Motivation through Communication
How do we see the world?
We don't see the world as it is - we see it the way we think. And not everyone sees it the same way as we do.
One of our tasks as business leaders is to motivate people to work with us - as customers, as collaborators, as employees.
This boils down to having a clear vision and expressing it in ways that resonate with the people you want to motivate. Put baldly - if you talk to them in language that relates to how they like to think - and what their values are you're more likely to get a result than if you don't.
In our work in IT it became apparent that most IT (and indeed other projects) fail because of people issues. We thought for a long time that good project management would plug the gap - but it goes deeper - much deeper. What we need is a workable model that's powerful enough to apply in daily life without us having to spend years of our lives studying business Psychology. So we looked for a practical toolkit.
We think we found it in the tools developed by Dudley Lynch, author of Strategy of the Dolphin to help us understand ourselves - and others - better.
And to think creatively about our situation - so we can find new, more elegant ways of doing things.
Because if we understand where we come from and where our audience comes from we can create a powerful, motivational narrative that works with both customers and staff. After all, the most powerful organisations have a unifiying communicated vision. If we tell it inside the business we call it leadership, if we tell it outside we call it marketing - but it's the same story.
Left Brain Right Brain
Dudley's tool kit includes the BrainMap, which deals with styles of thinking, MindMaker6 which deals with values systems and a comprehensive analysis known as the Asset Report which deals with our personal thinking, our relationships, thinking skills, and how we deal with our career, change, games people play with us and how we can make the best of ourselves.
The BrainMap deals with the balance between left and right brain - detail and big picture - and between thinking and instinctive behaviour. It shows us where we are strong and suggests ways in which we can develop areas we would like to do more with. Most of us have access to all 4 of the major styles of functioning but we tend to prefer detail, action, exploring or building and maintaining teams.
Our values tend to reflect these preferences integrated with whether our motivations are more to ourselves or the groups we are part of. Dudley's analysis is based on the Graves Spiral. You can find out more about this here. What this means in practical terms is that if you understand how people think and their orientations you can communicate with them more effectively. If you want to understand teh theory of this you can download our conflict resolution paper with our compliments.
Why is this important?
It's important to know who you're dealing with. Every salesman knows it's not a good idea to use charm on accountants. But it goes deeper than this. People tend to choose organisations where they feel comfortable with the culture. Organisations reflect the values of those in them. Corporate organisations reward individual effort. Military, religious and Voluntary organisations reward loyalty to the group. If you use the wrong language for the group it can make life difficult. If you use "me" language with "we" people you may face passive aggression. If you use "we" language in a "me" culture you run the risk of not being taken seriously and being marginalised. Believe me - I've been there.
Sometimes it's necessary to lead a partnership who use different value sets. It's useful to know where they're coming from. This diagram gives you a guide. Basically cultures reflect the people that are in them. They will either be predominantly self or predominantly group orientated. However as they evolve they have greater bandwidth and can handle greater ambiguity. So here's a little ready reckoner.
The most innovative companies are active in the knowledge economy. This generally means integrating vision and detail, technology and people.
We have been actively working with these dynamics for a long time and are able to guide you in how to achieve this know how and make the best use of it..
Through our accreditations with Brain Technologies we are well versed in how the different thinking styles and values system percieve each other and how they are most likely to behave. This information is extremely powerful if you have to motivate a team and resolve conflicts.
What we can offer.
A better understanding of the way you think and feel is a powerful foundation for leadership tasks like re-developing the business, re-branding or implementing some new technology or methods of working.
We offer you a detailed analysis using the asset report which includes administering and delivering the report together with a half day face to face debrief.
The Brain Map helps you assess your own style of thinking and so infer where others you work for will be found. It tells you how the different styles see each other and contains a lot of useful information. If you would like to see a 5 minute overview of the BrainMap then look at this Introduction to the BrainMap.
To Buy a BrainMap click here . We'll send you one for £21.50 which will start you on your way.
The Mindmaker6 tool helps you understand the spectrum of Graves Spiral Value systems that you use. MindMaker6 helps you assess which of these you regularly use. It also supplies a great deal of background material and will certainly give you some impetus on your journey. We can supply for £21.50 including shipping.
Buy Mindmaker 6 Here
You can use Dudley's M-Circle instrument to assess which conflict resolution strategies you use most often. It advises you on the strengths and weaknesses of each approach. They are available at £16.50 each including postage
Buy M-Circle instrument at this link
We are able to offer in house workshops such as Business Refocus and away days using these materials applied to leadership or marketing situtations and videoconferencing based micro-consultancy sessions on specific topics.Or we can discuss longer consultancy projects if required. Specific services that we offer are listed here
What's your Purpose? helps you recognise and realise your prime purpose. We work through the Path Primer Guide in detail on a one to one basis and look at where to go next. Useful for business start ups and ensuring that your goals are in line with deepest individual motivation. You can book a 1/2 day session with us using this tool for £300 + VAT. Book directly at this link
'The Book of You' brings together all of the insights for an individual and covers thinking style, how you relate to others, how you see them and they see you. It looks at what motivates you and how you sell, market and lead, how you deal with games and how you can develop other areas of yourself. Our one on one consultancy session will take you through this comprehensive report of 100 pages and provide you with a personal plan for positive development. Price for book and 1 to 1 session £650 + VAT Book directly at this link
We've also used these ideas and materials extensively in some of our work with companies who are looking to manage and develop their teams better. These ideas and materials have been included in programmes carried out for Virgin Atlantic, PCWorld, Chartered Institute of Marketing, Team-working and Publishing Training Centre. If you would like further information please telephone 0845 094 0407
Our founder, Dr Alan Rae is a chartered fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing, an associate of the Market Research Society and an accredited workwise adviser. You can look at his Ecademy Profile and Testimonials or follow his ideas on the How to do Business Blog. A good proportion of blog articles deal with the implementation of these tools.
Contact - To discuss how we can help you use any of these Brain Technologies tools to build a more practical business ring 0845 094 0407
