A quiver full of effectiveness tools

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Quiver Full of Effectiveness Tools
A
Ayman Mashhour
September 2017

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Agenda
 Abstract
 Introduction
 Challenge
 A Suggested Holistic Approach
 The Landscape of Models and Frameworks
 Foreseeable Benefits
 Summary
 Call to Action
 References

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Abstract
 The objective of this presentation is to share an array of frameworks and models
that when used together can lead to a significant enhancement of an overall
effectiveness of the individuals within an organization
 The point of view being advocated here is how the chosen concepts can form a
strong foundation for ongoing evolution of an organization and the individuals it
comprises

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Introduction
 The presentation draws on a number of known models and frameworks that are
used to understand and transform organizational behavior
 The premise for leveraging those models is to have good practices to follow on an
ongoing basis that would maximize the benefit for an organization as opposed to
using such models sparsely and/or intermittently

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Challenge
• Enhancing results, of a person’s
undertakings, requires that we address the
layers that drive those results
• Essentially, the whole pursuit of raising
effectiveness needs to start at the
“thoughts” level
• In today’s world, with an ever increasing
pace and pressure, individuals as well as
organizations tend to fall in the following
traps:
 Working on the top layers – results and
behaviors
 Ignore the cumulative wisdom available
in those organizations as well as that of
the professional development literature
 Using the same mindset when dealing
with people-related problems that we
use to sort out problems with
processes/things

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A Suggested Holistic Approach
The point of view of I am advocating is based on the following principles:
 Pay attention to the difference of people problems as opposed to processes and things
 Use an integrated set of models that includes:
 Enabling high performance
 Mitigating derailment
 Fostering knowledge creation
 Use the chosen models on an ongoing basis – not just in one-off events (e.g., seminars and
workshops)
 Realize that reaping the benefits of such models would happen when we attempt to perfect them by
knowingly practicing them – with the understanding that this is a journey of transformation and
growth
 Revisit the battery of models to ensure it is fit for purpose – and add and retire stuff as appropriate

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The Landscape of Models and Frameworks
Enabling
Performance
Knowledge
Creation
Mitigating
Derailment

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• Being in “the Zone”
• Optimal Experience
• The Seven Habits of Highly
Effective People
• First Things First
• Giving and Receiving Feedback
• Leadership Styles
• Six Steps to Transforming
Performance

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Beingin“theZone”
This concept was introduced in Ken Robinson's "The Element". Attempting to
understand and practice it can prove of great reward.
You're in the zone when you're doing something that you love and you're good at.
Understanding this concept would maximize the chances of achieving that positive
experience.
One of the secrets of such an experience is that we feel centered in our true sense of
self which creates a terrific sense of accomplishment. Time feels to pass by so swiftly
as one is fully absorbed in what he/she is doing.
This applies to hobbies – whether physical, intellectual or artistic – such as Tennis,
Soccer, Bridge, Chess, playing a musical instrument, etc. And it certainly applies to
job life. Ken Robinson refers to something, that we love and we’re good at, as the
“element”. So, being “in the zone” is really about practicing your “element”.
You can be on a positive spiral – for loving something would motivate you to be
better at doing it. It would give the energy to do what it takes to better your
capabilities and skills. Likewise, being good at something makes you feel good and
this instantaneous reward makes you love it more, leading to the willingness to go
another extra mile to further excel in that domain and so on.
It is worth highlighting that this is a dynamic process – and involves various things
that would have to happen such that you are really “in the zone”. You need to be
focused on the activity you’re pursuing – and you should not worry or care too much
about the outcome. What really matters is practicing the activity for its own sake. For
example, if it is playing a game then you do not really give that much of a weight to
the result of the game. The important thing is not that you come out as the winner –

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though for sure it would be a welcomed outcome – but the essence of the pursuit is
really deploying your skill and capabilities in something that you genuinely love.
Having multiple interests – and therefore the possibility to have more than one
means to be “in the zone” – is a good thing in many ways. It increases the chances
of a rewarding experience. It also fosters creativity as you can use the knowledge and
competence gained in one domain to another with some tweaking and adaptation.
For example, the visual memory that you leverage in a card game can be enhanced
when you’re reading a music score.
The good news is that one can expand his/her repertoire of interests through
deliberate exploration. You can give new things a try and see if you can land on
multiple “elements”. This exploratory style – in itself – is rewarding as it carries an
element of joy akin to what a small child feels when approaching novel experiences.
You can do this in various ways – and to mention a few, consider the following:
• If you like watching billiard games, why don’t you try to play instead of just
watching? Reach out for someone who can train you – and you move to a more
active form of enjoying billiards rather than passively watch games being played.
Here you start with something that you love and you – step by step – build the skill
and capability to pursue and be good at it.
• Chances are that you are being sought after to give a lending hand to friends or
acquaintance with things that they know you are good at … though you may have
never “appreciated” them. For example, maybe many of your friends refer to you
with help with stuff that has to do with statistics. Why don’t you start to develop an
appreciation for what statistics can be used for? You may find that you can help
post graduate students with surveys and their analyses. You may find that you can
use statistics to advantage in your work and everyday life – interpreting
phenomena, developing models, etc. Here you start with something that you are
good at – and turn it into something that you appreciate and love.
• How about your friends? Why don’t you check and see if you have their
“elements”? A friend – or more – of yours can be very much into hiking. Why don’t
you try it? Here you are – in a good way – copying from friends’.
The above are quick examples how you can tap into hidden elements – and I assure
you that if you start thinking you can find many ways by which new elements can be
born.
Wouldn't it be ideal if what you are naturally good at – and love – happens to be your
job? It would be a dream job!
Since most jobs are as broad or as narrow as we make them – try to incorporate
what you love (and you're skilled at) in your current job. Some of us – myself for one
– would have loved to work in academia. Why don’t you try to apply some of the
academic research techniques in your work? Why don’t you develop the habit of

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looking up the academic journals that are of relevance to your job? Why don’t you
look into theses of master’s degree (or even doctorate degree) in topics related to
your work and see how you can leverage them?

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TheFlow
The concept of an “optimal experience” was introduced in Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi's
"The Flow". If we explore its insights we can attempt to enhance the quality of our
life.
The deepest form of satisfaction and joy occurs when we're totally immersed in what
we're doing – an experience where we seem to be oblivious of time and where we
have the strongest motivation to carry on doing what we're doing, irrespective of the
level of effort we have to put in.
The main characteristics of such an experience are that we have a passion for such
an activity and that the challenge this experience brings is a bit above our
capabilities.
Think of tennis playing, for example. If you love tennis and you're playing with an
opponent who is a bit more skilled than you are – you would enjoy every bit of the
match.
If, however, the challenge is too simple then we'd be bored and we'd become
disinterested. On the other hand, if the challenge is excessive then it would bring
about anxiety and suffering.
The good news is that you can identify and pursue such an optimal experience on the
job or when you're on your own personal time.
Also, you come out with a bonus – an increase in your capabilities .. which means
you're ready for a step up in the challenge you seek. The optimal experience – which
Mihaly refers to as the flow – stretches you every time.
Chances are that you already realized that the above concepts fit nicely with those
discussed in the previous topic – namely, Ken Robinson’s “element” and “zone”. The

