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Name of author Rick Baker, P.Eng.

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Executive BrainSmarts

by Rick Baker
On Apr 15, 2010
I had the pleasure of visiting with Dr. Lorie Saxby last week.
 
Lorie co-authored Secrets from the BRAIN – Sharpen Your Thinking, Power Your Performance, (2010).
 
Lorie provided an autographed copy of her book, which now has a place in my little but growing library of author-signed books.
link to Lorie’s website
http://www.workingbrainassociates.com

Secrets from the BRAIN – Sharpen Your Thinking, Power Your Performance provides a fresh new way to think about the behaviour and performance we experience in our workplaces.
 
The book has a top-notch design. It provides reader-friendly explanations of the brain and how our brains, specifically the frontal lobes of our brains, operate and influence our behaviour. Many examples of both good and not-so-good behaviour - ie, the real-life things we are all familiar with – are provided. The straightforward examples allow us to quickly grasp the authors’ points. And, I appreciated the balance between good behaviour and not-so-good behaviour.
 
Of most importance, Secrets from the BRAIN – Sharpen Your Thinking, Power Your Performance provides help for those who want to perform better and/or help other people perform better.
 
And, isn’t that exactly what business leaders want to do!
 
The authors created Executive BrainSmarts. In summary, Executive BrainSmarts is a tool to help us understand and improve behaviour.
 
Here is an excerpt from the book…
“To this end, we have identified seven key frontal lobe executive cognitive
functions that are particularly relevant to optimal work performance and
productivity. We call these 'Executive BrainSmarts.'”
 
While I will list the 7 functions – focus, initiate, plan, organize, shift, monitor, and regulate - I recommend reading the entire book to understand the relationship between these functions…all of which is summarized in an excellent way in Figure 3: Executive BrainSmarts Paradigm.
 
I found Figure 3 so helpful I photocopied and enlarged it so I can post a copy in my office and carry a copy in my notebook.
 
I intend to re-read this book. It expands my thinking about ‘CHANGING FOR THE BETTER: Good Habits, Bad Habits, and New Things’. The book has triggered several ideas already and I believe more ideas will come with each reading.
 
 
More on Good Habits, Bad Habits, & New Things in future blogs…

Tags:

Brain: about the Human Brain | Change: Creating Positive Change | Habits: Good Habits, Bad Habits, & New Things | Put Your Best Brain Forward

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Emergent Change

by Rick Baker
On Apr 1, 2010
Planned Change & Emergent Change…these are the two types of business change Linda Gregorio described when she presented to the Centre For Family Business last Friday morning. www.cffb.ca
 
[ Linda can be reached by email. ]
 
Here are some of the notes I took as Linda summarized Emergent Change.
 
Emergent Change is happening in your workplace when you can spot:
  • A business-literate work force where people have role knowledge
    • People get the context for Change
    • People understand how Change meshes with Corporate Vision
  • A work force that has permission to act
    • Not managers swooping down on people like seagulls
  • A work force that will challenge the status quo
  • ‘Leaderness’ that encourages a ‘readiness to change’ culture
So, whether or not change happens successfully at your organization depends on your business culture. Put another way…you have the ability to influence that culture. As a leader, or an aspiring leader, you have an obligation to work at creating a business culture that encourages ‘readiness to change’.
 
Here is a sample of the process I am thinking about to encourage a proper business culture, including ‘readiness to change’.
 
I call the process V-C-C-V.
 
Values – Culture – Communication – Value
 
Values: the leader’s personal Values
 
Culture: the sum of the leader’s Values and the Values of everyone at the organization
 
Communication: the leader must share his/her Values…repeatedly
 
Value: then, all parties - employees, clients, shareholders, suppliers, etc – will receive Value
 
More about V-C-C-V in future blogs…

Tags:

Change: Creating Positive Change | Values: Personal Values

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I have some good news for you

by Rick Baker
On Mar 16, 2010
Initially, I wanted to title this blog, ‘I have some bad news for you’.
 
I remembered the experiment we did last year. It proved people read ‘good news’ communications twice as much as they read ‘bad news’ communications. So, I used the ‘good news’ title.
 
[I offer that as a little communication tip.]
 
Also, I really don’t have bad news.
 
I just want to share some thoughts on how to deliver bad news.
 
These are not my thoughts. I am relaying a summary of Jill Malleck’s thoughts.
 
Link to Jill - www.epiphanyatwork.com
 
I had the pleasure of attending Jill’s presentation at our Centre For Family Business meeting last month. www.cffb.ca
 
Jill provided a great presentation. She also provided books. A number of names were drawn and I was fortunate to have my name drawn. Jill wrote a nice note in my book and signed it for me. So, ‘Epiphanies @ Work’ will have a place in my library of author-autographed books. [that library – well, that’s another story]
 
Here is an introduction to some of Jill’s thoughts…
 
Delivering Tough Messages
  1. Plan what you will say
  2. Increase your credibility
  3. Think ahead about the receiver’s likely questions or concerns
  4. But don’t assume the worst
  5. Accept emotions with empathy and neutrality
  6. Allow the receiver to digest the message
  7. Don’t take it personally
Good advice!
 
