From Chaos to Coherence

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EPublishers of the H

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FROM CHAOSTO COHERENCE

FROM CHAOSTO COHERENCE

HEARTMATHSYSTEMPL A N E T A R Y

A DI V I S I O N O F HE A R TMA T H LLCwww.hear tma th .com

Written by two of the most creative voices of business in the New Millennium.

From Chaos to Coherence is an inspired, pragmatic, and passionate exploration

that will challenge, stretch and transform your outlook

on personal and organizational excellence.

This book is a gift to every individual and organization striving to make a difference, not just

a living, in todays pressure-filled society...it advances the future by putting inner leadership at

the forefront, where it should be.

from the Foreword by Robert K. Cooper, Ph.D., author of Executive EQ.

Provocative and highly practical approach at the heart of business and personal success in

the next millennium...a potent combination of biomedical and research validation with heart-

based technology. A must-read for any business person or executive wanting to measure and

sustain organizational improvement.

Ken Blanchard, co-author, The One-Minute Manager and Gung Hoand Gung Hoand

The HeartMath has given us tools to make the difference between required courtesy and genu-

ine care... We have achieved our benchmarks in excellence in patient satisfaction and employee

satisfaction. I believe without HeartMath, we could not have reached our potential.

Tom Wright, COO, Delnor-Community Hospital

Dont underestimate the power of the HeartMath tools. Their simplicity and ease of use are

compelling in todays roller coaster world. In our online, wired lives HeartMath gives us a way

to reclaim control and regain clarity about the who, what, when, where and why that can get

lost when we move at internet speed.

Buddy Teaster, Chief Networking Officer, Young Presidents Organization

Throw away all those other management improvement books youve wasted your money on.

Doc Childre and Bruce Cryer have succeeded where most so-called management gurus have

failed. Theyve found the way everyone in an organization, from the boardroom to the mail

room, can transform themselves and the company into a coherent, super-productive entity,

built on a foundation of understanding, compassion and caring. From Chaos to Coherence is

the personal and corporate solution we have all been waiting for.

Charles B. Inlander, President, Peoples Medical Society

Business Management/Personal Development $16.00

DOC CHILDRE BRUCE CRYER

FROMCHAOSTOCOHERENCE

FOREWORD BY ROBERT K. COOPER, PH.D.

(the power to change performance)

FCTC Cover.ID 1/7/04, 12:53 PM1

What people are saying about From Chaos to Coherence . . .

advances the future by putting inner leadership at the forefront, where it should be.

Robert Cooper, Ph.D.author, Executive EQ and The Other 90%

highly practical a potent combination of biomedical and research valida-tion a must-read.

Ken Blanchard, co-author, The One-Minute Manager and Gung Ho

[Childre and Cryer have] found the way everyone in an organization, from the boardroom to the mail room, can transform themselves and the company into a coherent, super-productive entity.

Charles Inlander, President, People's Medical Society

Ideal and sim ple tools for the internal trans for ma tion within our people. The re sults speak for them selves. Our air line, Cathay Pacifi c, now prides itself on de liv er ing an individual style of ser vice, straight from the heart. This has resulted in con sis tent ly being rated as having the best infl ight service in the world.

Peter Buecking, Director, Sales and Marketing Cathay Pacifi c Airways Ltd., Hong Kong

HeartMath is making signifi cant progress in de vel op ing the research un der -pin nings that ex plain the powerful benefi ts of IQM for the per son and the orga-nization.

Tim Stone, CEO, Provizio

Being at the vortex of the high-tech industry is very stressful. Using the techniques outlined in this book has literally added ten years to my life!

Patricia B. Seybold, CEO, the Patricia Seybold Group, and author, Customers.com: How to Create a Profi table Business Strategy

for the Internet and Beyond

001 Frontmatter FCTC.ID 1/6/04, 11:09 AM1

A manual for anyone who wants to enhance their competitive edge through in tu i tive intelligence . . . and to adapt to more challenging times with ef fec -

tive ness and ease.

Vivian Wright, Strategic Change Services Hewlett-Packard

. . . Brings irrefutable scientifi c underpinning to what our hearts have al ways told us about leadership and organizational development: intuition, sup port for in di vid u als, clarity, balance, and management of the emotional en vi ron ment all add up to or ga -ni za tions that are productive . . . and to lives that are ful fi lled.

James A. Autry, author Real Power: Business Lessons from the Tao Te Ching

Speaks equally well to the leaders of large or ga ni za tions as it does to people in all walks of life, encouraging them to use in nate heart in tel li gence in dealing with the rapid pace of change during a very hec tic time in our his to ry.

Colonel Susan Goodrich, United States Air Force

The back ground physiology and the scientifi c underpinning of this technique are ab so lute ly sound.

Graham Bridgewood, MD, Chief Medical Offi cer Shell International, United Kingdom

There are two notable breakthroughs for Childre and Cryer in this book. They take the com plex and make it simple, and the abstract and make it real. A must read for anyone who wants to lead, support, or be a part of a high-performance team.

W. R. Max Carey, Jr., Chairman and CEO Corporate Resource Development

. . . HeartMaths core approach and its related programs . . . yields remarkable results.

Lucius C. Tripp, MD, MPH, Division Head, Occupational Medicine, Henry Ford Health Systems; former Regional Medical Director,

General Motors; and Principal, Wellness Group, Inc.


HeartMath takes the mystery out of boosting organizational performance. Expect to elevate not only your business but your own personal existence as well. This book will profoundly and signifi cantly change your life.

Debbie Reichenbach, Manager, Employee DevelopmentTellabs

. . . A wonderful, effective path to serenity for crazy, busy executives. The program not only works as a problem fi xer, but more importantly it enriches ones life. . . . Equips you to cope not only with all the stress in life, but then goes way beyond in in tro duc ing pos i tive, lasting changes.

Bob Morgan, PresidentCouncil of Growing Companies

Challenging, insightful, provocative, practical, inspiring . . . a new and exciting per- spec tive on how to improve . . . performance.

Warner Woodley, Senior Vice President Right Management Consultants, Canada

. . . Exciting and life-changing . . . this book is a must for survival.

Fred Verhey, Vice President of Sales, Western Region Decker Communications, Inc.

From Chaos to Coherence offers powerful tools, research, and case studies [for] in di -vid u als and organizations seeking to make better decisions, create cohesive teams, and achieve sus tain able results.

Kristine Dale, President CEOProductions.com

. . . Essential ingredients for business success.

Nancy Katz, President and CEO Calypte Biomedical


. . . Masterfully weaves patterns of recent breakthroughs and chaos and com plex i ty re search, heart sciences, and organizational change work, into a rich tapestry of in- for ma tion, insights, and inspiration.

George Por, Founder and Senior Consultant Community Intelligence Labs

. . . A book of profound operating intelligence.

Allan Cox, author Straight Talk for Monday Morning, Redefi ning Corporate Soul

From Cha os to Co her ence is clear ly designed to help an organization excel rather From Cha os to Co her ence is clear ly designed to help an organization excel rather From Cha os to Co her encethan fall apart under these pressures.

Susan Mandl, President and CEO Newcourt Communications Finance

A most pow er ful method for enhancing or ga ni za tion al learn ing.

Nick Zeniuk, former executive at Ford, President, Interactive Learning Labs Inc. and

Trustee-steward for The So ci ety for Or ga ni za tion al Learn ing (SoL)

In all the books, texts and papers that I have read con cern ing effective manage ment none has had the positive im pact on me that this book has had.

Jack H. Holland, Ph.D., DSD, Emeritus Pro fes sor of Management San Jose State University

. . . Begin[s] with coping with chaos and stress but ultimately it leads us to a uni ver sal source of inner peace and clarity.

James E. Warren, Jr., CFP, President Warren Financial Review, Inc.

The book reveals sophisticated medical research about heart intelligence that is un der stood by nonmedical minds. . . . [It] provides meaningful data and in for ma tion mar i nat ed with prac ti cal tools on how to simplify solutions to lifes chal leng es.

Tim McGarvey, President and CEOEclipse 2000, Inc.


From Chaos to Coherence


From Chaos to Co her ence

[the power to change performance]

Doc Childre and Bruce Cryer

Revised Edition

PlanetaryA Division of HeartMath LLCBoulder Creek, California


Copyright 2004 by HeartMath LLC

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a re triev al system, or trans mit ted in any form or by any means, elec- tron ic, me chan i cal, photocopying, re cord ing, or otherwise, without the pri or written permission of the publisher.

HeartMath, Freeze-Frame, Inner Quality Management (IQM), Heart Lock-In and Heart Mapping are registered trademarks of the Institute of HeartMath. The steps of the Freeze-Frame technique are copyrighted.

Foreword to the Revised Edition Copyright 2000 by Robert Cooper, Ph.D.

