" Keeping the Brain On-side “ (Working with the Brain so that HR is the Core Business) (FHRI CEOs Conference) Fiji

"Keeping the Brain On-side“ (Working with the Brain so that HR is the Core Business) (FHRI CEOs Conference) Fiji April 2014 Bill Synnot

Professional Background A change management practitioner, trainer & consultant with 40+ years experience. Worked in Australia (included regional & outback) plus internationally in Middle East, USA, South-east Asia, China, Japan, Indian sub-continent, Pacific, etc 700+ world-wide clients in range of sectors (private, public, local, co-operative, professional, not-for-profit, etc) Coming to Fiji since 2001 and worked with 50+ clients including TFL & subsidiaries, NFPF, WWF, USP, FEA, Housing Authority, Motabhai, Vinod Patel, Punjas, etc Co-authored book (2nd printing of 2nd edition), USB & published articles in a range of journals. Regularly presents at conferences (including international) For 15+ years has conducted public and in-house Masterclasses/workshops on change management

Topics to be Covered Introduction 9 cognitive bias in decision-making Neuroscience, Evolutionary physiology 9 basic human instincts Resistance Some techniques

What do these Successful People have in Common? Richard Branson (Virgin group of companies) Kerry Packer (Consolidated group of Aust companies) Charles Schwab (discount brokerage firm) John Chambers (Cisco) Paul Orfalea (Kinko) Walt Disney (Disney Entertainment) Ted Turner (CNN) Kerry Stokes (Media baron in Australia) Brian Grazer (Film producer – Splash, Apollo 13, 8 Mile & A Beautiful Mind) Gary Cohn (President of Goldman Sachs) David Boies(famous US trial lawyer)

Answer All suffer from varying degrees of Dyslexia NB It is claimed that around 1/3 of successful entrepreneurs are dyslexic. They have turned a neurological mal-function into a success!!!!

Dyslexia – a disability? Brain-based learning disability where people have a problem hearing & manipulating sounds. Most commonly displayed by poorreading (fluency, comprehension, speed, etc.), writing & spelling ability. It has no impact on memory, number calculations, etc As it can cause feelings of insecurity & humiliation, many sufferers are in prison, ie unable to handle the disorder & exhibit anti-social behaviours

Develop Skills to Handle & Compensate for Dyslexia As the condition limits reading skills, successful sufferers - extract only vital information, ie simplify issues to their basics - prefer face-to-face meetings (importance of non-verbals like gestures, tone of voice, etc) become good listeners develop good memory skills

(Develop Skills to Handle & Compensate for Dyslexia cont.) Used to failure so they are willing to take risks, ie nothing to lose Learn to delegate Develop resilience & persistence as they are regarded as outsiders, ie rule breakers Think differently (good for creativity)

Successful Organisation (30 high profile & successful firms over 100 years old) 1 Consistent set of values 2 Willingness to change 3 People are the most important assets 4 Conservatism in financing 5 Actively foster a learning environment Organise for continuity, ie succession planning NB Most are linked with HR!!!!!!

The Keys to Understanding the Science Behind the Art of HR Management Neuroscience, ie understanding how the brain works & the network of causation inside our brains Linked with this is an increased focus on understanding i) evolutionary physiology ii) 9 basic human instincts iii) 9cognitive bias in decision-making

Cognitive Bias (9) in Decision-making(Tunnel Vision) We all have cognitive biases, such as Confirmation bias Anchoring Heuristic effect Motivated errors Salient analogies or Survivorship Halo effect Hindsight or Intuition Stereo-typing Automation

Cognitive Illusions or Biased in Decision-making (9) We all have cognitive biases, such as Confirmation bias (focus on evidence that supports our point of view, beliefs, etc) Anchoring(too much weight on 1 piece of information) Heuristic effect (for a preferred option, we minimise risks while exaggerating its benefits; do opposite for something we dislike; this applies especially when under pressure) Motivated errors (involves intentional deception, self-deception, ie decisions are biased in direction of self-interest) Salient analogies or survivorship (do not properly assess mistakes & focus on repeating past successes &/or most recent experiences)

