I am the Chief Energizing Officer for the Matchbox Group. We ignite. involve. inspire.
I am a keynote speaker, author and positive change agent.
I energize people to improve their cultures.
matchboxgroup.com
Ignite Passion and Performance with User Friendly Brain Tools
I am the Chief Energizing Officer for the Matchbox Group. We ignite. involve. inspire.
I am a keynote speaker, author and positive change agent.
I energize people to improve their cultures.
matchboxgroup.com
“Hope without critical thinking leads to naïveté and critical thinking without hope leads to cynicism. To survive, we need both.” Maria Popova
“if you combine those two mental qualities [you achieve] wisdom… The absence of both gets you apathy.” Coert’s Visser
These wise insights capture beautifully what I often teach. What gives us the most power and insight is the right blend of optimism while facing the hard truths as well.
The research by Barbara Fredrickson on the ideal balance of positive to negative communication also supports this. There are no easy answers or beliefs that we can use to make all decisions. We need to take each situation face the hard truth of that situation, then switch a solution focus for ideas. The right balance makes us far better decision makers (and more credible as well).
Popova profoundly states, “Yes, people sometimes do horrible things, and we can speculate about why they do them until we run out of words and sanity. But evil only prevails when we mistake it for the norm. There is so much goodness in the world — all we have to do is remind one another of it, show up for it, and refuse to leave.”
Welcome to the fourth blog post in the Conflict Management series. So far we’ve talked about Prevention, Resolution, and Redirection. This month we’re exploring the ways to direct conflict using Creative Conflict.
Getting Creative
Many of the greatest discoveries in history have happened at the periphery of industries where multiple perspectives come together more easily. Much of the creativity comes from smashing current paradigms, and radical experimentation. Simply put, conflict is necessary for creativity.
One of the tools I use with my clients is called Energize Brainstorming. From a distance it looks much like a standard brainstorming session, but certain differences energize it to a whole new level. Really effective brainstorming is actually “creative conflict.”
The process starts with a very clear goal, ideally with criteria for success and limits that they can’t exceed. Getting people thinking about a common objective is paramount. The second step is to have each member of the team complete solo “brainwriting” sessions-essentially like brainstorming, but writing out all one’s own ideas surrounding the topic. This allows for each team member to generate ideas freely, without influence from others. And what naturally happens is that the individual ideas have some “creative conflict” when the group comes back together and combines viewpoints.
During the group brainstorming stage there is no negativity allowed. The group is instructed to purposefully use “yes and” to build upon the ideas that everyone is bringing to the table. We tell the group that if there’s an idea they don’t like, they should instead write a totally different idea and add it to the board. We want concepts that are totally different from one another, as well as build on each other. After the brainstorming session is over, then members can voice their opinions on the top ideas that have been selected, but they shouldn’t say they don’t like an idea during the brainstorm.
This creates a positive environment where team members feel free to toss out every idea, even those they feel are weak, in the hope that someone else on the team may be able to strengthen or build upon that idea.
During this process, I tell clients to remember that they’re not conflicting with people, they’re conflicting with ideas, which builds creativity.
And depending on the situation, we take it even further. We do an exercise where I tell them to imagine that they’ve already created their goal and to brainstorm 12 new and different ideas to utilize it. This portion is about getting really creative and challenging the status quo in any way we can.
I was recently leading a Leadership University, and a mentor in the program named Sualeh Fatehi suggested another great idea: Explain a plan to your team and then brainstorm everything that could go wrong with the plan when it is put into action. After that, take the top two or three problems and come up with solutions to those issues. I thought that was a genius way to leverage creative conflict to strengthen a plan.
Hopefully these suggestions have given you some new ways to approach the next challenge you face with your team. As always, I’m happy to chat about any of these ideas. Connect with me on social media or shoot me an email to start a conversation.
Welcome to the third piece in the Conflict Management series. We’ve addressed the methods and benefits of Prevention and Resolution, and this month we’re talking about managing conflict using Redirection.
Redirection Using “Yes, and …”
Typically, when someone comes at you in a conflict situation, your brain immediately goes into fight, flight or freeze mode: You may attack back, blame somebody else to deflect the conflict, or completely avoid the person and the situation. While these are all very natural and understandable reactions, none of them are helpful unless there is a life-threatening issue.