The publisher offers special discounts on bulk orders of this book.For information, please contact:

Manager of Special SalesHeartMath LLC14700 W. Park AvenueBoulder Creek, CA 95006Tel: 831-338-8700Fax: 831-338-9861www.heartmath.com

Printed in the United States of America

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Childre, Doc Lew, 1945 From chaos to coherence : the power to change performance / Doc Childre and Bruce Cryer. p. cm. Originally published: Boston : Butterworth-Heinemann, c1999 Sub-title differs from 1999 edition. Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. Organizational behavior. 2. Psychology, Industrial. 3. WorkPsychological aspects. 4. Quality of work life. I. Cryer, Bruce. II. Title.

HD58.7.C486 2000 158dc21 00-033656

10 9 8 7 6 5 4


[ ix ][ ix ][ ix

Contents

Foreword to Revised Edition by Robert Cooper...................................xi Foreword by Scott Schuster.................................................................xiiiIntroduction to the Revised Edition ................................................xvi

Chapter 1 Business at the Speed of Balance.....................1 Chapter 2 The Coherence Imperative ..............................9 DYNAMIC 1 Internal Self-Management ..................... 25

Chapter 3 A New Model of Human Intelligence ............27Chapter 4 Growing Up in the Hudson River: Overcoming Adaptation.................................56Chapter 5 Freeze-Frame: One-Minute Self-Management ............................................68Chapter 6 Time, Expectations, and Other Things Its Diffi cult to Manage.........................................83DYNAMIC 2 Coherent Communication........................99

Chapter 7 Chapter 7 Chapter 7 Authentic Communication: Its Time for Some Serious Consideration .......................101


[ x ][ x ][ x From Chaos to Coherence

Chapter 8 Technology, Inner Technology, and the Measure of Human Capital ............................. 121

DYNAMIC 3 Boosting the Organizational Climate..................................................141

Chapter 9 Theres a Virus Loose and Its Got Bob........... 143

Chapter 10 Core Values: The Foundation of Sustainability ................................................165

DYNAMIC 4 Strategic Processes of Renewal............. 185

Chapter 11 Leading from Chaos to Coherence ..............187

Chapter 12 Creating a Quantum Future .......................217

References ..................................................................230 Glossary .....................................................................239

Selected Reading .......................................................251Index...........................................................................255


[ xi ]

Foreword to the Revised Edi tion

Robert K. Cooper, Ph.D.Chair, Advanced Ex cel lence Sys tems

Chair of the Board, Q-MetricsFellow, Silicon Val ley World Internet Center

International best-sell ing author of The Per for mance Edgeand Executive EQ: Emo tion al In tel li gence in Lead er ship & Or ga ni za tions

THIS BOOK IS A GIFT TO EV ERY INDIVIDUAL AND or ga ni za tion striv ing to make a dif fer ence, not just a liv ing, in to day's pres sure-fi lled society. As you will learn in the pages ahead, re cent discoveries in neu ro science have turned much con ven tion al wis dom about success upside down.

Over the years I have come to believe that each of us is born with a unique po ten tial that defi nes a destiny in life and at work. Few of us ever glimpse this hidden, one-of-a-kind po- ten tial, much less liberate and explore it.

Among the main reasons for this is our over-dependence on the intelligence that exists in the brain in the head and our un der-uti li za tion of intelligence from the newly discovered second brain in the hu man heart and third brain in the hu man gut. By design, this complex and integrated three-part in tel -li gence system is meant to be bril liant ly utilized and dis trib ut ed throughout every aspect of human and or ga ni za tion al life. To date, however, it rarely is. This book in vites you to change that.


[ xii ] From Chaos to Coherence

In a compelling call to action, Doc Childre and Bruce Cryer draw upon leading edge research and years of practical ex pe -ri ence to chal lenge each reader and or ga ni za tion to ad vance in meaningful and mea sur able ways. Their approach is de signed to help streamline your efforts instead of making them more com pli cat ed. It turns out that an ounce of positive emo tion can be worth a ton of repetition.

I have found that when people successfully face challenges and do the best work of their lives, its largely because they have found their own distinctive ways to gen er ate exceptional lev-els of energy, passion, inner strength, and commitment. From Cha os to Coherence is a valuable contribution to the literature Cha os to Coherence is a valuable contribution to the literature Cha os to Coherenceon this subject.

This book advances the future by putting inner leader-ship at the forefront, where it should be. This is vital reading for man ag ers and professionals at every or ga ni za tion al level. The next steps are up to you.


Foreword [ xiii ]

Foreword

Scott ShusterFounding Director, Executive Programs, Business

Week

THE WORLD IS AN INTERNALLY CREATED PHENOMENON. We take the in puts re ceived through our senses and process that sensory data through our men tal i ty and emo tions to create what each of us experiences as the world.

Every persons world is necessarily different from everyone elses.

The quality of your individual world depends on your skill in man ag ing and using the data that pours into you: The better you are at operating your bodys data processing systems, the more accurate your understanding of the world. And the more accurate your im pres sions of the world around and within you, the better chance you have of re spond ing to the world in the man ner most effective for you and those with whom you as so -ci ate.

But what are your internal systems? How do they work? Where are the levers of con trol within us and how do we reach those levers? Such mys ter ies of human design and response have been the work of Doc Childre for over 30 years. In the early 1970s, Doc discovered that the human heart, an organ that ap-


[ xiv ][ xiv ][ xiv From Chaos to Coherence

pears to be principally a pump, in fact plays a demonstrable role in human emotional response and in tel li gence. Hardly a sur- prise to lov ers, songwriters, poets, or parents. But Doc proved it, developing a thor ough go ing set of mental and phys i cal practices that harness the emotional power of the heart mus cle and direct that power toward the reduction of stress, im proved group in- ter ac tion, and other positive effects. He called it HeartMath.

Doc and his collaboratorsSara Paddison, Rollin Mc-Craty, Howard Martin, Deborah Rozman, Bruce Cryer, and oth-erslearned that the lin ear i ty of human thought and the pace at which the body and mind tend to move from one momentary ex pe ri ence to another were additional tools that could lever the basic discovery concerning the role of the heart muscle. They also learned that the HeartMath prac tice is especially effective when conducted in the presence of oth erscoworkers, for exam ple.

Through the work of the not-for-profi t Institute of Heart-Math and more recently through the development of IQM (In-ner Quality Man age ment) techniques, Docs HeartMath tools for the en hance ment of personal experience have been turned to the sphere of team development and the improvement of orga ni za tions. HeartMath and IQM today are being fi eld ed to the corporate, gov ern ment, and military sectors. Repeat buyers of the training in clude Motorola, Hewlett-Packard, Canadian Im- pe ri al Bank of Com merce, Royal Dutch Shell (UK), and Cathay Pacifi c Airways (Hong Kong), as well as many state, fed er al, and provincial government agen cies throughout North America. IQM is so hot that Doc, Bruce, and the man age ment team of his newly formed for-profi t training and consulting com pa ny, HeartMath LLC, are rapidly expanding to meet the world wide corporate demand for their training courses.

On an afternoon in 1992, Bruce Cryer fi rst appeared in


[ xv ][ xv ][ xv

front of my desk at Business Week Executive Programs, 36 fl oors up in Rockefeller Center in the heart of midtown Man hat tan. His task was to impart an awareness of what at fi rst appears to be pop psy chol o gy to a frankly skeptical editor in ter est ed only in information of practical ap pli ca tion to the needs of large cor- po ra tions. Bruce had no cor po rate clients at all: only a few pris- ons, a juvenile delinquency pro gram, some school districts, and a U.S. Army base.

The technology of HeartMath proves itself to any skep- tic in sec onds: Focus your thinking on the pump beating in your chest. Im me di ate ly the body warms and frame of mind is loosened and changed. This was Doc Childres remarkable discov ery, a naturally oc cur ring transformative tech nol o gy of the human body that had some how gone un dis cov ered or at least undeveloped, unrecorded, and untransmitted for cen tu ries. It was as though Bruce had brought me the fi rst re port of the wheel, the telephone, or the semiconductor. I could see that this was a new and dramatically useful tech nol o gy.

HeartMath is signifi cant both as a discovery and as a defi -ni tion: Thanks to this book by Doc and Bruce, and to Doc's past volumes, this remarkable internal tech nol o gy of the human body is unlikely to again be forgotten. As news of the tech niques spreads, HeartMath will be come part of the lexicon of hu man behavior, part of everyones life.

There is no limit to the potential of HeartMath because at root it is a simple, phys i cal act: a mental formation, a thought with physical effects. It is neither philosophy, faith, nor belief. The essentially phys i cal character of the practice enables its easy ap pli ca tion across all the barriers that cus tom ar i ly divide humanity. There is nothing cul tur al ly American about Heart-Math. It will not transgress any re li gious or cultural pre cept. It will work as well in India, Iran, China, or Nigeria as it works in


[ xvi ] From Chaos to Coherence

California, New York, the United Kingdom, or Sweden. Within this potential universality lies HeartMaths im-

mense promise: If everybody did this, what a wonderful world.