(Cognitive Illusions or Biased in Decision-making (9) cont.)(Tunnel Vision) Hindsight or Intuition (too much confidence on in past experience; habit; rewriting the past ; routine thinking; gut feeling) Halo effect (over-simplify a story plus link results to personalities; sequence matters, ie first impression dominates; good/bad people do good/bad things) Stereo-typing (a typical personality description for a group of people, ie classifying them all as the same) Automation(too much faith in accuracy of output from machines & computers)

(Cognitive Bias in Decision-making cont.) Some examples of cognitive bias – please answer the following 6 questions 1. A bat and ball cost $1.10 in total. The bat costs a dollar more than the ball. How much does the ball cost? 2. It takes five machines five minutes to make five widgets. How long would it take a hundred machines to make a hundred widgets? 3. A patch of lily pad on a lake doubles in size every day. It takes 48 days for the patch to cover the entire lake. How long would it take to cover half the lake? 4. A person can only count to 11 yet he/she has to check that there are 48 oranges in a box. How does he/she do it? 5. A person living on the 9th floor of a building always uses the lift/elevator to go to the ground floor. Except when it is raining, on returning to the building he/she always uses the lift/elevator to go to the 7th floor and walks the stairs to the remaining two floors to his/her apartment. Why?

(Cognitive Bias in Decision-making cont.) 6. What do the numbers 3, 7, 8, 40, 50 and 60 have in common that is not true for any other numbers? 7. What is the importance of the following sequence of letters (O, T, T, F, F, S, S, E, N, T) ? 8. Why are manholes round? 9. How many animals of each kind did Moses take into the ark? 10. Who am I? Some clues - a successful political leader of a major world power - one of the youngest political leaders in the nation's history - sworn into office on a cold and cloudy day in January - raised as a Catholic - successful in this new position in part because of my vibrant charisma - revered by the people - played a critical role in a military crisis - my name became legendary

Neuroscience (biopsychology) It is the study of anatomy & physiology of the brain & its integration with other disciplines, such as psychology (the study of the human mind & human behaviour). It involves understanding that the brain (the physical organ) works with the mind (the human consciousness that thinks, feels, acts, perceives, etc). Since 1990s, imaging of blood flows & electrical impulses in the brain by Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (FMRI) There are 1 hundred billion neurons in the brain

Diagram of the Brain

Changing Behaviours Changing one’s behaviour is hard, eg only 1 in 9 people who underwent heart surgery changed their life-style. Yet these people had the ultimate motivation, ie possible death. Changing other people’s behaviour is even harder and changing a group’s behaviour is harder still !!!! Neuroscience helps explain this as it brings into focus the science behind the art of management by recognising the importance of the brain and how it works

Brain Preferences Signature Write your usual signature on a piece of paper Now redo it using your other hand Using your “unnatural” hand takes longer and requires more effort

(Neuroscience cont.) The 3 main functions of the brain/mind are i) Automatic/Auto-pilot Functions (Reptilian – controls breathing, heart beat, sleeping, etc) ii) Routine/Habit Functions (Amygdale, Basal Ganglia, etc- controls emotions/feelings like rage, pleasure, fear, etc) iii) Executive Functions(Cortex, especially pre-frontal, etc - controls thinking, speech, vision, memories, creativity, problem solving, etc)

(Neuroscience cont.) The brain is energy hungry, ie is 2% of body weight but uses 20%of its energy NBExecutive function thinking is the most exhausting of the 3 functions Cognitive Ease/Law of Least Effort/ Lazy Brain, ie the brain will choose the path of least resistance, like water flowing in a river

(Neuroscience cont.) Whole brain approach (not left v right) The brain is like a muscle (use it or lose it). There is no limit to its plasticity & connectivity

Importance of oxygen, water, food (glucose), exercise & sleep The brain needs oxygen (it can do without water & food for longer than oxygen) Importance of deepbreathing, ie handle stress The brain is around 80% water - most unprocessed foods are around 70%water colour of urine test

(Importance of oxygen, water, food (glucose), exercise & sleep cont.) Need to keep glucose (energy) & water levels up to ensure that brain is functioning OK Takes 15 minutes for glucose to go from stomach to brain The most important meal is breakfast Exercise clears the brain, ie our bodies are built for walking up to 20 km per day.

