Thinking Styles for New Times

Thinking Styles for New Times

“Change your thinking: it’s in your head” – you hear that and you automatically nod, “I know, I have to change the way I think.”

But how? Nobody knows. But how can we change the way we think when our experience, everything we have learned and lived through, what makes up our history, transforms into our personal logic of how we conduct ourselves?

COVID
The pandemic: first strict social isolation, then business slowdown and often collapse. Finally constant choices: where to go or not, shake hands or not, endless discussions as to whether there is a virus or not – it all escalates stress and often divides people. And it certainly doesn’t help companies. People need to look for new ways to communicate, to show and receive attention. What do people have in their heads to behave like this? Do they think at all? – managers get frustrated looking at the results and moods of their teams.

In spring 2020, a client called me:

“Agnieszka, is there any hope?” He looked at me with big eyes filled with what he was asking. “We are scared by the thinking of our employees. They say that they cannot sell in this situation. In addition, customers clearly take advantage, extending the terms of the complaint to the limits of common sense. Our people are not coping. Everyone is irritated. As a result, the relationships built over the years – just like a snap – fail. And the team says: it’s impossible.”

Here’s what happened two hours later and for several weeks.

“So, Agnieszka, will you train people or fire them, close the business or forget?”

Oh, how this question flatters me. Me the clairvoyant, me the genius, me a miracle worker!

Two-way work: the group and the trainer
Bosses: don’t be fooled by this way of thinking! The trainer is not a fairy-tale character who can generate a miracle, to the delight of the audience that will only sit and listen during the training. Today’s coaching styles primarily work on a group process and so-called following the customer. This is two-way work: the group and the trainer. You have to dig deep – to the personality, mindset, and value systems of individuals and then the team.

Educational training – why not? But not yet, not in this situation, the pandemic, it is too early. Here is the most common mistake customers make: let’s take a trainer to fix us – they think. A magic wand effect is expected. Training knowledge, or education, is essential if people are ready to use it. But when it is “not theirs” – i.e. when their head does not buy it, and the style of thinking does not agree with the value given by the trainer, the training will end in a traditional way: well, maybe it’s cool, but with us it will not work.

I prefer working on deep emotions and “digging” – as I say – “to the bone”. Plus a solid portion of fun in order to bring out exactly what is deeply rooted in making results for the company and for yourself. Fun, wisely conducted and facilitated, served at the right moment, will take the process further than a series of all-day training sessions.

How to do it?
First, thorough questioning of the team to clarify the context for which I will measure mindset and for which we are starting the process at all. A conversation about the company, but also about values, “what for” and their own “why?” – in an atmosphere of safety and openness, showing future participants empathy so that they really care about the trainer and the client. Impossible? It is possible when a trainer working in this way meets with a conscious client.

Then diagnose the values and mindset of each individual and the entire team together. I conduct individual, sometimes team sessions, and the MindSonar® mindset test, which is being applied almost all over the world by licensed consultants in many languages. The consultant’s experience matters. The results make participants eyes big like two euro coins. And the real fun has not yet begun!

At this point managers get the first, albeit very solid, information about new team management opportunities. New situation and a new style of work. How to motivate, how to enforce, how to control, how to distribute tasks, how to regroup teams so that people would be eagerly returned to work and their efforts would be effective. The test is knowing about their subordinates, but also about themselves. Working in turn with management and managers at subsequent levels brings a change in perceptions of people through the prism of their individual personal thinking styles. It shows the aspects in which they can effortlessly strengthen management and, what is important, it demonstrates how exactly to do it.

Now it’s time to play. Now the Lego Serious Play methodology together with MindSonar deepens the reflection process even more and supports effective dialogue in the organization. It is invaluable in times of crisis – it accurately indicates what you can do and how easily  you can do it in your circumstances.  There is a real breakthrough: each participant clashes with a certain truth. Because it’s not them, but their buildings which speak. Then – as a team – they formulate conclusions and create rules ready for implementation (here, in my own hybrid method, elements of the Design Thinking method and classic creativity training appear).

But it doesn’t stop there!
MindSonar individual and team profiles are in motion. The room is filled with all the colours of MindSonar blocks and teaching aids. Emotions reach their zenith. It’s usually fun. The test results don’t show what people think, but how they think. This is a very exciting moment. People begin to analyze their values, which, along with a dozen or so other identified factors (shown in MindSonar’s bars, tables, and personality profile diagrams), become what underlies their behaviour. They begin to understand why they say that it is impossible to sell now, what the reason is for the fact that someone has lost their assertiveness in the complaint procedure, another gets tangled in negotiations, yet another lets go of the relationship with a so-called difficult client. And who is a difficult client for this individual? What kind of client? Yes, this will also be shown: alternately individual and joint team work.

And finally: the most important thing.

“Agnieszka, how are we to change this way of thinking to make it serve us?”

Changing team mindset starts with management. It is impossible to teach people to work in a new style if they are not managed in a new style. In any case, it all starts with opening your mind to knowledge about yourself and others, and for a change that starts with working with old and new habits. This is possible thanks to a change in  thinking style which turns out to be possible thanks to the understanding by each person that is usually enough to slightly “move” the individual elements that make up this way of thinking and which are so easy to control. MindSonar points to them and describes them very precisely.

Superpowers and resilience to crisis are within us, although they do not always look as we would like them to. And yet, anyone can be a superhero – you just need to assign them the right task, and motivate them properly when it comes to teamwork. To make it possible – you should get to know individual and team ways of thinking as a basis for behaviour at work.

What next?
There is a regrouping in teams, a new assignment of tasks, reorganization. And, of course, working with habits. Then the results – and of course, happiness. Management, team and… trainer.

MindSonar is a Layered Cake

When you are reading this, you probably understand that MindSonar is a contextualized measuring system, rather than a standard test. MindSonar measures your mindset in a given context. And we assume that you may have a different mindset in different contexts. I often express this in a simple metaphor: “Give uncle Fred three glasses of whiskey, and he is a different person”. If we compare it with personality tests, MindSonar is more like a thermometer and less like a box of rubber stamps. 

Now that we are mixing metaphors anyway, I would also like to point out that MindSonar is like a layered cake. Let’s have a look at how the layers will be different in different applications of MindSonar.

Layer one is measuring Thinking Styles and Graves Drives. Layer two is defining a combination and what that combination does in a given context.

Layer one is always the same: defining the mindset (thinking styles and value types).

Layer two can be different, depending on the purpose we use MindSonar for. In recruiting f.i., we are looking for combinations that work well in a certain context (a job, a role, a set of tasks). This is the benchmark. We then compare candidates with that benchmark. Depending on how big the project is, we may even apply statistics to support our benchmark.

The cherry on the cake is the application, the added value. In this case: selecting a candidate that will do well in that job. Or maybe I should phrase that more carefully: a candidate that has the right mindset for that job.

Like I mentioned before: what the second layer of the cake is made of, depends on what we want to use MindSonar for. In coaching – rather than recruitment – we usually start off with a combination that creates problems in that context for that person. This combination describes how the problem arises. So in coaching, layer two is a problematic, undesirable combination.

The coaching cake has – in this phase – a different cherry too. Here the added value is understanding how the problem arises. In a sense you are baking two cakes here. That second cake, with a different layer on the same basis: the desired thinking patterns and value set for that context. What kind of mindset would this client rather have? What kind of thinking could solve the problem, or even prevent it from arising at all? Often this is a fairly simple formula saying: “More of this and less of that”. “More of this meta program and less of that meta program. More oft his Graves Drive and less of that one”.

In team building, a third example, the top layer is different again. Now it consists of looking at the interaction. How do the different mindsets of the people in the group influence each other? And how does that explain – or describe – the strengths and challenges of the team?

In team building too, just like in coaching, there are desired and problematic combinations, but now they are mixes, rather that simple combinations. In this case the cherry is not finding the optimal mindset, but rather finding and propagating the optimal interaction of mindsets.

Pro’s and con’s
The good thing about all this is, that you can calibrate MindSonar to the situation you are using it in. MindSonar will be more accurate for that situation than any standard test could be. In a sense you are constructing a new benchmark – however informally – every time you use MindSonar.

There is also a price to pay: you – as the MindSonar professional – will have to determine the benchmark for that context. Usually, of course, you will involve the client in this. It is work you need to do. You will have to mix and bake that second layer, before you can eat the cake. That makes the measurement more relevant and accurate for that context than a standard test. But is is also more work than using a standard test.

An example
To give an example, let’s assume there is a standard test for empathy. I haven’t dived into this, but there is probably a test like that somewhere. It might have a name like NCEES “The North Carolina Emotional Empathy Scale”. Measuring ‘The ability to feel what somebody else feels’.

Now, if I am hiring a group of new coaches for students in my university, I would want them to be reasonably empathic. So I could give candidates for the job this imaginary empathy test, the NCEES. And I might also want to find candidates who are congruent, and persuasive, and dependable, so I could give them tests for these three qualities too. I might end up with a whole bunch of tests, depending on how specific I want to get. This presupposes, by the way, that I have a pretty good idea of what qualities a good student coach has and what tests are available. I might even find a test for coaching ability somewhere, although that would probably not be focused on coaching students, specifically.

The advantage of the standard approach is, that I can start right away. Break out the tests and start measuring! Although, in actual practice, it might still take me quite a lot of reading  and evaluating to assemble a good testing kit. But let’s say I have done this before, I know what I want to measure and where to find good tests, so I can do this quickly. In the layered cake metaphor: I can get started without baking the second layer. A time saver. But there is a downside: I don’t know how well my combination of standard tests predicts coaching performance with our students in our university.

Enter MindSonar. I start by baking the second layer of the cake. I identify positive examples; happy and effective student coaches working at my university.  I profile them and I calculate their average profile. I discuss this with my positive examples, the effective coaches – whom I now know, since I just profiled them and I probably discussed their profiles with them. Based on my average profile plus the input of my experts, I define a benchmark profile. This is what I use to select candidates. It is more work, but with this benchmark I am much more likely to be  measuring something that is relevant for my university. And I have come know several experts, which may also come in handy during the selection process.

The Power of Frankenstein

THE POWER OF FRANKENSTEIN

Jantine Wijtsma

Whatever your client’s coaching question is, you can ask Frankenstein to help you to solve the problem. He is always available to help. You can ask his expertise for any client…. curious how?

In a session with a client, the ultimate way of building rapport is by matching the Graves drives and meta programs you see as a coach on page 2 of the MindSonar report. 

I’ve developed the habit of routinely demonstrating the client’s profile by
saying, “I’m you and I’ve got your drives and meta programmes, I’m associated in your context and I’m going to show you what happens when I act like you.”  Thus I play the profile in front of the client.  So far it’s really helpful for my clients to see his or her pitfalls regarding reaching their desired goal. For me as a MindSonar professional, it is good to associate in a profile because it allows me to train myself to become better at association  (and perhaps I’ll also develop an acting  career…)

For example: I welcomed a client who had a huge turquoise Graves ball and mismatching in the context of work/life balance. By acting these mindset elements for her, my client  experienced rapport and I managed to make things clear for her. She had many light-bulb moments.  I was a kind of mirror for her, reflecting where it difficult for her to look, but it worked! The next time she came she was much more positive and her matching metaprogram and yellow “learning” attitude were  much more evident.  

“Frankenstein was looking for beauty,” says Wikipedia. And that’s what I do as well.  Every profile has its beauty. Seeking  a good outcome for clients, I
imagine putting on other meta programmes and drives and I experience the difference myself. And most of the time I really experience  a client’s problem …. and the solution as well. It feels so wonderful to be able to help in that way! You might want to try it yourself, experiencing the beauty of MindSonar profiling again every time.

Make Stress Management Personal with MindSonar

Make Stress Management Personal with Mindsonar

Whatever area of coaching you work in, at some point you will probably do some work to enable your clients to discover ways both to manage their current stress level and to become more resilient to stress in the future. MindSonar can help us do this in a truly client-centred way, by identifying the meta programmes operating when a client experiences stress, and so enabling change work to be focused on those which might be fuelling their stress response.

As always when considering a person’s thinking patterns, there are no intrinsically good or bad meta programmes – it depends upon the context and the way in which the meta programme is impacting upon on the way the individual feels and behaves. Therefore, it is possible that meta programmes which help the person in one context, could be causing a problem in another. Likewise, each meta programme of a pair could be unhelpful in different people..

To illustrate this, here are two simple examples from a couple of my clients of how either of a meta programme pair can contribute to stress – in this case, the perceived locus of control.  I’ve also included a brief account of the benefits that each client experienced from becoming aware of how they could change their stress level by changing their thinking

1. Very high Internal Locus of Control: this client spent a lot of time worrying about things which were completely out of his control. He was losing sleep over such things as world events and the future economy. He said that he often felt responsible for anything that went wrong around him at work and at home, even when he knew that he could not have influenced the outcome in any way. During coaching, he was able to identify some situations in which he was content not to be responsible (ie when he had more of a balance between Internal Locus of Control and External Locus of Control). He recognised that he was thinking differently in those contexts, and that he was more comfortable and less stressed in them. After that, he said could imagine how he would feel if he utilised that more comfortable thinking pattern when in the situations which were currently causing him stress. Therefore, he decided to utilise the more helpful style of thinking in relation to the things in his life that he tended to worry about.

2. Very high External Locus of Control:  in this case, the client felt completely out of control in the context of developing a business. The level of stress she was experiencing from this was stopping her from progressing toward this goal. She felt that so many external factors were in the way of becoming a successful business owner that she could no longer see any opportunities. By considering her score for this meta programme, she considered other situations in which she did feel confident and focussed on what she could influence. She then began to be able to identify the changes in her thinking that would enable her to move in the direction she wanted to, gaining in confidence as she did. The result was a business plan which enabled her to accept those factors which she could not control whilst taking decisions and actions on the factors that she could influence.

 

I believe that any meta programme can contribute to stress. I am still discovering how powerful a MindSonar profile can be for getting clients to understand both the impact that their thinking pattern can have upon their personal experience of stress and anxiety, and their ability to change that.

Let me know of other meta programmes that you’ve seen contributing to stress, whether your own or a client’s. Perhaps we can demonstrate how each meta programme can cause stress in certain contexts..

 

Improving Relationships with MindSonar

As I’m writing this on the eve of Valentine’s Day, I thought I’d take a look at how MindSonar might be useful in the work I do with clients experiencing minor, but constant, conflict in their relationship with their partner. You know the sort of thing – arguments that seem to flare up  from nowhere, over nothing.  I’ve worked with clients who tell me that they and their partner have no major differences in values, political views, religious beliefs, etc. and yet seem to end up bickering daily about minor things. These arguments, although seemingly unimportant, can gradually start to impact upon the relationship, making one or both partners unhappy.  In turn, this can lead to bigger arguments and so set up a destructive cycle.

This sort of conflict is very often due to the meta programmes being used by the individuals.   Common problems that I see are:

  • One or both partners running a Mismatching meta programme in everyday life. Constantly seeing what is wrong gets in the way of appreciating the things that are right. In a relationship this can lead to a perception that the partner is a negative thinker, down on everything – even a nag. That said, there are times when running a Matching programme can also lead to problems, particularly when a couple is planning a major change in lifestyle, with the risk of the “matcher” being seen as not being realistic about problems and obstacles that might need to be considered in order to succeed.
  • One partner is Internally Referenced and the other is Externally Referenced. In this situation, the internally referenced partner might be frustrated that, when they are thinking aloud about things that need to be done, the externally referenced partner immediately does it – taking the partner’s words as an instruction, not just a thought.  I have certainly experienced this, and the frustration that it can cause if not understood simply as a difference in thinking patterns.
  • One partner has a strong Options meta programme, and the other is highly Procedural.  This difference often causes unexpected  arguments when the couple are planning something about which each is excited – a holiday or a celebration for example.  They begin by feeling great as they start to arrange it, but end up bickering as the two meta programmes cause frustrations as they begin to plan.

In fact, large differences in any of the meta programmes can lead to feelings of being misunderstood or not listened – the basis of many disagreements.

By jointly experiencing a MindSonar assessment and coaching session, the couple can gain an understanding of the underlining differences in their thinking styles and the way that this is impacting upon them.  As MindSonar stresses the usefulness and equality  of each meta programme, the couples can learn to appreciate their differences, rather than to judge them.

Such a session could provide the couple with the following benefits:

  • Each partner can get an insight both into the meta programmes in play in their chosen context.
  • Each can become aware of occasions when they have run the other meta programmes, thus recognising them as flexible ways of thinking, rather than as inherent ways of being.
  • The couples can also “try out” the other’s meta programmes with their given context in mind to gain their perspective on the situation.

Overall, MindSonar can enable couples to appreciate each other’s thinking style and also identify how they could use such differences to complement, rather than conflict with, each other.

Couples work is just one example of the flexibility of MindSonar in working on conflict resolution, and highlights its usefulness in personal as well as business coaching.  I’ll certainly be recommending it to my clients.

Working with new managers

WORKING WITH NEW MANAGERS

Over the years, I’ve found that a common client problem that is brought to coaching is that of a newly-promoted manager struggling with a promotion from team member to team leader. The related changes to the relationship with members of their team, coupled with developing a leadership mentality often leaves them feeling stressed and insecure about whether or not they are performing their new role effectively.

Since training in MindSonar, it has become apparent to me that one of the underlying causes of the stress lies in the client’s manager not recognising my client’s need for feedback on their performance during the early stages of their new role.   The more senior managers are generally experienced leaders who are expected to take initiative and make decisions. Consequently, they tend to be predominantly Internally Referenced. This can result in them not recognising (or remembering) that new managers may be more Externally Referenced in the context of their new roles, requiring some feedback on how they are progressing.  This difference can lead to new managers being left to their own devices and feeling unsupported, as their managers believe that they’ll either cope or request support as and when needed.

Less often, new managers feel they are not trusted because they feel that their manager is micro-managing them and giving feedback far too often.  Such cases are less frequent, but can also arise from a disparity between the Internally/Externally Referenced Thinking Styles.

In larger organisations, formal structures may exist in which regular feedback meetings are undertaken, but these still operate on the assumption that all staff are running the same thinking patterns, which of course is not the case. The result is that some feel that such meetings are too infrequent (those who are highly Externally Referenced) and some feel that it is micro-management (those who are more Internally Referenced).  Many smaller businesses have no feedback procedures at all.

If middle and senior managers were to invest in MindSonar profiles for their direct reports, they could tailor their approach to individuals, giving more frequent feedback to those who prefer it (the Externally referenced individuals), and feedback on a “as needed” basis to those who do not (the Internally referenced individuals).  This would reduce the stress and insecurity felt by all members of the team, whether new to post or not. As a result, team members will feel more motivated and so develop within their roles more productively.

Of course, there are other Thinking Styles which are at play in such circumstances, especially around the changing context of moving from team member to team leader.  The MindSonar profiles will also enable more experienced managers to support their junior managers to handle those changes too.

If you are a middle or senior manager who would like to get the most from your junior managers, then contact your local MindSonar Professional to learn more about how MindSonar could enable you to get the best out of your team, and keep each team member motivated and less stressed.

If you’re a coach who works with managers at any level, then you’ll find becoming a MindSonar Professional a really worthwhile addition to your coaching toolkit, so do consider adding it as soon as you can.