10 Questions from Problems to Playful Solutions

May 14th, 2012
by eweber.
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1. What’s the problem? Mentoring is too one-way, as it currently rolls out.  Older mentors dictate flawed practices to upstarts even when upstarts have far more valued skills to teach. Mentoring hurts entire organizations when it keeps poor practices alive, and blocks leadership opportunities for enthusiastic young experts in any field.

2. Who’s disadvantaged? Everybody suffers when mentoring keeps tired traditions alive on one hand, and stifles innovative progress, on the other. Continue reading →

Posted in: Dr. Ellen Weber, Ellen Weber, Game, online, Programming.
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Why Ask? Who Cares?

May 1st, 2012
by eweber.
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Why ask? Who cares?

Have you ever heard a well-placed question light up a table? Or have you seen young people beam from questions that invite their talents to sparkle in ways that benefit all?

While just about anybody can learn to ask questions, it takes practice to wield them well. In other words, not all questions are equal.

Great questions tend to have two feet – one foot steps up ideas and one foot steps up people’s capabilities. Two-footed questions engage both sides of the brain. Continue reading →

Posted in: 2-footed question, Question.
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Advance with a New Mantra

Apr 29th, 2012
by eweber.
1 comment

Step up your IQ to win? Lead smarter in spite of setbacks? Have you considered lately how a new whole brain approach to a challenge you face, could land you in life-changing opportunities?

One young Russian law student Marat Dupri, shifted from a sickly childhood to become a highly skilled “skywalker.” You too can reach new heights with a simple shift of focus. How so?

Advance with a New Mantra

Dupri learned to step past incredible challenges without hesitation.

He moved up higher than most people climb, because he refused doubt.  You? Continue reading →

Posted in: change, Dr. Ellen Weber, Ellen Weber, focus.
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Making Change Easy

Apr 25th, 2012
by eweber.
5 comments

Change often feels anything but easy …

Ever ask with that popular poster, How can you fly with eagles when you work with a bunch of turkeys?

 

Making Change Easy

It feels as if your brain is hard-wired more for chipping away at endless daily routines that tank your talents. You suit up to lead lofty adventures, yet too often ruts keep you pecking away like turkeys, day after day.

Do you ever wonder why you slide back so easily into doing the same boring things that spin your wheels but go nowhere?

It may seem reasonable once or twice. But over and over again? Continue reading →

Posted in: assessment, change, change direction, Dr. Ellen Weber, Ellen Weber, facilitation, Lead change, leadership, Mindguide, mindguiding.

Chew Away Your Moods on Kindle

Apr 21st, 2012
by eweber.
1 comment
If you’ve ever assembled a play station or tackled a new app for your laptop – however do-it-yourself-easy your task claims to be – good moods can plummet faster than greased lightning.

Chew to Good Moods on Kindle

Before you know it, you’re in over your head and help appears nowhere around. How many times, have you reached for a pinch of support when frustrated, only to find further challenges on the other side?

We’ve all Been There

You feel down because somebody you cared about disappointed you when you least expected it. Or anger crowds out any hope for sanity in a difficult situation. At the same time you long for the kind of zest that comes from humorous, self-confident friends, or a colleague who has your back when others bark at your work.

Who Guessed? Continue reading →

Posted in: Dr. Ellen Weber, Ellen Weber, Kindle, mood.

Stop Stepping on Bullies

Apr 18th, 2012
by eweber.
12 comments

To  clamp down on bullying, simply create settings that impede  further attacks, where studies show staff wants to quit. Create a walk in the park for innovation, and watch intimidation suddenly slip off the plank.

Stop Stepping on Bullies

Support good moods rather than focus on foul tempers, and you’ll ignite confidence for talent development.

Build a brainpowered setting and expect intimidation to flee. How so?

Bullies and their glum can topple a house unless they are replaced with a climate for high impact minds to flourish. Continue reading →

Posted in: build talented communities, bully.
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Power of Moods and Choice!

Apr 5th, 2012
by eweber.
8 comments

Ever blame a sour mood on bad disposition of others, on stress, or on poor  weather?  Or have you observed a cool friend’s zest for fun disappear like sparks die under a hose – around your drum eye rolls?

IQ for Good Moods

Have you considered how simple choice determines if you’ll smile or sneer? Look to serotonin wins – and your brain’s fuels better moods, and expects wins based on buying the power punches that potent drug ensures.

Rather than blame poor moods on life, people, lack of time, or desire for perfection, consider how the brain uses  choice to upgrade moods.  Why so? Continue reading →

Posted in: General, mirror neurons, mood.

Your Brain on Quiet

Apr 1st, 2012
by eweber.
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Do you benefit from brainpower that quiet packs?

Before neuro discoveries affirmed the magic of still moments, Pablo Neruda touted the wonders of quiet introspection.