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balance, between one’s skills and capabilities on one hand and the level of challenge
that one faces on the other, is a key factor in the quality of the experience and the
extent of joy it would bring about.
Taking steps – however small they are – to enhance our skills and capabilities in one
of our elements is of high relevance to the quality of our lives. This makes us stretch
and gets us ready for the higher gear and benchmark in what we love to do. Having
said that – there are a few things to note so that we enjoy the stride of stretching
ourselves:
• Lavishness is not a requirement for such joyful and meaningful endeavors. On the
contrary, keeping things simple adds beauty – very much in line with today’s adage
“Less is more”. If you love painting, the joy would come from practicing and
applying your artistic aspirations rather than from any expensive tools or kits. The
secret is in the focus we give to the core of what we do.
• We know that “Practice makes perfect” – yet we tend to ignore this maxim at
times. A parallel to this – is that we shouldn’t be surprised if our skill seems to
wane if we give up practicing. Rather than being frustrated, if this happens, you’d
better do a couple of things – resume practice and make sure the level of
challenge is adjusted to cope with the new level of our capabilities. The good news
is that – in most cases – it should not take us too long to restore our form.
• We all know that “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder”. Likewise, the joys of our
pursuits would depend largely on how receptive we are to the innate wonders of
what we come across. Senses and a mindset trained and tuned to detecting the
subtle beauty of things can do magic. Someone who loves tea would enjoy every
little sip of his/her cup – and someone who loves mathematical pursuits can attain
rewards with appreciating every little detail in a complex exercise. Let’s nurture and
develop the “connoisseur” within us as much and as often as we can.
• Never be hard on yourself – for this is certain to turn the whole matter upside
down. Approach things with grace and compassion – for this is bound to maximize
the return on what you are doing .. whatever that may be, business or pleasure.

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TheSevenHabitsof
HighlyEffectivePeople
Stephen Covey’s “The Seven Habits” book is pretty popular – and I'd like to stress a
few remarks here so that we make the best out of it.
Some believe that “Being Proactive” is about doing your “homework” early for tasks
assigned to you. Although that is a good practice – it is not what Covey meant. The
essence of the first habit is to take responsibility for our actions and reactions. We
always have the freedom to choose what we do (or don't do, for that matter). We
should avoid the trap of automatic response(s) to whatever is happening to us or
around us. This starts with a change in the mindset – we have to believe and to
remind ourselves that there is no determinism when it comes to our choices.
The second habit is about ensuring that whatever steps we take – in any pursuit – are
aligned to what we aspire to achieve throughout the journey.
In fact, per Covey, “Begin with the End in Mind” applies to what image and memory
we wish to leave at the end of our life. His advice is to use this as a the frame of
reference that would guide our actions. It also applies to each and every activity we
engage in – in this context, this has to do with evaluating what we (and others
involved) are doing and how close (or far) it gets us to the desired outcomes and
goals. This applies to work life as well as to our personal and family life.
The third habit “Put First Things First” is about our best use of the very limited and
allegedly the most precious resource: time. I'm going to dedicate the next topic for it.
So here, I wish to highlight Goeth’s words that Covey have cited: “Things which matter
most must never be at the mercy of things which matter least”. More about this
seminal habit in a few minutes (or pages).

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The fourth habit is not only about an ethical principle – in fact it's the basis for
sustainable relationships .. avoid the illusory trap of a win/lose arrangement as it is
fragile and would eventually bring about undesirable consequences even to the
winner. As such, “Think Win-Win” is quite pragmatic as well.
The fifth habit is about enhancing our interpersonal communications – it's no secret
that loads of problems ensue out of poor communications. I can safely say that the
bulk of problems arise out of messages we deliver poorly or messages that we
understand incorrectly. Communication problems can be as gross as us imagining
things that were never really said or intended – and equally painful are the situations
where we completely miss sincere messages that were spoken or written. Since
misunderstanding can literally lead to lethal results then “Seek First to Understand,
Then to Be Understood” is a very valuable advice to live by.
The sixth habit reminds us that a human being is born to be social (even the likes of
me, the introverts) – we should never underestimate the power of effective teamwork.
No matter how talented and competent one is – a true cooperation with others can
take our achievements both quantitatively and qualitatively to levels we cannot reach
if we walk the stride alone. “Synergize” is not a buzzword – it really pays off.
The seventh habit is about ongoing development and learning – without it, an
individual (or an organization, for that matter) is bound to turn into obsolescence and
would suffer an inevitable drop in competitiveness.

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FirstThingsFirst
This is a zoom-in on the third habit of Stephen Covey's renowned “Seven Habits".
It has very special relevance as it is addressing the very precious resource: time.
A key theme here is managing time more with a compass rather than with a clock.
You use the four endowments: self awareness, conscience, will power and creativity to
figure out what you should be doing at a particular moment – you're basically guided
with your "value system": your compass.
Each one of us needs to look at the plethora of roles we play: an employee, a parent,
a spouse, a friend - and equally important a "person".
Each of the roles has its associated "things to tackle". So we need to balance our
energy and time against those roles – and this is a dynamic process .. it's not about
equal shares of time/energy day in and day out.
That's why the "compass" is of the essence here - inasmuch as time certainly is.
Stephen Covey's "four quadrants" model is very powerful. Quadrants 3 and 4 are
really draining our energy: we need to learn and have the wisdom of gently cutting
them down to a minimum. I say one cannot turn them into an absolute zilch – yet it
is worth it to aspire to.
Quadrant one is the notorious "fire fighting" sphere that – once upon a time – was
the hallmark of a real man or heroine. Beware. An excessive life in quadrant one is
toxic: it signals the potential lack of planning, it can mean that there is an imbalance
creeping in and it is the shortest route to a nasty thing (burnout).

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To me, the magic quadrant is the second quadrant. This is where you are prudently
building up your capacity and capabilities.
One piece of advice here is to take stock of what's on your plate .. what tasks and
activities you need to tackle and assess them in terms of:
• their relevance to your goals (begin with the end in mind)
• their urgency (which you need to sanitize to avoid falling in for trivia disguised as
top urgent stuff)
• your passion (remember Ken Robinson's "zone" and Csikszentmihalyi's "optimal
experience"? yes .. they can be around the corner)
With a simple analysis you can identify "quick kills" that should be dropped off. You
can also identify activities that can be "shifted" entirely to someone else. Some
would be delegated: where you should remain engaged, overseeing and coaching.
Then there is the stuff that YOU have to personally tackle.
Use the time that you manage to free-up and recover (by dropping off, shifting and
delegating as appropriate) to work on your second quadrant activities that are
centered around development and growth.
One last word: some of us – especially my own generation and older generations –
were brought up to have a sense of contrition in relation to addressing and fulfilling
their personal needs and wants. This is quite wrong.
While I'm not suggesting to commend selfishness, you need to keep your own basic
asset (yourself – intellectually, physically, socially and spiritually) in shape. No sense
of guilt here .. otherwise we cannot realize our full potential, and that would be a real
loss.

