© 2012 BigVisible Solutions, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Wetware Craftsmanship Brian Bozzuto & Devin Hedge
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What Does the Brain Have to do with Agile?
► Align our behavior with the natural way our mind operations
► Understand and appreciate the strengths & limits of the mind
► Understand brain behaviors that inhibit our own agility & ability to change
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3 Topics for Today
► Limits of the conscious mind
► Threats to ego
► Desire for Certainty
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First, a Disclaimer
► Beware “Brain Porn”
► Superfluous Technical Details Can Distract from Content
► Our Goal is to Build Better Mental Models of how the Mind Works
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The Brain as a Computer
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A Simple Map of the Brain
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The Limits of Our Mind
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Who Wants a Cookie?
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The Elephant & the Rider
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Two Systems in Your Mind
The Rider (System 2) Slow, serial, controlled, effortful, rule governed, flexible
The Elephant (System 1) Fast, parallel, automatic, effortless, associated, slow-learning
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Challenges of the Elephant
► Framing
► Anchoring
► Accessible information
BUT!!! It is fast and efficient
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How to Manage an Elephant
Clear the Path Strengthen the Rider
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Strengthen the Rider
► Prioritize the use of your mind when your energy is highest
► Build Awareness of Your Thoughts
► Leverage as many parts of your mind as possible
Stand up in the morning!
Coaching Can Help Build Your Mental Capacity
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An Example
► Without writing down, please sort these objects by their value
Object A 1 + 3
Object B 2 x 3
Object C 3 / 2
Object D 8 - 3
Object A 1 + 3 = 4
Object B 2 x 3 = 6
Object C 3 / 2 = 1.5
Object D 8 – 3 = 5
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Let’s Try a Harder Example with Stickies
Object A 2 + 6
Object B 3 x 4
Object C 5 / 2
Object D 4 - 3
Object E 6 / 3
Object F 3 + 4
Object A 2 + 6 = 8
Object B 3 x 4 = 12
Object C 5 / 2 = 4.5
Object D 4 – 3 = 1
Object E 6 / 3 = 2
Object F 3 + 4 = 7
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Chunking Demonstrated
► Try to memorize as many of these numbers as you can…
310412873634 ► Let’s try one more time…
97 14 23
75 30 12
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The Real Power of Information Radiators
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Clear the Path
► Work on One Item at a Time
► Deliberate Practice to build more Subconscious Capability
► Build Concrete Processes to Follow
You CAN’T Multitask
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What Does this All Mean for Coaches?
► Changing behaviors takes energy, and brains get tired
► Failure to change doesn’t mean people don’t want to
► Coaches can offer support and clear the path to increase the likelihood people will be able to follow through
You need to make the elephant want to go where you want to go
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Let’s Try Something…
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Time for a Coaching Exercise
Instructions ► Split into pairs
► One of you will be the coach, the other the coachee
► Coachee, you’re going to share your problem with the coach and they are going to help you.
► Coachees, close your eyes, we have specific instructions for coaches…
Instructions for Coaches ► Listen to the coachee, but your
goal is to offer them solutions.
► Your job is to be as useful as you can by offering as much advice as you can
► Remember, you’re the Jedi master!
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Debrief
People Being Coaches ► What was that experience like?
► How did it feel?
► Did you get useful information?
Coaches ► What was that experience like?
► How did it feel?
► We they open to your infinite wisdom?
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Need for Social Acceptance
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What Happened?
► We perceive social threats & physical threats with the same part of our minds
► Threats to ego may engender the same fight or flight reactions that physical danger would
David Rock, “Managing with the Brain in Mind”, Oxford Leadership Journal. Dec 2009 Vol 1 Issue 1
The brain is lazy. Our default state is to start offering suggestions rather than listen and cooperatively problem
solve
Social Pain
Physical Pain
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So… On to Coaching
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Fight or Flight
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Suggesting May Still Work
► There are factors that can help you overcome these hindrances
à Authority & expertise
à Prior relationships (trust)
à Ability to match genuine emotions (face to face conversation)
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Fight or Flight in the Office
Fight ► “I don’t have any real problems”
► “You don’t understand my situation”
► “Your ideas are wrong”
Flight ► “I can’t do anything about this”
► “It’s because of these other people”
► “I’ll just muddle through”
The response to threats is generally a narrowing of options, the precise opposite of what we are trying to
achieve as coaches
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Techniques to Create Safety
► Identify if safety is lost
► Apologize if necessary
► Contract
► Create mutual purpose (CRIB) à Commit to seek mutual purpose à Recognize the purpose behind
the strategy à Invent mutual purpose à Brainstorm new strategies
(Patterson, Kerry; Switzler, Al; McMillan, Ron; Grenny, Joseph (2011-08-19). Crucial Conversations Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High, Second Edition
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A Full Coaching Conversation
Don’t Start Here
COMMUNICATING EFFECTIVELY
FACILITATING LEARNING
AND RESULTS
CO-CREATING THE
RELATIONSHIP
SETTING THE FOUNDATION
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One Technique – Powerful Questions
► Characteristics à Generate curiosity in the listener à Stimulates reflective
conversation à Is thought-provoking à Surfaces underlying
assumptions à Invites creativity and new
possibilities à Generates energy and forward
movement à Channels attention and focuses
inquiry à Stays with participants à Touches a deep meaning à Evokes more questions
► Frame for Powerful Questions à Focused on the Outcome (not
the problem) à Not so broad as to be unable to
take action à Surface underlying assumptions
► Type of Questions (most powerful to least) à Why à How à What à Who à Which à Is it…
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Let’s Try It Again…
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Another Exercise
► Pair up again
► People being coached, share your problem
► Coaches, listen and only use powerful questions (no recommendations at all)
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Debrief
People Being Coaches ► What was that experience like?
