Emergenetics International Blog

Trust Fall

2010-07-01T13:41:00.000-07:00

How many people remember the "Trust Fall" exercise? Whether at camp...at a teambuilding session...at a company retreat. It's a tried-and-true idea that hits at some of our primal fears (abandonment, anxiety, loss of control), not to mention the entirely real possibility of falling on one's head. Of course, this never (or rarely) happens, because your teammates, friends, family and those catching you make sure it doesn't.

So how, without ever having seen any of your catchers do any weightlifting, exercises or catching drills, do you simply fall into their arms and trust that you won't fall?

It's because you aren't relying on one person - instead, you get the collective effort of the group. Not only are their interlocking arms more powerful than any individual's (even the strongest in the group), but they also brainstorm around an order, a strategy and a plan for catching each member.

What you also find in the trust fall exercise is that, while the first person's fall may be slightly nerve wracking, it gets easier and easier as each person in the group sees positive results. Trust can grow with successful execution.

While this is an exercise that can literally be used in an organizational and teambuilding realm, I think it can be just as powerful in metaphorical form.

The team needs a leader who can put himself/herself at the forefront of the group - a person who is willing to display trust in the gifts and strength of the team and willing to take a risk. With small successes (or significant successes if you are the person being caught), each team member can grow their own trust.

And, the team continues to mold and mesh as each person takes a different role, whether that is someone taking a risk or taking the lead or whether it is a weaker member who needs to be "caught" by the team.

Ultimately the trust fall works because each person understands that they have a powerful and effective group behind them, ready to rise to the occasion. Think about how you are utilizing your own team and where each person's trust resides...and then take a risk and help your team come through!

Mark E. Miller
Director of Marketing
Emergenetics International

Out of the (Shoe) Box Thinking

2010-04-19T10:17:00.000-07:00

We hear the words "thinking outside the box" all the time...but one company is putting that to the test literally. According to this article from Fast Company (http://www.fastcompany.com/1614807/puma-and-yves-behar-unveil-super-green-shoebox-replacement), Puma has completely redesigned their shoebox. Puma is a company that leads trends and has successfully bridged the gap between traditional athletics and the notion of being a "lifestyle" shoe and brand, so it's no surprise that they've taken a new approach to design and rethinking what a shoebox really is.

What I find the most interesting though, is how multifaceted this new direction truly is. It isn't simply the aesthetic or the "cool" factor, but rather a calculated decision to minimize tremendous costs:

Puma estimates that the bag will slash water, energy, and fuel consumption during manufacturing alone by 60%--in one year, that comes to a savings of 8,500 tons of paper, 20 million mega joules of electricity, 264,000 gallons of fuel, and 264 gallons of water. Ditching the plastic bags will save 275 tons of plastic, and the lighter shipping weight will save another 132,000 gallons of diesel.

This is a perfect example of a cognitively holistic approach - a WE innovation if you will. On first glance, the idea of focusing on a redesigned shoebox would be a purely conceptual experiment, both in terms of the actual design element and the focus thinking up a new way to do something as seemingly mundane as the packaging...the shoe after all is the key. However, dig a little deeper and it goes far beyond that...

A structured, efficient production system calculated to every detail from shipping costs to manufacturing costs to % of products damaged in shipping (not to mention a 3-year plan to implement the full rollout). Even the genesis of a redesign of this scale, analyzing each element of production, realizing that there were efficiencies to be had and calculating the ROI over the long-term. Finally, even in a project as calculated as this one, the social element of care for environmental concerns for the future and the ability (and necessity) to link in what could be a purely economical (Blue/Green) decision to the overall brand and the feelings in Puma's customers that it invokes.

No telling whether this will be the new standard-bearer for the shoe industry, but there is no doubt that Puma is a leader when it comes to a whole brained thinking and how it can change the way things work.

Making Yourself Dispensable...Picking Better People

2010-04-01T12:45:00.000-07:00

What greater accomplishment is there than the organization running well without you? It means you picked great people, prepared them and inspired them. And if executives did this, the world would be a better place. – Guy Kawasaki, quoted in “The Corner Office” Feature in The New York Times, March 19, 2010.

