Strategic Pause ...nudges, narrative and neuroscience.
There is no doubt that individual time out, focus on the present and digital disconnection can all help alleviate unhealthy thoughts, feelings and behaviours. However, could a more organisation wide approach to a 'strategic pause' stimulate further well being and unlock untapped potential in organisations ?
Change is ubiquitous and
can be a relentless force that challenges people psychologically, physically, socially, emotionally and can result in the development of potentially unhealthy thoughts, feelings and behaviours.
In the workplace change is the norm.
Cue a ‘strategic pause’. What could happen if we apply the notion of a ‘strategic pause’ in a more regular and unified approach across our organisations? What could the stimuli of a ‘strategic pause’ trigger across organisations?
In a recent workshop, developed to optimise navigation of potential disruptive thoughts, feelings and behaviours, the focus was on how three functional
areas of the brain interact, collaborate and compete
during emotional and social processing in problem solving. The insights were designed to support leaders in nurturing and sustaining behavioural change to deliver business change.
The workshop design was rooted within the organisation’s People strategy . People teams have an omnipresent challenge to redesign and sculpt their department's signature processes. In the case of talent management, acquisition and development, it is becoming increasingly evident that ‘talent’ is gravitating to those organisations who have emotional health and well-being focused policies, competencies and cultures. In the case of the ‘strategic pause’ it is becoming increasingly relevant that People teams across organisations lead the nudges, narrative and know how on saying it’s OK to press pause.
Here are brief summaries of the three brain regions the workshop explored:
Temporal Parietal Junction (TPJ)
In the simplest terms the TPJ is a junction whereby information from our external material world and our internal mental world is processed and integrated (Eddy, C.M. 2016). The TPJ plays a crucial but complex role in stimulus driven events such as unexpected stimuli/problems. It is associated with our focus of attention, what perspectives we take with regards to stimuli and our behavioural flexibility. Studies have shown its involvement in emotional awareness and empathy. The TPJ contributes to our choice deliberation in problem solving which can give agency to bias and assumptions in decision making.
Amygdala
This was the most recognised of the three terms and had quite a bit of notoriety around it before we even started. Both hemispheres of the brain have an amygdala. It is considered key to our perception and response to emotional stimuli - including how we react towards unexpected stimuli/problems. When triggered, the amygdala prepares us for fight or flight. Chemical activity prevails, stress hormones are in abundance and most notably decision-making capability is compromised as the amygdala dominates the brains resources depriving other parts of oxygen, blood flow, and nutrients. It evokes strong emotional responses and volatility so if left unattended can lead to compromised focus, memory and trigger irrational/inappropriate behaviours.
Hippocampus
The hippocampus is associated with learning, emotional regulation and episodic memories. The hippocampus is situated close to the amygdala and they usually work in unison with our emotion and memories to enable evaluation for appropriate responses. The disruption of the amygdala-hippocampus pathway through the redirection of the brain’s resources removes our usual focus on multiple perspectives to fixating on one. This limits our thoughts, feelings and behaviours.
It is important to note that I illustrate the role these brain regions have in relation to the context of problem solving in the workplace and present a body of evidence to support the associations. Each region, as part of the brain’s complex neural architecture, has other functions and equally there are other brain regions that contribute to problem solving.
To demonstrate these brain regions functionality and bring to life the science, a series of challenging/lateral problems (unexpected stimuli), unrelated to the business, were presented. This resulted in validation of how the amygdala monopolises neural energy and impairs decision making and memory recall. The concept of the ‘strategic pause’ was then introduced allowing for the dominating effect of the amygdala to pass and the re-establishment of stronger neural connectivity, enabling other brain regions to activate and contribute.
Some of the results:
• A demonstrable improvement by the group to clearly assess and identify the problem
• A demonstrable improvement to managing bias
• The identification of triggers that need to be mitigated to manage future episodes
• Implementation of a ‘strategic pause’ in narrative and action for future events
• Increased connection and collaboration across business units
An unexpected, but notable outcome was the sharing of some ‘gems’ of how people were already navigating their feelings, thoughts and behaviours. These were simple to implement ideas that could assist the organisation but may have laid dormant in an individual if it weren’t for the workshop.
One of my favourites and one that I can share was how an attendee described the process, but more importantly the rationale and benefit behind utilising the functionality in Outlook where you can set a delay in the sending of an email after you hit the ‘SEND’ button.
I’ve been there … too much to do and no time to proofread responses. Yet as little as a 2-minute delay would allow a ‘strategic pause’ to review. So, give it a go, explore options for delaying emails irrespective if you are stressed, pressurised or when you aware of something/someone being a trigger. As a minimum it avoids the need to rely on ‘recall’ or the use of profuse apology!
Utilising the lens of psychology and neuroscience, I have shared one approach to the ‘strategic pause’ with the sole purpose of starting the narrative.
So, consider for a moment, what could the stimuli of a ‘strategic pause’ trigger across your organisation?
People teams strive to ensure they nurture and sustain behavioural change to deliver business change and using a ‘strategic pause’ is a viable and valid approach. Beyond helping organisations to develop emotional health and well-being focused policies, competencies and cultures, the ‘strategic pause’ could trigger the
pressing of the pause button to become as much a norm as change.
Neena Speding
MSc Psychology & Neuroscience of Mental Health
MSc Psychological Sciences
MBPsS
Chartered MCIPD,
First-class BSc (Hons) HRM, PGCE.
References:
Eddy, C. M. (2016). The junction between self and other? Temporo-parietal dysfunction in neuropsychiatry. Neuropsychologia, 89, 465-477.
At epoché I am passionate about well-being and psychology beyond just what I do.
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