[ xvii ]

Introduction to the Revised Edi tion

THE YEARS SINCE THE ORIGINAL PUBLICATION OF THIS book in 1998 have seen remarkable change. The internet spawned an e-com merce revolution few of even the most op ti -mis tic prog nos ti ca tors could have predicted. Technology stocks su per charged an incredible period of economic ex pan sion. Wealth was created at an unheard of pace. Con sol i da tion hap- pened across many industries, creating fewer competitors and giant behemoths. Bigger is better. So is faster. Dot-coms were the rage, then the failures became staggering. Economic con-traction, fed by the sudden glut of technology, set a wor ried tone in American society, and then the terrorist attacks of Sep tem ber 11, 2001 shocked an American society which be lieved its wealth and power somehow protected it from such acts, while many in Western Europe and elsewhere wondered, Whos next?

The pace of change was wild and exciting, and then it turned dark and frightening, ag ing many of us faster than we re al ize. Whats the price to us, from the sustainability of our or ga ni za tions to the sustainability of our social systems, to the qual i ty of life were mod el ing to our kids?

Theres another momentum picking up speed in the worlda coherence momentum. Even in an era of un prec e- dent ed economic and political uncertainty, this momentum is ush er ing in new de sire to con nect, new forms of com mu ni -


[ xviii ] From Chaos to Coherence

cat ing, new busi ness mod els, new types of re la tion ships, and new intelligence.

So where does the heart fi t in? Employees loved stock op-tions but now crave mean ing in their work in place of non-stop anxiety. Companies still angst over shareholder val ue and be ing fi rst-to-market, but more strive to make the 100 Best Plac es to Work list so all the talent doesnt leave when the economy improves. Gen-Xers and boomers alike are drawing lines in the sand about per son al free dom, fun and fulfi llment.

This book is about bringing coherence out of what in creas -ing ly seems chaotic and crazy. It will describe a set of tools be ing used around the world to help people sift through the moun- tains of data, to reduce their stress, and to rebuild the health and vitality of themselves and their or ga ni za tions.

This book presents new research dis cov er ies that are fun-damentally changing the way we view healthy, high-performing individuals and organizations. It will pro vide prac ti cal tools to open up your think ing to new ways of be ingfor you and your or ga ni za tion. It doesnt have all the answers but it should make you ask some really good ques tions. It may even awaken your heart.

-Doc Childre and Bruce Cryer, 2004


[ 1 ]

c h a p t e r

11

Business at the Speed of Bal ance

Some day, after we have mas tered the winds, the waves, the tides, and gravity...we shall harness...the en er gies of love. Then, for the second time in the history of the world, men will have discovered fi re.

TEILHARD DE CHARDIN

SPEED IS AN INCREDIBLE DRUG. JUST ASK A FORMULA ONE driv er, a day-trad er, or the CEO of any one of thousands of start-ups try ing desperately to get there fi rst with the next great idea, the really cool technology, the killer app. We have con vinced our selves fast er is better, indeed faster is man da to ry. Lethargy, man da to ry. Lethargy, man da to ryeven bal ance, is death in todays mar kets. But what fuel is driv-ing us? Is our organizationare werun ning on high-oc tane or the fumes of fear? Fear well lose the race, be left be hind, be dumped in the trash heap of what could have been?

Balance sounds boring. And whos got time for it? Who cares that our bodies were not designed to handle the in cred i ble information tsunami unleashed over the last de cade? Who cares that information is now doubling every 12-18 months, com-pared to every 30-36 months in 1995, or every 20 years back in 1954? Who cares that most people in business today must process hundreds of inputs daily (one survey sug gests 205 mes-sages per day is the current average), let alone their regular job. Who cares that in parallel with the glo bal iza tion of information has developed an alarming rise of youth violence? Or that it took

01 Ch 1 FCTC.ID 1/5/04, 12:45 PM1

[ 2 ] From Chaos to Coherence

the planet several million years to reach 3 billion inhabitants, and less than 50 to add 3 billion more.1

Many people care.From Chaos to Coherence was written for the future health From Chaos to Coherence was written for the future health From Chaos to Coherence

of organizations and the future potential of people. It proposes a new way to build or ga ni za tions that respond to change, crisis, and chal lenge with poise, fl exibility, and balance. Organizations built of peo ple who respond quickly and caringly to changes in the econ o my, their markets, their culture, and in themselves. The how is a blend of sci ence, business practicality, and the combined in tel li gence of the hu man heart and in tel lect.

Our view is that a new level of or ga ni za tion al effi ciency, syn chro ni za tion, and effectiveness is pos si ble by studying and ap ply ing new in for ma tion about the intelligence of the human system. Or ga ni za tions will make only incremental im prove ments in ef fec tive ness and sustainability until a more thorough and sen-sitive un der stand ing of the human system resides at the core of how or ga ni za tions function.

Research during the 90s profoundly deepened our knowledge of hu man intelligence, opening up radical new pos si -bil i ties. The fact that intelligence is distributed through out the distributed through out the distributedhu man sys tem and that the heart is an intelligent system profound ly af fect ing brain pro cess ing represents a new model for found ly af fect ing brain pro cess ing represents a new model for found ly af fect ing brain pro cess inghelp ing or ga ni za tion al sys tems become more balanced, more in tel li gent, more adaptive, and more humane. In many ways, the emer gence of the Web mirrors this discovery.

Our team set out to build a coherent organization that would put both care and effi ciency at the heart of all our activities: care for our cli ents and care for ourselves, effi cient service for our cus- tom ers, and in ter nal effi ciency for ourselves. Many of the 20 or so who formed the original team at HeartMath had experience working in com pa nies or public agencies mired in in co her ence

01 Ch 1 FCTC.ID 1/5/04, 12:45 PM2

Business at the Speed of Balance [ 3 ]

and in ef fec tive ness. Hu man values often were absent, and so was business ef fi cien cy. Ear ly on, Doc recognized a link between the heart of a per son and the heart of an or gan ization. He knew organi-zations re fl ect the col lec tive mind-sets and attitudes of the people who in hab it them.

We spent most of the 90s deeply researching human phys i -ol o gy and or ga ni za tion al effectiveness. We tested our the o ries and tools with thousands of people in dozens of public and pri vate sec tor organizations in North America, Europe and Asia, and in the organizations we built. Through this pro cess we de vel oped In ner Qual i ty Man age ment (IQM), a set of scientifi -cally-based tools for help ing busi ness es (all or ga ni za tions) work at the speed of bal ance.

THE FOUR DYNAMICS OF IQM

The four dynamics of Inner Quality Management are interde-pendent and integrated: Internal self-management Coherent communication Boosting organizational climate Strategic processes of renewal

The cornerstone of IQM is internal self-managementinternal self-managementinternal self-managementhelp ing people manage their minds and emotions effectively. Creativity, decision-making, health and well-being all im prove when mind and emotions are coherent and relatively noise-free. This is essential for building a high performance or ga ni za tion in this age of accelerating change. Achiev ing co her ent com mu -ni ca tion in an in creas ing ly noisy world is the prime ob jec tive ni ca tion in an in creas ing ly noisy world is the prime ob jec tive ni ca tionof the sec ond dy nam ic. This involves managing both the huge vol umes of elec tron ic com mu ni ca tion we are ex posed to as well as the in ter per son al kind. The kind that drives us cra zyor

01 Ch 1 FCTC.ID 1/5/04, 12:45 PM3


brings deep sat is fac tion. A grow ing body of re search is re veal ing the role cli mate plays in an or ga ni za tions long-term health and cli mate plays in an or ga ni za tions long-term health and cli mateper for mance, and we all know what it feels like to work in a team we love versus one we dont. This is where dy nam ic three will lead us. Dy nam ic four describes, through ad di tion al tools and case stud ies, the strategic need for re new al in the culture of re new al in the culture of re new alan organization. The ob jec tive of all this is in creased co her ence in all as pects of in di vid u al and or ga ni za tion al life, leading to sustainable business outcomes that insure an organizations viability and well-being. (Chap ter 2 will in tro duce the four dy- nam ics in great er depth.)

01 Ch 1 FCTC.ID 1/5/04, 12:45 PM4

Business at the Speed of Balance [ 5 ]

Its Alive!

Consider that all organizations are living systems composed of peo ple who think and feel. Each organization is a large com plex and feel. Each organization is a large com plex andorganism whose health and resilience depends on the same fac tors that de ter mine an individuals health and balance. Smart or ga ni za tionslike smart peo pleare now paying attention to the el e ments that are work ing as well as to those that are not. Any num ber of factors can weaken and di min ish the ef fec tive ness of the oth ers: change in market, change in lead er ship, change in gov ern ment. Change of any kind in creas ing ly af fects an or ga ni za tions re sil ience, its per spec tive, and its clar i ty of purpose. Its fairly easy to spot the business outcomes of such change. But its more important to fi rst understand the effects at the individual level.