(Importance of oxygen, water, food (glucose), exercise & sleep cont.) Sleep Our brain and bodies need adequate sleep. At least 3 purposes of sleep i) restoration ii) regulation (circadian rhythm) iii) learning and memorising Inadequate sleep causes “sleep squeeze” that has a negative impact on learning, creativity, problem-solving and imagination Power nap (10 minutes) - very effective Catching-up on sleep – go to bed early

(Importance of oxygen, water, food (glucose), exercise & sleep cont.) Lack of energy and/or water and/or sleep impacts adversely on executive functions, eg - making poor decisions choosing impulsively being cranky struggling with problem solving/memory tasks Ideally don’t want an organisation of hungry, tired &/or thirsty people who don’t breathe correctly!!!!!

(Neuroscience cont.) The brain/mindis an error-detecting machine (survival) with a default position that focuses on 6 areas threat response dominates reward ii) foe/competitor response dominates friend iii) not rational iv) making quick decisions v) follows path of least resistance vi) better with stories than processing data

(Neuroscience - brain/mind error detecting cont.) threat response dominates reward - concern of perceived threats, especially to status levels, by asking “why” questions, feedback, solving others’ problem(s), etc (NB Perceived threats are subjective) - if one feels under threat, there is a tendency to be “hawkish”, ie fight rather than flight or freeze - word used, ie framing, can give impression of threat or not

(Neuroscience - brain/mind - error detecting cont.) - minimise danger/maximise reward, ie “away/towards” approach; with towards being more productive than away need to reduce threats & increase rewards (interesting, pleasurable, important, etc) neuro-chemicals play an important role

(Neuroscience - brain/mind - error detecting cont.) Neuro-chemicals Reward response involves increased levels of “good” neuro-chemicals like dopamine, serotonin, oxytocins (bonding hormone) & testosterone that lower stress, etc and reduce “bad” onesused in “flight/fight/freeze” like cortisol, epinephrine, adrenaline, etc These “bad” hormones are at chronic levels or constantly elevated owing to the increasing life stresses. They are OK in short bursts to protect life against some immediate threat but are harmful if at a chronic levels

(Neuroscience - brain/mind - error detecting cont.) Ways to improve this situation is by - showing more compassion (caring for others) reducing the rugged individualism approach This decreases stress hormones, boosts the immune system & increases longevity. Importance of creating a work environment that reduces stress & increases passion about working there

(Nine Basic Human Instincts cont.) Loss Aversion Test Q. You are offered a gamble on the toss of a coin. - if the coin shows tails, you lose $100 - if the coin shows heads, you win $150 Would you accept the gamble?

(Nine Basic Human Instincts cont.) Loss Aversion Test – Answer If the fear of losing $100 is more intense than the chance of gaining $150, then you are risk averse, ie losses loom larger than gains Generally, if the potential gain is increased to $200,almost all accept the gamble

(Neuroscience - brain/mind - error detecting cont.) ii)foe/competitor response dominates friend - we tend to withdraw (withhold information) & treat others as foe (with suspicion) unless we establish a rapport to develop a “friend response” like - a “toward” response (chance to connect at a human level)

(Neuroscience - brain/mind - error detecting cont.) iii) making quick decisions “...we are wired to detect patterns and to respond to opportunities & threats without hesitation...” Nate Silver This means that we are good at simplifications generalisations approximations but poor at looking at probabilities handling risk & uncertainty, ie unknowns questioning our assumptions & beliefs We favour casual explanations even when not true

