Our Lizard Brain

You’re sitting in a meeting and someone starts talking about “vision.”  You immediately start looking at your Blackberry.  Not only are you frustrated that you and your colleagues left your Buzzwork Bingo cards in your office, discussions of vision just aren’t what floats your boat.  ”Vision” never helps you get things done.  It’s just a waste of time dreaming about something that isn’t going to happen anyway.

You’ve just experienced your “lizard brain” kicking in.

Seth Godin has a blog post that discusses some of the effects of the lizard brain, and it reminded us of what we call “filters.”  Read the post and let us know what you think.  What creates resistance in you?  What does leadership announce that makes your amygdala fire?

Our next post will be about Seth’s new book, Linchpin:  Are You Indispensable?

Drive

I heard Dan Pink on Talk of the Nation yesterday discussing his new book, Drive.  Listeners called in to talk about their work experience and share what they would change about their workplace in order to be more motivated.  One man called in and said that he felt like management is just there to get people to follow their whims.  When Dan asked what the caller would change to make things better, the man replied that he would have management sign a contract saying that if they create a direction for the next six months, it should stay in place for the whole six months!

Dan connected this to engagement levels and the fact that they are dropping in many companies.

This resonates with what we hear all the time. People want a sense of direction they can count on.  It doesn’t have to be a clear vision all the time, but some sense of where they are going.  The lack of direction effects engagement and it’s part of what’s necessary to be in Sync.

If you want to see Dan talk about Drive, you can see his TED talk here.