I love this quote from Guy Kawasaki, management guru and co-founder of the Alltop news aggregation, purely because it goes against your first instincts…Everyone, no matter if you are just beginning your career or have risen to the top, is focused on being indispensable – what is it that you bring that nobody else can match, and how does that translate into what you do for your organization? In this reversal, Kawasaki points to the importance of ensuring that you are dispensable. Because by being dispensable, it means you’ve hired the right kind of people to ensure that the organization stays strong.

According to Kawasaki, it still comes back to knowing your strengths and ensuring you have others around you to deal with the challenges and issues that you can’t do as well. That’s where cognitive diversity comes into play – you can’t be completely dispensable with clones of yourself running the show. Kawasaki points to the example of a high-tech company run by engineers…even though those competencies (engineering and technology) are the core element of the business…those leaders don’t have the capabilities in marketing, HR, sales, etc. And…even more so, they don’t have the thinking styles that the experts they’ve hired in those disciplines take.

It is cognitive diversity—and that equates to success for their business and dispensability at a leadership level.

2010 - A New Year...Big New Ideas

2010-01-04T14:11:00.000-08:00

It is 2010, which means a new year...and of course new trends and ideas on where the state of business is going. At the Brain Summit in September, we took a look through history at various "ages" - from the Industrial Age to the Information Age to the Conceptual Age. Now...we feel it is time for a new age.

We posited that although information, concepts and ideas are all cogs of the continued advancement of the way we work and live...the biggest driver [in effect the gear driving the cogs] is, and will be, people. It is the Human Age...one where people development and creating an atmosphere where leaders can thrive will drive businesses forward.
Emergenetics provides the science behind a way for people to better understand themselves and others. It's a formula that can help create better leaders as well...which in turn creates stronger organizations.

Learning and Development and Talent Management are critical fields in the Human Age...and we're not alone in looking at this kind of role in helping shape the next year and beyond.

According to industry researchers Bersin and Associates, the top trend in L&D and Talent Management is: Diversity as a Talent Management Strategy.

To underscore diversity's importance in the workplace is nothing new, but in this case Bersin notes that their research participants pointed not only to traditional measures of diversity, but also to "diversity of thought". It's no longer companies like Emergenetics driving the push to know more about people - leaders and businesses are realizing that it is critical, necessary and profitable for their people to know who they are, who their teammates are, and how to capitalize on a bevy of strengths and perspectives.

So, as you begin 2010, take a look at your own teams and departments...Do you know how everyone works best? Where each person is coming from? How to build on each person's strengths to create a stronger whole?

Two-Way Communication...

2009-11-23T15:29:00.000-08:00

It was a busy week at Emergenetics International offices in Denver last week. We had Certification, which saw 12 new Associates learn the ins-and-outs of Emergenetics, and also held strategic planning meetings to look at all aspects of Emergenetics. Specifically, we focused on how to better serve our clients and more clearly connect in with every person who takes an Emergenetics Profile.

Connection is at the heart of everything we do. It is a simple concept, but one whose importance cannot be overstated; because with the constancy of information, connection is happening all the time...people see who you are as a company, a product, a person in a myriad of ways - through your brand, your materials, your website, in meetings, on the phone. The list goes on and on, but the point is that everything is a two-way communication. Marketing, customer service, management, etc., aren't dictated by one side anymore, because in this age, everyone has a voice. That is an incredible and powerful realization but it also points to a need to be more clear, more affective, and more responsive.

Really though...connection isn't an "if" but a "how". What is the best way to communicate, becuase one way surely does not fit all...communication is a two-way street, which means that you better know exactly how to reach the people you are communicating with.

It's a model that looks at the listener not the talker, because while cutting right to the chase and laying it out straight works perfectly for an Analytically preferenced thinker who is on directive end of the Assertiveness Spectrum, that won't cut it for someone with a lot of Red (Social) in their brain. It isn't a new concept, but it is a more exact, clear way to view relationships and communication.

