Provision #732: Memory Matters
Laser Provision
All leaders know the importance of remembering names. Being able to call someone
by name, especially after it has been a while since we have seen them, is a form
of acknowledgement and affirmation that says: "You are important to me." People
feel great when we give them that sense. But did you know that being able to
remember the past derives, in part, from our ability to anticipate the future?
Both functions utilize the same processing centers in the brain, and the stories
we tell about the past are as much about sense-making as they are about
reporting. In our minds, all human beings are time travelers. If you want learn
how to leverage that ability for leadership, then I encourage you to read on.
LifeTrek Provision
Today's Provision stands in contrast to my last two Provisions on
Mindfulness and
Moods. Both mindfulness and moods have to do with the present moment,
specifically, our awareness and attitudes in the present moment. It's not
possible to lead well in the present moment if we are not aware of what's
happening and if our attitudes are filled with negativity. In this moment, great
leaders pay attention, suspend judgment, keep a positive attitude, and stay open
to possibility.
In order to do that, however, great leaders master the art of mental time traveling.
The human ability to remember the past and anticipate the future is truly
remarkable. Although other animals demonstrate some of this ability, no other
animal demonstrates such profound capabilities. Indeed, our detailed
reconstructions of what has happened in the past and our equally vivid
constructions of what may happen in the future represent the fertile ground out
of which civilizations are born. Apart from this ability, human beings would
never have advanced beyond the hunter-gatherer lifestyle.
It is important, then, that leaders set our mindfulness and moods in a context
that only memory can offer. The idea that the present moment exists in isolation
from other moments is patently untrue and not the point of mindfulness. The
present moment is, by definition, the moment that exists between the past and
the future. Our thoughts about those other times determines much as to who we
are and how we function in the moment.
And thoughts are all we ever really have to work with. Even when we have
tangible artifacts from the past and explicit designs for the future, they mean
nothing apart from our thoughts about them. Take something like dinosaur bones.
Scientists have worked hard to create a plausible story explaining the existence
of dinosaurs, starting about 230 million years ago and ending about 65 million
years ago in the wake of a cosmic cataclysm caused by an asteroid impact.
Some people, however, are not persuaded. They argue that the dinosaurs were created by
God at the same time as all the other animals and that they were wiped out by
the biblical flood, from which human beings and other animals were spared only
by the fast and faithful actions of Noah and his family. That's another line of
thinking about the past, trying to make sense of the same evidence.
Fast forward to the current debate over the US debt limit and we see the same
dynamic at work. In this case, however, instead of dinosaur bones we have
legislation. That legislation costs money to implement and the US does not
currently collect enough money to cover all the costs. Some politicians have worked hard
to separate the budget conversation from the debt conversation. They view past
legislation as an obligation until it is changed or eliminated in the future.
Some people, however, are not persuaded. They argue that legislation is not an
obligation if the US does not collect the money to pay for it. They view such
deficit spending as "kicking the can down the road" to future generations in
ways that are onerous and unacceptable. That's another line of thinking about
the past and future, trying to make sense of the same information.
Regardless of what you think about dinosaurs and debt, it's clear that you are
the one doing the thinking. Different people come to different conclusions
about the past, present, and future depending upon how they think. And those
conclusions have consequences. In Louisiana, public schools teach students about
both evolution and creationism. In the US Congress, they have been at
loggerheads ever since the new House of Representatives was elected, trying to
deal with both the budget and the debt. We'll see how that goes as deadlines
fast approach.
The bottom line can be summarized in the pithy slogan, "Words create worlds."
The words we say to ourselves and to others frame our experiences of the past,
present, and future. Understanding this power, great leaders choose our words
carefully. We think things through because thinking is being and doing.
How then do great leaders think? In a word, optimistically. Fortunately, that's
not too difficult since the human brain is hardwired to think
optimistically about both the past and the future. Both memories and dreams,
both reflection and prospection, get consistently shaded with positive hues.
That's the conclusion of researcher Tali Sharot, author of the
The Optimism
Bias: A Tour of the Irrationally Positive Brain. Sharot writes:
"The only way conscious mental time travel could have been selected for over the
course of evolution is if it had emerged at the same time as false beliefs. In
other words, an ability to imagine the future has to develop side by side with
positive biases. The knowledge of death has to emerge at the same time as its
irrational denial. A brain that could consciously voyage through time would be
an evolutionary barrier unless it had an optimism bias."
"It is this coupling–conscious prospection and optimism–that underlies the
extraordinary achievements of the human species, from culture and art to
medicine and technology. One could not have persisted without the other.
Optimism does not exist without at least an elementary ability to consider the
future, as optimism is by definition a positive belief about what is yet to
come, and without optimism, prospection would be devastating."
What great leaders understand is how to integrate optimistic memories and
anticipation in ways that become life-enhancing, self-fulfilling prophecies
rather than dangerous, irrational risks. Well-placed optimism creates
self-efficacy which stimulates such core ingredients of success as initiative
and resilience. Unfounded or prejudicial optimism, on the other hand, gets
everyone in trouble.
This defines one of the key works of leaders: knowing how and when to say "Yes!"
You are perhaps familiar with the Pygmalion effect. In multiple experiments
(that are now banned because of the harm they can do), teachers are told at the
start of a school year that one group of students is gifted and talented while
another group of students is low-performing. Sure enough, that's just how things
turn out by the end of the school year.
The only problem: the two groups of students were randomly selected and there
was no actual difference between them as to their abilities. Giving the teacher
an optimism bias for one group of kids became a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Great leaders say "Yes!" so that everyone can win. We don't use the past to
divide people and sequester the future; we use it to unite people and expand the
future. Memory and anticipation are linked not only by virtue of how our brains
function, but also by how great leaders lead. Our thinking is possibility
thinking not just because of our "irrationally positive brains," but also
because of our understanding of how words work.
Words create worlds. If we think we have a lot of problems and limitations, then
that is the world we live in. If we think we have a lot of strengths and
opportunities, then that is the world we live in.
Great leaders see those strengths and opportunities. We see them in the past and
in the future. We call them out and name them because we know they are there.
Holding on to and calling out that belief makes all the difference in the world.
Coaching Inquiries: What is the nature of your relationship to the past,
present, and future? Are you aware of how your own optimism bias plays out in
life and work? To what degree would you describe that bias as irrational and to
what degree would describe it as predictive? How can you become better able to
bolster the self-confidence of others?
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LifeTrek Readers' Forum (selected feedback
from the past week)
Editor's Note: The LifeTrek Readers' Forum contains selections from the comments
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submit your comment, use our Feedback Form or
Email Bob.
Thanks for reminding me about the importance of
moods. I don't pay attention to that enough. It's easy for me to slip
into a bad mood and not even notice, until someone points it out. The idea that
we can cultivate a good mood through our daily practices is a rather new one to
me. I will have to think about that. Top
May you be filled with goodness, peace, and joy.
Bob Tschannen-Moran
President, LifeTrek Coaching International,
www.LifeTrekCoaching.com
CEO & Co-Founder, Center for School Transformation,
www.SchoolTransformation.com
Immediate Past President, International Association of Coaching,
www.CertifiedCoach.org
Author, Evocative Coaching: Transforming Schools One Conversation at a Time,
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