idealawg

Are you an achiever, explorer, socializer, or killer: Is conflict resolution a game?

Here's a fun way to categorize yourself and others, at least for a short while. Although this typology has no scientific validity, like many of the other self-report assessments such as Myers-Briggs, it is a good reminder that we are not all the same, and that OSFA (one size fits all) is an ineffective and sometimes risky assumption. (Click to read about some of the problems with personality assessments.)

In my research of educational game design, I came upon the typology; it's Bartle's Taxonomy of Player Types. The four types are achiever, explorer, socializer, and killer. They were developed to describe the different ways people approach games and can be compared to the four suits in a card deck:

An easy way to remember these is to consider suits in a conventional pack of cards: achievers are Diamonds (they're always seeking treasure); explorers are Spades (they dig around for information); socialisers are Hearts (they empathise with other players); killers are Clubs (they hit people with them).

Another way to see these four:

• Killers and achievers act. Killers act on other players and achievers act on the world.
• Socializers and explorers interact. Socializers interact with other players and explorers interact with the world.

See a visual image, a graph, of the four types here at the top of page 111, here under the section The Four Bartle Types, or here about 1/5 of the way down under INTEREST GRAPH.

In order to find out what type you are (or, more exactly, what type you are today because these kinds of assessments are situational), take this quick test. It's fun, and, if you are like me, some of the questions

Attendees are not paying attention to your talk or training program: What should you do?

Excellent advice in this blog post from Jeffrey Cufaude. Excerpt:

People reading the paper or checking their phones during a workshop. The crossed arms or sea of silence during a staff meeting.  A small group that always seems to gather during breaks in a strategic planning session.

During any facilitation effort, you are going to see all kinds of individual and group behavior, often feeling the need to do something about what you are seeing.  The critical question is simple: should you?

In his great facilitation primer, The Skilled Facilitator, Roger Schwarz offers us five critical questions we can answer to guide us in determining whether or not we should intervene.  I offer them below verbatim coupled with my own commentary on them.

Click to read the rest.

Behaviorism doesn't work? Humanism is overrated? So say the authors of this oft-read article

The classic article "Neuroscience of Leadership" (strategy+business) is several years old now, but it's still worth reading. Or rereading if you haven't done so recently. I thought of the article last week when I saw someone recommending a management approach based on behaviorism. Specifically, I thought of these words by the article's authors David Rock and Jeffrey Schwartz:

Many existing models for changing people’s behavior are drawn from a field called behaviorism. The field emerged in the 1930s and was led by psychologist B.F. Skinner and advertising executive John B. Watson, building on Ivan Pavlov’s famous concept of the condi- tioned response: Associate the ringing of a bell with food, and a dog can be made to salivate at the sound. The behaviorists generalized this observation to people, and established an approach to change that has some- times been caricatured as: “Lay out the M&Ms.” For each person, there is one set of incentives — one combination of candy colors — that makes the best motivator. Present the right incentives, and the desired change will naturally occur. If change doesn’t occur, then the mix of M&M colors must be adjusted.

Yet there is plenty of evidence from both clinical research and workplace observation that change efforts based on typical incentives and threats (the carrot and the stick) rarely succeed in the long run. For example, when people routinely come late to meetings, a manager may reprimand them. This may

Why are most panels at conferences so boring?

How many panel sessions have you attended that were worth your time? I bet your answer is "not many." Why? This post from Scott Berkun's Speaker Confessions to which I link below addresses most of the major problems. And cites some remedies.

Almost every panel I have attended over the decades that was beneficial to attendees was the result of lots of pre-panel planning and discussion. Of course, this prep time is one of the remedies mentioned in the post.

From "Why panel sessions suck (and how to fix them)":

Most training conferences in most industries resort to what’s called a panel session. This is where 3 to 5 experts get up on stage and each one, in turn, bores the audience to death.

Why do panels still happen? One reason. They’re sooooo tempting.

In theory a panel is jam packed with goodness, as it gets more people on stage at the same time, creates something real and spontaneous, and all things being equal more interesting stuff should happen than your average lecture.

Why doesn’t it work? Here’s why:

Click to read the rest.

Orlando Magic coach consulted with Stanford psychologist Carol Dweck: How much is TOO much criticism?

Maybe there are a couple of niches for Dr. Dweck in the legal profession. See my suggestions below.

From "Denton: A Calmer Stan in the Works" (NBA.COM):

Stan Van Gundy’s relentless pursuit of self-improvement led him this past offseason to engage in conversation and undergo skull sessions with noted psychologists in Florida and California. And the person who emerged is a somewhat kinder, gentler and more patient coach of the Orlando Magic.

Well, at least until the games begin.

...

Maybe it’s a Christmas miracle of sorts.

...

Van Gundy ... sought the opinion of Anders Eriksson, a Florida State professor who studies behavior patterns of elite performers in several fields. And he also dined and philosophized with Stanford University psychology professor Carol Dweck, author of the book ``Mindset.’’

Van Gundy asked what qualified as too much criticism, and Dweck said the amount of criticism didn’t matter nearly as much as the subject matters that the coach chose to be critical about at times. ...

I believe that Dweck could develop a couple of new consulting niches: Attorneys with mentoring responsibilities, as well as instructors in law school clinics. Maybe even a law prof or two teaching first-year classes, too. Maybe not . . .

From The Paper Chase (1973)

Kingsfield: Mister Hart, here is a dime. Take it, call your mother, and tell her there is serious doubt about you ever becoming a lawyer.

And...

Hart: You... are a SON OF A BITCH, Kingsfield.
Kingsfield: Mr. Hart! That is the most intelligent thing you've said all day. You may take your seat.

Image credit: The Daily Record.

Exploring the brain in the Bay Area: Join us in February?

