Part Three: My insights from the London Neuroscience Conference 2013

More insights for the London Neuroscience Conference 2013:

Day two kicked off with a very good session on performance management. The observation was that most PM processes create a threat response. They also in practice have an unclear purpose; articulated as improving performance but the actual outcome is compensation management. 

Also implicitly most processes assume a fixed mindset; people are hired as talented and capable, or not, rather than a growth mindset; people can grow and develop thorough effort and training. A focus on the social elements and the quality of the conversation shifts the experience of PM.

There was excellent input which dispelled the myth that to change performance management from being primarily a threat to a more brain-savvy approach means losing structure and accountability.

Performance Management is clearly an area where we will see a lot more discussion over the coming months. The challenge was thrown out that HR must stop making incremental changes and rethink the purpose of performance management and the results being obtained based on the company purpose and an understanding of how humans actually respond.

Part Two: My insights from the London Neuroscience Conference 2013

A new model was presented that looked at how to accelerate wisdom in leaders. Recognising traditional methods of developing leaders through rotations etc is too slow and often misses what we need from leaders in today’s business as opposed to yesterday’s. The aim was to see what neuroscience can tell us about developing leaders faster.

The model really represents the different processes leaders must employ and the areas of the brain responsible for each. 

The model covers areas such as:

Goal attainment; the importance of pragmatism,

Emotional balance; social and personal regulation

Tolerance; the importance of social connection

Self-understanding; through direct experience

Dealing with ambiguity; fostering insight 

There was a rather good discussion on the panel about how these can be practically fostered in work including examples like Standard Chartered Bank taking managers to China to really get a sense of the country before creating their strategy for the region. 

Most people felt the model wasn’t really about wisdom, and there was lots of debate about what that meant anyway, but more about accelerating quality leadership. 

The panel also mentioned that in order to accelerate the development of leaders the neuroscience can point to some interesting methods including mindfulness which has been shown to have a beneficial impact across most of the areas in the model. 

However, the panel also observed it is a challenge to get leaders to practice mindfulness so whilst you are building up to persuading your leaders to be more mindful.

I believe learning about how the brain works can provide some similar benefits as people begin to be more aware of their own responses. Certainly my work with leaders would bear this out. 

Alleviating stress at work

 
We can all benefit from some simple steps to avoid unnecessary stress and maximize our  mental energy during the workday here a few tips.

 Begin with a quiet brisk walk which is excellent for thinking. The location should be familiar to avoid the destruction of new outside stimuli.  

Don't carry a cell phone. Let the mind wander, always try for the big picture, of the details. This can be the best and most important part of the day

Chat with someone over breakfast or coffee about the day ahead. After the free-floating thoughts of the walk, the discipline that comes from talking helps organize the line.

Do not begin the day with meetings. Take time to organize. Do a quick review of emails, deleting the less important ones and leaving the meaningful one for later. Set specific times  to review messages during the day-do not fall victim to constant digital interruption. 

Have times when the doors open for anyone to come in unannounced, but also have times when the door is closed for private Thoughts.

Despite the project instantly respond to business issues try to postpone even the most urgent matters to allow for quite reflection. Even a couple of hours can make a difference.

Use the lunch break to disconnect from the mornings problems. Discuss issues totally unrelated to company matters. 

In mid afternoon, stop to read an article related to professional industry but not specific to your company. This typically starts a new train of thought connect eventually with  something you were working on. 

At the end of the day, spend time with family and friends, preferably not talking about work. Become immersed in something different and engaging in music or reading. The fresh perspective helps reset the brain for tomorrow's challenges. Meanwhile, all the connections that you have major they are working in the unconscious.

Throughout the day, try to remember this statement: "if you do one thing at a time, there aren't enough hours in the day to deal with every problem; but if we try to do more than one thing at a time, there are not enough days in a year to get anything done." By not becoming a slave to reactivity and by dealing manage without rushing we avoid excess stress. 

Facts about the brain.

Facts about Human Brain

Human brain is the most mysterious thing ever known. Various experiments and tests are being performed to understand it well from a long time. God is the biggest engineer. His creations are far beyond our understandings and imaginations. One of those creations is Brain. Let’s have a look at some interesting facts about Human Brain. Feel free to share your views with us via comments below.

Some Stats about Human Brain:

• Weight of Human Brain is 3 pounds.
• If brain doesn’t get air for 4-6 minutes, it will start to die.
• Number of neurons in Brain is 100 million.
• Number of synapses for each neuron in Human brain is 1,000-10,000.
• Brain constitutes 80 % water.

Some Interesting Facts about Human Brain:

Storage capacity of Human Brain is between 3 and 1,000 Terabytes.

Yes, Scientists believe that a normal functioning brain can store 5 times information than Encyclopedia Britannica which is of 70 TB in size.

Human Brain uses 20% of the Oxygen that enters the Bloodstream.

Brain is such a small portion of body that it makes only 2% of body mass; still it uses 20% of oxygen.

Brain is more active at night than day.

This is strange. Even scientists don’t know the exact reason yet. But this is true. This is the reason why solutions of some difficult problems that you couldn’t solve strike you during sleep.

• Number of neurons in brain keeps growing throughout life.
• People with great I.Q have more dreams during night.
• Brain doesn’t have pain receptors. It doesn’t feel pain.

You must have wondered, why you laugh when someone tickles you but you don’t laugh when you tickle yourself. This is due to your smart brain; it knows that you are tickling. So, it doesn’t react.

Have proper lunch for a better IQ.

Various studies in New York concluded that those who have proper and healthy lunch perform 14% better in IQ tests.

