"Productive insight; clear (often sudden)
understanding of a complex situation." Free Dictionary
Pop the bubble of conditioned
thinking and emerge into the creative realm of "no absolutes," continuous
change, uncertainty and unlimited possibilities.
Then, there can be innovation,
adaptation and optimal performance.
Performance & Open-minded Mindfulness:
Open-minded: questioning everything,
accepting diversity and uncertainty.
Mindful: consciously aware; concentrated.
Foundation for blending process, project,
engagement and knowledge management into a cohesive approach to optimize
performance.
This Newsletter
Our aim is to stimulate the kind of thinking, dialogue and understanding that leads to optimal performance.
Communication gets trickier and trickier the more words become "loaded" with meaning that is conditioned by individual beliefs and backgrounds as well as the context within which they are used.
Take for example the use of the word improvement.I was told by a friend who is coach that a client of hers found that word disturbing because it brought to mind the idea that she (the client) was inadequate in some way."Why need to improve if I'm perfect?If I am not perfect there is something wrong with me because I should be perfect."
This of course put the client in bind: "I am bad because I am imperfect.Because I am bad I cannot improve and will never be perfect.Therefore I won't accept the fact that I need to improve."The result?Avoidance, no improvement; denial; stagnation.
The coach's initial solution was to change the vocabulary.Stay away from the word improve and use change, adjust, flex, and similar terms to avoid the stigma improve carried with it.But this is a temporary solution which does not address a core problem, which is the conditioned response to the word improve and the mental models that underlie it.
What are mental models and how do they affect us?
Mental models are the beliefs or ideas that we have based on our experiences and education. They may be conscious or unconscious.They are the concepts that guide our actions often within narrow channels.They underlie the way we explain cause and effect and lead us to expect certain results from certain actions.Mental models help to provide stability in a continuously changing world, but they may cause us to be closed minded about deeply held beliefs.
Individuals have mental models and do well to explore them, bringing the unconscious ones to consciousness and question their validity.Groups (teams, families, organizations, countries, etc.) also have mental models - shared culturally accepted beliefs that drive behavior.Groups, too, do well to explore their models.
Change the Model or Adapt to It
A model that links improvement to a sense of inadequacy is a problem.Anything that makes it difficult to assess, objectively evaluate and improve performance is a problem.
My friend, the coach, chose to get around the client's mental model by changing vocabulary.Instead of talking about improvement she reframed things by talking about aspirations for future behavior, setting goals with the client and focusing attention on the action required to achieve them.They never addressed the client's belief that improvement implied inadequacy and therefore could not be explored.
This same strategy may be used in organizational situations where positive performance is highlighted and goals for future performance defined and used as a base for planning; negative criticism is avoided.
But, I have a mental model that says that it is best to confront one's limiting mental models and eliminate them by adopting more effective models.What is a more effective model?It is one that includes the notion that any model is subject to scrutiny and change?
If it was me doing the coaching I might have focused the client's attention on why she assumed that imperfect performance was so awful.Where did that model get created? Why should it be retained?How can it be undermined and eliminated?
However, to change the mental models that get in the way of continuous improvement requires an understanding of mental models.It also requires a mental model that allows for questioning everything and being open to continuous change.
Integrating that model into one's life or into the life of a group requires that individuals are willing to take the leap to instability.Mental models provide comfort - there is no need to creatively adapt; things are predictable, stable.When we see mental models for what they are we are free.But we are faced with the responsibility to accept the reality around us - the reality that we are not perfect; that it is OK to be imperfect and that we can seek perfection while not being attached to achieving it.Then we can approach perfection; melting away layers of imperfection to achieve optimal performance.We take on the model that perfection includes imperfection and the intention to become perfect.
My guest next week is a George Pitagorsky, a man who is integrating his knowledge and wisdom of Eastern philosophies, and bringing it to Corporate America. His book, The Zen Approach to Project Management: Working from Your Center to Manage Expectations and Performance, Project Management (PM) Basics™, is the basis for interactive learning that can be adopted by corporations and professional services, and applied to business relationships and performance improvement. He also co-created the Conscious Living and Working Wisely Workshops and has written many articles and presentations on project management, organizational development, team building, conflict resolution and personal development subjects. He regularly leads courses and workshops in applying mindfulness and open-minded thinking in a very practical and realistic way.