(Neuroscience - brain/mind - error detecting cont.) iv) not rational Rational conveys an image of greater deliberation, more calculation & less warmth; with a person’s beliefs and preferences being reasonable Yet non-psychologists, especially economists, look at rationality as being internally consistent rather than reasonable Humans are not irrational but need help to make more accurate judgements and better decisions People act in ways that seem odd, ie not in their long-term interest, but they could have a good reason to do so, ie people choosing not to save for old age or exposing themselves to addictive substances To be rational requires more effort

(Neuroscience cont.) The brain/mind Lower the threat response and increase in positive emotions, frees up the prefrontal cortex for thinking, etc Protect or enhance status, ie people will go to extra-ordinary lengths to protect or enhance status Social organ importance of quality & quantity of social connection/interaction it is a basic need like food, shelter & water

(Neuroscience - the brain/mind – social organ cont.) thrives on quality social connections while loneliness generates a threat response in a non-threatening environment, people perform better (includes creativity) talking about an idea strengthens it a greater positive response is activated when giving rather than receiving

(Neuroscience - the brain/mind cont.) Need to focus attention from sensory inputs (sight, sound, smell, etc) to strengthen, or start, neural connections. NB When cells fire together, they wire together (Hebb’s Law) importance of repetition NB Too much focus means that we can miss things that are not in the focus area but this state allows us to respond quickly to threats or opportunities to improve the chance of survival Best to build on strong, in-place connections as harder to start with new connections

(Neuroscience - the brain/mind cont.) Prefers questions on solutions to problems as latter are seen as a threat use solution-focused questions rather than giving advice on ‘what to do “ or “what not to do” questions about solutions are a good way to increase attention/focus.

(Neuroscience - the brain/mind cont.) Need to reduce distractions and/or task switching Competing parts, eg conflict of thoughts (positive v negative), keeping a secret (stress), etc Likes certainty and favours novelty Be curious & show interest

(Neuroscience - the brain/mind cont.) Experiences emotional and physical pain in same part of brain - emotional pain stronger than physical as memory is attached Fairness is a primary need - a sense of fairness or unfairness creates a strong reward or threat response - concept of fairness is a key driver of behaviour

(Neuroscience - the brain/mind cont.) Arousal v performance (inverted U-theory)

Most Common Management Errors in Change Management (cont.) Right amount of arousal maximises performance but too much arousal can reduce performance. ie more is not necessarily better; it can make things worse. It is all about limits. The same strategy that works well at first stops working after a certain point. Some examples happiness v. income, ie in USA happiness improves with increasing income but peaks at US $75,000 and then decreases ii) alcohol v. health, ie a small amount is good for you, while too much is bad for your health

(Neuroscience - the brain/mind cont.) Imagining can be just as powerful as actually doing it for creating or strengthening neural connections, ie placebo impact (works on pre-frontal cortex) For insights/brainwaves to occur the brain needs to be “quiet” (reduced electrical activity) beforehand via reflection, mindlessness, etc

(Neuroscience – insight s- cont.) think big picture (don’t focus on detail) humour is important need to increase positive emotions reduceanxiety as it makes people’s views narrower and the brain noisier simplify a problem in a few words as possible, ie less is more (this helps reduce the load on the prefrontal cortex) encourage people to think about their own thinking better, ie to see things they have not seen before

1stExercise re Insight Answer the following questions i) What gets wetter the more it dries? ii) What’s a reward for waiting? iii) What can you put inside a barrel to make it lighter? iv) In what place does Thursday precede Wednesday? v) What eats but never swallows? vi) Name 3 days in sequence which are not Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday & Sunday?

Comments on Insight Activities How did you solve the problems, ie did you logically work it out or did the answer come to you in a flash? when you got the answer, did you know it was correct straight away?

