We are talking about how we ‘show up‘ at work. <Part I: The Dept. of Why?>

Advances in neuroscience in the last 20 years have taught us more about the brain than the previous 500 years. Every leader, organizational effectiveness professional, change agent should be reading about the brain and how it makes us who we are. It also gives us insight into how we can change, if we so desire.

“Can we fix it? Yes, we can!”

Can we fix it? is a perfect example. It is a simple neurological practice. The basis is this.* One test group of people are asked to repeat twenty times over: “I can fix it!” Then they are given problems to ‘fix.’

Another test group is asked to repeat this sentence twenty times: “Can I fix it?” Then they are given the same problems to ‘fix.’

Which group does best in the problem-solving?

If you said: the group which is reflective and questioning, questing and open-minded, you are CORRECT! Congratulations.

Pondering a problem, perhaps with the possibility that you might not succeed, gets to better outcomes than declaring definitively that you will get there.

Counter-intuitive, perhaps? Perhaps. Still, the take-away for me is this: ask questions, reflect, be open-minded to the possibilities, be prepared to fail. This approach gets you further, though maybe not faster.

Bob the Builder had it right: “Can we fix it? Yes, we can!”

←This Much We Know.→

*And, apologies for the lack of source. I read it recently but did not note the source material. Some basic internet searches did not reveal it – it might have been from a neurology book.