When you combine the principle of two-way communication with the clarity and exactitude of Emergenetics, you get a more holistic and understandable message. So how do you get this in the real-world? It starts with knowing how people think and behave and it continues with real, true work to ensure that those preferences and strengths are being considered in all facets of communication and the relationship.

We've got new products like the Tip Sheets that give you a foundation, but it comes down to a new way of approaching communication...and it's one that is a necessary element to today's world.

2009-11-13T08:39:00.000-08:00

There is a burgeoning trend that I see, from diverse sources covering an even greater diversity of industries and disciplines - and that trend is to cultivate people power in a new way. Companies are focusing on everything from finance to product innovation and creativity to efficiency via the human model.

This emphasis is indicative of what I think needs to happen in business as a whole...that of emphasizing people development in all facets. We see this impact via our training and how we work with our clients, but it is an idea that is being advanced by a growing number of companies (beyond normal training and development measures or marketing-speak like "our most valuable assets") to yield compelling results...take a look at these stats.

•A recent survey by Bersin and Associates, found that coaching ranks at the top of the 22 processes that consistently drive the highest business impact. The analysis confirmed that coaching generated higher levels of engagement, leadership, flexibility and performance.

•Firms with the highest percentage of engaged employees collectively increased operating income 19% and earnings per share 28% year over year. (Towers Perrin)

What does this tell you?

It tells me that it has never been more important to capitalize on the way people communicate with one another and work together.

It tells me that engaged, committed employees and leaders create more solid and profitable organizations.

And…It tells me that there new paradigms in viewing financial success—it’s not always simply about the bottom line. Or, more accurately stated, the bottom line has expanded…an organization’s workforce is now integral to the way the bottom line works.

How Emergenetics Can Change Perspectives: GROW-ing Creativity with Coaching

2009-10-14T13:05:00.000-07:00

Contributed by Emergenetics Associate John Yeo

Here’s a question for those who attended the galvanizing Brain Summit 2009: How did the Brain Summit change your perspective?

Here’s one of my favorite take-aways: Deliberately make a connection of subject areas to COLORS! After my session on Creativity, someone asked me, “The tools you shared were great to help me shift my perspectives, but WHERE exactly do I start?”

I am filled with admiration for the Associate who asked this question as she had the courage to seek the first step to being creative! My very simple answer - “Ask yourself, what matters most to you? Start enjoying a conversation with your MPA!”

Perry Lam’s session on Coaching did just that! After introducing the *GROW Coaching Model, we were grouped by MPA and starting brainstorming on questions that best speaks to each of our thinking preference. The best think (oops...note the Freudian slip) to do is simply engage your coachee/ client by first speaking through their preferred thinking preference.

GROW Model (click to view)

Dave Meier, Director of the Center for Accelerated Learning highlighted that shifting into a creative mode starts by being conscious of “where” our thinking originates...and I agree.

In closing, the secret to creating new ideas is really to be more conscious of which Thinking mode we are in. Organize your thoughts and start pacing with the coachee/ client’s preferred thinking color before leading them to diverge by looking from other perspectives (i.e. Change the color of your language)!

*Note: The GROW Coaching Conversation Model was developed by Max Landsberg from his book “Tao of Coaching”

Emergenetics London Certification - Reflections and Ideas

2009-10-12T11:10:00.000-07:00

As part of the facilitation team at the Emergenetics International Certification session in London last week, I had a chance to not only be a part of a thought-provoking and forward thinking process but also to speak directly with six new Emergenetics Associates who will using Emergenetics in a wide variety of ways. What struck me was the diversity of how these participants would be incorporating Emergenetics into their work.

We had two trainers from a multinational, Fortune 500 company and four consultants who own their own businesses and would be utilizing Emergenetics in everything from market research to branding to business process development to self-awareness and teambuilding.

More than this wide ranging focus though were the approaches that these individuals were taking in applying Emergenetics insights to their particular needs...and more importantly the needs of their clients and colleagues. In many ways, this group embodied one of the ways that people evolve in the way they use and understand Emergenetics. What starts out as a way to know oneself emerges into, as one attendee put it, "A way of life." I say this not out of self aggrandizement, but rather as a witness of the way that people creatively find outlets to think about Emergenetics as a holistic model for understanding.