(Comments on Insight Activities cont.) Insights often appear to come from nowhere and at the most unusual times, eg when you are putting no conscious effort into solve a problem, such as in the shower, when doing exercise, relaxing, driving, waking-up, etc Insights come from instinctive thinking, ie unable to explain how the thinking process works This is different to deliberate thinking, ie using a structured approach (systematically/logically). This approach works best when you have time computer assistance a clearly defined task.

(Neuroscience cont.) Linear tasking (not multi-tasking) as brain operates sequentially, ie prefers one thing at a time. Be careful of “bottle necks” clutching-up the brain (information overload) switching (every 12 minutes), etc (These habits will reduce the strength of connections)

(Neuroscience cont.) Memories brain holds around 3 terabytes of information but around 2.5 quintillion bytes extra information generated per day. Needs to be selective and thus feeds our biases are storage of past experiences that the brain uses to evaluate new experiences memories are fragile & can change intuition works on memories

(Neuroscience - memories cont.) it is easier to hold old memories than create new ones traditional brain-storming focuses too much on “old” memories short-term memory has limited storage space To help memory, use labelling and/or chunking Lag (0.2 second) between when mind makes a decision and when you know about it

SCARF Elements used to move “away from threats” and “towards rewards” Status (feeling superior/inferior to others) Certainty (like familiar situations; reduce the fear of the unknown) Autonomy (having control, ie making own decisions) Relatedness (belong to same group or not) Fairness (the way people are treated)

(Neuroscience cont.) Summary Choice of working with the brain or against it, ie bebrain-friendly to encourage a culture more receptive to change

(Neuroscience cont.) Using the brain more effectively in change by reducing: i) information overload ii) inhibitions & distractions iii) demands on its attention iv) retrieval from deep, long-term memory v) amount of time “always on” (24/7) vi) excessive stress/novelty/arousal vii) life-style imbalance as we have limited resources

(Neuroscience cont.) Using the brain more effectively: i) reduce information overload - need to prioritise - holds no more than 4 concepts at once - reduce the number of decisions in the “queue” - empty short-term memory - write things down - keep agenda items under 7, etc

(Neuroscience cont.) ii) reduce inhibitions & distractions - need to reduce external & internal thoughts/ activities - learn to say “no” - delegate - prioritise, etc iii) reduce demands on its attention - by regularly alternate between modes of thinking/learning/activities like visual, auditory, kinetic, etc

(Neuroscience cont. ) iv) reduce retrieval from deep, long-term memory - activate short-term memory by making activities/thinking more routine, etc v) reduce amount of time “always on” (24/7) - take regular breaks get enough sleep, have adequate relaxation do suitable exercise maintain hobbies, etc

(Neuroscience cont. ) vi) reduce excessive stress/novelty/arousal - achieve stimulation via positive stress use positive expectations or humour to generate arousal (alertness & interest) rather than fear/ anxiety, etc vii) reduce life-style imbalance as we have limited resources - need to eat for energy drink water breathe (oxygen) correctly adequate sleep, etc

Activity on Impasse What does the array or group of letters (H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O) stand for? Record the strategies you tried and when you got stuck?

Evolutionary Psychology Evolutionary Psychology is based on 5 convergent sources of scientific research. Anthropology Behavioural Genetics Neuropsychology Palaeontology Social Psychology

(Evolutionary Psychology cont.) “…you can take the person out of the Stone Age……but you cannot take the Stone Age out of the person…” Nigel Nicholson After 10,000s of years of hunting, gathering & cave/village dwelling, mankind began to work in offices & factories only 250 years ago. Offices/factories are not our natural habitat.