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GivingandReceiving
Feedback
Before introducing David Rock’s SCARF model, which is very valuable when providing
feedback to others, I would like to start off by a basic piece of information about our
brain.
The human brain can be in one of two states: a reward response or a threat
response. The reward state boosts a person's performance and is a strong motivator.
Conversely, the threat state almost cripples our faculties and impairs our
performance.
Now, let's delve into SCARF - an acronym denoting five dimensions: Status, Certainty,
Autonomy, Relatedness and Fairness.
Each, of those five, has a strong impact on whether one’s brain is in a reward or
threat state – and, therefore, plays an appreciable role deciding how we perform.
Status is about how we see ourselves versus the others. An enhanced perception of
our status gets us to a reward state. While a perceived decrease in status would take
us into a threatened posture with the related consequences. So, if you are
reprimanding someone or giving him/her an intimidating feedback - what do you
think is happening? The person flips to a threatened status - and you are not helping
him/her. Quite the contrary.
Now, this is not suggesting that we ignore performance problems or accept mediocre
achievements. Not at all. The ask, though, is to avoid creating a dent in people's
status. David Rock's "Quiet Leadership”, which will be discussed shortly, includes
valuable guidance on how to deal with subpar performance.

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Certainty is something that the majority of us prefers. Most of us hate ambiguities.
Ambiguity is perceived as a threat. So, please do not generate anxiety when divulging
feedback. Keep it simple and clear. Do not give the impression that you are hiding
further stuff up your sleeves to surprise the person later on with what it is about.
Autonomy is a rewarding sense of freedom of choice. So, a feedback that is
prescriptive or rooted in a culture of micromanagement is a threat. Don't do it.
Relatedness is a comforting feeling when we have a human bond with someone. The
lack of which is a threat. So, when giving feedback please show genuine care for the
person. Empathy is of the essence. Express your unpretentious respect and
appreciation of the human in front of you – or on the side of a phone call (more care
is needed in the latter case).
Finally, the Fairness notion is simple. If we are sensing (or imagining) an unfair
treatment then that's a definite threat. While I am expecting that you – the reader –
have no intentions of treating people unfairly, I ask you to ensure that there are no
small stuff which would be construed as unfair. When communicating feedback, it is
important to demonstrate an objective mindset and use the agreed goals and values
as the frame of reference for the feedback.

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LeadershipStyles
This one is about management styles and their impact on the organizational climate.
The concepts are based on Hay/McBer's work.
The importance of this topic is due to the dependency of an organization's business
results on the level of commitment and engagement of its individuals.
Such a commitment (or lack of) is directly correlated to the healthiness of the
organizational climate.
Before we explore the different management styles, I'd like to highlight a few
qualifying remarks:
 The impact on climate isn't exclusive to those with a formal management role. A
team leader or a project manager would certainly have a bearing on climate. And
therefore any individual with an influence on teams needs to watch out what
he/she is generating - a healthy climate or a toxic one.
 There isn't one single style to apply all the time. Styles are situational and
contextual.
 Applying different styles is not as challenging as transforming your personality.
You stay genuine and consistent with who you are – and you can learn how to
apply the needed styles according to demands.
The climate is assessed on six dimensions:
 Standards
 Clarity
 Flexibility
 Trust
 Rewards
 Commitment

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Standards refer to the understanding of what needs to be done so that a job would
be regarded as a good job.
Clarity is about positive transparency within the organization.
Flexibility reflects the degree of freedom of choice available to people.
Trust is about healthy interpersonal relationships.
Rewards aspect is linked to fair recognition and appreciation that is relevant to
people.
Finally, commitment is the outcome of the above dimensions which would define how
energized and engaged the individuals and teams are.
In my view, the top five elements map to the SCARF themes described by David Rock
(outlined in the previous model.)
Now, let me introduce the six management styles - defined by Hay/McBer:
 Coercive
 Pacesetting
 Affiliative
 Authoritative
 Coaching
 Democratic
The coercive style is a prescriptive one – which defines what needs to be done and
how it should be done .. it's a style that demands compliance, very representative of
military commandment rather than civil management.
A pacesetting manager is very much focused on leading by example .. and is ready
to jump on an activity to do it in lieu of a team member who is not delivering up to
the manager's expectations.
An affiliative manager is people focused and keen on creating harmony and
cordiality within teams.
An authoritative manager drives the team by portraying the big picture and the goals
to be pursued. He/she would not engage a lot on the tactical and detailed levels.
A coach is focusing on enabling the teams through discussions and explorations of
what they would do to step up to the next level of maturity and competence.
A democratic manager cares about reaching consensus or near consensus.
A coercive style is one that should be used sparingly - to manage crises rather than
anything else. It creates an overall negative impact on the climate - and therefore
should be treated as an unpalatable medication. If used excessively for an extended
period then the outcome is a demoralized and unenergized team.

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Pacestting – especially when a manager is too much hands-on – creates a negative
climate.
An affiliative style, generally speaking, has a positive impact on climate. Care should
be exercised lest the environment becomes too cozy where performance can turn
into complacency.
An authoritative style is key when kicking-off projects or performance periods (a
quarter or a month). Get the teams to envisage the goals and internalize them. This
style can create a burden for the teams at the beginning, yet it is an excellent one
from an overall impact on climate.
Coaching style is ideal for the ongoing performance management and oversight, be it
in the form of cadence calls/meetings or project status reviews. David Rock's SCARF
model would come in handy here.
Democracy would be the norm in the ongoing agreement on incidental topics day in
and day out ... and it is a good one from a climate perspective.
Personally, in my first year of management – according to the survey results that I
received – I was primarily applying only a couple of styles: the affiliative and the
coercive. When I look back, I see that the affiliative style was a natural choice
according to my personal preference and in view of the already existing relationship
with the team. As for the coercive choice, it can be the new manager's natural choice
.. capitalizing on his/her professional expertise and credentials that earned him the
management role. I had to consciously switch to more of the authoritative and
coaching styles .. and I believe I succeeded in this transformation throughout the
remainder of my career. Also, I deliberately set on the brakes to keep my affiliative
style in check .. to avoid situations where subpar performance would go undetected.
In today's environment, where there is a major demand for creativity, I contend that
the authoritative/coaching/democratic combination alongside with an adequate level
of affiliative interaction is of paramount relevance to create a climate that promotes
the required innovative culture.

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I II III
IV
V & VI
SixStepstoTransforming
Performance
Here is an attempt to introduce what I consider an avant garde work that stands out
in the contemporary literature on leadership and management: David Rock’s “Quiet
Leadership”.
The main theme of the book is helping leaders learn how they can get the best of
themselves and others. The approach, that it advocates, draws heavily on
Neuroscience – and the good news is that the book is written in simple language that
a layman can grasp.
The book is about a coaching model that comprises six steps:
 Step 1 "Think about Thinking". Key themes of that step are avoiding to be buried in
too-much detail, letting the other person do the heavy thinking and staying
solutions-focused.
 Step 2 "Listen for Potential". This is about understanding where people are
heading, what they are striving to achieve - much more than "what is not working".
 Step 3 "Speak with Intent". This is about improving the quality of "every" word that
we utter during the coaching session(s) where we attempt to help someone think
better.
 Step 4 "Dance toward Insight". The aim here is to keep the conversation "on the
right track", maximizing the value of the discussion.
 Step 5 "CREATE New Thinking". The acronym CREATE is for Current Reality, Explore
Alternatives and Tap into Energy. This can be thought of as parallel to ROW of the
GROW coaching model - in my view.
 Step 6 "Follow Up". This is concerned with closing the gap between the idea and
the habit we wish to instill.

