4-profit denver conference- communicating with the brain in mind
TRANSCRIPT
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4-Profit Leadership Forum | September 30 – October 2, 2013Inverness Hotel & Conference Center | West Englewood, Colorado
COMMUNICATE WITH THE BRAIN IN MIND
The Vision
The Reality
Communicate with the Brain in Mind
Our Brain is Organized
To Survive
To Minimize Threat
AVOID!
And to Maximize Reward
APPROACH!
Social Interactions operate the same way
Threat Reward
Physical and Social Pain
Threat State of Mind
LESS Insight, Creativity
Problem Solving Ability
MORE Risk Averse,Defensive, Cortisol
Reward State of Mind
MORE• Creative problem solving ability• Insight• ENGAGED• Dopamine
The SCARF Model
• Status • Certainty• Autonomy• Relatedness• Fairness
David Rock
SCARF Helps
Increase Reward and Minimize Threat
In ourselves and others
Status
Pecking Order, Self-Worth,Feeling Included
Status Reward State
A decrease in status feels like a threat to one’s life
Threats to Sense of Status
• Easy to accidentally trigger• Giving advice• Dismissing an opinion or minimizing an objection
Certainty
The brain is a pattern-recognition machine constantly trying to predict
the near-future
Lack of Certainty Generatesan Error Response in the Brain
Certainty is satisfying
“Creating” Certainty
A leader seeks to increase a sense of certainty in others when, in fact, there
is little
Clarity Reduces Uncertainty
Where are we going? How are we getting there? What should I do?
Creating Certainty Milestones
Breaking a complex project into small steps increases certainty
Autonomy: The perception of Choice
The brain likes to predict and have a say in the future
Autonomy
Increased autonomy feels rewarding
Reduced Autonomy
The inability to influence outcomes
Threats to Autonomy
“They won’t let us work from home anymore.”
“I just want to manage my own team!”
Relatedness
Insider or Outsider? Friend or Foe?
Relatedness
We like to belong“Friend” activates empathy in our
brains
Relatedness Threats
“Foe” is our default state
Threats to Relatedness
• Silos• Us vs. Them• During Onboarding
FairnessWe have a strong need to be treated
fairlyFairness is in the Eye of the Beholder
Lack of Fairness
Lack of fairness generates a significant threat response and feelings of disgust
Unfairness at Work
“There’s a different set of rules for them…”
“I have 10 more years of experience and I’m getting paid less than the new
guy!”
“How” Matters More Than “What”
Understand Yourself and Others
What Triggers Me
What Triggers You
My Behavior &Form of Expression
Your Behavior & Form of Expression
Creating Clarity Decreases Uncertainty
• Three things you don’t want to do that could increase the uncertainty
• Three practical things you want to do to decrease uncertainty
A. You had to fire a manager and a new one is being hired from the outside.
B. Sales missed Q1 goal and isn’t on track for Q2.
C. We might be losing a large long-term client.D. There have been a rash of service failures &
clients are upset.