Chapter 6: From Action Orientation to Change: How Brain Science Can Bring Managers and Leaders from Action Orientation to Action (Pages 165-175)

Personal take-aways:

A lot has been said about transparency already. When talking about change, transparency makes it easier for every stakeholder to understand what will happen in the future. This is part of a chain reaction as this understanding can trigger commitment while making it easier for people to actually remember the changes that are on the way. In other words, what Einstein said becomes even more clear: simplicity is the key because it makes change possible…and easier to remember when confronted with old habits and working processes.

Another aspect to keep in mind is that change requires a proactive effort to go against these old habits, mastery and cognitive dissonance among others. This means that in times of change it is key to control the flow of energy within all stakeholders. Powernaps, yoga and places to take a knee are easy to implement parts that might go a long way. In other words, the fact of having to use more energy might be a reason for resisting change in an environment in which people cannot find another source for the energy they need; sometimes this energy might be time, sometimes it might be something else.

Notes:

• Memory and the Brain: Relevance to Change
  • details of proposed changes need to be remembered at all times in order to execute the changes
  • after information is learned it is converted into an “easy access” form so that it can be used with less energy than was used to form the memory
    • easier to repeat past mistakes because long-term memories are stored in this easy access
    • accessing short-term memories for action is more difficult than the easy access
  • Ironic Process Theory
    • under situations of mental load or stress, we often do what we are trying to avoid
    • when people are trying to forget something in order to act, they are able to do this as long as they are not distracted under mental stress of any kind
      • under situations of mental stress, don’t have enough energy to suppress unwanted memories and they come flooding back
    • power naps is one way to consolidate memory (15-30min rest)
    • overall: change requires holding on to new information, which requires are reduction of conflict with old information to allow new information to be registered
      • new brain regions and energy is needed for new learning
      • rewards do not promote remembering in HIGHLY ANXIOUS individuals
• Action and the Brain: Relevance to Change
  • action requires initial cognitive dissonance
    • cognitive dissonance in THIS context: what one holds to be true vs what one knows to be true