A Little Creative Writing Exercise . . .

There is something to be said for brevity.

Those of you who know me personally might be smiling right now, since I am probably better known to you as being able to talk at length on any number of subjects:).  While this ability has often been an asset for me over the years, I have also wondered if I actually could be succinct.  I have viewed the increasing popularity of the six-word story or byline with some trepidation, afraid that I could never be THAT concise.

Harrison Monarth, in a recent LinkedIn discussion on the Leadership Think Tank group site, challenged us to tell a story in six words and I gave this deceptively simple-sounding little task a try.  Well, I found this to be an  unexpectedly enjoyable exercise and am reproducing my responses here for your amusement and hopeful inspiration.  Here are my attempts so far to tell a story in six words:

When she called, I answered quickly.

The last man standing sat down.

Where I toiled, so I bloomed.

You and I could not fail.

Things were different after the crash.

A small town, a big man.

Walking on air in high school.

Fantasies abound and I smile broadly.

Certain words should not be said.

I think I’ll take a nap.

We could not lose, but did.

Every day was a new thought.

The children knew what we did.

Let me know what you think of mine and try some of your own.   Looking forward to YOUR stories . . .

John

Fundamentally . . . We All Err

I am articulate and analytic, while you are a tad nitpicky, but he is a raving bigot.

Our tendency to attribute positive aspects of our lives to our internal behaviors and abilities, while attributing negative aspects to external factors, is called the ”fundamental attribution error” (FAE) in psychology.   This concept also involves describing our own behaviors and thoughts in more positive tones than we ascribe to others.    The problem is that these views are not reality.

People will fervently list all the misstatements or “lies” of an opposing candidate, while ignoring or minimizing those of their candidates.   Emotional distance from another person increases this tendency to “think bad and blame”.

Here are a couple of examples of how this sounds:

I won the lottery because I am a good person and deserve to win. (Earned Reward)

You won due to blind luck (Random Event)

She probably won because she rigged the contest. (Evil Action)

Hmmm . . . not too big a leap to see this in work situations, is it?    With the implications for personal mental health, effective communication, conflict management, and team-building, managers and leaders need to actively coach others to minimize use of the FAE as a framework for viewing themselves and others.

I received this promotion due to my hard work and obvious intelligence.

You received your promotion because you are a nice person . . . I guess.

He was promoted because he’s a “brown-nose” and buddies with the boss.

If the person can learn to be more objective, then they can do  the hard work of actually thinking and analyzing  what is being said before responding.  Even more importantly, they will be able to recognize their own thinking patterns that are reinforcing the tendency to commit the fundamental attribution error and can replace those patterns with a more logical and objective framework.

Teaching people to be critical thinkers instead of judgmental thinkers is hard, since the person has to be motivated to learn in the first place.   Working with others to improve their ability to avoid this error requires a combination of competencies centered on emotional and social intelligence, assertive communication, and critical thinking skills.

How have you experienced the fundamental attribution error in your work place?

What specific skills do you think are necessary to minimize our tendency toward the FAE?

A Few Words about Some Positive Aspects of Reduced Brain Activity

Since my son graduated from the University of Missouri (MU), I sometimes see their alumni magazine, cleverly titled “Mizzou Magazine“.  A recent article entitled “Less ‘me,’ more ‘we’  describes the work of Brick Johnstone, a neuropsychologist in MU’s Schoolof Health Professions, and his research on how reduced function in the right parietal lobe results in increased spiritual experiences or “transcendence”. 

Some of the functions of the right parietal lobeinclude awareness of one’s physical self and identification of strengths and areas of weakness within ourselves.  An accountant who suffered injury in this area was unable to recognize his significant and permanent cognitive impairment and believed he could return to his previous profession, even while unable to live or work with close supervision.

Previous research on Buddhist monks and Franciscan nuns revealed that their intense meditation and prayer practices resulted in reduced activity in this area, allowing for a richer and more “in-depth” spiritual experience.    This is known because the right parietal lobe activity of their brains significantly reduces during these times of spirituality.

Johnstone further notes that when people do not focus on themselves while in this state of transcendence or “selflessness”, they also exhibit more altruistic tendencies and are more empathetic to others, which he described as the lack of a “self-other dichotomy”.   He found that “reduced focus on the self, whether through prayer, meditation, or injury to certain parts of the brain, appears to be related to spiritual experiences.” (pg. 26) 

The religious statement that many of us know as the “Golden Rule” is generally replicated in most religious faiths around the world.  “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you”  seems to relate closely to this idea of reducing or eliminating the sense that we are separate from others.  Even the current cinematic wonder “Avatar” relies heavily on this theme of interconnectedness.  This is generally seen as a desirable state.