Dynamic 1. Internal Self-Management

If you have spent much of your career working in a medium to large corporation, health care system, or government agency, you have no doubt been trained to im prove qual i ty, think stra te gi cal ly, out pace the com pe ti tion, or keep the cus tom er satisfi ed. More than ever, organizations have to see outside themselves. Isolationism and myopia dont cut it today. Its all about connections, partnering, collaborating, and leveraging what we have through the strengths and talents of others. Many organizations are re al iz ing that its the adapt abil i ty, the creativity, and the innovative intelligence with in the individual that is the only real com pet i tive advantage any organization has.

In some ways, the military has fo cused on this more than the pri vate sector, historically. Its num ber one ob jec tive must always be force readi ness.2 There is no ques tion, in the minds of military lead ers, that the individual must be pre pared men tal ly, emo tion al ly, and phys i cal ly to deal with any thing, in clud ing

01 Ch 1 FCTC.ID 1/5/04, 12:45 PM5


life-and-death sit u a tions. Too of ten oth er organizations forget this critical em pha sis on sus tain ing, nur tur ing, and pre par ing the in di vid u al and, because of a ba sic emotional im bal ance in that organization, twist mun dane prob lems into life-and-death dra mas. People mak ing the tran si tion from mil i tary to busi ness ca reers are of ten shocked by the cra zi ness in for-profi t compa-nies over is sues it aint worth losing any sleep over. One of our cli ents, a vet er an of the mil i tary and in tel li gence com mu ni ties who served dur ing the Per sian Gulf War, told us of his shock at the wasted en er gy he has seen in cor po rate Amer i ca over mun-dane is sues mag ni fi ed be yond reason.

Internal self-management is based on these insights:

1. The pressure on the individual will increase in the years to come.

2. Understanding human processesmental, emo tion al, and physicalis essential to the individual and the or ga -ni za tion.

3. Identifying and plugging the leaks in your own system saves energy.

4. You can increase your capacity for intelligence.

Dynamic 2. Coherent Communication

The success of internal self-management techniques is fi rst tested in in ter ac tions with others. In an increasingly connected world, com mu ni ca tion is more prevalent and demanding than ever. Or ga ni za tion al and per son al ineffi ciency com pounds when the qual i ty of com mu ni ca tion is low, when the im por tance of it is ig nored, or when we simply tell ourselves other things are more press ing. Coherent com mu ni ca tion is a model for effective in for ma tion transfer and meaningful conversations between

01 Ch 1 FCTC.ID 1/5/04, 12:45 PM6

Business at the Speed of Balance [ 7 ][ 7 ][ 7

co work ers, with customers, patients, or con stit u ents, and within oneself. Coherent com mu ni ca tion is based on four principles:

1. Achieve understanding fi rst. 2. Listen nonjudgmentally. 3. Listen for the essence. 4. Be authentic.

Dynamic 3. Boosting the Organizational Cli mate

Signifi cant research has demonstratedand most peoples per son al ex pe ri ence confi rmsthe necessity of a positive work place climate for ef fec tive ness. This topic should not just be the domain of the human resources or personnel department, since everyone in the or ga ni za tion contributes to the climate, as do fac tors external to the workplace. Anyone who has been through a merger knows fi rst-hand just how dramatic a climate change can be and how potentially devastating to personal pro duc tiv i ty. This dy nam ic cre ates the in ter nal en vi ron men tal fac tors that sup port or, if ig nored, un der mine dy nam ics one and two. The key prin ci ples here are:

1. An Emotional Virus is insidious in many organizations to day.

2. A healthy organizational climate heals the virus through supportive man age ment, contribution, self-ex pres sion, rec og ni tion, clar i ty, and chal lenge.

3. Human qualities such as adaptability, shared core values, care, and ap pre ci a tion are the hallmark of great places to work.

4. Understanding the distinction between knowledge and wis dom leads to smarter decisions and smarter or ga ni za tions.

01 Ch 1 FCTC.ID 1/5/04, 12:45 PM7


Dynamic 4. Strategic Processes of Renewal

Moving from theory, conceptual models, and case studies to prac ti cal ap pli ca tion is essential for ongoing organizational co her ence. This is the nitty-grit ty of how the organization applies its learn ing. This is also the dynamic that allows the organization to renew itself at a strategic level, provided that the internal, communication and climate dy nam ics are well balanced and pos i tive. The principles of this dynamic are:

1. Balance is the keynote for self-renewing or ga ni za tions. 2. Building effective teams and coaching skills can le ver age

an organizations human capital.3. Creativity and innovation arise out of coherent peo ple.4. Complex decision-making requires big picture think ing.

This book provides specifi c tools for the intelligent or ches tra tion of each dynamic. Weakness in any area strains the whole system and hinders performance. Progress in any area boosts over all effi ciency and ef fec tive ness. Its all about dynamic bal ance.

01 Ch 1 FCTC.ID 1/5/04, 12:45 PM8

c h a p t e r

22

The Coherence Im per a tive

SCIENTISTS WHO STUDY THE BEHAVIOR OF LIGHT, AS well as those who study bi o log i cal systems, understand the con cept of co her ence. The dif fer ence be tween an ordinary house hold light bulb and a laser il lus trates the concept. A light bulb pro duc es light waves or particles that spread out from the light source, bump ing into each other and diluting the potency of the output. Scientists call this in co her ent light. Not terribly in co her ent light. Not terribly in co her entef fi cient, but this is the in her ent nature of a light bulb. As a result, the light from such a bulb il lu mi nates only a limited range: the high er the wattage, the more far-reaching its effect and the more energy required to pow er it. But signifi cant en er gy must go into a bulb for it to cre ate sig nifi cant light be cause of the in co her enceor in ef fi cien cyof its light waves. Most or di nary bulbs also burn out fairly quickly.

However, if these waves could be brought into co her -encemade more focused and or ga nizeda dra mat i cal ly new level of pow er and ef fec tive ness would be achieved. This is the un der ly ing prin ci ple behind a laser. A la ser pro duc es coher-ent light waves that are highly effi cient, ordered, not wast ed or effi cient, ordered, not wast ed or effi cientdis si pat ed bouncing into themselves. As a re sult, com mer cial lasers need operate only on a tiny wattage because of this effi -ciency. They are in cred i bly pre cise in a growing ar ray of sur gi cal pro ce dures and com mer cial ap pli ca tions be cause they are so fo cused, co her ent, and pen e trat ing. The shift from in co her ence

[ 9 ]

02 Ch 2 FCTC.ID 1/5/04, 12:47 PM9


to co her ence is stunning: a 60-watt light bulb whose light waves could be made coherent as a laser, would have the power to bore a hole through the sun!1

We all have experienced moments of coherence, where things were in sync, we were in the fl ow, our actions and in- ten tions matched, and the outcomes were productive, ef fi cient, and fulfi lling. For many, how rare and random these moments are. They often emerge out of chaos. Imag ine if we could bring our lives and our or ga ni za tions into a new level of co her ence, fo cus, and clarity. What if an or ganization is doing an ad mi ra ble job, providing decent customer service, good prod ucts or ser-vices, while, un be knownst to it self, can cel ing out much of its effectiveness be cause of internal dis tor tion, static, and stress? Light bulbs burn out; so do people, and so do or ga ni za tions.

If employees are constantly brooding over negative comments from coworkers or thinking about a problem at home, coherence with in those in di vid u als is com pro mised. How could it not be? They may try to be at ten tive to their work, but the mental and emo tion al pro cess es they are going through will drain them of vitality and dilute their ef fec tive ness. Just as in the example of the house hold light bulb, they would be producing ran dom ly, and it takes a lot of power to keep the light burn ing. In the workplace, people some times fi nd this power through drawing on raw nerve en er gy or the fear of not meet ing man age -ments ex pec ta tions. If this pattern continues, they can burn out and productivity ceases.

Heres the puzzle: Chaos can be appealing. In the 90s many tal ent ed people left pre dict able, or dered, rou tine jobs with suc cess ful companies (many with great stock options and benefi t plans) for the unpredictability and ad ven ture of dotcom start-ups. While the organizations these Gen-Xers and boomers left may not have been models of coherence or bal ance, cha os

02 Ch 2 FCTC.ID 1/5/04, 12:47 PM10

The Coherence Imperative [ 11 ]

with fun sounded a lot better than chaos with drone.This became a profound management challenge for older

com pa nies until the recession took full effect. And staff re ten -tion remains a critical issue for health care systems ev ery where. When the economy rebounds, staff retention will be critical in the private sector too, in order to main tain co her ence in the orga ni za tion and at tract the kind of tal ent they need to grow and prosper.

Peopleemployees and customers alikewant in di vid u al attention and customized solutions. The days of one-size-fi ts-allfor any thingare long gone. How can coherence emerge out of this seeming chaos?