You are virtually paralyzed during sleep.

Brain creates a hormone when you sleep that prevents your body to act your dream.

Curious about sleep?

Thirty-six percent of our lives are spent asleep, which means, if you live to 90, you’ll have slept for 32 years. But we don’t appreciate sleep enough. To make the point here are some quotes:

Thomas Edison — “Sleep is a criminal waste of time, inherited from our cave days” — and Margaret Thatcher — “Sleep is for wimps.” Simply put not only do we not appreciate sleep, but we treat it like an illness and an enemy.

Of course this simply shouldn’t be the case. In fact, some areas of the brain are more active during the sleep stage than while the body is awake. But the essential question that we lose sleep over: Why do we sleep? There is no real consensus, but here are three popular answers:

1. Sleep is for restoration, to replenish and repair metabolic processes. Indeed, a whole host of genes are “turned on” only during sleep — genes associated with restoration and metabolic pathways.

2. Sleep is for energy conservation, to save calories. This may seem an intuitive answer except that the difference between sleeping and quietly resting is about 110 calories a night, the equivalent of a hot dog bun. Not a very good upshot for such a complex process.

3. Finally, sleep is for brain processing and memory consolidation. Studies show that if you prevent people from sleeping after a learning task, their ability to learn is basically smashed. And worse, our abilities to come up with novel solutions after a complex task are reduced after sleep deprivation.

The danger of sleep deprivation can’t be stressed enough. For one thing, sleep-deprived people fall asleep involuntarily, taking “microsleeps” they can’t control. Thirty-one percent of drivers will fall asleep while driving at least once in their lifetime. That is: 100,000 accidents a year happen because of tiredness.

For those who want to take control of their sleep habits here are some tips:

1. Decrease your amount of light exposure at least half an hour before you go to bed.

2. Make your room a bedroom a haven for sleep by making it dark and cool.

3. Turn off your mobile phones, computers and anything that will excite the brain.

4. Don’t drink caffeine after lunch.

5. Increase light exposure when you wake up.

Let's also bust some myths:

1. Teenagers are lazy? Nope. Their biological clocks make them sleep and wake later.

2. You need 8 hours of sleep a day? Nope. That’s just an average.

3. Older people need less sleep? Nope. Sleep demands of the age don’t slow down.

4. Early to bed, early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise. Nope. Just wrong, on many levels. It just makes you more smug.

According to  research, genes that have been shown to be important in the generation of sleep, when muted, predispose individuals to mental-health problems. It's suggested that sleep levels could be used as an early warning signals for illnesses like schizophrenia. Research has found that schizophrenia patients stay awake during the night phase, asleep during day, suggesting that sleep and mental illness aren’t simply associated, they are physically linked. Which opens the door for sleep to be used as a new therapeutic target.

How to deliver a solid presentation.

From time to time, we are all faced with the challenge of delivering an effective presentation or communicating with others effectively to get our message across at work.

To deliver an effective presentation, it is important to first understand the communication model and the three components of communication.

The communication model begins with the sender (you). The sender encodes the message, the message goes through your chosen channel (such as a PowerPoint presentation), and the receiver (your audience) will then decode your message and respond with their feedback. There are also three very key elements that are the makeup of effective communication: 10 per cent content, 35 per cent vocal qualities, and 55 per cent body language and facial expressions.

Now that you understand the communication process, here are some tips on delivering an effective presentation:

Know your audience

It is very important to know your audience so that you can strategically relate your presentation topic and method of delivery to your audience. For example, if your audience is a panel of recruiters at a sales company (yes, an interview is probably one of your most important presentations!), you will need to dress professionally and present your work experiences and skills in a professional manner.

Use visuals

Most of us are visual learners, and it can truly make your presentation so much better if you use visuals, such as images, diagrams, charts and videos, to support your presentation and message.

The classic presentation approach

Tell them what you are going to tell them, tell them, and tell them what you just told them.

This is the classic presentation approach that will help keep your presentation smooth and organized. Begin with an agenda, then the body of your presentation content, and finish off with a summary and conclusion.

How to leave your work at the office in the age of the ubiquitous smartphone.

At the end of last year, the number of smartphones used around the world reached a colossal one billion. For businesses, the perks of technology advancements are endless. This is the case most of the time for consumers as well. However, with the world at your fingertips 24/7, it’s easy to feel like you always need to be connected — especially when starting a new job.

S0 how do you leave work at work when it follows you home every day in the form of a mobile device?

Speak up

It’s likely that the person contacting you in the evening or on weekends has no comprehension of how you spend your time outside of work. If there seems to be a common denominator when it comes to who’s seeping into your “you” time, talk to them about it! Simply ask them to hold off on sending work-related emails during non-work hours unless it’s truly urgent. Most people will understand.

Step outside yourself

Take a moment to see how others may feel about your smartphone habits. Whether it’s your friend, parent or child, no one likes the feeling that you’re prioritizing your attention to your device over them. So drop the phone and focus your attention on what really matters in that moment.

Learn to separate the importance of notifications

When you hear your phone go off, you likely go into a thought process that consists of: I wonder who that is? I wonder what it’s about? I wonder if it’s important? I wonder if I should check that? And so on. But not every alert is an urgent matter. Chances are, if it’s something truly earth-shattering, the person trying to reach you will do so by calling.

Let go of the guilt

When you don’t respond within a prompt time frame (for many people, that means immediately), you may feel like you’re slacking. The truth is, unless you’re being paid to be on the clock at all times, you’re allowed to have work-free time.