Some conflicts simply need to be distracted from, and often finding common ground with the other party is the way to do it. This is where I teach the “Yes, and …” tactic to my clients. It’s actually very simple. When a conflict arises, look for where you can agree with the person, and start from this common place to move toward a resolution. You will get a lot further when you start with a “yes” than when you start with a “no.” And the other person is much more likely to follow you in a positive direction than in a negative one.
I was once giving a presentation at the Federal Aviation Administration on this exact topic. As I was talking about the brain psychology behind conflict, a disgruntled man in the audience spoke. He started by declaring that he was a doctor, and that I was wrong. And unfortunately, his point had nothing to do with what I was talking about. I had to do some slow, deep breathing to prevent myself from going into fight mode. He continued to rant angrily, going farther and farther off topic. I saw several audience members rolling their eyes, and I knew I had to get things back on track.
After I calmed myself, I listened for something I could agree with. Once I found it, I said, “You’re absolutely right about that, and let me talk about how it applies to this topic.” I could have debated his ideas or even cut him down, but instead I got my presentation back on track by finding one thing to agree with. Afterward, I had audience members come up to me and ask, “How did you do that? That guys ruins every workshop he goes to!”
It was the power of “Yes, and …”!
You’ve probably found yourself in a similar situation. It’s usually a gut reaction to tell people what not to do, or what is wrong with their thinking. If you don’t take it personally, you can usually redirect and find common ground using a “yes, and …” response.
Once you realize that you don’t have to resolve every little difference, you’ll find that many times simply agreeing to something and redirecting can help. Once you’ve mastered this tool, you’ll find it useful in most situations, not just at work. You can use it during a challenge with a store clerk, your children, your spouse, even your in-laws. (It should come in handy during the holiday season!) As you master this skill you can smoothly step out of a vast majority of the conflicts to which you’re invited.
To read more about the concept of “Yes, and …” check out this blog post:
Improvisational Leadership—The “Yes, and” Approach
If you have an example to share, or just want some advice on creating a “Yes, and …” response to a conflict you’re experiencing, either share it here, on Facebook, or email me directly. I’d love to help.
We’re in the second month of our Conflict Management Series. Last month we addressed Prevention. This month, we’re exploring Resolution.
Often times, people think that an effective way to resolve conflict is to put everything on the table and then try to solve the issue from there. In fact, this is the way I was trained many years ago to facilitate conflict resolution. On rare occasions this is the best option. But today we’re finding that there are even more effective ways. In fact, the “everything on the table” solution often just exacerbates the issue. Usually by the time people have finished unloading their grievances, everyone at the table is much more aggravated about the situation than when they started. After hearing certain opinions, those in the group may only be able to focus on the negative comments that were just aired and not on the task at hand.
One useful technique I use with to help clients resolve conflict is helping the parties come together to understand what their common goal is, and working from there. It is much more conducive to start from a place of positivity—the light at the end of the tunnel, a goal that everyone can rally around—and then help the group determine the best path to reach it.
Once the common goal is established, I ask my clients, “What are you already doing to work toward the goal?” This often builds more confidence, and calms people down. Then I ask, “What else must happen in order to reach it? What can you do differently to get there?” This is where the problems are addressed more directly, but still far more positively than just blasting each other.
These questions help people think more rationally instead of being in fight or flight mode. They are thinking of solutions, and hopefully resolving negative issues and feelings in their drive to work together.
During one of the first conflict management interventions I was asked to do, the engineer who ran the 50-person department was a classic introvert who had not built strong relationships with his employees. He would walk down the hall and not meet anyone’s eye; he would often give terse responses; and he would hold quick meetings and look at his laptop the entire time. All of these actions were indicative of his anxiety, shyness and preoccupation with department issues, but they were being interpreted as the manager being aloof, angry and generally a bad communicator. His department was up in arms and, as a result, was inefficient and not performing to its ability.
I helped him establish the goal for his group: to transform into a high-functioning department. We determined that in order for this to happen, the department needed heroic leadership, meaning that he as a leader would have to lead from the front. He would have to say, “This is the change I’m personally making in order to move toward the goal. I’m going to have one-on-one meetings with everybody and get to know you all. Now what do you need to do to help reach the goal as well?”
It takes guts to be the first to identify and implement change. The truth is that he was heroic; it’s terrifying to be that vulnerable, but he did it and saw results.
