Avoiding mental fight or flight
Have you ever made a dumb management decision? One that seemed like a good idea at the time, but after it fell flat you looked back and wondered, “What was I thinking?” We all do this from time to time. But you may be surprised to learn that one cause of this particular human trait is rooted deep in our evolutionary past and in our brains. In fact, it has a lot to do with an evolutionary process we’re all familiar with – fight-or-flight. Modern research has discovered that humans apply our fight-or-flight reflexes not only to predators, but to data itself – a finding that has serious consequences for today’s business leaders. Any time you find yourself having a strong, instantaneous emotional reaction to an idea or a statement, pause and ask yourself: • Why am I reacting so strongly to this issue? • What is my underlying assumption or belief that is being challenged? • Is this assumption or belief still true? • What do I stand to lose by having my point of view challenged? • Is it time for me to update my thinking? We’re not going to change a million years of brain evolution overnight. But we can minimize the damage by becoming aware of when we’re in mental fight-or-flight, and then logically assessing our reaction. The more we practice pausing and evaluating our mental fight-or-flight responses, the more distance we can put between now and our most recent “What was I thinking?” decision.
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Avoiding mental fight or flight
- 1. Have you ever made a dumb management decision? www.TheHumanFactor.biz www.MoreThanaMinute.com
- 2. It often has to do with our instinctual fight or flight response? www.TheHumanFactor.biz www.MoreThanaMinute.com
- 4. We apply our fight-or-flight reflexes to predators AND data www.TheHumanFactor.biz www.MoreThanaMinute.com
- 5. Mental fight-or-flight… • causes us to miss obvious information that affects our markets, our customers & our business • encourages decisions based on outdated assumptions rather than hard data • leads us to cling to the past rather than opening up to new possibilities – an essential skill for keeping up with today’s hyper-paced markets www.TheHumanFactor.biz www.MoreThanaMinute.com
- 6. In mental fight-or-flight… • we give greater credence to evidence that bolsters our beliefs • we vigorously dispute arguments, information & points of view that contradict our own • we constantly screen in the data that proves us right, while screening out data that might prove us wrong • we miss seeing information that could prevent us from making a costly decision www.TheHumanFactor.biz www.MoreThanaMinute.com
- 7. We don’t believe what we see… We see what we already believe… …and we seek constantly to prove ourselves right www.TheHumanFactor.biz www.MoreThanaMinute.com
- 8. Run! To avoid this mental knee-jerk reaction, become aware you’re in mental fightor-flight & www.TheHumanFactor.biz www.MoreThanaMinute.com
- 9. Ask yourself? • Why am I reacting so strongly to this issue? • What is my underlying assumption or belief that is being challenged? • Is this assumption or belief still true? • What do I stand to lose by having my point of view challenged? • Is it time for me to update my thinking? www.TheHumanFactor.biz www.MoreThanaMinute.com
- 10. Practice pausing & evaluating your fight or flight responses. Contact Holly@TheHumanFactor.biz if you want to win in business!
- 11. Holly G. Green the architect of pause™ & thinking to thrive expert www.TheHumanFactor.biz www.MoreThanaMinute.com
Editor's Notes
- Read slide as builds…so we ignore or miss a lot going on around us and limit the possibilities of our business and our success by getting locked in to things that may no longer be soRemember, I said we have clients note those things they are absolutely, positively sure are so about their business, their industry, etc. We have never had a client be right on more than 50% of the facts . They may have been right 2 years ago, but things changed…Think about the last time you bought a new car. On the way home from the dealership you probably noticed a lot of other cars just like the one you bought. Now as much as each of you is a celebrity in their own right, people probably did not go out and buy that new car because they heard you were at the lot. The cars were always there, you just never had reason to see them. Once you bought yours, your brain was proving our brilliant you were to purchase it by noting how many other smart people there were driving one. It is called reticular articulation – when new windows open to us and we can see new things.