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David Rock emphasizes that the steps aren't to be considered as linear or sequential.
The parable he cites is that if you learn to play the piano. You read the musical score,
you hold your hands and integrate the concept of rhythm - but you don't do this in
linear steps: you do them all together.
The first step in David's coaching model is the platform for the entire process. "Think
about Thinking" has five key elements:
 let the person think through their issue
 keep them focused on solutions
 stretch them not just be supportive
 focus on the positive
 clear process
No two brains are alike and therefore it is very counterproductive to try to think on
behalf of someone else. It is practically a waste of time and energy for both the
coach and the coachee. We’d dwell a bit on this when we talk about Mental Maps.
For now, let’s stress that the person with the problem is the one that we need to help
think better with the aim of reaching a positive outcome.
Having a solution focus does not mean we don't address problems, quite the
contrary. It means we address them by analyzing the way forward - avoiding the
blame game. This is of prime importance when we try to change people or help them
perform better. Again, we’ll touch on this when talking about Mental Maps.
Stretching oneself is almost the only way to achieve progress and advancement. As
discussed earlier, the strongest positive experience lies in a zone between boredom
and anxiety - too little stretch leads to boredom and excessive stretch creates
anxiety.
Most of the time we deliver negative criticism to others (and to ourselves). However,
research suggests that employees respond positively to criticism just once out of
thirteen times. A very insightful formula for performance goes like this: Performance =
Potential - Interference
We tend to "cap" our performance and that of others by getting too much in the way.
Following a clear process – and always reminding ourselves of what we are trying to
achieve – maximizes the chances of an effective pursuit.
The second step “Listen for Potential” is about choosing to listen to people as
successful, competent and able to resolve their own dilemmas. When we do this,
people often solve their own problems and get on with the job.
To do this, we need to identify and put aside what can cloud our ability to listen
properly. David's model "The Clarity of Distance" addresses this. According to that
model, there are four mental states that can get in the way of our listening, as we
may be:

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 lost in the details
 misled by our own filters (assumptions, bias, ...)
 having an agenda (a personal interest, for example)
 suffering from a hot spot - typically an issue too much charged with emotions.
According to David, it can be adequate to identify which state gets in the way and we
would be able to get back on the right course. The exception is with "hot spots",
where the noise caused by strong emotions would require - at least - several hours to
fade off. In such case, rescheduling the coaching session would be the better option.
The third step 3 “Speak with Intent” aims at effecting the biggest impact of the
coach's talk. The objective is to help the coachee to think better in the attempt of
improving his or her performance.
David's anecdotal estimate is that our ideas are received by the other person, in the
way they are intended, only two thirds of the time.
To improve the chances of correct communications of our ideas, his recommendation
is that – when doing the talking – we become more:
succinct
specific
generous.
Being succinct would make the best use of people's short span of attention. Being
specific would help the audience develop the right "mental map". And the generosity
would open up the possibility of learning and change.
While the first two attributes would be self explanatory to a great extent, it is worth
elaborating that being generous is about being committed to the other person getting
the message: by putting yourself in their shoes, attempting to ensure every word is
right and focusing on their needs in the conversation.
The 4th step "Dance toward Insight“ is a pivotal step in David Rock’s coaching model.
This step has four elements:
 Permission
 Placement
 Questioning
 Clarifying.
Permission is to ensure that the coachee is comfortable talking about the topic we're
going to cover – this is in view of the discussion being about something as personal
as one’s own performance.
Placement is to "anchor" the conversation: to define what was covered, what will be
covered next and how this is expected to be tackled.
Questioning and clarifying are the vehicle needed to get people to do the needed
thinking. It aims at walking the coachee through what David refers to as the four

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faces of insight, which he associates with indicative emoticons:
awareness of a dilemma 🙁
reflection 🤔
illumination 😊
motivation 😀
The journey goes from a vague notion of a problem to a better understanding of the
underlying issue (normally an assumed conflict between two things, e.g., being
successful at work and sparing the time to be physically fit) – and it goes on to get
the person to a revelation that promises the resolution of the conflict which
generates a rush of energy that sets the scene for doing something that transforms
ideas to a reality. It is to be stressed that you can have iterations of the permission,
placement, questioning and clarifying until you get to the desired insight which hones
down on the real problem to be addressed.
The fifth step “CREATE New Thinking” comprises the following three sub-steps:
 Current Reality
 Explore Alternatives
 Tap into Energy
Now this step is really about the coachee’s thinking – that is, the current reality of
his/her thinking. Then, you’d attempt at having the coachee come up with as many
different ideas as possible to improve and move to a more mature and effective
thinking. With the coachee’s permission you can make some suggestions. The
coachee should decide which alternative he/she would choose. While the motivation
is there, you need to have a commitment for some action to be done according to
the chosen idea – so you need to agree what the coachee would do and a deadline
where you would have a checkpoint to assess progress. Such commitment is
essential to ensure that the idea is developed into a real solution.
The last step “Follow-up” is about making the best of the interlock with the coachee
about his/her progress with the solution agreed during the “CREATE New Thinking”.
Here, David Rock introduces the FEELING model, yet another acronym denoting:
 Facts – looking into what actually happened and what the coachee did.
 Emotions – discussing the emotions generated as part of the work done. If there
were positive emotions then you stress them to make that experience stick and
help the coachee have the newly formed habit as part of their repertoire.
 Encourage – acknowledge the good work done and celebrate what the coachee
had to do differently. Again, we are helping deepen the roots of the newly formed
habit.
 Learning – help the coachee define what new insights he/she came up with. You
maximize the value of the positive experience gained. If there were negative

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emotions, then we need to put them in context and allow for useful conversation to
follow.
 Implications – try to have the coachee look into new ways to apply the new habit
and new solution. Stretch the boundaries and domain of use.
 New Goal – aspiring to continually improve and develop, agree on the new goal to
be pursued.
I would like to close off this topic by stressing that dealing with people problems
differs from dealing with process or engineering problems. Over the years, we have
become obsessed with root cause analysis when addressing problems. Whereas this
is quite effective in dealing with the latter type of problems, there are reasons why we
should not apply the same for people problems.
When we detect something we need to change in our behavior or that of others, we
shouldn't linger on the "problem" phase .. it's enough to find out a clear defect that
we would like to get rid of – and then switch with full focus on the "solution" mindset.
To clarify, assume that a mother has a child who scores poorly on exams. Now it is
certainly important to know why .. yet it's equally important to avoid digging too
much on the problem side.
The mother finds out that her child spends too little time in studying. That's the main
reason for his poor marks. If she digs deeper why he spends too little time on
studying then the outcome won't be good .. simply because he will find many reasons
why not to study and he will become even more unwilling to spend energy and time
on his homework and drills; also he can start to lose confidence in his abilities.
The recommendation is to focus on the solution. So, for example, his Mom should
think of ways she can make studying more fun for her child. She can encourage him
to create beautiful summaries for the topics he studies, in the form of colorful
drawings .. she can select some interesting YouTube clips that address the subjects
he needs to understand. She can help him by playing a game where he acts like the
teacher and she would play the role of a pupil and he starts explaining stuff to her.
This approach is driving the brain of both the mother and the child in positive paths
with more likelihood for success than dwelling and investigating why he spends too
little time studying.
The essence is that overthinking about something is bound to deepen the links in our
brain towards that "thing" ... so when we become too obsessed with the anatomy and
etiology of a bad habit, most likely we make it more ingrained and stubborn – despite
our good intentions.
If we busy ourselves and others with the positive things we'd love to bring about then
we are maximizing the chances of attaining them. The more energy we allocate to a
certain type of behavior the better chances of it turning into a habit that can
contribute to success. A tip is that we should always endeavor to develop good new
habits such that they displace the undesired ones.