► How did it feel?
► Did you get useful information?
Coaches ► What was that experience like?
► How did it feel?
► Do you feel like you helped them?
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► It must be considered that there is nothing more difficult to carry out, nor more doubtful of success, nor more dangerous to handle, than to initiate a new order of things. For the reformer has enemies in all those who profit by the old order, and only lukewarm defenders in all those who would profit by the new order à Niccolo Machiavelli “The Prince”
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Remember the Brain is Lazy…
► Uncertainty requires more conscious thought
► The mind seeks to match patterns and make things predictable
► We delight in certainty
Wetware Craftsmanship
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____ __ ____ _____ ____ ______ _____ _____ ____ _____ _____ _____ ____ _____
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We May See Patterns That Don’t Even Exist
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____ __ ____ _____ ____ ______ _____ _____ ____ _____ _____ _____ ____ _____
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Or Interpret Them Based on Context
Neglect of Ambiguity and Suppression of Doubt Figure 6Kahneman, Daniel (2011-10-25). Thinking, Fast and Slow (p. 79). Macmillan. Kindle Edition.
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We Will Always Have an Explanation
► “Markets fell on fears about the upcoming jobs report”
► “Markets rallied due to a good monthly sales report, which experts attribute to the weather”
► “The market fell today due to uncertainty about upcoming legislation in Congress”
We observe something, then we tell ourselves a story to explain it. Sometimes it happens so fast we can’t distinguish between the two
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____ __ ____ _____ ____ ______ _____ _____ ____ _____ _____ _____ ____ _____
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Some Cognitive Biases
Halo Effect “Apple is a great company, I love their products!”
Confirmatory Bias “Look at the confirming evidence!”
Confidence from Narrative Coherence “Of course the butler did it! It all makes sense now.”
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How Can These Biases Impact Projects?
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Give Ranges You’re 90% Confident In
Question Surface Temperature of the Sun
Latitude of Shanghai
Area of the Asian Continent
The Year of Alexander the Great’s Birth
Total Value of US Currency in Circulation (2004) Total Volume of the Great Lakes
Worldwide box office receipts for the movie Titanic Total length of the coastline of the Pacific Ocean Number of book title published in the U.S. since 1776 Heaviest blue whale ever recorded
McConnell, 2006
Answer 10,000° F / 6,000° C
31 degrees North
17,139,000 sq. miles 44,390, sq. kilometers 356 BC
$719.9 billion
5,500 cubic miles / 23,000 cubic kilometers 6x10^15 gallons / 23x10^16 liters $1.835 billion
84,300 miles 135,663 kilometers 22 million
380,000 pounds 170,000 kilograms
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Results from Other Estimators
McConnell, 2006
People usually estimate to about 30% confidence
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Imagine the Horse Tracks
► Book keepers asked to pick winners based on their 10 most important pieces of data
► Then, they were allowed to check 10 more pieces of data and adjust predictions
► Both set of predictions were equally accurate
► Book keepers were much more confident in the second set
Once we form an idea, it becomes very hard to change it
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____ __ ____ _____ ____ ______ _____ _____ ____ _____ _____ _____ ____ _____
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We’ve All Seen This
Hey do you have a high level estimate for the XYZ project? I promise I won’t hold you to it
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Impact of Loss Aversion
► Which would you prefer? à 100% to win $1,000 à 90% to win $1,200
► Would you take the following coin toss? à Heads – You win $100 à Tails – You lose $80
► What if you got 10 coin flips?
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Some Techniques
Increase Autonomy People are more comfortable with uncertainty if they have some sense of control
Create Certainty Make those things that can be
predictable very predictable
Reappraise the Situation Exploit the power of framing
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Conclusion
► Our brain is highly adapted, for a world which we have changed much faster than we can adapt
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“That’s Okay, It’s Just My Brain!”
► Awareness of how our mind works leads to better effectiveness
► Attention to our state of mind, makes us aware of some of the shortcuts our mind makes
► With proper context, coaching can greatly help us overcome the constraints of our mind
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Thank You!
Brian Bozzuto
Devin Hedge
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Further Reading ► Aamodt, Sandra, and Sam Wang. Welcome to Your Brain: Why You Lose
Your Car Keys but Never Forget How to Drive and Other Puzzles of Everyday Life. New York: Bloomsbury, 2008. Print.
► Ariely, Dan. Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions. New York, NY: Harper, 2008. Print.
► Brown, Sandra. The Switch. New York: Warner, 2000. Print.
► Kahneman, Daniel. Thinking, Fast and Slow. London: Penguin, 2011. Print.
► Rock, David, and Linda J. Page. Coaching with the Brain in Mind: Foundations for Practice. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley, 2009. Print.
► Rock, David. Your Brain at Work: Strategies for Overcoming Distraction, Regaining Focus, and Working Smarter All Day Long. [New York]: Harper Business, 2009. Print.
► Taleb, Nassim. The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable. New York: Random House, 2007. Print.
► Wilson, Timothy D. Strangers to Ourselves: Discovering the Adaptive Unconscious. Cambridge, MA: Belknap of Harvard UP, 2002. Print.