Putting emphasis on learning how to deal effectively with work place and personal problems will create more co her ence in the individual. At ten tion span, mental clarity, and creativity will nat u ral ly increase. Coherence is effi ciency in action. Co her ent people thrive men tal ly, emotionally, and phys i cal ly. Co her ence is not a static, rigid state. When a system is coherent, virtually no energy is wasted be cause of the in ter nal syn chro ni za tion. Pow er is maximizedthe pow er to adapt, fl ex, innovate. This coherent pow er results in a major leap in ef fi cien cy and effectiveness.

Coherence within people can also be measured biomedi-cally, with pro found implications for productivity, men tal clar-ity, and car dio vas cu lar, im mune system, and hor mon al health, as well as the aging process. Cardiac co her ence is a term used to co her ence is a term used to co her encedescribe the state of the car dio vas cu lar sys tem when the elec- tri cal and mechanical sys tems of the heart are syn chro nized and operating effeciently.2 Internal co her ence can be mea sured by mon i tor ing the elec tri cal syn chro ni za tion of brain and heart and determining whether the ner vous system is full of noise or static free. (More on this in the next chapter.) The ef fect of increased in di vid u al co her ence means we spend less en er gy to maintain

02 Ch 2 FCTC.ID 1/5/04, 12:47 PM11


health, we waste less energy through in ef fi cient thoughts and reactions, and our body does not strain to keep us focused and productive.

Coherence is a progressive statethe more we build it, the more we have in reserve. The aim is to increase the ratio of time spent, per son al ly and organizationally, in coherence. In creased personal co her ence yields greater fl exibility, adapt abil i ty, cre- ativ i ty, and per haps most important, the self-se cu ri ty to re gain hope.

Organizationsbeing the sum total of the intelligence, cre- ativ i ty, self-management, and coherence of their peopleop- er ate the same way. As co her ence increases within in di vid u als and teams, a much high er level of or ga ni za tion al coherence and alignment is possiblecoherence between the organizations mis sion, its vision, its strategies and its ac tions. Coherence is con sis ten cy be tween customer expectations and customer con sis ten cy be tween customer expectations and customer con sis ten cysatisfaction. Co her ence is continuity in every internal process continuity in every internal process continuityand com mu ni ca tion modality. Co her ence is balance within the balance within the balanceper son al life of each stakeholder in the process. Does this im ply or require a static external environment? Hardly. The increas-ing chaos in all the world's system re quires a high ly fl exible, adap tive, intelligent response. Co her ence is the en er gy-ef fi cient mo dal i ty in a chaotic world. Because so many corporate, public and health care organizations lack much coherence, even a lit tle coherence goes a long way.

Organizational coherence can also be measured. Research con duct ed by the Institute of HeartMath labs,3 as well as by oth er re search ers cit ed in this book, confi rms what many or ga -ni za tion al think ers and businesspeople have known in tu itive ly for years: Or ga ni za tion s which si mul ta neous ly address per son al dynamics and or ga ni za tion al structures are more successful and and or ga ni za tion al structures are more successful and andsustainable outperform their competitors.

02 Ch 2 FCTC.ID 1/5/04, 12:47 PM12


EntrainmentThrough HeartMath's work with teams in many types of private and pub lic sec tor or ga ni za tions, it became clear that individuals fi rst must learn tools for their own self-management. Work shops and offsite sem i nars abound to ad dress team building but most ig nore the fundamental men tal and emotional processes with in the individual. We ques tioned how teams could ever be with in the individual. We ques tioned how teams could ever be with inmore ef fec tive until the individuals became more in sync with them selves. We began to understand a phe nom e non known to sci en tists but quite lack ing in most or ga ni za tionsthe phe- nom e non of entrainment. Entrainment is the scientifi c term for Entrainment is the scientifi c term for Entrainmentthe syn chro ni za tion of sys tems (see Fig ure 21). Flocks of birds, schools of fi sh, the pace mak er cells in the hu man heartall are examples of en train ment. Teams that are entrained function smoothly, cap i tal iz ing on the cre ativ i ty and intelligence of the in di vid u al members with min i mal dis tor tion or static. To use Faith Pop corns term, they are click ing.4 They are more coher-ent in everything they do. There is less distortion and internal con fl ict and greater re sil ience and fl ex i bil i ty in the face of challenge or cri sis. Opin ions and perspectives within the group are diverse; they dont all think alike, but there is respect and the desire to col lab o rate. They are in sync.

Coherent individuals are the prerequisite for entrained teams. In di vid u als who are coherent enjoy greater balance in their work and personal lives, and fi nd decision-making easier.

Youve experienced entrainment and its lackorchestras, sports teams, and dance troupes that achieved high levels of en train ment and moved ef fort less ly as one co her ent whole, cel-ebrating individual excellence and unique ness; com pa nies that grew too fast and became in cred i bly disjointed; ath letes who per formed in the zone only to lose it and grow de spon dent.

A common thread is the heart. Was their heart in what they were doing? Were they operating from a deep in tu i tive in-

02 Ch 2 FCTC.ID 1/5/04, 12:47 PM13


EntrainmentEntrainmentIn Sync

Out of Sync

copyright 1994, Institute of HeartMath

FIGURE 21 Entrainment. The concept of entrainment was fi rst discovered in 1665 by the Dutch clock maker Christiaan Huyggens, who observed that pendulum clocks fell into synchronized rhythm if their pendulums were of the same length. Even after breaking their rhythm they fell back into syn- chro ni za tion. Numerous ex am ples exist in the biological world of this innate tendency to conserve energy.

tel li gence or had personality dif fer enc es over rid den com mon goals, common values, and a common mis sion? Were love and appreciation guiding prin ci ples fueling their actions? Doc's and Bruce's pro fes sion al careers have been extremely var iedman- u fac tur ing, mu sic, business, biotech, publishing, and now per son al and or ga ni za tion al ef fec tive ness consulting. The high points always hap pened when our hearts were fully engaged in what we were doing. That pro cess always yielded cre ative in- sight and ef fi cient solutions. And we had a lot more fun.

The State of What Is

How is this era of unprecedented change affecting personal and organizational coherence? For corporations and health care or-ganizations alike, in creased cus tom er and consumer aware ness has re sult ed in great er ex pec ta tions and de mands. In creased com pe ti tion has in creased internal pres suresmany of which

02 Ch 2 FCTC.ID 1/5/04, 12:47 PM14


are emo tion alwhile re duc ing profi t mar gins. A more com plex mar ket place has re quired ever more so phis ti cat ed sales and mar ket ing tech niques. The rapid pro lif er a tion of in for ma tion tech nol o gy has created a moun tain of information to man-age and re spond to. The pub lic sector has faced many of these same profound chang es with the added bur den of an elec tor ate deep ly cynical about the rel e vance of gov ern men tal in sti tu tions and policies. Gridlock now is used to describe po lit i cal im pass es Gridlock now is used to describe po lit i cal im pass es Gridlockas often as free way traffi c. Downsizing, also known eu phe mis t-i cal ly as right-right-right sizing and dark ly as sizing and dark ly as sizing capsizing, has ar rived in every capsizing, has ar rived in every capsizingseg ment of society, with numerous military base closures in the Unit ed States causing wrench ing change in the com mu ni ties grown de pen dent on them. Reengineering and outsourcing have been ini ti at ed to boost internal effi ciency, while new skills to manage the chang es have been re quired. Feel ing tired yet?

The Impact of Change

Many organizations have gotten fl atter, and the reduction in bu reau crat ic lay ers has meant people have to be much more fl ex i ble, have multiple skills, and struggle with roles that often are less defi ned. Even the world of science has felt the pain and promise of change. In the United States, managed care has total ly altered how disease is treat ed and dramatically af fect ed al ready strained doctor-pa tient re la tion ships. At the same time, the fragmentation of science into thou sands of subspecialties is seeing a back lash into more in te grat ed ap proach es that build on in ter dis ci pli nary strengths such as psychoneuroimmunology, the study of mind-body interactions.5

A U.S. Bureau of Labor Sta tis tics study discovered that sig nifi cant ef fects occur in em ploy ee productivity and ac tu al be hav ior as a result of change.6 As a direct con se quence of or ga -ni za tion al changewheth er brought upon by changing mar ket,

02 Ch 2 FCTC.ID 1/5/04, 12:47 PM15


downsizing, a merger, change in lead er ship, or sim ply a se ries of bad decisions,

Productive work dropped from 4.8 hours per day to 1.2 hours per day, a loss of 75%.

Social chat and gossip in creased from 1.5 hours per day to 3.2 hours per day, an increase of more than 100%.

Retraining time went from 0 hours to 1.8 hours, now oc cu -py ing near ly 25% of the employees time.

The Emerging Cost of Stress

According to the U.S. De part ment of Labor, the work place is the great est sin gle source of stress, no mat ter what you do or how much you earn.7 Stress may now account for 7590% of all visits to phy si cians, according to the Amer i can Institute of Stress.8 The price tag to Amer i can busi ness es for stress is at least $200 bil lion a year.9 Until very recently, this was the Emperors new clothes of or ga ni za tion al ef fec tive nesswe knew stress was out of control, but most of us were afraid to speak up about it. Thankfully, that has started to change. The coherence mo men tum is picking up speed.

