Brains On Purpose™

The brain has its ways: What does my name have to do with conflict resolution?

For years I have wondered why people, even friends, call me Stephanie Allen West, perhaps a third of the time. I do believe I have solved the mystery and the solution was a good reminder. When Steve Roesler of All Things Workplace jumbled my name (now fixed), I wrote to him and asked him if he had any idea why this happens so frequently. He was the perfect person to ask.

Roesler wrote:

Stephanie Allen West has a natural flow because of the number of syllables: 3-2-1. I'm not making this up as I spent a lot of years writing copy for radio and tv and, as you well know, rhythms are an important part of the spoken word. I'd seriously consider that as a contributing factor.

Makes sense to me. The brain likes its rhythms and patterns; if it hears something that does not fit, it may just change what it hears. The brain can be like your computer's automatic fill-in. You type "b-r-a-i" and it fills in "b-r-a-i-n." You were typing "b-r-a-i-l-l-e" so have to go back and erase and type in the right letters. How often in your negotiations are the brains in the room engaging in automatic fill-ins? Is the level of communication clarification high enough to make sure the fill-ins are caught?

The brain's tendency to fill in is another reason why you want to make sure reflective minds are in the room, not just brains that are conserving energy by being automatic and reactive. The brain uses a lot of our energy so wants to be energy-efficient by taking short cuts and relying on past patterns. Short term efficiency often is detrimental to a good solution that requires the mind fuel of creativity and reflection.

I asked a close friend why she recently had introduced me in an e-mail as Stephanie Allen West. She replied, "I don't know." I think I know. What a great reminder of the brain's ways which are tricky and yet often predictable.

More research on the power of our minds: Clues for buffing up our conflict resolving muscles

In "Mind Over Matter: Mental Training Increases Physical Strength" (pdf), we learn of some astounding research. The study "tested whether mental training alone can produce a gain in muscular strength." The answer? Yes!

Here's the research method:

Thirty male university athletes, including football, basketball and rugby players, were randomly assigned to perform mental training of their hip flexor muscles, to use weight machines to physically exercise their hip flexors, or to form a control group which received neither mental nor physical training. The hip strength of each group was measured before and after training. Physical strength was increased by 24% through mental practice (p = .008). Strength was also increased through physical training, by 28%, but did not change significantly in the control condition.

Research has shown that mental rehearsal is almost as effective as physical practice in improving performance. Many great athletes have used mental rehearsal to improve success; the science has proven what they already knew.

But here is a piece of research looking not at performance but at strength! Mental training can improve strength. Is that not exciting?

What other improvements can we make by thought alone? I am sure we will learn more and more about the power of our mind—and soon.

How might you use mental rehearsal as a person helping others to resolve disputes? How might you use mental rehearsal to resolve your own disputes? And, maybe most important, how might you recommend to clients—or use yourself—mental rehearsal to avoid future conflict? Think about it.

And please let me know your thoughts.

Note (added January 7, 2008, 8:15 AM Mountain): On a related note,