizes others, rather than blaming them when mistakes are made where you work?

Memorize More - Outsource Less

"Try using your memory more," Stephen DeMaio cautions in the Mangement Tip of the Day at Harvard Business Publishing. Though today's technology opens a warehouse of tools to keep schedules, records of life - text, photos and other archives, we're relying much less on our brain to store these. Can you recall phone numbers you use often or can you picture a visual map of where the doctor's located, whom you visit yearly?

When calculators came on the scene, memorizing multiplication tables became less important. PDA's, smart phones and GPS devices eliminatied the need to memorize schedules or phone numbers and to dicipher maps.

Why does it matter? "What we're outsourcing to technology," David Bucci, Dartmouth College observes, "we're not relying on our brains to do any more."

If we learn to use technology and new apps, doesn't that stimulate the brain to learn to do new tasks? Yes, but there's a downside as well... "Recording everything you do takes people out of the "here and now," Barry Schwartz of Swarthmore College notes. "Constant documenting may make people less thoughtful about and engaged in what they're doing because they are focused on the recording process."

Here's the clincher about why committing more to memory and stimulating our working memory works in our favor... "The key thing is that the sedentary brain, just like the sedentary body, is going to atrophy," Bucci affirms.

Consciously challenge your brain to do more! For instance, create ways to turn boring tasks into fun at work. Memorize favorite scriptures, telephone numbers or friend and family birthdays.

As we age, the more we learn and put in our memory bank, the longer we'll enjoy mental acumen.

Joy of ChoosingToys

Ever wonder why toys seem so segregated in stores? 'Pink and blue aisles" line most stores and there's no middle ground. Strict segregation separates boys' aisles from girls'. What if a girl wants a spaceship or a boy desires a kitchen set?

On the heels of hearing an NPR radio broadcast in which Dads raising families discussed the separation of toys in stores by pink and blue and the clear division between the two, I went into Hobby House Toys to purchase a card game for one of my grandsons. A wonderful integration of toys and games stimulates your senses - toys that you just do not see in the big stores, such as marble runs, games and toys from abroad. How refreshing!

All of this sparked memories and curiosity about toys and play as they impact learning and careers.

When I first came to the U.S. as a child, I admired electric trains on miniature tracks, rolling under Christmas trees. No doubt my trip across the United States by train, when I first arrived here as a child, stimulated this fascination for trains. Luckily my parents were not so restrictive that they told me these were "boy" toys, when I announced I wanted a train for Christmas. I do not think I was more pleased than when I received this gift... I know I played with it for hours on end, if I wasn't reading. My dolls found themselves on shelves because they seemed boring and I did not want to "mess them up" since they always looked so beautiful.

When one of my grandsons was about three, I asked what he wanted for Christmas. He told me that he wanted a doll so he could feed it a bottle of milk. When I considered his request, I thought it would not hurt for this little boy to be a "nurturer." His parents told me such a gift was fine with them. Someday, I expect he'll make a fine, loving Dad. Today he enjoys Star Wars computer games and playing t-ball. Another grandson told me he liked to play in the kitchen at his pre-school. He also loves Cars toys and puzzles. Seems like children who have a variety of toys will be more well-rounded as people? What are your thoughts?

Not too surprisingly, learning preferences in school connect to toys and play. Early toy preferences may point to later preferences in school achievement and ultimately professional choices, Becky Francis, professor of education at Roehampton University, London, says. "Girls tend not to enjoy traditionally masculine subjects, particularly science; boys still tend to outperform girls at higher-level maths," she writes. "I might suggest that if girls are inculcated into construction and technology via their play, as a form of entertainment, they may be inclined to feel these curriculum areas more familiar and less daunting/challenging."

But preferences for toys and play may be hard wired. "These early play preferences may not only be the result of socialization and marketing, however. A 2005 study looking at the play of young primates, by psychologist Professor Melissa Hines of Cambridge University, found that when offered a variety of toys, female monkeys tended to gravitate towards dolls and soft toys, while males chose toy cars."

Fellow blogger, Amy Jussel, is concerned about ways media shapes youth. She focuses on ways media to be used more as a tool for positive change.