(Evolutionary Psychology cont.) We are still hard-wired with the mentality of persons living in caves, jungles and/or on the savannah!!!!!! This conflicts with some management theories that state that people can change with training and/or motivation

(p. 58) (p. 58)

(Evolutionary Psychology cont.) “…technology giveth, technology taketh away…” Chris Ruen The major consequence of this is our brains have not kept pace with change, especially technology Evolution occurs on millennial time scales, whereas computer processing power doubles roughly every other year This is linked with another problem. To handle potential danger, we have developed quick pattern-recognition skills, eg does something mean danger? In the modern, fast-paced world awash with data, this skill can cause problems, ie we can see patterns where there are none

Resistance to Change “…we embrace change we control and resist change forced upon us...” Peter de Jager We resist change if it is done without our consent and we have little or no control over the process Change pushes our brain into the most energy expensive area, ie executive function. The brainprefers not to go there as it will use too much of its available mental energy. It can become unpleasant & painful

Crossword(Activity to encourage divergent thinking) CLUES: ACROSSDOWN 1. a vegetable 1. a blow or hit 2. female sheep 2. Judy’s friend 3. laying eggs 3. for making holes 4. ocean 4. a party drink 5.for dropping

Mindset Changes Writing in space Bulgarian bulldozers Railways and optic fibres Post it notes Shoes in Africa Nelson Mandela No game, more pain Houdini’s lucky escape Four-minute mile

Thinking Outside the Box

Six Thinking Hats Process (p. 171) The 6 thinking hats that help structure a meeting so that it is more productive White (factual information gathering) Red(emotion, feelings, intuition, gut feeling) Green (creative thinking, other possibilities, ideas, imagination ) Black (risks, caution, dangers, critical appraisal, what can go wrong) Yellow (benefits, advantages, good points, optimism, potential) Blue (defining goals & thinking process plus overview, summary) “...a person with a new idea is a crank until the idea succeeds...” Mark Twain

Mind Mapping Guidelines for Mind Mapping

Mind Mapping (p 19) The visual language of our thoughts. Made popular by Tony Buzan (Mind Map (1990) & Radiant Thinking (1994). Sometimes called “story lines”. Mind mapping reflex the radiant nature of the brain at work

Reasons for not Giving a Dog to a 5-year old

Six Thinking Hats Process (p. 171) The 6 thinking hats that help structure a meeting, investigate a challenge, etc so that it is more productive White (factual information gathering) Red(emotion, feelings, intuition, gut feeling) Green (creative thinking, other possibilities, ideas, imagination ) Black (risks, caution, dangers, critical appraisal, what can go wrong) Yellow (benefits, advantages, good points, optimism, potential) Blue (defining goals & thinking process plus overview, summary)

Overview on 5 Volumes on CD 1. Background to change (including pre-test, characteristics of a successful organisation, trends, common management errors, etc); 60+ alternative change frameworks with detailed explanations; case studies 2. Using 7 Ingredients as a framework to plan, establish, develop, implement, check progress, audit performance, and monitor & evaluate an organisational transition 3. The change implementation techniques (around 70) for Ingredient 1 4. The change implementation techniques(around 70) for Ingredient 2 5. The balance of 250+ change implementation techniquesfor Ingredients 3 to 7; creativity; customer management; answers to pre-test and case studies; 2,000+ pages; 1,300+ references and acknowledgments, etc.

More Information Book (The Toolbox for Change: a practical approach) – 60 user-friendly techniques discounted to F$ 70.00 USB (5 volumes; 1300+ references; 60+ change frameworks & 250+ implementation techniques, etc) discounted to F$ 499.00 3. Masterclasses (public & in-house) – Australia (Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide & Brisbane), USA (Orlando), NZ (Auckland),Fiji (Suva – April 15 & 16, 2014 at USP), Solomon Islands (Honiara), PNG (Port Moresby) Contact Bill on or Taito Tabaleka P: +61 418 196 707 P: +67 9 9301 890 E: Bill@billsynnotandassociates.com.au E: ttabaleka7@gmail.com W: www.billsynnotandassociates.com.au

" Keeping the Brain On-side “ (Working with the Brain so that HR is the Core Business) (FHRI CEOs Conference) Fiji