Cogniphany

If you’re not familiar with the concept of automaticity in the mind, it’s relatively easy to explain. You know how you’ve had those moments where you’ve been driving somewhere and your mind drifts? And suddenly, you’re several miles down the road, but you’ve made numerous lane changes and speed changes? That’s automaticity in a nutshell. We learn methods of doing things and get to the point of doing them intuitively without thinking about how to do them.

You can, of course, go back to doing things with thinking, but it actually takes work. Imagine that while you’re driving so automatically, in the previous example, that a car near you merges into your lane almost running you off the road. Very likely for at least a few minutes, you’ll be very focused on every single aspect of your driving.

So, given that I’m currently doing work in graduate school, and I spend a lot of time in the library databases, it’s not surprising when I go just to check the library’s hours to see if they’re open tomorrow and at what times, I ended up all of the way into PsycInfo, wondering what I needed to type into the search bar.

I was driving this morning and heard a very interesting piece on NPR.

You’ve probably heard throughout your life that if someone is doodling on paper during a meeting or a training class, they’re probably bored and completely disengaged. However, new research pretty much debunks that and when you look at the logic behind it, it does make a lot of sense.

Basically, the brain is a machine that’s geared to process information, and since human perception has multiple inputs there’s a lot of information for it to pull from. When the brain doesn’t have enough to keep it busy, it starts looking for other things to do. Generally it has a couple of choices. One is to daydream, which equals total disengagement. The other is something like doodling, which means that it’s in creation mode. When you’re doodling, you’re still using the information that’s coming in, even if you feel like you’re disengaged.

A researcher took this information and created a study where participants had to listen to a long, boring phone message. The researcher then asked people afterwards to see how many pieces of information they could recall. When she broke it down by people who doodled and people who didn’t, the people who doodled were able to remember significantly more.

If you’re interested, go read the article and listen to the webcast. There’s some really interesting information in there about who doodles and how the British press mistook Bill Gates’ doodles for Tony Blair’s and had some really unkind things to say about him.

Bored? Try Doodling to Keep the Brain on Task.

I know it’s been a long time since I put a post up here, but I saw this in a journal this morning and it made me really happy to see it. 

I have to admit, I’m damned proud to be a SIOP member today. The president of the organization wrote a letter to President-elect Obama about how people like us can help the economy. If you want to read it, it’s here.  

But, this is the part that I really like… 

“Arguably one of the administration’s most important challenges is creating a strong organizational culture with a “high purpose” that reigns in selfish motives and fosters organizational citizenship behavior. Such cultures have internal governance and learning systems that enable “truth to speak to power.” SIOP members have completed research and models for corporate culture, decision making, and knowledge transfer, to name a few.”

It’s not often that I get to really explain what I do, or what I want to do in the future. But, that’s the differentiator between “us” and “them.” The “them” are the people who work in HR who just got business degrees. Straight business degrees usually just teach people how to do what’s best for the company in the short term, and usually that just involves dealing with the symptoms of a problem, and not the problem itself. We’re trained to start digging and go after the problem. 

To use a medical model, HR people with straight business degrees are like general practitioner doctors. They’re the ones who prescribe something for you when you have a cold or the flu. We’re the surgeons who work to eradicate cancer in a patient. 

One really telling experience is when we were in our first year and taking an organizational behavior class with a bunch of MBA students. We were 6 of about 25 or 30 students, so we were totally in the minority. We had to do projects as a team of 3, where we dealt with some sort of organizational problem. The one that my team had was a problem employee on a team. We talked about using methods of communication, conflict resolution, and trying to find out if the employee had a problem that was affecting his work life (since it had been noted that his abrasiveness had increased over the last year). When it came time for Q&A, one of the MBA students lit into me about how “you just can’t deal with people like that,” and that “you just have to fire them and get a new person in there,” and how “all that psychology just takes too much time and money.” When I looked around, a lot of the other MBAs were just nodding their heads in agreement. I really just wanted to hand her a business card and tell her to call me in about 6 years, so that I could buy a new Ferrari on what I’d make off of her screw-ups. 

But, that’s the difference. “They” are the people who will ignore your past performance and fire you with a “what have you done for me lately” attitude; we’re the ones who will look deeper to see what lies beneath the surface, because not only is it the ethical thing to do, it’s also best for the company in the long run.