The Globalization of Stress

America has no exclusive fran chise on workplace stress. A 1997 New York Times ar ti cle noted that the word New York Times ar ti cle noted that the word New York Times stress has be come stress has be come stressso uni ver sal it does not need to be trans lat ed into the local lan- guag es.10 Say stress in vir tu al ly any country of the world and the locals will know what you mean. A Unit ed Na tions Re port called job stress the 20th-cen tu ry disease.the 20th-cen tu ry disease.the 11

In the United Kingdom, as much as 10% of the GNP now goes to stress-related costs. A recent study in the UK12 showed that 60% of man ag ers work in excess of the normal work week,

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The Coherence Imperative [ 17 ][ 17 ][ 17

and 52% claim to be suffering from too much work, up from 40% in 1993. Fur ther more, 40% of male re spon dents felt they did not spend enough time at home. Over 50% cited the bal ance be tween home and work as stress ful. This study also found that 47% of those in ter viewed found their workload had in creased great ly dur ing that year. In Can a da, at least $12 bil lion is spent each year on trackable stress-related costs, and 46% of Canadian wom en and 36% of Ca na di an men cite be ing too busy as the main cause of work stress.13

Their colleagues in Ja pan, Hong Kong, and the de vel op ing econ o mies of Asia have sim i lar issues. In fact, Asian managers have mir rored many of the same stressed out be hav iors and con se quenc es of their Eu ro pe an and North Amer i can coun- ter parts.14 In Ja pan, the word karoshi lit er al ly means dying at karoshi lit er al ly means dying at karoshi

your desk and is con sid ered a na tion al health crisis affecting tens of thousands each year. Ac cord ing to the Na tion al Po- lice Agen cy, sui cides in Ja pan in 1996 totaled about 23,000, more than dou ble the number of traf fi c fa tal i ties. The de- mise of the job-for-life system is especially tough for the Jap- a nese salaryman, whose so cial rank is de ter mined by his company and his po si tion, reported Time magazine in a February 1998 cover sto ry.15 At least 200 law suits have been fi led by fam i lies of people who dropped dead af ter too many all-nighters.16

were worried...

In one recent study, 44% of the work ers ques tioned be lieved their workload was

ex ces sive, 46% wor ried about

lay offs, 55% wor ried about the

com pa nys fu ture, and 50% felt

their jobs were not se cure. This

equates to millions of peo ple

try ing to work through worry

and in se cu ri ty, on a dai ly basis.

An oth er study found that 42%

of Americans had looked for a

new job be cause of the strug gle

to main tain work-per son al life

bal ance.

02 Ch 2 FCTC.ID 1/5/04, 12:47 PM17


These statistics amount to a global mountain of inner tur moil and incoherence. The typical organizational re sponse has been denial or a band-aid fi x. Of fer a lunch-and-learn for those trou bled by stress. Encourage managers to spend more time lis ten ing. Send an ex ec u tive to a lead er ship course to help him smooth out his style. Systemic solutions that address core human emo-tional processes have been largely absent.

Only the Dead Have Done Enough

There clearly is much that could be feared today. In co -her ence reigns. There also is much that could be appreci-ated. Co her ence emerg es. Which is it? Where do we focus our at ten tion? If we ap pre -ci ate only whats good, will we not ig nore the real prob lems and is sues that cry out for at- ten tion? A re cent high-lev el meet ing of a glo bal tele com -mu ni ca tion com pa ny shift ed course con sid er ably when an

Get

Coherent

reduce stress

Stress is the main disabler of per son al and or ga ni z-a tion al per for mance. Ad dress ing

it has become a crit i cal business

strat e gy. Peo ples per cep tions

about events create in ter nal stress,

so sole ly ad dress ing struc tur al

and or ga ni za tion al is sues, and

not ad dress ing emotional per-

ceptions, will fail to resolve the

problem. Help ing people widen

their per spec tives about work

loads, em ploy ee re la tion ships,

man age ment, cus tom ers, etc., can

signifi cantly reduce stress lev els,

free ing up en er gy to address ex-

ter nal factors that encourage a

stress undertone. Changing per-

cep tion re quires new in tel li gence.

Allocate re sourc es to increase

heart in tel li gence with in your

or ga ni za tion and take steps to

pro mote mental, emo tion al and

work/life bal ance. Your ef forts and

ex pen di tures will sig nifi cant ly

in crease or ga ni za tion al co her ence

and per for mance.

02 Ch 2 FCTC.ID 1/5/04, 12:47 PM18


ex haust ed man ag er stat ed, Only the dead have done enough. This state ment, cyn i cal and des per ate though it was, was met with com plete un der stand ing and sym pa thy from the oth er over worked and underappreciated man ag ers and executives in the room.

In her ex cel lent book Lead er ship and the New Science, Lead er ship and the New Science, Lead er ship and the New ScienceMar g a ret Wheatley asks: How do we create or ga ni za tion al co her ence, where ac tiv i ties cor re spond to purpose? How do we cre ate struc tures that move with change, that are fl ex i ble and adap tive, even boundaryless, that en able rath er than con strain? How do we sim pli fy things with out losing both control and dif fer en ti a tion? How do we re solve personal needs for free dom and au ton o my with or ga ni za tion al needs for pre dic tion and

con trol? . . . Is there a magnetic force, a basin for activity, so at trac tive that it pulls all be hav ior toward it and cre ates co her ence?17 To this we would answer yes. That force does exist. It can and must be tapped for the future of or ga ni za tions and our selves.

Testing the Theory

As a research organization, a fundamental objective of the In sti tute of HeartMath has been to inform leaders in sci-ence and busi ness of its discov er ies and to leverage previ-ous work into more extensive projects. Demonstrating the In sti tutes ideas of or ga ni za -

recognize change will accelerate

Complacency is out. Adaptability is in. Every glo bal trend fore cast for the

econ o my, health care, political

sys tems, ed u ca tion and fam i ly

life, points to a pe ri od of un-

prec e dent ed change. New in tel -

li gence is need ed to deal ef fec -

tive ly with changes that stretch

our capacities, per son al ly and

pro fes sion al ly. Make your own

in ter nal co her ence a pri or i ty.

The fu ture will de mand this

more than ever.

recognize

Get

Coherent

02 Ch 2 FCTC.ID 1/5/04, 12:47 PM19


tion al co her ence in a world-class organization was a high prior-ity. In 1994, the director of emerg ing tech nol o gies for a For tune 50 company approached Bruce about one of the fi rms core ob- jec tives: enhancing the human per for mance of its peo ple. The company already had a global rep u ta tion for prod uct in no va tion and an unusually strong focus on its people. It en tered mar kets where it had no expertise and quickly dom i nat ed them. The company of ten credited the organizationwide focus on train ing as fun da men tal to its mar ket leadership.18

But now the companys issues were changing. Tech nol o gy ad vanc es in their key in dus tries were becoming so rapid, leader ship no longer was assured. Stress on people was in creas ing, partly due to the or ga ni za tions size and challenge to sustain its healthy growth, part ly due to societal and family is sues un-related to the organization. The HeartMath team was asked to design a series of programs for a wide range of staff mem bers to address and measure multiple issues, such as pro duc tiv i ty, teamwork, com mu ni ca tion effectiveness, health and stress, cre-ativity, and in no va tion.

Plans were drawn to recruit three teams of employees for the pi lot pro grams, which would be held in two different lo ca -tions in the United States. The pilot groups would consist of one group of ex ec u tives, mid dle managers and ad min is tra tive staff members; one intact soft ware en gi neer ing team; and a team of assembly line work ers. This was HeartMaths fi rst sig nifi cant research-based cor po rate intervention19 and the fi rst to test the validity of its con cepts.

Improvements in Productivity, Teamwork, Health, and Em pow er ment

The program was conducted over a six-month period. Dramatic im prove ments in pro duc tiv i ty were measured in the assembly line work ers (see Figure 22):

02 Ch 2 FCTC.ID 1/5/04, 12:47 PM20


93% had increased productivity. 90% had improved teamwork. 93% acknowledged an increased sense of empowerment. 93% felt healthier, including signifi cant gains in energy and

vi tal i ty, less tension, fewer physical problems, a re duced need for med i ca tion, and greater personal and pro fes sion al fulfi ll-ment.

More than 20 rec om men da tions made by the as so ci ates for improving pro duc tiv i ty were im ple ment ed by the manage-ment team.

22% decrease in defects.

A key factor of concern to the company was car dio vas cu lar health and effi ciency. Of the adult working pop u la tion in Amer- i ca, 33% have high blood pressure.20 The fi g ures are sim i lar in Europe. High blood pres sure (or hy per ten sion) is the leading risk factor for heart dis ease and stroke21 and can dra mat i cal ly in- hib it performance and performance and performance pro duc tiv i ty. While this in ter ven tion had pro duc tiv i ty. While this in ter ven tion had pro duc tiv i ty

FIGURE 22 The graph shows changes in productivity, teamwork, em pow -er ment, and health in workers who learned HeartMath coherence tech-niques, compared to a control group of workers performing the same job.