Tour Neruda’s seaside home in Valpariso, Chile, as I did, and you’ll catch a call for stillness that cultivates mutual understanding, care, and kindness among humans.

Keeping Quiet – Pablo Neruda

A robust quiet soars intrapersonal intelligence to upper air. Beyond noise you can sidestep annoyance and can love as if you’d never hurt. Continue reading →

Posted in: Dr. Ellen Weber, Ellen Weber, intrapersonal, quiet.
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Chew Away Stress?

Mar 24th, 2012
by eweber.
7 comments

Care to raise your confidence and boost emotional well being with visible results?  Studies show gum chewing as stress reducers and more. How so?

Chew Away Stress

Dr. Hollingworth at Columbia University attributes one key  benefit to muscular tension reduction. And increasing studies  show  gum chewing to reduce stress and boost better moods.

It makes sense when you consider how an increase in blood flow to the brain adds alertness and boosts focus.

Who’d have thought chewing impacts moods? Yet sugar-free dessert gums add delicious new flavors if  you consider how chewing improves moods. Has it happened to you? Continue reading →

Posted in: Dr. Ellen Weber, Ellen Weber, emotion, focus, stress, working memory.
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Differences – Dividends or Divisions?

Mar 10th, 2012
by eweber.
2 comments

Merging cultures can make or break an organization, yet few firms tend to  unite in ways that tackle turbulent times together.  Not all amalgamations stand up to stifling challenges that follow, as too many merges trample talented people in the dust. It doesn’t have to be that way.

Differences – Dividends or Divisions?

Successful mergers include joining different minds, in ways that capitalize on distinctives in each.

Engage opposing views for innovative outcomes and you’ll also build tone that designs goodwill – even in war zones. Continue reading →

Posted in: diversity, Dr. Ellen Weber, Ellen Weber, opposing view.

The Brain on Capitalism

Mar 4th, 2012
by eweber.
3 comments

Through reinvigorated people, passion and purpose at its hub, capitalism stokes mental capacity for gains lost over past decades. Let’s narrow gaps between what we believe about entrepreneurship and what we do to enhance free enterprise in winning ways.

The brain on capitalism

Why do we tout capitalism as opportunity, then roll it out as mental  toxins, and greed run amuck?

Marketed as entrepreneurship- capitalism can sacrifice talented people to egos who promote policies that force many out.   Continue reading →

Posted in: Dr. Ellen Weber, Ellen Weber, high performance mind, innovation, smart skills, toxic workplace.
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Can Money Fund Happiness?

Feb 26th, 2012
by eweber.
5 comments

What Adds Happiness?

Before you decide how money impacts happiness – consider the following:

Were people happier before the financial crisis?

If  money funds your happiness daily choices will reflect that reality. If not, read on …

Survival’s Daily and at Times Grisly

At 14, when my mother died suddenly, I worked tedious jobs to barely survive. Any happiness I found at school motivated me to walk for miles against incredible odds such as hunger when bus money ran out. Unsure how to build a happier life beyond dingy rental room existence, my dry cleaning receptionist job kept alive my dream for a finer future.

Today I ride the bus while at the same time pushing it in new directions. You? Continue reading →

Posted in: Dr. Ellen Weber, Ellen Weber, money, motivation.
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Novelty to Tackle Workplace Problems

Feb 21st, 2012
by eweber.
7 comments

We often think of everyday workplace problems as barriers. What about reframing problems into innovation opportunities people crave most and yet find least in their organizations?

Novelty to Tackle Workplace Problems

We understand why people complain  when morale is low.  We sometimes even gripe alongside others when grumbling defines their basic workplace culture.

We balk at the sheer frustration of problems that appear bigger than our suggested solution. But have you considered novelty’s elixir to reframe the brain for exceptional results?

When Bach-y-Rita’s  father suffered a massive stroke, he lost both speech and mobility. A miracle followed.  Continue reading →

Posted in: novelty.

Pack Power into One Simple Step

Feb 19th, 2012
by eweber.
7 comments

As a 14 year old skinny and rather awkward kid, I learned a winning step-at-a-time approach. Alone in downtown Halifax, Nova Scotia, I first discovered the brain’s propensity to risk, step and win.

In reality, it seemed more like surviving than winning at first.

Pack Power into One Step

Looking back – triumph hardly seems possible. Penniless on Barrington Street near dusk, I still taste the sheer panic of darkness setting in.

Doom pressured me to  locate a rental room that would accept mere promises of payment.

Step Small at the Start

Plans to survive the night eroded whenever I fixated on hurdles beyond my immediate reach.  Continue reading →

Posted in: novelty.

Trust Building or Juggling Gators?

Feb 17th, 2012
by eweber.
7 comments

Trust Building’s Like Juggling Alligators

Ever feel letdown as you walk through a crowded hotel lobby at networking sessions? You nod heads with many but share high-stake breakthroughs with few.