I’m going to give you two sentences to think about.

• “Please feel free to contact me if you have questions.”
• “Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have questions.”

Those say the same thing, don’t they? Technically, they do. But the problem comes in with how they’re worded and how the brain deals with them.

When psychologists do research on memory and processing, they usually have some sort of a stress component. They’ll use a task to put the brain under a load, because that’s how the brain is usually working. You’re rarely fully focused on a task. You’re probably thinking about something else while you’re working, or you’re having to work quickly. As a general rule, you’re not perfectly focused on a task and nothing else, especially at work.

A very pertinent example of this and how this post fits in very well is linked with how long people spend reading a web page. On average, a typical person browsing the internet actually reads only about 28% of the information on the screen. In most cases, people scan what’s on the screen. This becomes more important as you consider how the brain processes negative modifiers.

When your brain encounters a sentence like “Please feel free to contact me, if you have any questions” it processes the noun (“me”) and the verb (“contact”) for meaning before it processes anything else. When the brain is under a cognitive load, (for instance at work, scanning a web page) the brain may stop there. So, when you toss in a negative modifier (“not”), then the brain might miss it. So, the big take-away for a scanner from the sentence “Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have questions,” can be “hesitate.”

The brain has to process the first phrase to be able to apply the negative modifier and understand it, so in cases where the brain is under a cognitive load, the negative modifier can be missed. A number of researchers have tested this and found that this holds true in written language, as well as spoken language. So, the fix here is to take care in how often you use negative modifiers and in what situations. If you’re in a high stress situation and you’re giving someone instructions, teach yourself to give positively worded instructions, not ones using negative modifiers. The chance that you’ll be misunderstood will be much lower, and your stress level should be decreased as well because of fewer mistakes.

Today we’re going to look at one or two of the most powerful tools in an HR executive’s arsenal. I have a hard time seeing these as two totally separate tools. It’s a bit like saying that a flat-head and a phillp’s-head screwdriver are completely different tools. They’re at least from the same family.

An RJP (Realistic Job Preview) is a selection device that you give to a person in the selection process that gives them an idea of the job that they’re trying out for. Many times (and especially so in this job climate), a recruit is really just interested in getting into the job. It’s a paycheck and it represents stability and the ability to provide for their family. That doesn’t mean that they’re not interested in doing a good job for you, but it’s not at the forefront of their mind.

The best RJPs are the ones where you let an employee come in and spend some time with an existing employee, and even let them do the job some. “This job requires the ability to lift 45 pounds over one’s head” doesn’t have quite the impact of actually lifting a customer’s purchase into their car in the August heat. An RJP is designed to give as realistic picture of the job as possible to the potential employee.

However, sometimes it’s just not feasible to have an employee work in the actual situation. A simulation is another possibility. If you’re unable to do that, videos work well, but there are important considerations there. Don’t use actors. Use your employees and let them be as candid as possible. If working in the heat wears on them, have them be truthful about it. You can also use a written RJP, but these should really be reserved as a supplement to another RJP or as a last resort.

A lot of times, companies think that they need to sell the job to an employee. But this attitude can really be counterproductive. When you’re selling a product to a consumer, that’s a different sort of relationship that you’re forging. The power differential isn’t in the same direction, so you need to make things look a little brighter and shinier than they might be. When you’re hiring someone for a job, that person needs to know that every day isn’t going to be roses and sunshine.

That’s how an ELP (Expectation Lowering Procedure) works. Researchers took a lead from the RJP literature and designed a study where they gave people a short presentation outlining how a lot of people come into new jobs with unrealistic expectations of how the new job will be. They didn’t give any specific information, just that explanation and some ideas of how one can enter into a new situation and have realistic expectations. The results of the study showed that those people entered into their new job performing better, and over time had significantly lower levels of turnover.

An RJP and an ELP impacts3 major areas and research has shown they’re really powerful in those areas.

• More trust for the employer – New employees are used to being “sold” on a new job. When you’re honest and up front with them, they appreciate it.
• Lower long-term turnover rates – When an employee knows what they’re getting into, they’re less likely to leave.
• Fewer rapid-term turnovers – RJPs allow people to more often self-select out of a new job, that’s why it’s critical that they’re given before an offer is made. After the offer is made, a person may feel unable to leave, or they’ll leave as soon as they realize the job isn’t for them.