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• Mental Maps
• Knowing your Natural
Preferences
• Choose Focus
• Handling Resistance to
Change
• Ridding of Bad Habits
• Feel the Fear and Do it
Anyway
• Team Formation Cycle
• Awakening to your
Life’s Purpose

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MentalMaps
Understanding this concept would help us accept the “other” and appreciate why
he/she is different. David Rock explains how our brains are different from each other
– and that no two brains are quite alike.
The way a human brain works is through establishing “connections” or “maps”. A
human brain has around 100 billion neurons. The connections between our neurons
are the maps that guide our thoughts – and therefore our behaviors and actions. In
fact, our thoughts – as well as our memories and skills for that matter – are
essentially large numbers of connections established via complex chemical
processes. The same object or phenomenon is represented inside different brains in
different ways.
When there is a routine task, that we perform repetitively, the related mental maps are
hardwired – which moves them away from our working memory and therefore it frees
up space in that parts of our brain that would tackle stuff that is considered more
complex. Think of the way you type on your computer keyboard – you probably do
this without paying much attention to where the locations of the keys are.
When we create a new mental map, we have new connections established that link
various ideas to form a new one. There is a big release of energy when a new map is
formed – this makes us motivated to do something. An extreme example is the story
of Archimedes and his running through the streets shouting “Eureka”.
As much as there is energy released when new maps are created – the complex
thinking process consumes significant levels of energy. This is discussed in a

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beautiful, simple and informative language by David Rock in his book “Your Brain at
Work”. Due to this fact, one needs strong motivation to engage in deep thinking.
Based on this short overview, we come to realize some interesting notions:
 To take any committed action, people need to think through for themselves, for
each brain is miraculously unique
 We experience a degree of inertia around thinking for ourselves due to the energy
required for complex thinking
 Generating a new mental map – i.e., creating an insight – gives off the kind of
energy we need to become motivated and willing to take action.
 Since the world is represented in our brains as thoughts – one tends to feel that if
he/she would change his/her thinking then the whole world would seem to
collapse. This is why people would fight hard to hold on to their views – something
that calls for a gentle approach when trying to help people to change their thinking
to avoid strong defensiveness. When we discuss Eckhart Tolle’s views – a bit later
in this handbook – we’d see how to try to loosen up a bit our strong attachment to
our thoughts.
 Our views – our mental maps, that is – may not change as fast as the external
world does.

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KnowingyourPreferences
-MBTI
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI for short) was constructed by Katharine Cook
Briggs and her daughter Isabel Briggs Myers. It was based on the theories of Carl
Jung. This model is very useful in understanding ourselves as well as others. The
insights we get from such understanding would allow for better communications
between people as well as better results for people working in teams.
According to MBTI, a person’s personality is defined by his/her preferences in four
areas:
 How to energize oneself (attitude)
 How to acquire information (cognitive function – taking in information)
 How to make decisions (cognitive function – deciding)
 How we deal with the external world (lifestyle preference).
Each of above dimensions is represented through a dichotomy.
A person is Extravert (E) if he/she would draw energy from interacting with others
whereas he/she would be an Introvert (I) if his/her source of energy would be
through quiet reflection in alone time.
A person is Sensing (S) if he/she prefers to take in information sequentially and by
focusing on details. On the other hand, he/she would be iNtuitive (N) if he/she takes
in information through focusing on meanings and associations so that he/she would
be practically “connecting the dots” and coming up with the underlying patterns.
A person is Thinking (T) if he/she tends to make decisions from a detached
standpoint – evaluating a decision by what seems reasonable, logical and matching
a given set of rules. He/she is Feeling (F) if he/she makes decisions by associating
him/herself with the situation in an empathic way.

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A person is Judging (J) if what dominates his/her interactions with the external world
is his/her decision making function (be it a Thinking or a Feeling process). He/she
typically likes order and plans – they live by their “To Do” lists and would hate to
change them. A Perceiving (P) person’s primary interaction with the external world is
through acquiring information (either in a Sensing or iNtuitive way). He/she can
easily come across as indecisive or continually postponing decisions. They are
adaptable and flexible – and they work in bursts of energy.
The insights that can result from understanding oneself as well as the others around
us – using the Typewatching concepts introduced in Otto Kroeger et al’s “Type Talk
at Work” – are really valuable. That book can help us get beyond communication
problems between different personality types. We can avoid jumping to the wrong
conclusions.
In certain situations, people may be willing to share their MBTI preferences with each
other – and that can lead to similar benefits.
The first time I knew about MBTI was in the late nineties, where I was attending an
MBA program. A colleague, who had been working with me in the same organization
at the time, was pursuing that MBA program as well. When we have done the MBTI
assessments, the facilitator asked the participants to share their preferences with
each other – if that was ok. This we did, willingly. And for me and my colleague there
was an immediate insightful revelation that dawned on us. We had been working
together for more than a couple of years. Though we used to achieve good results,
there were times where we felt uncomfortable, without expressing this. MBTI
understanding was just like magic – for we realized that he was of the Sensing type
and I was iNtuitive. We had genuine laughs – and he said “ok now I understand that
you were not being reticent and unwilling to share details with me” ... and I responded
“and now I understand that you were not being overly inquisitive, skeptical and
investigative”. I can confirm that such understanding paid back very positively
throughout our working relationship over the subsequent years.
It is to be highlighted that there is no MBTI profile that is better than the other. Each
of the sixteen types has the potential to bring value in work or in personal
relationships. It so happens that over the years, extraversion has been appreciated
more than introversion in various parts of the world. Susan Cain’s invaluable book
“Quiet” is a great attempt at exploring what the Introverts are capable of bringing to
the world. I can safely say that Susan’s book and her inspiring TED Talk in 2012 were
a big relief and encouragement to Introverts like me.
Managing stress is an essential part of our lives – possibly much more so these days
than ever. “Type Talk at Work” discusses this and introduces very relevant practical

33
tips. One key point is to watch out for what drains our energies – and ensure that we
arrange for the activities we need to do on a regular basis to “recharge our own
batteries” according to our own personal preferences.

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KnowingyourPreferences
-HBDI
This model allows us to understand that different people use their brains differently,
which should not be a surprise to us – especially after we looked into the “Mental
Maps’ framework. The HBDI (Herrmann Brain Dominance Instrument) model can help
us communicate and team-up with others in effective ways. Also, it can provide us
with insights that can be of great value for us in relation to our own development.
The model contends that a human brain metaphorically comprises four colored
quadrants – where each quadrant has a certain cognitive focus:
 Blue Analytical
 Green Procedural
 Yellow Creative
 RedEmotional
Upon completing the HBDI assessment, you know your HBDI preference code which
consists of four numbers – where each of them refers to the degree you prefer a
certain quadrant, starting with A, then B, then C and D. Each number can be 1, 2 or
3 – and:
 1 indicates that this is a primary quadrant (highly preferred)
 2 indicates that it is a secondary quadrant (functional – yet not the most
preferred)
 3 indicates that this is a tertiary quadrant (clearly lacking or you tend to avoid
using it).
According to how many 1s there are in the preference code, it would be considered
either single dominant, double dominant, triple dominant or quadruple dominant.

