This is a slide deck from my Spring 2021 section of The Art of Self-Coaching at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. Course materials are archived at https://www.edbatista.com/the-art-of-self-coaching-course.html.

1. Photo by Philip Bird [link]
The art of
self-coaching
Ed Batista
CLASS 3: ATTENTION
@StanfordGSB
Spring 2021

2. Attention
Another foundational topic
EMOTION: Emotions are attention magnets
HAPPINESS: What we pay attention to matters
RESILIENCE: Managing our attention under stress

3. How we think 15 mins
Discussion & debrief 35 mins
Mental control 15 mins
For next time… 5 mins
Outside of class 25 mins
Agenda
Photo by Theresa Thompson [link]

4. Warm-up

5. Warm-up
Class prep:
What’s a healthy distraction you recommend?

6. Warm-up
In breakouts with Professional Partners + 2 others
Share your recommendations with the group
8 minutes total, 2:00 per person
I’ll announce when to switch
Look for a 1 min countdown

7. Photo by Philip Bird [link]
Attention

8. Photo by Jason Baker [link]
Your most
precious resource

9. Attention > time

10. Effectiveness
Emotional Arousal
Performance
Eustress Distress
(Not literally a bell curve)

11. Effectiveness
Choosing where to focus your attention
Choosing what (& who) to ignore
Fundamental leadership skills
More difficult under stress
It will only get harder

12. Photo by Elade Manu [link]
How we think

13. System 1 &
Keith Stanovich, University of Toronto
Richard West, James Madison University
Individual Differences in Reasoning (2000)
Daniel Kahneman, Princeton
System 2

14. System 1 &
Systems = Modes of operating
Not actual brain structures
System 2

15. Photo by Jeff Mikels [link]
System 1 &
System 2

16. System 1 &
Most processing = Automatic & unconscious
Consciousness = Tip of the iceberg
System 2

17. An illustration
252 x 2 =

18. An illustration
252 x 2 = 4

19. An illustration
254 x 4 =

20. An illustration
254 x 4 = 16

21. An illustration
216 x 16 =

22. An illustration
216 x 16 = 256

23. An illustration
256 x 256 =

24. An illustration
Fast  Slow
Effortless  Effortful
Involuntary  Voluntary

25. Photo by John Flannery [link]
System 1 &
System 2

26. Photo by John Flannery [link]
System 1 &
System 2

27. Who’s in charge?
It depends
System 2 usually an acquiescent monitor
& sometimes in charge & actively resistant
& sometimes an endorser, NOT an enforcer

28. Photo by Sarah Joy [link]
Attention budget

29. Attention budget
System 2 processing = A limited resource
7 items in working memory (+/- 2)
Focused multi-tasking is a myth

30. Attention budget
If you try to go beyond your budget, you will fail.
~Daniel Kahneman

31. Law of least
Photo by Stuart [link]
effort

32. Law of least
effort
System 2 processing is inefficient & expensive
We’ve evolved to be “cognitive misers”
We’re lazy (or economical)

33. Law of least
effort
So we’re always seeking short cuts
But this results in systematic biases…

34. Features that act
like bugs
Photo by Steve Bremer [link]

35. Features that act
Ways of thinking that benefit the species
They usually benefit us as individuals
But not always
like bugs

36. Emotions are
attention magnets
Photo by Garrett Mace [link]

37. Emotions are
It is clear that emotion should not be very
susceptible to willful control. If we could turn off
all our emotions, we could easily end up dead.
~Daniel Wegner
attention magnets

38. Narrative engine
Photo by PXHere [link]

39. Narrative engine
Photo by Sharon Mollerus [link]

40. Narrative engine
The measure of success for System 1 is the
coherence of the story it manages to create.
The amount and quality of the data on which
the story is based are largely irrelevant.
~Daniel Kahneman

41. Social
Photo by debarshiray [link]
comparison

42. Social
Most of the time, it's impossible not to compare
ourselves with others. Social comparisons arise
naturally, automatically, and effortlessly.
~Sonja Lyubomirsky
comparison

43. What can we do?
Photo by Lydia [link]

44. Our information
Photo by Christian Kadluba [link]
diet

45. An exercise
Image courtesy of Lauren & Lloyd Sommerer [link]

46. Worksheets
Photo by Robert S. Donovan [link]
& phones

47. Worksheets
Consider your phone in light of these dynamics

48. Worksheets

49. Worksheets

50. Worksheets

51. Worksheets
How does my phone…
Trigger emotions—even very subtle ones?
Engage me in “stories” of any kind?
Evoke social comparisons?