02 Ch 2 FCTC.ID 1/5/04, 12:47 PM21


not been positioned as a wellness pro gramthe intent was in-creasing business pro duc tiv i tyour clients in tu itive ly knew the creasing business pro duc tiv i tyour clients in tu itive ly knew the creasing business pro duc tiv i tyrelationship be tween individual health and pro duc tiv i ty:

26% of the executive, administrative, and engineering teams were hy per ten sive at the start of the study.

After six months, all participants had regained normal blood pres sure. They had also learned to lower blood pres sure dur-ing high ly stressful situations.

There were signifi cant improvements in other pro duc -tiv i ty-af fect ing factors:

18% less anxiety 26% less burnout 20% less hostility 32% increase in contentment

There was a 36% reduction in overall stress symptoms, which in cluded the following:

56% reduction in sleeplessness 31% decrease in rapid heartbeats 27% reduction in headaches 33% reduction in heartburn 30% reduction in trembling due to stress

Bruce also received many comments refl ecting greatly increased per son al and team coherence.

More inventions were disclosed in the last six months.

Since my stress levels are now lower, I am more relaxed and able to think more clearly. My negotiation skills have improved.

My number of patents per month literally doubled.

02 Ch 2 FCTC.ID 1/5/04, 12:47 PM22


I feel happier with myself. I perform better with my job. I com mu ni cate morewithout being afraid.

Im handling family life a lot better with less worries, and Ive re solved a lot of prolonged issues. I can listen to oth ers, be open-mind ed, willing to train co work ers, and come to work feel ing hap py and ready to work.

In corporate speak, we hit a home rungreat data, great per son al enthusiasm, plans to expand the im ple men ta tion through out at least one fac to ry. The fact that the company was Motorola gave us enor mous cred i bil i ty and leverage to begin speak ing with other organizations about the po ten tial benefi ts of the Institutes technology. We were even rewarded with a special prize at an internal competition held by the company.

The primary division where these tools were implemented saw record growth and the cor po rate university began of fer ing IQM at head quar ters. So we offer this story as an ex am ple of what could be. In an age when organizational strain and un- cer tain ty pre dom i nates, when our most productive hours and years re main dedicated to or ga ni za tions that often show lit tle or no loy al ty to us, there are com pel ling reasons to do things dif- fer ent ly. And they can result in mea sur able im prove ments that or ga ni za tionsand peoplerequire.

Perceptionthe lens through which we view lifeis at the root of the solutions. As Victor Frankl, a Holocaust sur vi vor and au thor, put it so eloquently,

everything can be tak en away from a man but one thing: the last of the human free domsto choose ones at ti tude in any given set of cir cum -stanc es, to choose ones own way.22

Doc has spent years showing that it is ones attitudes that un der lie ev ery as pect of per son al and organizational co her ence.

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Too often it is the hand-me-down mind-sets, in herited from gen er a tions of man ag ers be fore us, that reinforce or ga ni za tion al rigidity and in fl ex i bil i ty. By free ing ourselves from those attitudes, co her ence be comes pos si ble, es pe cial ly in an age where all the rules have changed.23 As Albert Einstein said, The world we have created is a prod uct of our way of think ing.24 We need a new way of think ing. We need a new intelligence.

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[ 25 ]

DYNAMIC 1

INTERNAL SELF-MANAGEMENT

1. Understanding human processesmental, emotional and phys-icalis necessary to create sustained organizational transfor-mation. A new model of human intelligence provides clues.

2. The pressure on the individual will increase in the years to come as societal, family, and internal stresses mount and the pace of change accelerates.

3. As individuals learn to identify and plug the leaks in their own personal systems, they stop draining energy and effectiveness personally and organizationally.

4. Individuals can learn to increase their capacity for intelligence, resulting in more effective decisions, greater resilience, and a heightened sense of well-being. This provides enormous value to any organization.

Internal Self-Management

IncreaseCapacity forIntelligence

RecognizeInternal Stresses

Understandthe Human

Process

Plugthe Leaks

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[ 27 ]

c h a p t e r

3

A New Model of Human Intelligence

INTELLIGENCE USED TO BE SO SIMPLE. GOOD GENES guaranteed high IQ, which got you into a first-rate university, which paved the way for a great job, a beautiful family, and a fine career. As long as you were part of the intelligentsia or the business elite.

Then reality set in.Many people began to doubt IQ was an accurate predic-

tor of real intelligence, the kind it takes to lead a good life, have great relationships, and really be successful. Intuitively many people knew IQ didnt measure street smarts, creativity, artistic brilliance, or emotional sensitivity.

Plaque seen in a rural store in North Carolina:

The brain said, Im the smartest organ in the body. The heart said, Who told you?

The human body is an incredible systemroughly 7 trillion cells with a mind-boggling level of physical and bio-chemical coordination necessary just to turn a page, cough, or drive a car. When you consider how little of it you have to think about, it becomes even more amazing. When was the last time you reminded your heart to beat, your lungs to expand and contract, or your digestive organs to secrete just the right bio-

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[ 28 ] From Chaos to Coherence A New Model of Human Intelligence [ 29 ]

chemicals at just the right time? These and a myriad of other processes are handled unconsciously every moment we live. Our intelligence manages the whole system, much of it uncon-scious. What is becoming increasingly apparent is that all our processes are profoundly affected by what we consciously do: what we think, what we feel, how we react. Research is now clear that the inability to manage oneself efficiently leads to premature aging, diminished mental clarity, and even blocked access to our innate intelligence. The converse is also true: Increasing internal coherence leads to more efficiency in all physiological systems, and greater creativity, adaptability, and flexibility.

This is the backdrop for the first theme in the internal self-management dynamic:

Understanding human processesmental, emotional, and physicalis necessary to create sustained organizational trans-formation. A new model of human intelligence provides clues.

The notion of multiple intelligences came into vogue over the last twenty years, each type of intelligence a unique dimen-sion of what it means to be fully human. The parallels between the development of computing and the evolution in our under-standing of human intelligence are striking. Thirty years ago, mainframe computers and the human brain were considered the supreme source of all intelligence in their respective do-mains: smart computer, dumb terminal; intelligent gray matter, organs that simply follow commands. The explosion in com-putational power of the microprocessor meant smart desktops connecting with other desktops. Soon the network became the computer and connectivity meant increased intelligence, or at least increased access to information. Simultaneously, scientists began to discover that human information processing was far more distributed than previously thought. Perhaps most chal-

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lenging to our notion of centralized intelligence was the discov-ery that intelligence is not confined to the gray matter within the human skull.

Neural circuits are pathways in our brains that develop as we learn new behaviors and skills. They grow and develop as we do. At birth, perhaps 100 billion neurons already exist in the brain, yet few circuits, relatively speaking, have been formed, which is why a human baby is so dependent on others for the first few years of its life. How the neurons connect with each other is determined largely by what the child experiences and by the human social factors in the environment. Their connec-tions with other neurons form the neural circuitsa grid that greatly affects perception and learned behavior. They are the storehouse of memory. Yet, neural networks exist in other parts of the body beyond the brain. The hunt for more intelligence had begun.

DNA and Development

DNA is a complex molecule found in every cell in our body. It contains the genetic blueprint for the cells and how they will shape our bodies. In terms of brain development, DNA has cod-ed within it the basic patterns for the brains structure. However, DNA does not determine the neuronal pathways (circuits) and connections that form nor the strength of those connections. These form as a result of our repeated experiences and the in-fluence of the environment in which we live and to which we adapt. Imagine a computer chip whose circuits formed through experience as the operator used the computer, not only through its intrinsic design. Every computer would be totally unique to its user. The essence is that, while DNA gives us a basic structure for brain development, the patterns formed by the neurons and the strength of their connections develop as a result of the input

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and experience we each have. Our intelligence is unique and pliable.

As young children our neurons are rapidly forming new circuits in response to learning a new skill, such as walking, physical coordination, or adapting to the environment. If chil-dren are often stressed, circuits develop that are hypersensitive to stress in later life, and their ability to adapt is limited. Puberty is characterized by the start of sex hormone production, result-ing in a variety of physiological changes, including a reduction of plasticity in the neural circuits. For example, learning a sec-ond language after puberty is considerably more difficult, neu-rologically speaking, than before. Or anotherthe first genera-tion raised with computers since preschool is now entering the workforce, and leading much of the Internet revolution. Their circuits formed in response to an entirely different set of stimuli than their parents. To them, technology is easy; its matter-of-fact. In very real terms its a natural extension of how they think and relate to the world.

Back to the neural circuit story.