35
Statistically, the majority of people have double dominant profiles (58%), followed by
triple dominant (34%), then single dominant (5%) and lastly quadruple dominant
(3%).
Single dominant profiles manifest an explicit preference and an unquestionable
focus. They, however, can conflict with different preferences.
Double dominant profiles – which are left or right – are clearly defined and the
preferences provide direction. They, however, may be conflicted with opposing
modes.
Double dominant profiles – which are upper or lower – have similar pros and cons as
the left or right.
Double dominant profiles – which are diagonal – are interesting, differentiated and
can be conflicting. Here the sense of conflict can be internally and when interacting
with others – as tension between ideas (D) and action (B) or safekeeping (B) versus
risk-taking (D) or facts (A) versus feelings (C).
Triple dominant profiles are integrated and flexible. They, however, can be
occasionally unfocussed.
The rare quadruple dominant profiles exhibit multiple abilities and they like variety.
They, however, can be bored easily.
It is worth mentioning that each profile has a set of occupations that would be more
appropriate than others.
Couple of key insights from the HBDI framework are:
 Beware of the blind spots resulting from your tertiary quadrants
 Note the preferred thinking styles of your audience when writing or speaking to
others – try to communicate with them in ways that appeal to their dominant
modes of thinking.
A safe approach, to deal with the above insights, is to train yourself in using all
quadrants – not just your preferred ones. This is the Whole Brain Thinking concept
– and I suggest that you tap into it.

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ChooseyourFocus
This is a simple yet powerful model – introduced by David Rock in his book “Quiet
Leadership”. Its primary purpose is to help people orient their thought processes.
The essence of this model is to identify the type of thinking we are doing when we
are having a meeting or a conversation – and it can apply even when one is thinking
on his/her own.
The model suggests that we have five different levels we can think and communicate
about anything. These levels are:
• Vision. What do we want to achieve and why.
• Planning. Once we know we where we are heading – and why – we can start to
think how to get there.
• Detail. Now that we know where we are heading and how – we need to define our
roadmap in terms of actionable small steps.
• Problem. This is the type of thinking we need to apply when things go wrong. We
have discussed earlier how to approach problems – especially people problems –
using a solution focus.
• Drama. This is when we are dealing with emotional charge. I trust that it is obvious
that we should try to minimize being in that state. There are situations, though,
where it is unavoidable.
A simple technique for leveraging this model is to write down on paper or put it up on
a whiteboard to help keeping discussions at the desired level which best fits the
context.

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HandlingResistanceto
Change
The concepts introduced by Kotter and Schlesinger in 1979 are still very valuable for
leaders as those concepts are key in understanding why change can be resisted and
what to do to maximize the chances of a change being successful.
The fact that change is inevitable gives this framework particular relevance. Kotter
and Schlesinger’s work contends that companies or divisions of major corporations
find that they must undertake moderate organizational changes at least once a year
– and major changes every four or five. Although many things have changed in the
world of business since 1979 – I expect that this statement bears substantial validity
to date.
Most organizational changes encounter problems – from lingering beyond the
planned timelines to different other unhappy proceedings, including excessive costs
and negative impact to morale. Organizational change efforts would often face some
form of resistance.
In order to maximize the chances of success – it is only logical that a leader needs to
take the time before initiating a change to assess what types of resistance are to be
expected and how to best deal with them.
Kotter and Schlesinger argue that there are four basic reasons why people would
resist change:
 Parochial self-interest
This happens when people focus on their own best interests and not on those of
the total organization. Resistance, in such a case, would be in the form of “political
behavior” opposing the change – and can be an overt behavior or a subtle one.

38
 Misunderstanding and Lack of Trust
People can resist the change if they do not understand its implications – especially
when trust is lacking between the person initiating the change and the employees.
 Different Assessments
People who have make assessments of situations, that are different from those
carried out by the change sponsors, are expected to oppose and resist the
change.
It is to be highlighted that – in certain situations – such assessment may be more
accurate than that of leaders advocating the change. This is an example when
resistance is “good”.
 Low Tolerance for Change
All human beings are limited in their ability to change, and some are a lot more
limited than others. This can lead to people resisting a certain change even when
they realize that it is a good one.
Kotter and Schlesinger six primary approaches to dealing with resistance to change.
The exhibit below, extracted from Kotter and Schlesinger’s article of 1979, clarifies
where each approach would fit – along with the pros and cons.
I would like to highlight that the “Manipulation and Co-potation” approach can be
unethical. And I would stress that “Coercion” needs to be used very sparingly (for the
same reasons discussed under the coercive leadership style, presented earlier).

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RiddingofBadHabits
This approach of using mindfulness and curiosity to break bad habits is beautifully
explained by Dr. Judson Brewer in his TED talk. It can be very useful in helping us
break bad habits. Such bad habits can be smoking, excessive consumption of sweets
or any sort of bad repetitive behavior that we know, intellectually, that it is wrong yet
we cannot help but succumb to it.
The point is that habits are formed according to the reward-based learning which
happens at a very basic level within our nervous systems. It follows the pattern of:
trigger, behavior and reward. We learn to repeat this process whenever we face the
same trigger. Such is the case for consuming food: the hunger (trigger) drives to eat
(behavior) and we feel good (reward).
The problem arises when the reward is an imagined (or minor and temporary) one
and there is a bigger price that we are paying. This is the case of smoking – when at
times of stress (trigger) we smoke (behavior) and we feel relieved (a reward that, at
best, is temporary). Now, we can know that smoking is actually bad for our health –
and this knowledge is intellectual. This intellectual knowledge is in the realm of part
of our brain which is the prefrontal cortex. The bad news is that this part goes offline
at times of stress. So, it cannot really stand against our desire to smoke when we
stress out.
Judson suggests that we use mindfulness as a tweak to the same reward-based
learning underpinned by trigger, behavior and reward. He wants us if we get the crave
for a bad habit – smoking as an example – we do not try to force ourselves to resist
the urge. He suggests that we become mindful and curious of what is happening in

40
our bodies at that moment. The trick here is that curiosity feels good – so we use it
as the reward that activates the inner scientist within us that would be awaiting the
next data point by examining our sensations at the time of the urge for the bad habit.
Even if we give in and practice that bad habit – remain mindful and let go. Don’t try
to force yourself out of the habit. A part of our brains – posterior cingulate cortex –
gets allegedly active when we are sucked in our indulgence. The good news is that if
we let go (step out of the process by being mindful and curious) gets that part of the
brain to quiet down. Such mindfulness would make us reach insights – like what
smoking really smells and tastes like. And that knowledge is acquired on a more
visceral level rather than the prefrontal cortex – so it protects us even when we are
stressed.
So, instead of dashing into smoking when you’re stressed out, feel a bit better –
notice the urge, get curious, feel the joy of letting go and repeat.