52. Worksheets
Consider…
What features did you choose?
Which ones were chosen for you?
How useful or necessary are they?

53. Discuss with
How might we use these tools differently?
How could we make them less disruptive?
What could we turn off or ignore?
your quartet

54. What will you do?
Image courtesy of Lauren & Lloyd Sommerer [link]

55. Why belabor this?
Photo by Garry Knight [link]

56. Attention
economy
Photo by Matt Biddulph [link]

57. We’re not just
consumers
Photo by XoMEoX [link]

58. We’re also
the product
Photo by United Soybean Board [link]

59. The tip of a long
tentacle
Photo by damn_unique [link]

60. Behind the screen

61. Mental control
Photo by flickrfavorites [link]
(aka)

62. Attention mgmt.
Photo by flickrfavorites [link]

63. Attention mgmt.
Try to pose for yourself this task: not to think of
a polar bear, and you will see that the cursed
thing will come to mind every minute.
~Fyodor Dostoyevsky

64. Attention mgmt.
People can control their mental states
just by trying to direct their thoughts.
These strategies of mental control
can sometimes backfire, however.
~Daniel Wegner

65. Mental control
Photo by Vincent Diamante [link]

66. Mental control
Suppression (Freud)
Concentration (James)
Almost always insufficient
Sometimes counterproductive
But there’s an alternative (Dewey)

67. Habit
Photo by Justin Henry [link]

68. Habit
Habits must intervene between wish & execution
in the case of bodily acts, [but] we still cherish
the illusion that they can be dispensed with in the
case of mental & moral acts.
~John Dewey

69. Habit
Could the young but realize how soon they will
become mere walking bundles of habits, they
would give more heed to their conduct while in
the plastic state.
~William James

70. Deliberate
Photo by Naval Surface Warriors [link]
practice

71. Deliberate
practice
Not “perfect”
Attention > time
Usually depleting (a good thing)
Focused attention is a finite resource

72. Deliberate
Repeated exposure = Cognitive ease
Skill in a task = Requires less mental effort
Habitual activities = Lower demand on System 2
practice

73. What can we do?
Photo by Lydia [link]
(else)

74. Build capacity
(aka)

75. Get MESSy
Photo by Paul Colley [link]

76. Get MESSy
Mindfulness
Exercise
Sleep hygiene
Stress reduction

77. Get MESSy
Mindfulness

78. Mindfulness
Photo by Strevo [link]

79. Mindfulness
Non-judgmental
awareness
& acceptance
of experience

80. Mindfulness
The most powerful self-coaching tool
Critical to attention & emotion management

81. Meditation?

82. Meditation

83. Meditation
Repeated effort (over & over & over & over)
Cultivated habit of attention management
Self-directed neuroplasticity

84. Meditation
A workout, not a break
Consistent practice is the key
Try 1 minute per day & work up

85. Debrief
What are you taking away from today?
What are you learning?
What might you try?

86. Outside of class
Photo by Ludovic Betron

87. Outside of class
Some suggestions (but you decide the topic):
How am I managing my attention now?
What experiments might I run?

88. Photo by Pranav Yaddanapudi [link]
To sum up
Attention is your most precious resource
We can struggle to direct it effectively
Mere willpower isn’t enough
Habitual practices are key

89. To sum up
This will only get harder
Everyone wants the leader’s attention
No one cares how much it costs the leader
Start treating your attention like a resource

90. For next time…
Photo by Kim Faires [link]

91. Emotion
Photo by Jill M [link]

92. Photo by dotmatchbox [link]
An exercise…

93. An exercise…
Emotional Style
60 true/false questions
Generally true or generally false
Go with your gut & don’t deliberate

94. An exercise…
Complete it (10 mins), then score it (10 mins)
Then do the Class 4 reading
Bring a copy to class

95. An exercise…
Take note…
“Resilience” in Davidson = Recovery Time

96. And a survey!

97. And a survey!
Link on Canvas
Help design next week’s class
6 dimensions of Emotional Style
Note the 3 that interest you most
AFTER doing the exercise & reading

98. Other items…
I’ll email links to slides on my site & class video
Assignment & survey due Tuesday 9pm