Unhooking Neurons

It takes considerable focus and energy to reconfigure the neuronal circuits once a basic pattern has been set. This does not mean that the brain cannot be rewired; it simply requires more energy. Once a thought pattern is set firmly in place it be-comes a mind-set, meaning our perceptions and responses are bound by that pattern. This limits our range of possibilities and adaptability. If you ever wondered why changing mind-sets can seem to be such a daunting experience, have you ever tried to unhook a neuron? The concept of intelligence has required some updating as this information has been uncovered. To limit our definition of intelligence to mental capacity would obstruct

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a new understanding of the entire human system as intelligent. Intelligence itself has many dimensions.

Intelligence Throughout

It is now known that complex neuronal structures exist not only in the brain but also within the gut and the human heart. Neurochemicals, the carriers of nervous system information, are produced in vast quantities in these organs as well. These chemicals in turn affect brain processing and virtually every other organ in the body. For several years researchers have studied the enteric nervous system, a complex set of nerves found in the intestinal tract. This elaborate network of neurons and neurochemicals is so sophisticated and complex it is now called the gut brain. Its activity directly affects brain function. More neurons exist in the gutabout 100 millionthan in the entire spinal column1, and this gut brain appears to be heavily influenced by our emotions. Have you ever felt butterflies in your stomach or a knot of worry? Most gastrointestinal dis-orders have a strong emotional component as any patient with colitis or student about to take an exam will tell you.

Gut Feelings

The gut feeling many people trust has biological roots. Considered a single entity, [the gut brain] is a network of neu-rons, neurotransmitters and proteins that zap messages be-tween neurons, support cells like those found in the brain prop-er and a complex circuitry that enables it to act independently, learn, remember and, as the saying goes, produce gut feelings, according to an article in the New York Times.2 In many martial arts traditions, this area of our anatomy is viewed as a source

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of power and intelligence. Here, martial arts teachers tell us, is where to center yourself and gain power.3 Troubling feelings land here, too, as the millions who obsess over share price can attest.

The Brain in the Heart

Now new research has been published that is totally re-structuring our views about intelligence yet again. This new data shows that a sophisticated intrinsic nervous system is now known to exist within the human heart. Research cardiologist J. A. Armour, M.D., of Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia, calls this intrinsic nervous system of the heart the little brain in the heart.4 It has powerful, highly sophisticated computational abil-ities and profoundly affects both heart and brain function. Neu-rochemicals such as norepinephrine and dopamine, formerly believed to be produced only in the brain and nervous system, also are produced within the heart, as well as hormones such as ANF, known as the balance hormone. These appear to directly affect brain function.5 Just as the gut brains circuitry allows it to act independently, learn, remember, and produce gut feel-ings, so the existence of the hearts brain helps to explain the wide range of feelings associated with the heart.

Networked Intelligence

So it appears at least three brainsmind, gut, and heartare networked together, influencing each other 24 hours a day, much of it below our conscious awareness. Stress and emo-tional mismanagement appear to negatively impact the coher-ent functioning among these three intelligent systems.

In his book Descartes Error: Emotion, Reason and the Brain, neuroscientist Antonio Damasio offers compelling evi-

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dence that emotions and intellectual functions are processed in different parts of the brain, which then are integrated in the prefrontal cortex.6 The notion that intelligence is a purely cere-bral, aloof activity uncontaminated and unaffected by emotions has been shown in this and much other recent research to be an outdated and misguided myth. Emotions play a primary role in the development and function of the mind. Emotions clearly play a role in day-to-day productivity. Think of the last bad de-cision made in your organization. Did mismanaged emotion play a part? Did someone overreact and create a policy based on knee-jerk reactions? Did reactive emotions in the organiza-tion play a key role in the hue and cry greeting the unfortunate decision? Chances are they probably did.

Emotional Intelligence

Daniel Goleman, a Harvard-trained Ph.D. and New York Times science writer, has popularized the concept of emotional intelligence in his book of the same name,7 and has spawned a movement of researchers and consultants seeking to under-stand the emotion-performance connection. Goleman cites ex-ample after example of studies showing that emotional balance and self-awareness are essential to success in all aspects of life. He argues that we must begin to value emotional skills at least as highly as intellectual ones, since standard IQ is so rarely an accurate predictor of personal or professional effectiveness. He summarizes what he means by emotional intelligence as these abilities:

Self-awareness Self-management Social awareness Relationship management

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These could be summarized as self-management skills and interpersonal skills. Many researchers and educators have em-braced the framework of emotional intelligence because it vali-dates our experience of what determines organizational success or failure, and personal coherence or chaos.

If we are honest, our organizations and our lives could use a lot more of these characteristics than they currently exhibit. We believe that: In an age of chaos, emotional management or mismanagement is more important in determining the long-term success of an organization than product success or process improvements. This is as true of start-up firms that experience rapid success but are unprepared for its operational realities as it is for the massive older organization or institution affected by large-scale emotional turmoil and malaise of its workforce. It is also true that 80% of the Fortune 500 companies of 1970 have disappeared off the list.

Hope and Resilience

Without hope, no one can live fully. Organizations with hope are resilient and buoyant. They continue to learn and grow and are able to adapt to crises or challenges within the environment. The biological roots of hope and despair are becoming clearer. Child development specialist and author Joseph Chilton Pearce recounted research showing that, when we become upset for any reason, all neural action, learning, memory, cognition, problem-solving, and so on, is adversely af-fected.8 How often does this happen in your organization? Our emotional state is critical to what and how we learn in addition to how well we can recall and apply what we have learned. An unhappy experience while learning something can, in the fu-ture, bring up that same feeling as we try to recall the item we learned. Without conscious thought or choice, a person often

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avoids learning environments and challenges because of un-pleasant feelings imbedded in neural tracks in our brains during earlier learning experiences.

Early on in our careers, we began to understand the conse-quences of organizational incoherence. One biotech company we were associated with worked hard to land major national me-dia coverage on a key product, knowing that would catapult the company into the consumer mainstream and success would be assured. In fact it had become highly focused on this idea, and determined to achieve it. The firm was looking for the quick bang, instant recognition, the sizzle, the stimulus of the quick hit. (Deeper discussion on the operational and human consequences was absent.) The media story hit, and business grew 500% in one month. Needless to say, the company was ill-prepared for this kind of growth. Not only were all the essential systems not effectively in place, the human foundation had not been solidly built so the employees began a revolving door syndrome of com-ing and going that sapped the organizations effectiveness. In-coherence reigned. The company never again reached the sales level of that one rocket-ship month.

Emotion and Intellect

Emotion, not intellect, is the fuel that drives the organiza-tional engine. Intellect provides the direction, but not the fuel. In most organizations, this understanding has not been activated, so the fuel being used is not high octane, but more like kerosene, fast-burning but low quality. How an organization reacts, how it prepares its people for changethe emotional field of a com-panyall have underlying emotional components that organiz-ations can no longer ignore. Smart organizations will learn to harness and manage coherent emotional intelligence to unleash

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tremendous power within that organization. One of the great ironies, and opportunities, is that the mind becomes far more effective, sharp, and clear as the emotions become balanced and understood. The mind itself can tap into another dimension of intelligence, clarity, and creativity when unmanaged emotions are not leaking all the fuel.

What biology underlies this concept of emotional intelligence? Built into the emotional-cognitive structures of the brain are many evolutionary functions that date back to our species struggle for survival and the mechanisms that evolved to cope with that stress. Brain structures like the amygdala in the emotional or limbic re-gion of the brain can hijack intellectual processes when intense emotions are experienced in the system.9 This is why even very smart people can make very foolish choices when under emo-tional stress. And, even scarier for organizations and people today is that millions of us have maladapted to the stress in our lives and are just beginning to realize how much stress we have.

Evolution, Intelligence, and Stress

A commonly held view in neuroscience is that different brain structures perform different functions that have evolved over time (see Figure 31). In a general sense, the human brain can be thought of as having three main structural regions, which are associated with differing levels of control and a variety of func-tions and basic drives. We call these the first, second, and third brains.

The first brain is comprised of the brain stem structures in the modern human brain processes, including hypothalamus, pons, medulla, and reticular formation. It governs reflex and in-stinct, and is responsible for many basic functions necessary for survival, including:

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approach/avoidance behavior hormonal control temperature control hunger/thirst control basic respiration and heart rate control reproductive drive

The second brain consists of the subcortical (also called limbic) areas, including hippocampus, thalamus, amygdala, and pituitary. This region of the brain exhibits control over the first

level and is capable of hindsight, the ability to see, after the event, what should have been done. This is an aspect of the develop-ment of memory, which is an important evolutionary addition. Its functions and basic drives include:

territoriality fear, anger, attack maternal love anxiety

FIGURE 31 This diagram depicts the three generalized stages of brain evolution and the levels of control, functions, and behaviors that are asso-ciated with the three main structural regions of the modern human brain. Copyright 1998 Institute of HeartMath Research Center

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hate jealousy

Emotional information appears to be p

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From Chaos to Coherence