Trust Building’s Like Juggling Alligators

You exchange business cards with the fury of trusted experts, and then fade contacts onto back burners of doubt. You pause to make sense of fast-flying, highly technical advances – then lose touch through unmet promises. No wonder trust is so hard to find and so easy to lose.

In a culture obsessed with measuring outcomes and boosting profitability, we often neglect trust’s potential to advance original ideas in a climate of transparency. We miss trust’s freedom to surpass everyday routines or connect to game-changing opportunities. How so?

Trust may revolutionize the way to boost human potential, but it gets neglected because of its inherently intangible potency.

Continue reading →

Posted in: trust.
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Do Devil’s Advocates Win?

Feb 14th, 2012
by eweber.
1 comment

People who lack talent for engaging opposing views sometimes claim to act as devil’s advocate to bring out the other side. Sadly we’ve inserted devil’s advocate roles into sacred-cow-structures that cling to traditions and kill innovation. The problem?

Lack of sincerity and missed opportunities rob progress for creating together.

In contrast to pretending you hold positions you don’t believe for the sake of argument, what if you opt for a caring catalyst’s stance, instead?

Devil’s Advocate or Charing Challenger?

Would cynicism and other workplace toxins decrease if we challenged broken systems by proposing innovative opportunities?

What if we exchanged workplace strategies that tear down – such as “devil’s advocate” roles – for promoters of an innovative process that leads opposing views forward together?

Could the shift to caring challenger offer much more innovative segues into wider workplace profits?

Susan Alexander illustrates how to articulate good ideas – and then extend personal views with wisdom on the other sides. Continue reading →

Posted in: facilitation.

What If Merges Melded Minds?

Feb 13th, 2012
by eweber.
3 comments

Have you noticed  more and more companies unite lately to the demise of one side?  No wonder workers want more from merges.

Unfortunately though, not all amalgamations survive the  stifling challenges that follow new partnerships. Merges make people and profits hit the dust when they fail to harness capital from either side.

What If Mergers Melded Minds?

1). What if merges cultivated curiosity about the other side?

People often fear  mergers and for good reason. Workers fear losing cooperation they’ve cultivated. Leaders fear compromise  and gridlocks that robs progress. It doesn’t have to be that way. Continue reading →

Posted in: diversity, Expect, mindguiding, MITA approaches, Move, opposing view, Question, Reflect, Target.
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5-Way Mita Test to Genius

Feb 4th, 2012
by eweber.
14 comments

 

 

The Mita Way leads change by harnessing talents, and linking differences for novel upshots. Innovation and IQ heists go hand-in-hand. Reach from where you stand to a higher IQ, for instance, and you’ll likely ride the bus while pushing it at the same time.

Mita shifts IQ from fixed to fluid in ways that advance an entire workplace. Continue reading →

Posted in: Expect, MITA approaches, MITA Celebration, MITA manifesto, Move, Question, Reflect, Target.

Myths of Aging Brains and Wisdom

Feb 1st, 2012
by eweber.
3 comments

It was once held that adult brains cannot grow new cells or regenerate old ones, but that wisdom comes with age.  Recent research on aging though, is trumping commonly held myths about brain cell growth and about age as a free ticket to wisdom. It turns out that choices made daily overtly impact your brain’s ability to act wisely or not,  on the following day.

Myths of Aging Brains and Wisdom

Brain Cell Regeneration

Brain cell regeneration for aging brains brings into question the old adage that wisdom comes with age. Not so fast, experts now caution.

Elizabeth Gould’s dynamic discoveries in this area recently created an entirely new field of neurogenesis, a discipline that shows how the adult brain generates new cells. This means that if you act wisely on a day, you alter the very structure of your brain. For instance, choices today determine the levels of wisdom that will follow on the following day. The opposite is also true. Continue reading →

Posted in: aging brain, wisdom.

Guest Post – Changing Behaviors

Jan 30th, 2012
by eweber.
3 comments

The essential role of the brain is to serve as a buffer against environmental variation.

– John Allman, Evolving Brains

 

By Dr. Donalee Markus — The sentence quoted above is perhaps the most succinct explanation ever presented for why it is so difficult to change someone’s behavior.

Dr. Donalee Markus

The image of the brain as a buffer or filter is far different than the usual description of the brain as a computer. This difference is important because if we conceptualize the brain as a computer, then changing someone’s behavior is simply a matter of inserting the right program and letting it run.  However, if the model for the brain is that of a filter that serves to resist environmental change, then we have an explanation for why telling people they have to act differently and even the sincere desire to behave differently is not enough.  Personal experience confirms this.  Habits are difficult to break, even habits we know are self-destructive.  Even promises to change that solicit an honest attempt invariably backslide into the unwanted behavior. Continue reading →

Posted in: change, change direction, General.
Tagged: ·

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