The Emergenetics Profile itself is a tool that provides insight into the way a person thinks and behaves. Emergenetics as a concept though, takes the insights (The Emergenetics Thinking and Behavioral Attributes) and creates a window through which to view the most pertinent challenges that individuals and organizations face. Let me give you a specific example...

One participant shared that they work with organizations and teams a lot on the topic of building trust. Everyone in the room acknowledged that Trust is imperative for successful organizations. So, with each participant shouting out particular examples of how someone (or an organization) could gain their trust, the class diagrammed the differences in the way different Profiles and Thinking and Behavioral factors view trust (An Analytical Thinker likely needs the logic or rationale up-front and the assurance that things will be done correctly, without mistakes - this is different than a person or organization with a focus on Relational and Social thinking, who will trust only after it is clear what will happen to all people involved).

The beauty in this model is not simply the key differences in how people understand Trust and need information, but the simple concept that Trust itself is a different thing for different people. What allows one person to Trust won't necessarily work for another person. Once organizations can understand this, the ability to gain their employees', customers', and clients' trust is more attainable.

It was a simple and intuitive understanding, but one with a potentially significant impact. I am very excited by the ideas that stemmed from our newest Emergenetics Associates and know that they will take us forward as an organization in new ways and in new places. Congrats to all who were in the class!

Mark Miller
Director of Marketing
Emergenetics International

Talent Management - Using Emergenetics to Develop Teams

2009-09-28T08:41:00.001-07:00

Talent Management - Using Emergenetics to Develop Teams

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Brain Summit 2009: Tuesday

2009-09-25T14:16:00.000-07:00

It is difficult to recap the Brain Summit, but it was an unbelievable event highlighted by insightful speakers that showcased new ideas and incredible levels of professionalism. It was a time where Associates from around the world networked together and shared new ways of doing business and new ways of working with Emergenetics. And, it was an energizing three days that built from one session to the next.

From the opening night's reception where we provided a sneak-preview of the Emergenetics branding set to roll out in 2010 to the closing night's western party, it was certainly an opportunity to get into our collective social preference!

Check out pictures from Day 3 of the Brain Summit below...

Brain Summit 2009: Sunday and Monday

2009-09-22T11:47:00.000-07:00

We are onto Day 2 of the Brain Summit, and it has been a day highlighted by Yellow Brain Thinking! Deborah Peterson had an incredible morning session focused on where Emergenetics can go as the world continues to grow and develop. She focused on what Emergenetics insights would look like in a world where virtual realities were the reality. In an interactive format, everyone had a chance to provide ideas from each part of the brain on how Emergenetics could make an impact in the future.

John Yeo continued the Conceptual idea-generating with a presentation on innovation through the lens of Emergenetics. Participants are looking at pictures as we speak and brainstorming with visual connections. John is an energizing tour-de-force and the room is buzzing with creative energy.

Take a look below at pictures of everything going on at the Summit!

A New Way to Stay Connected

2009-09-09T09:42:00.001-07:00

What an exciting time for Emergenetics International! With this post, we are launching our first corporate blog and finding new ways to reach clients and Associates...

Additionally, we are embracing new forms of technology, like Twitter, Facebook and Linked In to ensure that we have as many ways as possible to stay connected - we want to create a forum to generate ideas and develop dialogue about the issues and ideas that we care about and get excited about. This is one more way that Emergenetics International is a part of the discussion on how people understand themselves and others and how organizations look to improve the way they go about business!

This is a perfect time to launch our blog, as we are in the midst of a lot of incredible global happenings for our organization. We are just days away from the Brain Summit, and we have exciting things on the horizon like the launch of our ESP Hiring System and a full, global rebranding effort.

As the Founder and CEO of Emergenetics International, I have seen this organization grow, but I have consistently realized the importance of relationships. I see this blog as a way to facilitate relationships, old and new, in a virtual, forward-thinking way. Check back often, because we see this as a continual source for learning and collaboration.

- Geil Browning