WorkLife Design's Executive Update

Issue 1: January - 2011

Welcome to Executive Update, a periodic Newsletter from WorkLife Design. We’ll bring you information of interest to executives to make your life easier as well as more productive. Have a topic you’d like us to focus on? Email us at rsdeems@worklifedesign.com.

Brain Research

Recent Brain Research at Arizona State University confirms what ancient philosophers talked about: there are three parts of the brain, thinking (cognitive), feeling (affective), and doing (conative). Each of these separate yet cooperative parts of the brain has its own distinctive brain wave signatures. Within the conative part of the brain there are four separate and distinct action modes, which correspond to the Fact Finder, Follow Thru, Quick Start, and Implementor conative Natural Strengths first identified over 25 years ago by leadership guru Kathy Kolbe. We’ll be providing more information on this cutting edge research as it becomes available.

WHAT’S IT WORTH…

What would it be worth to have your direct reports – and their direct reports – increase their productivity in 2011 by 5%? 10%? Maybe even 20%?

Recent brain research at Arizona State University confirms that a person working “against the grain” is not as efficient (productive) as someone who is working “in the zone.” Internationally recognized leadership brain researcher Pierre Balthazard examined 117 leaders from all fields to identify brain activity of people working on differing tasks.

On the left is the brain scan of a person working on a task which uses the person’s conative, or Natural Strengths. It is the wave pattern of someone working at a high performance level because he or she is using the person’s Natural Strengths. On the right is the brain scan of a person working against the grain, or contrary to her or his conative Natural Strengths – scattered, frazzled, much less efficient and productive.

For high performance you want your employees’ brain wave patterns to look like the one on the left.

Other findings of the research include

Conative actions (Natural Strengths) can be seen in brain activity that is distinct and different from both the cognitive and affective functions.
The four Conative Action Modes® (Fact Finder, Follow Thru, Quick Start, and Implementor) have distinct brain activity signatures.
Brains working on tasks designed to match their conative strengths operate more efficiently than those working on tasks that are poorly matched to their strengths.

Why focus on conative or Natural Strengths? “Conation is a separate but cooperative function of the brain that influences how people make decisions and get things done,” Balthazard affirmed. “Conation drives everything and it is just as fundamental as cognition and affection. I predict we will apply this knowledge to enhance managerial performance, decision making and leadership.” Balthazard stated.

SO WHAT?

High Performance is driven by a person’s freedom to use her or his Natural Strengths to complete assigned tasks. Match a person’s Natural Strengths with his or her tasks and you have the opportunity for High Performance.

On the other hand, High Performance is thwarted when a person’s assignments call for the person to work “against the grain,” that is, contrary to his or her Natural Strengths.

There are three assessments that can identify if a person’s Natural Strengths are in alignment with his or her job assignments. The Kolbe A™ Index identifies a person’s conative strengths; the Kolbe B™ Index identifies the strengths the employee perceives are necessary to be successful in the position; and the Kolbe C™ Index identifies the strengths the manager perceives are needed in order to be successful in the position.

Want High Performance? Want to get your money’s worth from each employee? Then be sure your peoples’ tasks match their Natural Strengths. In other words, the A, B, and C Indexes are in alignment. Not much difference between the numbers.

High Performance occurs when you have the right people with the right talents in the right places.

Contact WorkLife Design. For more than 20 years we’ve used the Kolbe technology to show organizations how to get more done and have more fun doing it. That’s our reason for existence.

Holiday Tip For Next Year… Richard and Sandie love good eggnog and they have tasted various eggnogs from across the country. “For those of you who live in the Midwest,” they affirm, “you have the best eggnog available anywhere, from Anderson-Erickson Dairy in Des Moines. We don’t get A-E products in the Valley of the Sun, and we miss it.” So enjoy. Thank you A-E for continuing the tradition.

Happy New Year from the WorkLife Design teams in Arizona, Iowa, and Illinois.
May 2011 exceed your expectations!

Back to Executive Update Newsletters

	Sign up for our Email Newsletter For Email Marketing you can trust