Although this Learning & the Brain conference is titled "Educating the Whole Student: Using Brain Science for Smarter, Happier and Healthier Learners," it will have much that those of us who work with adult clients can use to improve communication and make professional relationships more effective. I know that it will be applicable because last year I attended a similar program (in content, not venue) also put on by Learning & the Brain and walked away with much useful information and many invaluable brain-friendly practices.

"Educating the Whole Student" will be held February 16 through 18, in San Francisco. The exciting lineup of speakers includes: Dan Siegel, Susan Kaiser Greenland, Michael Posner, Brock and Fernette Eide, Patricia Churchland, Mary Helen Immordino-Yang, and Jaak Panksepp.

For a small group of friends and colleagues, I am organizing a two-day retreat in the Bay Area to occur after this conference at which we can look at the neuroscience of adult learning and communication in great depth. The emphasis will be on conflict resolution, coaching, and client relations. We will learn from each other and have fun, too. I'm looking for a place in Marin or Sonoma or even Mendocino County that will promote both the learning and the fun. Suggestions? Please e-mail me if you are interested in attending this post-conference confab.

Mirroring as a technique to establish rapport may be counter-productive

As a method to establish rapport, many communication "experts" (including sales coaches and Neurolinguistic Programming practitioners) teach the technique of mirroring. The practice, as a technique, probably originated with the insightful and talented Virginia Satir.

Mirroring is defined at Wikipedia as

behaviour in which one person copies another person usually while in social interaction with them. It may include miming gestures, movements, body language, muscle tensions, expressions, tones, eye movements, breathing, tempo, accent, attitude, choice of words/metaphors and other aspects of communication.

Some new research may show us that mirroring when discussing money is a bad idea. The news release from Association for Psychological Science is below but the bottom line:

Simply put – people tend to feel threatened and end up disliking those who are trying to bond with them when reminded about money.

Sounds like the use of mirroring, at least in the context of sales, finances, estate planning, and other money-related activities may need to be re-evaluated.

I have requested a copy of the study so I can read it in its entirety. I may add more below after reading ""Money and Mimicry: When Being Mimicked Makes People Threatened."

The news release about the research:

Jazz as a metaphor for business success: Articles, books, and other resources

Being around jazz on a daily basis, I often think about (and discuss in some of my seminars) the many lessons this genre of music offers for business people and for professionals, such as lawyers. I am not alone in my thinking; the creators of several books, articles, and videos have looked at jazz's lessons for success. Here are a few (to which I will add as I learn of new resources):

Articles and blog posts:

• "Special Report on Leadership Development" (Workforce Management)
• "Disciplined Dreaming: Jazz as a Metaphor for Business" (Small Business Labs)
• "A Jazz Metaphor for Business Creativity" (American Creativity Association)
• "Strategy as Jazz vs. Symphony" (HBR Blog Network)
• "Creation on Command" (SEEDMAGAZINE.COM)
• "All that jazz: jazz as a metaphor for business?" (Chief Executive)
• "Collaborative program mixes jazz and business" (San Francisco State University)
• "Jazz Improvisation and Organizing: Once More from the Top" (Organization Science)
• "Play what you know and then play above that: The role of improvisation in mediation" (Brains on Purpose)
• "The Neuroscience of Improvisation" (Dana Foundation)

Books:

• Practical Wisdom
• Free Play
• The Jazz Cadence of American Culture
• Leadership Jazz
• Playing the Changes on the Jazz Metaphor
• Disciplined Dreaming
• Moving to Higher Ground
• Jamming: The Art and Discipline of Business Creativity

Other resources:

• "Business Jazz" YouTube
• Organization Science edition on jazz as a metaphor for organization theory (articles are available for purchase)

Now THIS looks like an intriguing presentation!

In New York City, on June 17 and 18, Psy Broadcasting Corporation is sponsoring a conference "Beyond Words: Implicit Communication & Therapeutic Change." Click for all the details.

Some of the presentations look enticing, but I am especially sorry I won't be attending this one:

Philip Bromberg

Ordinary Minds, Extraordinary Reach: Thoughts on Embodiment, State-Sharing, and the Lived Unconscious

The biologist Rupert Sheldrake proposed that our minds are not confined inside of our heads, but stretch out beyond them. From this perspective I offer the view that the future of human mental development is not only relational but that it is intersubjective in ways that go beyond what we can now accept as possible. I see the growth of the mind's capacity for intersubjectivity as an ongoing process of "playing with boundaries" whereby an affectively embodied self-and-other are jointly constructing an intersubjective realm in which the coexistence of seemingly incompatible perspectives on reality become

Want a copy of TRIVERSITY FANTASY: SEVEN KEYS TO UNLOCK PREJUDICE?

If you read my previous post, you will know I am taking some time this month to organize my filing system (a task I truly despise, but must do before my office gets so out of control that no hope for organization remains).

During the process, old articles pop up in dusty files, and sometimes the discoveries are fun. For example, I found a review of a book I wrote nearly two decades (yes, two decades!) ago. Time does fly, doesn't it?

If you would like a copy of the book, let me know and I will send one to the first ten people in the US who request Triversity Fantasy; just send me an e-mail with your snail mail address.

Excerpt from the review titled "A tale to beat bias":

There is trouble in Triversity.

Animals and humans fight, bite, judge and act arrogant—much the same as in the real world.

But this isn't real, it's a whimsical land created by former Modestan Stephanie West Allen in "Triversity Fantasy, Seven Keys to Unlock Prejudice," (KiteShade Publishing, $14.95).

The book recently hit the No. I business paperback spot in The Denver Post and Rocky Mountain News, only one month after publication.

"It's a very strange book to classify," said Allen, a teacher/lawyer who lives in Colorado. "Basically it