If you haven’t read Dr. Robert Cialdini’s, “Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion,” you need to. I’ve heard talk about that this is a great book for sales and marketing people.

Not true.

It’s a great book for anyone who has anything to do with business. Think about it. How many times a day do you have to persuade someone to do something you need done. If you’re a leader, that’s all you do. How many times a day is someone trying to convince you to do something they need you to do?

Cialdini talks about the pieces of our brain that respond to these tactics as the “click whirr” portions. They’re very automatic, unless you understand them. If you know about them, you can circumvent them (most of the time) and you can use them to your benefit and also to the benefit of those around you.

He’s got a total of 6 principles that he talks about in-depth and I’m not going to cover all of them here, but I’ll give you enough of a taste that you’ll want to go get the book yourself.

For instance, in the book, one of the principles Cialdini talks about is “Liking.” That is, we respond better to people we like. That seems logical, doesn’t it? If it’s so logical, why is it that a lot of people seem to think that you can get better customer service by being brusk and abrasive? Give it a shot the next time you’re on the phone with someone at the cable company.

• Be pleasant
• Use the CSR’s first name
• Say “Thank you.”

Now, if you really want to be cooking with persuasive gas, do it at work. If you’re a leader, apply all that to your employees. I’m not saying that you have to become best friend’s with them, but if your reputation is like Donald Trump, try making them like you for a while. You’re very likely to see your production numbers soar, and when you need extra effort from them, you’ll get it without too many complaints.

Another of the principles, and one of my favorites is “Reciprocity.” It’s all prevalent in human society. In fact, it’s what a lot of what makes human society work, and you can see it every day. It’s the concept of “if I give you something, you owe me.” It’s a lot more subtle than that, but it’s very true, and we’re geared to automatically respond to it. I’d try to give this a detailed treatment here, but there’s really a lot more to this than I can cover in a blog post, so I’m going to give you enough to see the value in buying Dr. Cialdini’s book.

We’ve all been in a situation that he talks about. A co-worker needs you to help with something that they’re in a dire situation with, and they’ve begged you into helping them. You’ve helped them finish it, and you’ve saved them from a horrible day at work. Bring the last time you were in that situation into your mind. Close your eyes and think about it. Your co-worker says to you, “Thanks, a lot. You totally saved my bacon on that one.”

How do you respond? If you’re like most people, you say, “No problem,” and you leave it at that. Cialdini points that out as the moment that you’ve lost the power of reciprocity. Instead of just leaving it there, tack on, “…I know that you’d have done the same for me if I were in that situation.” That doesn’t sound any worse, but it activates the “click, whirr” part of the brain, and gives you a better chance of persuading that person when you’re in need, without ever having to overtly refer back to the situation.

Now, like I said, there’s a lot more to Dr. Cialdini’s book than I’ve presented here. I’ve not even scratched the surface. Go get it. Read it. You’ll be better able to succeed in work and life after reading it.

I saw an article in the news yesterday that made me start thinking about some of the concepts in psychology that influence my behavior that I take for granted. I take them for granted because I know about them and understand them, whereas most people probably don’t. It’s much easier to change a behavior, or influence something when you’re aware of why it happens.

Staying in the Loop – Human Resource Executive Online

The article I read dealt with helping HR managers understand how to better connect with their employees. It’s a good article, but it really leaves something out. As I read the article, I started to realize that after it would present a topic, it also presented some ideas of how to handle things. It felt too much like a checklist. If you’re reading my blog, I want to give you good information that you can process and use. I want to give you knowledge that you end up using. I don’t expect you to walk away with a degree in psychology, but if you understand some principle or theory better and it helps you at work, then I’m happy.

“Give a man a fish, and he eats for a day; teach a man to fish, and he eats for a lifetime.”

I’m not sure I got the proverb perfectly, but it’s really the intent that’s important. So, over the next few posts, I’m going to work on teaching you to fish (metaphorically, of course).  It’s my birthday today, so this is how I’m choosing to celebrate. I’ll give you all the gift of knowledge.