What do you think about all this? How much do the toys we play with when young, guide our career choices or the kind of person we are today?

Gary Hamel: Management's Out of Date

What was the greatest invention of human mind in last 100 years? "Invention of management," Gary Hamel suggested at the World Business Forum. "Basically this social technology has been used to manage human minds to accomplish an end." But here's the kicker according to Hamel, the author of the bestselling book on business strategy, Competing for the Future, "this social technology is out of date."

Naturally as Hamel zeroed in on the human mind, he caught my interest, since he framed management as social technology. This makes sense in light of recent research from University College London, which demonstrates, "choices we make internally are weak and easily overridden compared to when we are told which choice to make." On the other hand, innovation in today's businesses requires extraordinary minds to make on-the-spot decisions... minds that solve problems, create and invent.

"Do we we really have a vision for future," wonders Hamel. "I never met 10-year-old who wanted to grow up to be a manager. It's innovation in management that allowed us to cross thresholds and create innovation."


What is it that allows for shifts? Hamel's revolutionary idea is that a new management model's required in the 21st century. Industrial Age models simply don't cut it. What do you think? Hamel's questions to get you thinking...

How can we come up with a new management model?

What if every employee rates managers?

What if every critical development task turns into a game?

What if every employee could outsource boring bits of their work?

"Management models have not changed in a long time," Hamel reflects... and he offers three concepts to change the future:

1. How to build a company that can change as fast as change itself...
"The world is becoming more turbulent faster than organizations are becoming more resilient. What usually has to happen before you can shake loose beliefs and dogmas of a company? Crisis. For instance, Kodak pushed off it's film business. Turnaround's a poor excuse for timely transformation. We have to change the way we change."

2. How do you build a company where innovation is every one's job?

Today you have to compete with everybody

• Customer inertia
• Capital constraints
• Scale advantages
• Regulatory barriers
• Proprietary advantages
• Falling entry barriers - Deregulation, Digitization, New Channels
• Growing buyer power - More Choices, Better Information

"Have you been trained as an innovator," Gary Hamel asks. "No sense putting out a suggestion box if you haven't given employees strategies to innovate. Is your innovation performance measure and rewarded?"

3. How can we build new knowledge?

"Profit per employee. We are no longer in knowledge work," Hamel says, "but in creative work. Creativity and passion cannot be commanded, but are needed. So how does this change the work of management? How can work climate be changed to generate these?

Do your ideas really matter? Do people at work really listen to you? No more than 20% of employees are engaged in their work. Why do we live with this as managers? Is it possible to change this, Hamel quizzes. He suggests one model - W.L. Gore's - Gor-tex. Why?

High ratings for employee satisfaction
People spend all time innovating and no time fighting bureaucracy.
Nobody has to show up at a meeting. Commitment is voluntary.
10% of time at work spent on hobbies.

How do you get to be a leader at Gore? If your team asks you. All of Gor-tex's against the grain innovative management strategies debunk the myth of management efficiency.

"Gor-tex is not a sloppy company," Hamel points out. "Employees are extraordinarily disciplined. This kind of organization is becoming a necessity." I think Hamel is on target. What do you think?

"What do you do and where do you start? I didn't come to give you a model," Hamel declares, "and say go and do likewise. You have to think about what you heard, deconstruct it, and reconfigure it to fit your business."

"No Gor-tex manager went to business school," laughs Hamel. "There you get your head full of old ways of thinking. Mission may be more important than money. We have to expand freedoms. We have to change cultures. Management has to transcend old tradeoffs such as freedom and discipline. How can we think of alternative ways to gain control?"

"When a new person comes to company they're careful of waterline issues. You can take a risk that will punch a hole in the waterline of this company. Each employee is rated by 20 peers... Rate by value of 1-20 in the company. Every employee is entrepreneurial and collaborative."

To become management innovator - learn from the fringe. "If you want to see change, just look at the Internet. It will change the way we manage. It will allow us to overcome design flaw of Management 1.0. Many managers are not real managers because leadership appointments come top down. Management hires in their own image. People brown nose. Power is binary. If I screw up I lose my power. A lot of power goes sideways," Hamel claims.