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FeeltheFearandDoit
Anyway
Those five truths about fear are extracted from Susan Jeffer’s “Feel the Fear and Do It
Anyway”. The relevance of those truths to unleashing your potential is great.
Nothing cripples us more than fear. Realizing those truths and understanding how
that part of our brain – called the amygdala – is working is key in dealing with fears.
The amygdala on a very primordial level and part of its functions is to keep us safe
by rushing adrenaline in our bodies when there is a threat (which is assumed to be
present by the amygdala if we are afraid) that we have to either run away from (flight)
or face head-on (fight). In fact, other disturbances happen in the body driven by the
fear.
Now, Susan Jeffer refers to the “voice in our heads” which can be loaded with fear
and anxiety – and she suggests that we use positive affirmation to tame it. This
seemingly weird thing is really powerful – because it deals with an irrational part of us
at the right level and with the right tools. This “voice in the head” would not listen to
logic – and interestingly you can beat it with the affirmation.

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TeamFormationCycle
This framework was published by Dr. Bruce Tuckman in 1965 and he revised it in the
1970s. Tuckman put it forward a hypothesis of the development stages through which
a small group evolve.
Understanding this model can pay dividends by accelerating team maturity as well as
minimizing the notorious second stage, the storming bit.
Originally, Tuckman suggested that teams progress the following four stages:
 Forming, characterized by :
o High dependence on leader for guidance
o Little agreement on team aims other than what is received from leader
o Roles and Responsibilities (R&R) are not very clear
o Processes are often ignore
o Leader directs
 Storming, featuring:
o Decisions do not come easily within the group
o Team members are competing for position – as they establish themselves in
relation to other team members and the leader
o Factions may emerge
o Leader coaches
 Norming, demonstrating:
o Agreement largely forms among the team
o R&R are clear and accepted
o Team decides on major issues and smaller decisions can be delegated to
individuals
o Team develops its processes and workstyle
o General respect for the leader
o Leader facilitates and enables

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o Performing, where:
o Team is more strategically aware
o Team has a shared vision
o Team requires little interference from the leader
o Team is focused on overachieving goals as the team is reaching out to its
full collective potential
o Disagreement can still happen but they are resolved positively within the
team
o Team members are supportive of each other
In the 1970s, Tuckman added the fifth stage: adjourning which is about the break-up
of the group – hopefully when its task was completed successfully. Everyone can
move on to new things – feeling good about what has been achieved or taking away
lessons of how to be more successful. The team members may feel a sense of
insecurity from the dismantling of the team – especially if they had been closely
bonded. It can be argued that – while this stage is highly relevant to the members
and their feelings – it has little to do with the team in the context of what it had been
set-up to pursue in the first place.
There are some valuable insights in Michael D. Watkins’s article “Leading the Team
You Inherit” – which addresses situations where a new team leader is appointed.
Michael highlights the following insights in such situations.
• Assessing the team
This is about determining whether you have the right people (human resources)
doing the right things (jobs and tasks) in the right ways (methods and standards).
Assessment needs to be fast and accurate, which calls for a systematic approach.
You need to be clear on the desired qualities alongside with their weights in terms
of importance. Information here is to be gathered through reports, briefings and
interviews.
A key dimension to examine is which of your staff would have to work as a team
and on what tasks. You should refrain from forcing a team concept on all groups –
as some groups would essentially comprise individuals who would best work
independently.
• Reshaping the Team
Given the organization’s culture, your mandate (as a leader) and the available
talent. You would want to have your people exhibit high performance behaviors
such as: sharing information freely, identifying and dealing with conflict swiftly and
constructively, solving problems creatively, supporting one another and stand-up
unitedly once decisions were made. You can promote those behaviors by focusing
on the four levers below.

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o Composition
One obvious way to reshape a team would be replacing underperformers.
This can be difficult culturally and politically – and even when possible it
would consume significant time and energy. So it should be pursued only
when absolutely necessary.
Other options would be making use of the normal turnover to create space
for newcomers.
You can look into job rotations – moving people who aren’t fitting to other
positions in the organization where they can contribute and shine.
You can also have people swap jobs – and you can work on adjusting
scope of existing roles.
o Alignment
Get the team to understand and agree on what they will accomplish, why
they should do it, how they will do it and who will do what.
o Operating Model
Review and revise KPIs, meetings frequency and scope – as well as structural
constructs.
o Integration
Identify the top priority issues that have to be addressed to get the team
functioning in a healthy way – and act on them with diligence. A list of
issues cited in Michael’s article were: confidence in capabilities,
transparency in sharing information, trust that commitments would be
honored, psychological safety to voice out divergent opinions, security that
confidences would be maintained and unity around decisions made.
A system should be in place to ensure that this is an ongoing process and
just a one-off drill.

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AwakeningtoyourLife’s
Purpose
Eckhart Tolle’s book “A New Earth” is laden with wisdom and insights. What I wish to
focus on here are a few of those insights that I believe can help us view ourselves,
others and the world in a very inspiring way.
One theme that Eckhart emphasizes is that we need to differentiate ourselves from
our ego – and he uses the term “ego” to this illusory self which is about what we do,
what we own, where we live, etc.
He reminds us that, at the core, each of us is a “being” that has lots in common with
other people living with us now – those who had lived before us – and those who are
yet to be born. In fact, our beingness – using his term – is connected to everything in
this world. He reiterates on the concept of living in the present moment as a primary
key to exploring the reality of who we are instead of missing our lives by over-dwelling
on the past or being obsessed with what the future holds.
He reminds us that the ego is insatiable – it always craves for more. Be it more
possessions, more knowledge, more achievements or – ironically – more pain for
ourselves and others.
He clarifies that he does not want us to stop looking for success and wealth – and he
helps us by presenting three modalities by which we should deal with the world and
what takes place in it.
 Acceptance
Whatever you cannot enjoy doing, you can at least accept that this is what you
have to do. He gives the example of having to change a flat tire at night in the
middle of nowhere and in pouring rain. That is not something to enjoy or be

46
enthusiastic about – yet you can bring acceptance to it.
This acceptance is key to being at peace with what you do and what is happening.
 Enjoyment
He contends that you can enjoy any activity in which you are fully present – fully
living in the moment and that you do not look at the activity as a means to an
end.
 Enthusiasm
This is state of enjoyment and an added element of a goal to work toward. This
creates what Eckhart refers to as a structural tension – he likens it to feeling like
an arrow that is moving to its target, and enjoying the journey. He highlights that
you need to maintain a balance between enjoyment and structural tension. When
you want to arrive at the goal more than you want to be doing what you are doing
– then the balance is lost and the structural tension has won, giving way to stress
and negativity. I, personally, see that this concept links to a large extent to Mihaly
Csikszentmihalyi’s notion of the optimal experience.

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• Learning Styles
• Knowledge Spiral
• The Power of
Subconscious

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LearningStyles
This model – which was developed by Honey and Mumford based on Kolb’s work – is
valuable for learners and training providers. It aims at maximizing the value derived
from learning by understanding the different learning styles.
According to this model, there are four learning styles:
 Activists
 Reflectors
 Theorists
 Pragmatists
The general description for those styles is as follows.
 Activists
They enjoy working in teams and they love to have something new to master or
think about. They are open-minded and seldom skeptical. They tend to act first
and consider the consequences later. They thrive on the challenge of the new
experience but most likely wouldn’t be interested in the implementation, especially
if it entails long-term engagement. They can tend to be pushy and dominating.
They enjoy being the center of attention in meetings and discussions.
 Reflectors
They are typically cautious and would like to evaluate new experiences from
different perspectives before committing themselves. They collect data and think
thoroughly before they come to conclusions. They analyze things – in fact
sometimes they can overanalyze. When acting, they have to ensure that they are
taking the big picture into account – and that they are basing their actions on their
own opinions and that of others. They prefer to take a back seat in meetings and
discussions.