By giving everyone an opportunity to talk about the one change they will make (versus the one change you want them to make), people can take ownership and the result will be a high-energy session that leaves your team invigorated. If you give people a positive way to get to a better solution, the results will be more positive as well.
I encourage you to start with the goal the next time you’re in a conflict situation—small or large, at work or at home—and see how that situation immediately changes.
Would you like to raise your optimism level (and still be grounded in reality)?
Would you like your children to really know how good life is for them? To have greater confidence, self-esteem, and more resilient in the face of life’s many challenges?
Would you like your team to be more positive, creative and focused on solutions (not just the problems)?
I created this activity, inspired by research in Positive Psychology, 7 years ago. It’s made my relationships more positive. I’ve heard from many people who’ve attended my speeches that they’ve transformed their family dynamics with this simple, fun activity.
The key is to do it daily when you can. It gradually creates the habits of looking for what’s good in your life, what you’re good at, what you love, and even confidence for the future. It helps rebalance for the natural negativity bias. It helps us get our ACT together as well.
This description comes from our Leadership University program. Use it to make your life happier and more productive.
Please come tell me how it’s working for you. Feel free to ask questions about it too.
For the next four months, we’ll explore different ways to deal with conflict at work. The great news is that these tactics, once mastered, can be applied to nearly any conflict situation, so you may find yourself using them in your personal life as well as your career.
This month we’re talking about tactics to prevent conflict all together. I use a toolbox of “Energize” solutions with my clients, and these are among my favorites. The key to this prevention is positively priming the people you’re talking to so that they can see what’s in it for them before the conflict arises.
How many times do you dread walking into a situation because you know that there is potential for conflict? Whether it’s a meeting, a phone call, or a presentation, the great news is that potential for conflict is potential for growth. And if you already know that the situation could be a volatile one, you can come to the table calm and ready to prevent the conflict.
For example, if you have to change the scope of a project, and you know that several members of your team will be anxious about the change and their new responsibilities, you could preface the scope announcement with reassurance. By, doing this, you can “calm the caveman” part of your employees’ brains that may cause them to react with a fight or flight instinct.
Once people get into conflict mode, they usually miss everything else you say. You’ve no doubt witnessed this firsthand, and may even be guilty of it yourself. It’s easy to focus on the painful part of the conversation and completely tune out the rest.
The prevention approach involves taking a bit of time upfront to identify the potential issues and how you can energize your team members to rally around the new goal. Taking a few minutes to prevent the conflict beforehand certainly beats hours of cleaning up a relationship mess afterward.
The first step in preparing for the meeting is to imagine the conflict reactions that may arise within your team: e.g., “Why are we changing direction midstream? But I’ve worked so hard on my portion of this project! This change affects everything I’ve done so far! How will we have the resources to meet the new scope? My authority and my position are being threatened by this change!”
Then prepare solutions to these perceived threats: “I’m bringing on more resources because the scope of this project is going to change slightly. I know you’re up to the challenge because you’ve done A, B, and C well so far.”
Sequence is important. In your meeting offer the solutions before you deliver your content. This allows them to listen carefully, and hopefully avoid (or at least minimize) the fight or flight responses.
Prevention can be especially helpful when you anticipate conflict between groups or teams. In this case, you can often avoid conflict using the common goal tool: come up with a mutual objective beforehand that is compelling for both parties and, again, describe that before you talk about what you want each team to do.
Whether it’s identifying common goals, offering solutions, or creating positive reframes, I encourage you to play around this month with the power of prevention when it comes to conflict.
http://youtu.be/gTC5ldteut0
I had the distinct pleasure of seeing Ryan Estis tell this story again yesterday at dynamic NEHRA conference. The hero of this true story, Lily (#LilyEffect), demonstrates powerfully how we can create purpose that fulfills ourselves, wow customers, and create “evangelist customers” who spread the word about us.
I hope you find it as inspiring as I did! Lily’s “Artist” is lit up, and she energizes everyone around her.
Our brains do some weird things when we are successful. It can pay to prepare for it. Especially, because we can get what I call “expertitis.”
I have a confession to make. After getting some really rough feedback about ten years ago I realized that I had come down with a bad case of expertitis. I had become successful as a change agent, and at helping people transform. This success unfortunately went to my head (which swelled a few sizes). I began to lecture people who had no interest in my advice. I was showing the first two symptoms below. No surprise, my success rate (and popularity) began to decline.