"How do you get power on web? By adding value. Power is always on the move. What is alternative to top down leadership appointments."

What if I have no power and can't influence others? Most of us rely on formal power.

No power - No sanctions. How do we hack it?

Through a system for recognizing and empowering "natural" leaders, Hamel argues.

• Challenge the dogma
• Explore the fringe
• Experiment - Be revolutionary

The future of management according to Gary Hamel: Organizations are less adaptable than we are. Humans are amazingly adaptable. We are born to create!

Articles published by bloggers at World Business Forum 2009 show divergent views on Hamel's call for management innovation.

Andrea Meyer: High-Value Innovation: Innovating the Management of Innovation

Bill George: Gary Hamel: We Aren't in the Knowledge Economy. We're in the Creative Economy

Braden Kelly: A Day with Gary Hamel

Ellen Weber: Gary Hamel’s New Management Model

Hutch Carpenter: Management by Community

Jim Estill: Gary Hamel - Competing with the Future

Kathy Korman Frey Will Business Celebrate, or Tolerate, Our Daughters?

Orrin Woodward: 2009 World Business Forum - Gary Hamel

Steve Todd: Gary Hamel: Slacker's Paradise #WBF09

Thoughts on Gary Hamel's view of management?

Questions Create Connection

"Interrupt me any time you have a question," Patrick Lencioni urged at the start of his presentation at the World Business Forum. What a difference questions make in connecting to people! He primed the pump a tad by saying the first five inquires would receive a copy of his book, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team. More than five leaders stood up to ask a question in throughout the large audience at Radio City Music Hall, though some didn't take home the book.

So what difference does it make to be open to questions and even to be interrupted when presenting your ideas to leaders?

Interestingly, the questions business leaders asked, probed deeper into Lencioni's expertise on team work. They also stirred audience curiosity. Inquires popped in unexpectedly throughout the presentation. Takes a great facilitator to handle questions smoothly, offer wisdom and make these work as assets.

Not only did Lencioni receive good questions, but he pointedly quizzed listeners with even more questions to ponder throughout his talk. It seemed as if we could all add a piece to team challenges. I saw questioning as a tactic to create interconnectedness between audience and speaker.

Audience questions:

Question: Many ideas are created from below and often mid-management stops flow of ideas and they never get to the top. How do leaders overcome this?

Lencioni: 1. Don't assume that leaders above you are really leading the way they want to.

2. Don't be afraid to be the one that takes the leaders upward. Be the leader who takes the kind truth to the leaders above you. Be discerning in what you take. For example, take things only from circle of influence - things you control.

Question: How do you recognize a healthy organization from outside?

Lencioni: Performance. What people who work there, and used to work there, say about it.

Question: We're adding some GenX people to our organization. What can we do to build trust with change of generations?

Lencioni: Gender, Age, and difference, makes you miss the individuality of the person. Younger people need to know they are valued at work.

Question: How do you get people to open up?

Lencioni: I typically use two exercises. Personal Histories. Where did you grow up, how many kids in family, what was greatest challenge growing up?

Use objective tool like Myers Briggs. People see a personality profile. They see people approach life and tasks very differently.

A question I would ask Patrick is: "What about using a multiple intelligences survey to find out how people are smart?" I've found the MI survey is a great tool to encourage the diversity of gifts and talents within the organization in new ways.

Question: How do you minimize politics in an organization?... In the flurry of taking notes, I did not get the answer, though it was one of the most important asked. How would you answer it?

Lencioni's Questions to leaders in the audience:

Teamwork needs to be smart, Lencioni asserts. We only spend half the time on what really counts," he adds. "What about the other half - the health of an organization?"

How would you answer Lencioni's question about building organizational health?

People do not hold each other accountable enough. Peer pressure is the most important tool of accountability. How can that be created? Patrick Lencioni said vulnerably. I have most trouble with this. I hate telling people there is something that needs to be changed. I'm a wuss. Most CEO's are wusses. Leaders do not like telling people there is something they don't like. People do not hold each other accountable enough. What works well for you as you hold others accountable in a democratic setting?

The inquiries brought greater connection between speaker and audience. How might inviting inquiries from folks in the audience work for you throughout your next presentation?