I particularly like 3 followed by 4. Thinking about the possible reactions people could have when they receive tough messages is not pessimistic. It is realistic. It is prudent. It is the decent thing to do. Assuming people will have the worst reactions would be pessimistic. That’s not a healthy way to think.
 
More on communication in future blogs…

Tags:

Change: Creating Positive Change

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To agree or not to agree, that is the question

by Rick Baker
On Feb 25, 2010
Have you ever suspected there is no such thing as constructive criticism?
 
Here are some words from Professor James Harvey Robinson’s essay 'The Mind In The Making’

“We sometimes find ourselves changing our minds without
any resistance or heavy emotion, but if we are told we are
wrong we resent the imputation and harden our hearts.”
William James said,

“The deepest principle in human nature is the craving to be appreciated.”
 
Both of those quotes were used by Dale Carnegie. The William James quote appears in Carnegie’s 1936 classic, ‘How To Win Friends & Influence People’. [The title says it all.]
 
The key Dale Carnegie message is – Every human being wants to feel important.
 
Carnegie teaches we should not criticize because it will be received as an attack on the person’s need to feel important. And, that need to feel important is a huge, consuming need.
 
Some argue that same need is the thing that causes people to criticize. That is, we act like a mirror perceiving in others the faults that actually are our own faults.
 
Perhaps it is as difficult to refrain from criticizing others as it is to accept criticism from others.
 
I have a saying…work at having thick skin and a thin skull. To the extent we can thicken our skin we can tolerate criticism. Thick skin allows us to contain in safety our self-image and our self-esteem. It protects ‘our importance’. To the extent we can have a thin skull we can be open-minded. We can, as Stephen Covey recommends, “seek first to understand then to be understood”. A thin skull allows us to be tolerant and to appreciate the differences in people.
 
 
Considering all of this, is there no such thing as constructive criticism?
 
My next blog will be a sample from a series of Sales Lessons, written a few years ago.

Tags:

Change: Creating Positive Change | Criticism: Constructive Criticism is an Oxymoron

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CHANGING FOR THE BETTER: Good Habits, Bad Habits, & New Things - #10

by Rick Baker
On Feb 18, 2010
People only do 3 things: (1) Good Habits, (2) Bad Habits, and (3) New Things.
 
This is the final blog in a 10-blog series about Habits, doing New Things, and Change.
 
In the last blog, I wrote: Business people continuously face Problems. Some people handle the Problems quickly and effectively. Some do not. There are many reasons why some people do not handle Problems as well as other people or as well as they could if they themselves could do if they were operating at their best.
 
The same applies to Change.
 
Most people struggle with or resist Change some of the time.
 
Many people struggle with or resist Change most of the time.
 
Business is about People and Process.
 
And, since People design the Process…when you boil it down, business is about People.
 
We can help People succeed at Change For The Better when we:
(1) understand the basics of psychology and physiology and
(2) provide ideas and tools [New Things] to create Good Habits
 
Good Habits are one key to Change For The Better.
 
In this blog series, I presented some facts, all samples of things we can do to help people create Change For The Better.
 
My next blog will be about Corporate Values.

Tags:

Change: Creating Positive Change | Habits: Good Habits, Bad Habits, & New Things

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CHANGING FOR THE BETTER: Good Habits, Bad Habits, & New Things - #9

by Rick Baker
On Feb 16, 2010
A New Habit, P=2S+O© and Change For The Better
This is the 9th blog in a 10-blog series about Habits, doing New Things, and Change.
P=2S+O© has been introduced in prior blogs.
Now, P=2S+O© will be discussed in terms of Good Habits and Change For The Better.
P=2S+O© means: for every Problem [P] there are at least 2 Solutions [S] and possibly one or more Opportunities [O]. Be alert for Problems and, when you find them, replace them with at least 2 Solutions.
This philosophy/tool can be embraced by most employees. So, when employees encounter Problems they can, on their own, replace them with Solutions and perhaps also identify an Opportunity.
I created a P=2S+O© template, a tool people can carry with them as a constant reminder of our desired approach to Problems.
Link to P=2S+O© template [click to download]
Business people continuously face Problems. Some people handle the Problems quickly and effectively. Some do not. There are many reasons why some people do not handle Problems as well as other people or as well as they could if they were operating at their best.
P=2S+O© can help.
When people start to useP=2S+O© it is a New Thing.
If they keep using P=2S+O© then it becomes a Good Habit…a Change For The Better. Most experts say it takes 30 days to create a habit. So, working with P=2S+O© for 30 days should create a new Good Habit.
The next blog, the final blog in this series, will summarize and wrap up this sampling of things that can help us create Change For The Better.

Tags:

Change: Creating Positive Change | Solutions & Opportunities | Habits: Good Habits, Bad Habits, & New Things

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