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 Theorists
They integrate observations into complex – but logical – constructs. They are
perfectionists and won’t be easy until things are tidy and fitting a rational scheme.
They are keen at examining processes in terms of assumptions, principles, models
and systems. They prefer to maximize certainty and would be uncomfortable with
subjective arguments.
 Pragmatists
They are keen on trying out ideas to test their validity in practice. They are
typically down to earth people and are adept at solving problems practically. They
welcome problems as challenges – and believe there is always a better way of
doing things.
Herein are examples of the most interesting learning activities that are conducive to
rewarding experience for the different styles.
 Activists
 Brainstorming
 Problem Solving
 Group Discussions
 Puzzles
 Competitions
 Role Play
 Reflectors
 Paired Discussions
 Self-analysis Questionnaires
 Personality Questionnaires
 Time Out
 Observing Activities
 Feedback from others
 Coaching
 Interviews
 Theorists
 Models
 Statistical Drills
 Stories
 Quotes
 Background Information
 Applying Theories
 Pragmatists
 Time to think about how to apply learning in reality
 Case Studies
 Problem Solving
 Discussion

50
KnowledgeSpiral
The “Knowledge-Creating Company” model is a powerful one that helps un
understand a bit about how to consistently create new knowledge – an essential
competitive advantage in today’s world.
Creating new knowledge differs radically from information processing – in that it
depends significantly on highly subjective insights and intuition of individuals: tacit
knowledge. In order to thrive at knowledge creation, we must be as comfortable with
images and symbols (associated with tacit knowledge) as we are with hard numbers
measuring market share, productivity and ROI.
Another key aspect for knowledge-creating companies is that they are as much about
ideals as they are about ideas.
Innovation is – to a large extent – an attempt to recreate the world according to a
particular vision or ideal. So, almost literally, a company and its individuals would
need to engage in a non-stop process of self renewal (personally and
organizationally) – hence the key concept of a knowledge worker.
New knowledge always begins with the individual – and the key thing is to make that
personal knowledge available to others. Explicit knowledge is formal and systematic
that is why it can be easily communicated and shared.
However, tacit knowledge is hard to formalize and therefore difficult to communicate:
“We can know more that we can tell”.
The delineation of knowledge as tacit and explicit suggests four basic pattern for
creating knowledge:

51
 From tacit to tacit
This occurs when one individual shares tacit knowledge directly with another – in
an apprenticeship set-up. The apprentice then is socialized into a craft or a
knowledge domain. However, neither the apprentice nor the master gains any
systematic insight into the craft knowledge.
 From explicit to explicit
This is when an individual combines discrete pieces of explicit knowledge into a
new whole. Still, that does not really extend the company’s existing knowledge.
 From tacit to explicit
This occurs when someone has the capability and motivation to articulate the
foundations of his/her tacit knowledge. It is when such an externalization takes
place that valuable knowledge transfer is enabled.
 From explicit to tacit
Additionally, as new explicit knowledge is disseminated through an organization,
individuals begin to internalize it thus broadening and extending their tacit
knowledge.
It is at that magic junction, between tacit and explicit knowledge, that something
powerful happens. Therefore the third and fourth patterns, cited above, are quite
exciting.
In the knowledge-creating company, all of the four patterns exist in dynamic
interaction – some kind of spiral of knowledge:
• First, an individual apprentices him/herself with a master.
• Second, he/she translates this precious knowledge into explicit – and then
communicates it to others (team members, etc.)
• The team combines this new explicit knowledge with other bits and pieces – most
likely embodying them in a new product/artifact.
• The team is enriching their tacit knowledge by internalizing the new artifacts.
Then, the spiral starts over again – and excitingly – this time from a higher and richer
point.

52
To tap into the power of subconscious mind, try the following when dealing with problems that you
need to solve – this can apply to exam questions:
• Define the most difficult and toughest – and keep at that level, do not try to think of a solution
• Start with the second easiest – this gives you confidence and keeps your conscious mind busy
enough so as not to block your subconscious
• Attempt your toughest problem – and chances are you are going to come across plausible
solutions
• Leave the easiest one till the end of your constrained time – that one you can solve “blindfolded”.
ThePowerof
Subconscious
In David Rock’s valuable book “Quiet Leadership”, he taps into the power of
subconscious mind. Understanding the concepts here can help us achieve better use
and efficiency of our brain.
David Rock explains that our brain has two different qualities of internal
machinery: the conscious mind (“working memory”) and the
subconscious mind (“hard wiring”). He cites that W. Timothy Gallwey calls
them the “ten-cent computer” (the conscious mind) and the “million-dollar
computer” (the subconscious mind).
If you cannot recall a piece of information – or if you are stuck with a problem where
you ran out of ideas – it is time to resort to the subconscious. It would work best by
focusing on what you want it (the million-dollar computer) to do for a brief period –
then go get your conscious fully engaged in something else. This would get your
subconscious do some interesting processing in the background and would be back
to you – hopefully with a positive surprise.
The tip I included in the chart above, related to answering exam questions, had been
introduced to me and the rest of an MBA class in 2000 by the OUBS professor
Francis Cattermole who was the tutor for the “Creativity, Innovation and Change”
module. I confirm that I used and proved valuable.

53
Foreseeable Benefits
 Boosting the strengths in each every person – and the organization, collectively
 Becoming aware of ourselves and the others – which would make communications
more constructive and hopefully minimize time and energy waste
 Create an atmosphere that is conducive to ongoing development, learning and
improvement

54
Summary
We have covered:
 The challenges we are facing – distractors that can lead us to miss great
opportunities
 An introduction to an array of cumulative wisdom that was developed by authorities
in the domain of processional and leadership development – and are adopted by a
significant number of successful individuals and enterprises
 We contend to you to please make use of them!

55
Call to Action
 Start by understanding the models
 Get into the habit of tapping into the power of those models – by practicing them
with passion
 Be a missionary within your circles: friends, family and colleagues to help create a
better world – leveraging your best traits/talents and by being aware of the
differences with the others
 View the differences with others as a way to synergize and come to better and more
informed decisions

56
References
 David Rock. Quiet Leadership.
 Ken Robinson. The Element.
 Mihaly Csikszentmihaly. The Flow.
 Stephen Covey. The Seven Habits of Highly
Effective People.
 Stephen Covey. First Things First.
 HBR Article: Make Time for Work that Matters”.
 David Rock. SCARF model.
 Hay McBer. Leadership Styles, Climate and
Results.
 David Rock. Your Brain at Work.
 MBTI literature.
 Otto Kroeger et al. Type Talk at Work.
 Susan Cain. Quiet.
 HBDI literature.
 Kotter and Schlesinger. Dealing with Resistance
to Change.
 Judson Brewer. TED talk: A Simple Way to Break
a Bad Habit.
 Susan Jeffers. Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway.
 Bruce Tuckman. Team Building Model.
 Eckhart Tolle. A New Earth.
 David Kolb, Peter Honey and Alan Mumford.
Learning Styles.
 Nonaka and Takeuchi. Knowledge Management
Cycle.
 Francis Cattermole of the OUBS. In his lectures
on “Creativity, Innovation and Change”.

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