To start todays post, I want you to make sure that you do NOT think about pink elephants. Just don’t. And every time you do, I want you to make a mental note that you have.

Research is really clear on this topic. In the US, employees want to feel like their opinions are valued, they are valued, and that they’re involved. When you’ve got that going, your employees will be highly productive beyond your wildest dreams.

But… what is really important is that it’s sincere. In my series last week, I talked about how leaders can fail badly if they start to think that there’s a real class difference between themselves and their employees. Everything you think will come through in your actions and your behaviors. This is what social psychologists talk about as your implicit and explict attitudes.

Implicit attitudes are those little thoughts that nibble around at the back of your brain can (and do) come to visit when you’re not attending to them. If you don’t believe me, visit and play around with the IAT. But, keep in mind, the point of this test isn’t to tell you how many racial biases you have. It’s just to make you aware of the power of implicit attitudes. Don’t walk away from it thinking, “Wow… I’m a bigot.” Walk away thinking about how implicit attitudes can affect your outward behaviors. That’s how you defuse them.

The problem with implicit attitudes is that you can’t constantly attend to them. If you pay too much attention to them, you end up falling victim to them. The old trick for this is what I put at the beginning of the post about not thinking about pink elephants. How many times did you? You did it, because you were lured into it. By trying not to think about them, your brain does it anyway. It’s a catch-22 that can send your brain into a fit.

If you’re not sincere about your desire to be an involved employer, your employees are going to notice. Your brain will always tip your hand to them, no matter how much you act and try to pretend. So, how do you deal with it?

Get involved. Start thinking about your employees as people. See them as individuals. When you think about them as individuals, take note of what other thoughts come up associated with them. That gets down to how your neural network is arranged and it lets you see what implicit attitudes are being activated when you think of them. When you start thinking about those things and sincerely examining them, you’ll change how your neural network is structured.

Then act on it. Get involved and change.

Now that I’ve posted 10 ways that you can be a better leader, I’m going to change gears a little bit. This time I’m going to give you some behaviors to avoid and how to avoid them. A lot of these things are really easy to fall into, but if you keep up with them, they can be avoided.

So, now I’m going to tell you how to can become the worst leader possible, and in some cases (if you’re the boss) how you can make the worst leader possible.

1. Make sure that you think of yourself as completely different than, and if at all possible, better than your employees – I’ve seen this a number of times and it’s really disturbing to see. One job that I was at had a number of family members working in upper echelons of the company. This group of family members really started to think of themselves as though they were of a different class than their employees. After telling all of the employees that the company was losing so much money they couldn’t afford to give anyone pay increases, each of the executives showed up with brand new, very expensive cars. It didn’t take long for the employees to start performing worse, and theft of company property to increase. So, make sure that if you want to ruin things, start thinking of yourself as different and better than the people who work for you.

2. Have different rules for you and your employees - One thing that can happen (especially in industrial settings) is that your employees might be paid as hourly employees and you could be a salaried employee. If you really want to make sure that you can get your employees to rebel, if they’re scheduled to show up at 7 AM, be late a couple of times a week. You can also ocassionally take a late lunch every week. Employees don’t make the distinction between salary and hourly, so consequently, when you do this, you’ll insure that they feel like you believe point number 1, even if you don’t. Generally, I’ve found that employees will accept hard adherence to rules, as long as you’re just as rigorous yourself. But, if you try to enforce rules that you don’t follow yourself, then you’re going to get a lot of pushback.

3. Promote the wrong people for the wrong reasons - This can really take two forms. If you’re promoting someone into a leadership position, don’t think of it like it’s a form of reward. Too often, people who perform well in a line position are offered promotion into leadership without regard for what’s needed to be a good leader. When you do this, you could be setting a star employee up for failure. If you’re going to promote someone to a leadership position, make sure that they’re really management material. If they need help, make sure to train them to be a leader. Don’t just dump someone into management who’s never been a leader. The second form that this can take is with a supervisor who doesn’t want to lose a star performer. Change is never easy, but if if you won’t let someone advance, who really wants to because you don’t want to lose their productivity, you’re going to set yourself up for failure. Eventually, the employees who can’t get promoted will stop performing and those who see that the way to advancement is mediocrity will either perform at that level, or they’ll just move on to another company.