In this layman’s terms, reduced right parietal lobe activity allows us to focus less on ourselves and more on others.  We become more sharing individuals as a result.  Johnstone also said some interesting things about religious symbolism and our left temporal lobe’s functions, but that’s another post for another time.

My question is this:  Given the roles of spirituality and religion in coping and recent findings around the effectiveness of sharing as a positive coping skill,  what does this knowledge suggest  to help us enhance our ability to communicate and collaborate more effectively with others?  

Hint:  Intentionally inducing brain damage is NOT on the menu:).

John

Christmas Prayer for You . . .

May God grant you:

the light of Christmas, which is faith;

the warmth of Christmas, which is love;

the radiance of Christmas, which is purity;

the righteousness of Christmas, which is justice;

the belief in Christmas, which is truth;

the all of Christmas, which is Christ.  Amen

Roger Wilson of This Day’s Thoughts

From a sermon entitled “The Man Behind Christmas” publishd on December 20, 2009 by This Day’s Thoughts.

Perceptions and Learning

For those who are not Christian or particularly religious, stay with me.  This is not about evangelism, but about perspective and learning.

“That which is infinite is as much above what is great as it is above what is small.  Thus God, being infinitely great, He is as much above kings as He is above beggars; He is as much above the highest angel as He is above the meanest worm.”    Jonathan Edwards

I came across this quotation recently in an email from This Day’s Thought.  I subscribe to their daily message and often find inspiration within.  This particular one required several readings, but I believe that a very interesting thought lies within the words.

We are hierarchical and structured people, by and large.  Regardless of the democratic and egalitarian beliefs we may spout, we also rank and arrange most aspects of our life.  When done effectively and for positive ends, we are said to be “good at prioritizing” and in our modern world, we probably cannot survive without doing this.  I know I spend a fair amount of my time . . . well, deciding what to do with my time:).  We have to know what is at the top of the list in order to function.  So putting some things ahead of others is a good thing, right?

Then we have Edward’s thinking as noted above.  He is really talking about the concept of infinity, which I try to avoid thinking about, since infinity is “endless”.  I can grasp the idea of a line which never ends, because that image is linear and horizontal.  Now comes this idea about an entity that is infinite IN ALL DIRECTIONS.   When you say things like “as much above kings, as he is above beggars”, that makes my head hurt just a tad.  I have trouble really absorbing this concept.

So what difference does this make, especially if you do not choose or need to struggle with an image of a higher power?

Just this . . . place this concept of something equidistant into visual perspective by clicking on the line.  Now it starts to make more sense, because the object is in the center. 

I originally just wanted to make sure I was spelling a word right and received a visual image that gave me insight into a concept which hs previously been unclear.   What a great reminder of the power of pictures and interaction, along with a reminder that sometimes the deeper mysteries are really not that mysterious.

What learning experiences have you had like this?

John

Book Review: “what difference do it make?” by Ron Hall, Denver Moore, and Lynn Vincent

This book takes up more or less at the end of “same kind of different as me”. That book introduced us to Ron, Denver, and Deborah through a sometimes disturbing, sometimes humorous, and completely engaging description of the God-driven arc of Ron and Deborah’s volunteer work leading them to Denver and resulting in one very improbable friendship. While we grieved for Deborah as she battled cancer, the larger story was the development of a trusting and loving relationship between Ron and Denver as they each sought to cope with the looming loss of Deborah.

“what difference . . .” takes up mostly after Deborah’s death as Ron deals with his grief, tries to establish a positive relationship with his father, and teams up with Denver to spread the good word in memory of Deborah’s faith. We learn much more about Denver’s past, especially his early experiences with loss, deprivation, and searching. Vignettes showing how Deborah’s life inspired others to act are sprinkled liberally throughout this volume.

For me, the most affecting parts are those where Denver’s word shine out, with simple truth and complete faith in God.  We often make statements about “simple truths”, but this man lives them.  Reading his story is like being dipped into refreshing waters.  His life as poor and illiterate sharecropper, homeless person, criminal, friend, minister, and inspiration is breathtaking in its positive impact on others.

Whether you have read the first book or not, grasping the main story lines is not difficult. The authors do a masterful job by using very short chapters and inserts to give us the heart of the various story lines. Those who crave linear stories will be challenged by the frequent “time-travel” as we weave back and forth between the relationships and events that affect Ron, Denver, and the other characters.  We learn about the current ministry that Ron and Denver deliver in support of helping the homeless and how Deborah’s message of love, faith, and trust in the Lord is carried by others who have read and responded to the first book.

