THE ENTERPRISE
"What do you think about that?" Or so goes the conversation starter. Perhaps you think a lot about "that"...or not at all. Much of what we do is influenced by our subconscious (or is it unconscious?), and much more is shaped by acquired habits or outside influences. I'll devote a couple of editions of THE ENTERPRISE to this topic, and here is the first one.
Mental models
A recent edition of US News & World Report contained a fascinating article entitled "Mysteries of the Mind" by Marianne Szegedyt-Maszak, which is all about the power of the "unconscious mind". http://www.usnews.com/usnews/issue/050228/health/28think.htm
This article particularly resonated with me because of a couple of books-one I am working on and one I read years ago: Influence--The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert B. Cialdini. (Quill, 1984 & 1993). (I'll make that one the topic of the future edition of THE ENTERPRISE.)
In the USNWR article, the author cites a U. of Wisconsin professor, Paul Whelan who says, "Most of what we do every minute of every day is unconscious….Life would be chaos if everything were on the forefront of our consciousness."
He is certainly right about that, although there are days when we feel like everything IS on the forefront of our consciousness. It isn't. Malcolm Gladwell has written two best-selling books about things that happen just outside our normal conscious range of thought-things that are wired into our brain's neural code. According to cognitive neuroscientists, we are consciously aware of only about 5 percent of our cognitive activity, so most of our decisions, actions, emotions and behavior depends on 95 percent of our brain's activity that is beyond our conscious awareness. This has huge implications in how we make both personal and business decisions.
USNWR goes on to cite examples of how our subconscious rules. The most dramatic one is the battle of Pepsi and Coke. Researchers at Baylor College of Medicine tested 67 committed Coke and Pepsi drinkers and in blind taste tests, they preferred Pepsi. When shown the company (can) logo before they drank, 3 of 4 preferred Coke! The Coke label created wild activity in the part of the subject's brains associated with memories and self-image; the Pepsi can, (while admittedly containing a better-tasting product) did not!
What do you believe?
The question for you is "Do you believe what you see? Or do you see what you already believe." Tests have shown the latter to be more likely true. Therefore, the formation of what you "believe" is incredibly important in determining how you behave, act and what decisions you make. This is why I often "rant" about the influence of misleading media reports (which are also attacked in editorials in the same USNWR issue-links attached: "Why Television Makes Us Hostages" http://www.usnews.com/usnews/issue/050228/opinion/28edit.htm & "Making Media Accountable." http://www.usnews.com/usnews/issue/050228/opinion/28john.htm ).
The Power of Habits
For now, I'll close by citing from the book I am working on, which has a working title of Condensed Experience. In it I write about habits and how powerful they are. Here is a small piece from the manuscript:
Habits:
--The worst thing about habits is that you can drop them and they don't break, they just bounce back (and that applies equally whether they are good habits or bad habits).
--The best thing about habits is that you can do a lot of good stuff without a lot of thought-automatically (which would normally be hard work!)
Habits are very powerful. They influence our lives in many ways -- eating, sleeping, talking, personal mannerisms, and on and on, even breathing. Our thought processes follow habits in many cases. If something happens, learned habits cause us to respond in predictable ways. For example: "Thank you." "You're welcome." "How are you doing?" "Fine, how are you?" Auto-response is very powerful, and usually occurs without much conscious thought.
These familiar phrases and responses are just elementary examples of how we habitually react in specific ways to certain situations or stimuli. Relying on habits becomes an automatic part of how we operate-good or bad. Habits often become powerful unconscious reactions. Doing things by habit allows them to happen very quickly, and can seem nearly effortless.
Good habits can be learned; so can bad ones. Bad habits can be unlearned too, provided you replace them with good ones. Otherwise, in pressure situations, old habits and behaviors will emerge resulting in regressing or a total "relapse". Good habits can replace the bad ones. New habits can fill in the gaps, where no particular habit existed. Habits that have been found to be effective by others can be learned and adapted for your use, advantage, and convenience.
Learn the right habits, the right ways of thinking about things and you can arrive quickly at solutions to problems, analyses of difficult situations, and ways of dealing with people that have been proven effective. It's almost like magic, because it happens with little conscious thought. Best of all, once these behaviors and/or actions have become habits, they will happen very quickly and with much less effort.
(The preceding was an excerpt from a forthcoming book by John Mariotti©2005)
I've already gone on too long, but there is much to be said about the power of "instinct" of "gut feel" and of the subconscious mind in how we behave in our businesses and in our lives. What we think about--or don't--and what we think is a powerful combination of influences and our unconscious reactions. We may not completely know which is working when, or why, but it is valuable to realize how we arrive so many of our decisions and actions.
My unconscious (or is it subconscious?) now tells me it's time to wrap this one up and move on. Until next week..."unconsciously yours truly..."
Best, John
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