The Elephant and Rider – How to Influence Change

How to Influence ChangeHave you ever wondered why it’s so tough to influence change?

Why is it, that with our very best intentions, we still find it difficult to make changes that we know would be good for us? It seems that it’s down to our inner elephant.

I’ve borrowed the analogy used by University of Virginia psychologist Jonathan Haidt in his wonderful book The Happiness Hypothesis. Haidt says that our emotional side is an Elephant and our rational side is its Rider. Perched atop the Elephant, the Rider holds the reins and seems to be the leader. But the Rider’s control is precarious because the Rider is so small relative to the Elephant. Anytime the six-ton Elephant and the Rider disagree about which direction to go, the Rider is going to lose. He’s completely overmatched.

Most of us are all too familiar with situations in which our Elephant overpowers our Rider

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Left brain – Right brain? Myth busted! Or is it?

Are you left brained or right brained? If you are predominantly logical, you are meant to be left brain dominant, the creative types… well, they are right brained. Or are they? Research out of the University of Utah shows NO EVIDENCE that your brain is as lateralized as you might believe…

Aug. 14, 2013 — Chances are, you’ve heard the label of being a “right-brained” or “left-brained” thinker. Logical, detail-oriented and analytical? That’s left-brained behavior. Creative, thoughtful and subjective? Your brain’s right side functions stronger — or so long-held assumptions suggest.

But newly released research findings from University of Utah neuroscientists assert that there is no evidence within brain imaging that indicates some people are right-brained or left-brained.

For years in popular culture, the terms left-brained and right-brained have come to refer to personality types, with an assumption that some people use the right side of their brain more, while some use the left side more.

Following a two-year study, University of Utah researchers have debunked that myth through identifying specific networks in the left and right brain that process lateralized functions. Lateralization of brain function means that there are certain mental processes that are mainly specialized to one of the brain’s left or right hemispheres. During the course of the study, researchers analyzed resting brain scans of 1,011 people between the ages of seven and 29. In each person, they studied functional lateralization of the brain measured for thousands of brain regions — finding no relationship that individuals preferentially use their left -brain network or right- brain network more often.

Results of the study are groundbreaking, as they may change the way people think about the old right-brain versus left-brain theory, he said.

“Everyone should understand the personality types associated with the terminology ‘left-brained’ and ‘right-brained’ and how they relate to him or her personally; however, we just don’t see patterns where the whole left-brain network is more connected or the whole right-brain network is more connected in some people. It may be that personality types have nothing to do with one hemisphere being more active, stronger, or more connected,” said Nielsen.

How does my brain work?

How does the brain work? How does my mind inspire creativity, feeling hunger, experience of beauty, the sense of self? Indeed, how do I know that I know? 8 fabulous Ted talks where researchers at the edge of science explain …

 

How To Develop The Brain Of A Leader | Empower the Leader in You

So many of us limit ourselves with our thinking. And no matter how well you know this, it’s good to remind ourselves every so often that our thinking is the only thing we can actually control.

One of the most obvious signs of self-limitation thinking are the words, “I can’t…” Even if not spoken aloud, the thought is present. LaRae Quy sugegsts four steps to develop our leader brain:

Growing up on a remote cattle ranch in the middle of Wyoming, I learned at a young age to never say “I can’t.” Then again, I had a grandmother who was a crack shot with a shotgun. My grandmother never had more than an 8th grade education, but she knew something that researchers at world-class universities are just now understanding. We’re reminding ourself of our limitations, and we’re really saying, “I don’t have the confidence to do this.” Have you ever said to yourself: I can’t speak well in front of a bunch of people, so don’t blame me if it goes badly.

Image courtesy of laraequy.com