Never fear, though. The basic messages that relationships take a while and require uncomfortable and even painful change, that God will provide what we need rather than what we want, and that everyone has the divine spark within them comes across loud and clear.

Even if this is not your normal kind of book, try it.  You may just be amazed.

John is a member of Thomas Nelson’s Book Review Blogger program: http://brb.thomasnelson.com/

Tabula Rasa . . .

The idea behind the phrase “tabula rasa”  is simply that we are born with a “blank slate” upon which our experiences and ongoing cognition create our personalities, our interests, and other attributes by which we are known to the world.  This was described nicely by Peter O’Toole in Lawrence of Arabia when he says “Nothing is written until it is written.”

  Of course, this is direct opposition to those who believe that much or even all of what we do is either preordained or simply not within our control.  The terms I first learned to describe this were “internal locus of control” and “external locus of control“.    MindTools has a good summary of this theory and is a worthy site to visit, especially if you are unfamiliar with them.  It’s like a candy store for anyone interested in human behavior, psychology, and leadership.

I believe we have the ability to create our own reality through the experiences we allow ourselves to have, the emotions that we choose to feel, and the reflections that we have on both what we experience and how we feel about doing so.

With that in mind, my first question is “What do you want your blank slate to say about you?”    Of course, the follow-up question is “How do you intend to make this reality?”

Cite Your Source For That Statement!

“The surest way to corrupt a youth is to Instruct him to hold in higher esteem those who think alike than those who think differently.” Nietzsche.

This quote was used by Steve Jeffery recently on LinkedIn to spark a fascinating discussion.

Here is my response as posted:

“My first thought upon reading this was “Right!”.

My second thought was that much of our current educational and training systems are set up to do exactly that. There is a strong bias toward encouraging learners to adopt standard ways of doing things, to understand and internalize certain attitudes and values, and in general, to “think alike”. When someone thinks differently, that person is likely to be characterized as someone to be concerned about, rather than a free thinker to be valued and emulated.

How does one succeed in college? By learning how to regurgitate someone else’s thoughts, maybe in a new form, but we are always asking ‘What’s your source?’, which conveys the message that you have to base your ideas and thoughts on someone else’s work.”

We could go on to expand this to all the times when we insist that students provide the “right” answer, instead of just a creative or interesting response.  I myself have been guilty of this more times than I care to admit.

So what do you think? Are we professional educators and trainers nurturing independent thought or stifling it?

Waiting semi-patiently for your responses . . . so I can grade their correctness:).

John

How Do We Know “Expert” When We See It?

When I was but a boy, experts seemed easy to spot.  They were identified as such during interviews on one of the three television channels, wrote books which hit the best seller lists, and who most people would name when asked about experts in a particular field.  People with advanced degrees were often automatically identified as experts in their chosen fields and sometimes even granted expert status in other fields just because . . .

Without commenting on the validity of how we recognized who had the knowledge, figuring out the “who” certainly seemed simpler.

Now we have multiple outlets for media exposure, new fields of expertise and study seem to spring up frequently, and our knowledge about the world and how it works do not seem nearly as simple or sure as it once did.

So the question today is:  How do you identify an “expert” whose knowledge and wisdom you then trust?   

Looking forward to your responses on a cloudy fall day in the Heartland.

John

Teach ‘em a Lesson . . .

Kevin Harville asked a very interesting question recently on Linkedin.   

The question revolved around whether “teaching someone a lesson” is ever acceptable.  We have all had that experience of wanting desperately to make someone experience something bad in response to what they have either done or failed to do that affected us or someone we care about.  This is the human impulse that makes us cheer at the end of the movie when the bad guy gets “blowed up real good” or otherwise disposed of and what makes us protest when the bad guy wins out at the end of the story. 

It just doesn’t seem fair somehow.  Doing bad should result in some kind of reaction where things are set right, justice prevails, and everything is “as it should be.”

Of course that is not what happens in much of our lives.

Here is how I responded to Kevin’s query: 

What you have described is “Retaliation”, not teaching or learning. A better choice would be to model more appropriate behavior in hopes that others around you see and emulate positive behavior. That is teaching.

This is hard to actually do. The impulse to hurt someone back who has hurt you is very human and completely understandable. However, revenge has an interesting tendency to hurt you much more than it makes you feel temporarily better.

So what are your thoughts on all this?

John