The brain's default network is that part of the brain that takes over when we are not fully engaged in any activity focused on the external environment. It’s when we synthesize past observations - including autobiographical memory retrieval, envisioning the future, and conceiving a perspective of others.
It has been seen that people normally suppress this default system when they perform challenging tasks which involves the pre frontal cortex and also that the default network system takes over especially when one has a repetitive task at hand and. In patients with schizophrenia and Alzheimer’s is it hard for them to move back from the default system – and they often continue “day dreaming”. One of the aspects of Leadership Development that I work on is the ability of a leader to reflect on his learning’s. It is clear from research that 70% of our learning’s come from on the job. These experiences could be either good or hard experiences. But the key is to decipher what one may have learnt from this and apply it to oneself as a leader takes on more challenging assignments. It would be great if one could delve into the workings of the default system and train leaders to help the default system in this process of reflection, instead of a situation where the default system just throws out random thoughts from the past/future. For one, how do we catch ourselves as we see the default system take over? Does that mean we increase the power of observation? How do we then seed a certain thought that relates to an experience we have had and are looking at patterns of learning? How do we record those patterns? Does constantly thinking of these experiences lead us somewhere? Can we then connect all of this “working” of the default system to some learning at the workplace?
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The relationship between pressure and performance is explained in the “Inverted-U”. The Inverted-U relationship focuses on a leader’s performance of a task. When there is very little pressure to carry out an important task, there is little incentive to focus energy and attention on it. This is particularly the case when there may be other, more urgent, or more interesting, tasks competing for attention. In busy organizations, senior leaders have to be very principled and focused to carry out an important task.
I have a wonderful example of a senior leader in my organisation- let’s call him Eric. When sitting down to talk with Eric, you wait for a moment while he closes his laptop, sets his phone to silent and settles in his chair. You have his full attention. This is an important and symbolic gesture. As GM, Eric has just been through dozens of presentations and hundreds of slides as part of mid-year review. The people that impress Eric most know their business, and they also know tertiary businesses. Finding the time to dig in to other businesses is overwhelming, but Eric offers a great counterpoint: “Be present in meetings”. At times, we’re all guilty of cracking our laptop open in meetings and wading through emails. But that disconnects you from the meeting itself… and a great opportunity to learn from other presenters and to understand their business problems. If you’re not fully present in a meeting, it forces one-dimensional commentary. Eric illustrates his point by explaining, “I’ve worked with people who are heads-down in email and only surface to offer random comments specific to their projects. Don’t be so predictable that your only comments and questions relate to your area of the business.” The lesson here is that Eric is a high potential employee and has been rated to be in the top 4% in a 90,000 people organization every year consistently for the last 17 years. He is credited for coming up with innovative solutions and products that cut across synergies of different businesses. It’s a great example of how a simple principle like Be Present can enhance your performance tremendously. How do we get to an “Insight”?
Insight is the ability to have a sudden “aha” moment go off in your head to a problem you have been trying to solve for a while. For many of us its often at a time when we are not thinking about this at all – like the middle of the night, when in the shower etc . Wag Dodge for instance, could never explain where his idea for the escape fire came from. In 1949, 13 fire-fighters tragically lost their lives in the Mann Gulf fire disaster in Montana,USA. Wag Dodge, was one of three survivors. The fire fighters were in a blind gully when the wind changed direction and swept the fire towards them. The flames were 20 feet high and moving faster than they could run. They had nowhere to go; the walls of the gully were too steep. Think about it, trapped by a fire racing towards you with nowhere to go, what would you do? An impossible problem! How would you survive? Wag's solution was to light a fire downwind of him! The wind blew the flames ahead of him and left a burnt patch. He crouched down in the burnt patch and was saved. This practice is now included in fire fighting techniques. Neuroscientists believe that these ”insight experiences“ have a certain sequence. The first of these is the impasse: before there can be a breakthrough, there has to be a mental block. Wag Dodge spent minutes running from the fire, although he was convinced that doing so was futile. Then, when the insight arrived, Dodge immediately realized that the problem was solved. This is another key feature of insight: the feeling of certainty that accompanies the idea. Dodge didn't have time to think about whether his plan would work. He simply knew that it would. In my work as a consultant to business leaders, I have learnt to distinguish Business Challenges into Technical and Adaptive Challenges. Technical Challenges are known challenges, have a fixed sequence to solving them and some may require some more time and effort to solve one from another. Adaptive Challenges are quite different. They have no known solution – the skills and answers are outside ones repertoire. Adaptive Challenges are those you have to grow into solving and require mobilizing minds to operate differently. Luckily, these skills can be learned regardless of position or function. Adaptive Challenges are the ones that need the “Insight” Different people may find different challenges “adaptive”. For as senior executive who has moved many countries and done several turnaround operations – another such role is a technical challenge – differing in scale or complexity. However for another who has never moved out of his or her home country and worked only in an established business it could be an adaptive challenge. The process we have used to help people work through an adaptive challenge is as follows · Identify the Adaptive Challenge ( example inability to break into a new market) · Identify what learning, new skills, behaviors need to be acquired · Center Yourself - Find a quiet place within yourself/breathe · Involve other – they may have another perspective · Get on the “Balcony”- Step back and see the big picture. · Listen to the song beneath the words- Listen to what’s not being said by reading non-verbal signals The prefrontal cortex (PFC) is the very front of the brain, located right beneath the forehead .It is responsible for the executive functions, which include mediating conflicting thoughts, making choices between right and wrong or good and bad, predicting future events, and governing social control like losing one’s temper or getting overly flustered. It is the brain centre most that primarily anchors ones sentience, human general intelligence, and personality.
David Rock in his book Your Brain at Work explains the Pre-fontal Cortex to be like the “stage with a director”. At any given point in time there are a limited number of actors who can be on stage for the audience to see them clearly and focus on what they are doing. Should the director be out of control and allow too many actors on stage, the stage will be chaotic. The whole focus here is to keep making your director stronger so that you are clear about who will stay on and who will stay off stage at any point in time. When I work with Senior Leaders who need to manage a transition (moving to a senior role/new business/new country) I help them build a very strong “director” and help them understand that the stage cannot be overcrowded at any point in time to effectively manage this transition. In any transition there has to be an ending and a beginning (allowing new actors with new scripts onto the stage and ensuring that old actors are off stage). The other important aspect in a transition is the first 90 days. A leader has to be focused on his deliverables to earn his or her credibility – which means the director not just ensures that the stage is optimal and the actors are the right number but decisions on who to keep on and off stage at what time, when to pay close attention to something that needs more focus, when to take a step back and reflect to see what impact he/she may be having, or what one needs to “unlearn” in this new environment. Therefore the 90-day transition plan must build in aspects to help a leader strengthen focus, impact and enough reflection time to help be successful. |
AuthorKalpana Sinha is a Leadership and Organisation Professional. Her blog has reflections from her work experiences of over 20 years. Archives
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