It took me a long time to get round to reading Six Thinking Hats, but finally after 25 years of corporate training I took the plunge. I was expecting a brainstorming process, because that’s how I had most often heard of the ‘Six Hats’ being used, but it turns out that this short and accessible
There’s a wealth of research showing that most people give more attention to threats than opportunities, for example: Negative experiences are remembered in more detail than positive ones Our attitudes are influenced more heavily by bad news than good news (research by John Cacioppo) People feel more negative emotion if they lose $100 than positive
Getting someone to change their mind, especially when they feel strongly about something, is never easy. If you go straight in, and especially if you let your strong feelings on the topic get the better of you, the chances are you will trigger the ‘Backfire Effect’, leaving them more convinced than ever. To increase your
‘Ethical Fading’ happens in decision-making when we focus so much on other aspects of the decision that we forget about the ethical implications, as if they were fading from our view. Ethical fading has been applied to explain the actions of participants in the Watergate scandal, the News International phone-hacking accusations that led to the
Why do people often get bogged down in trivial decisions? It turns out that our brains use the difficulty encountered in making a decision as a factor in deciding how much more time to spend on it. Researchers Aner Sela and Jonah Berger call this process “decision quicksand”. We expect significant decisions to be difficult
A recent paper reported in the very useful BPS Research Digest blog suggests that people often make a bad impression because they indulge in counter-productive tactics for trying to make themselves look better. The paper, “Impression mismanagement: People as inept self-presenters” by Janina Steinmetz, Ovul Sezer, and Constantine Sedikides, lists four ‘strategies’ that people use
You may think that you can successfully juggle several tasks. In fact you may believe that you have to multitask in order to get your work done in a reasonable time. Bad luck – the weight of research is against you, and shows that trying to multitask means that you will take longer to deal
In The 7 Habits Of Highly Effective People, Stephen Covey suggests that you have an “emotional bank account” with your team members. Any time you listen to them, offer them support, acknowledge them or ask for their ideas, you make a small ‘deposit’ in the metaphorical account. Any time you ask people to work late,
One of the most useful methods to help you hire emotionally intelligent people is ‘Behavioural Event Interviewing’. