Meetings Reduce Your IQ – Research Results

How many times have you left a meeting feeling physically drained? Feeling like you’ve got nowhere?

Recent research from Virginia Tech Carilion has highlighted the possibility that in a small group meeting setting (like collective bargaining, juries, and cocktail parties), some peoples IQ can be adversley affected.

Why?… it has to do with social pressures and expectations within the small groups.

“We started with individuals who were matched for their IQ,” said Montague. “Yet when we placed them in small groups, ranked their performance on cognitive tasks against their peers, and broadcast those rankings to them, we saw dramatic drops in the ability of some study subjects to solve problems. The social feedback had a significant effect.”

What happened… in the research there was a before and after measurement of the IQ expressed by individuals. The ‘after results’ shows that some of the people were adversely affected when their ‘before’ rating was seen to be lower than others. In other words the social dynamics within the group (groups of 5 people were used) negatively affected the expression of IQ in some participants.

Interestingly far more women responded negatively than they did positively. Does that mean women are more sensitive (susceptable) to influence by group dynamics? Answer: Not sure at this stage. The research can’t confirm that.

“This study tells us the idea that IQ is something we can reliably measure in isolation without considering how it interacts with social context is essentially flawed,” said coauthor Steven Quartz,

Key take-away = IQ on its own cannot be considered as a reliable indicator of what people will do/how they will think in group settings.

 

 

6 Tips for Survival: How to Keep Your Company Alive

Hot on the heels of the bankruptcy filing of Kodak in the USA after 133 years in business, a thought provoking article from the BBC discusses the values of companies that have been around for centuries. The article cites the oldest known company as being a Japanese hotel founded in 705 (thats right, 705 not 1705).

The average lifespan of a company listed in the S&P 500 index of leading US companies has decreased by more than 50 years in the last century, from 67 years in the 1920s to just 15 years today, according to Professor Richard Foster from Yale University.

Today’s rate of change “is at a faster pace than ever”, he says.

Japanese companies that have survived for centuries typically are family run and have a focus on a credo (or set of values) that is not entirely about money.

Even the famous Nokia – which has been around for decades – originally was in a very different business to the mobile phone manufacturing we see today. Regular innovation was their answer to adapting to the changing marketplace.

Think about it… how are you innovating, or changing, to stay current in the market?

My tips for survival:

• Broaden your view. Open yourself to new sources of information.
• Watch changes in the total enviornment, not just a central issue or player.
• Be humble. Really listen to others. Learn.
• Make many small decisions seeking a new direction. Avoid major, dramatic, high risk moves.
• Accept that you will be blind-sided by the rate of change. Make plans to become more resilient and adaptable.
• Give people what they want.

Yes, not easy. Essential.

Are You Too ‘Connected’ or ‘Available’ to be Creative?

This recent article from the New York Times ‘The Rise of the New GroupThink‘ emphasises how people need privacy and uninterrupted time to be creative.

As the influential psychologist Hans Eysenck observed, introversion fosters creativity by “concentrating the mind on the tasks in hand, and preventing the dissipation of energy on social and sexual matters unrelated to work.”

I often speak with managers (and other staff) who are so busy, so connected to others, and always-on with their online and mobile communications, that they never actually give themselves space to be creative.

Finding solitude may come more naturally if you are an introvert by nature. But that shouldn’t stop non-introverts from finding space in their schedule for reflection. There are some fantastic tools – such as the Clear Mind Guide – produced by Australian company Mind Gardener that can help you train your brain to seek those moments of quietness, reflection, and creativity.

Stephen Hawking on Predestination

A quote from the famous Professor Stephen Hawking, British theoretical physicist and cosmologist:

“I have noticed even people who claim everything is predestined, and that we can do nothing to change it, look before they cross the road.”

 

 

How to Be The Best Place to Work (survey results)

Every employer wants their staff to work to their capacity and do the most they can for the business.

Previuosly employees stayed with companies for many years, learned their skills, and the business benefited from those new skills.

Now the situation is different. Tenure is often less than 18 months, job after job.  Many staff expect to be learning from their first day, not just ‘doing’. And the company culture has to be adaptable to the needs of employees, not dictated by senior management like it was in the ‘old days’.

Surveys like the BRW Best Places to Work (2011) are good reminders of what people are looking for from the workplace.

“They can also move nimbly. Atlassian, for example, completely changed the performance review system for its 200 employees in the past year. It scrapped contentious ratings and performance bonuses, shifting to a flat 8 per cent annual salary increase for everyone, backed with monthly “coaching conversations” between managers and team members.

Many of the Top 50 companies pay high levels of maternity and paternity leave, award large referral bonuses and have generous training allowances.”

Here are some ideas used by the worlds 25 best multinational companies:

• National Instruments: Uses a 100-year plan that balances short-term business goals with the companies core values.
• Accenture: In India created a networking group for women with local chapters across the country. And the ‘People Develop’ program that asks employees who have been rpomoted to name collegaues who inspired and coached them. Company leaders send personal emails to those coworkers.
• Hilti Canada: Where employees volunteer their time on weekends and during work hours to build Habitat for Humanity homes.
• Kimberley Clark: Created KC cafes where administrative and operational employees ask questions, share best practices or chat with a leader in an informal setting over a coffee. Different leaders host KC Cafe’s every two months.

Just goes to show… best a best place to work doesn’t always mean spending lots of money on fancy premises or extravagent financial benefits.

2012 is The Year For Taking Action!

During December this article in BRW titled ‘No Time to Wallow’ came to the conclusion:

While it’s hard for businesses that have seen margins decline this year and feel nervous about next year, this is the time to be investing in staff, technology and processes to boost productivity in what is likely to stay a tough environment for certain sectors next year.

I predict that during 2012 decision makers will be made, or forgotten.

Gone are the days of just waiting for things to improve. Or waiting for ‘something’ to happen.

As a leader you will need to assess your environment and make proactive decisions, sooner rather than later.

• Is your team as productive as they should be?
• Do they need clearer goals? Or stronger motivation?
• Are you visible to prospects in your market?
• Are you using technology to keep up with your industry? These days staying still really will send you backwards.
• Are you involved in a few active online social networks? Ignore these fast flowing channels of information at your peril.
• Are you listening to your clients, and reacting to new revenue opportunities?
• Are you training your team to do what you are asking of them? A wise invetsment in training should create ample ROI.
• Are you personally staying ahead of the game? Reading, learning, and looking outwards.
• Are you focused on doing what you enjoy? This alone makes a huge difference in your effectiveness.

What next? Give yourself space to reflect on your direction. Then take action.