Symptoms: Expertitis is that dreaded egotistical state that shows itself in one or more of the following behaviors:
My solutions to priming by brain to be more realistic and helpful were simple, if not easy.
I’d love to hear what you do to balance yourself and prevent expertitis.
Also, I love learning about other brain geeks that use research to help us all learn how to work and live better.
I’ve followed Dr. Srini Pillay for a while. Here are his great suggestions for counteracting expertitis in the Harvard Business Review blog. The Unexpected Consequences of Success
Jason Silva is one of the most profound thinkers of our day. To make it even better he is a master video producer (and host of Brain Games) so creates dynamic videos to explain his concepts.
I challenge you to create vital cycles of optimism. Design experiences for yourself that increase your passion, enhance your optimism, and as Silva says, “make your life a work of art”.
Would you like to be calmer in the face of work and family stress?
Would you like to be more content with life as it is, and less affected by the imaginary dangers that play in your mind?
Would you like to make better, more rational decisions?
I’m going to give some of my thoughts, and those of Sam Harris, a renowned philosopher and neuroscientist.
Increasing mindfulness does all three of these things. Mindfulness is being able to calmly face the exaggerated threats our mind creates without fighting, fleeing or freezing. That means to not have to suppress our unwanted urges, run from our own emotions, or deny our own thoughts and feelings. Instead, noticing our thoughts and feelings with equanimity, allowing these urges to “float” by instead of choosing to react to them. Then choosing the “right” action toward what is best for oneself, instead of merely away from momentary discomfort and toward comfort.
I created the ACT Team to give people an easy step in this direction. These represent aspects of our brain that embody certain fearful urges and motivations. Seeing them as somewhat separate allows us some mental distance, and increases the ability to choose “right” action instead of simply react to their promptings. This also allows us to see ourselves as more than our thoughts, our feelings and our urges. In addition, it allows us to influence our own motivations a bit more objectively, instead of be a victim to them.
The fearful urges and motivations we feel in a given moment distort our sense of what is real, creating reactionary “inner movies.” Inner movies are our brain’s guess of what is real combined with our biases, fears and hopes. It plays them out in our minds like a visual, auditory or sensed movie. Most of the time we’re caught up in the inner movies of life, not realizing that they are simply movies, not reality. Mindfulness is being able to look past the movie to see what is really there, with less bias from our fears, hopes and biases. This is what I argue that “enlightenment” truly is—seeing reality more clearly. More mental light is now shining on what is actually happening, and less on the internal distortions. For example, we may have an inner movie that our child is “shaming the family” by choosing career we dislike, when the reality is that she is usually simply being attracted to what she finds interesting and enjoyable. You can see how much unnecessary conflict this kind of inner movie causes for ourselves, and for those around us.
Sam Harris explains mindfulness well in his book “Waking Up”.
He states:
My friend Joseph Goldstein…likens this shift in awareness to the experience of being fully immersed in a film and then suddenly realizing that you are sitting in a theater watching a mere play of light on a wall. Your perception is unchanged, but the spell is broken. Most of us spend every waking moment lost in the movie of our lives. Until we see that an alternative to this enchantment exists, we are entirely at the mercy of appearances…
We crave lasting happiness in the midst of change: Our bodies age, cherished objects break, pleasures fade, relationships fail. Our attachment to the good things in life and our aversion to the bad amount to a denial of these realities, and this inevitably leads to feelings of dissatisfaction. Mindfulness is a technique for achieving equanimity amid the flux, allowing us to simply be aware of the quality of experience in each moment, whether pleasant or unpleasant. This may seem like a recipe for apathy, but it needn’t be. It is actually possible to be mindful—and, therefore, to be at peace with the present moment—even while working to change the world for the better.
(Sam Harris teaches how to achieve mindfulness through various exercises in “Waking Up”. He has audio guides to this kind of mediation on his website. He manages to extract the powerful insights of Buddhist meditation from the mythology, so that it’s relevant to everyone regardless of your beliefs.)
Happiness. Bliss. Serenity. Mental Health. There are many worthwhile goals of mindfulness meditation. A very small segment of people find sitting for days, weeks, months or even years at a time appealing. The goal for most of us though, as Harris describes it, is increasing happiness. Not reaching some magical state of nirvana, enlightenment, etc.
What is the next step you will take to becoming more mindful?
To make better decisions?
To be more content with life as it is, and less affected by the imaginary dangers of your inner movie?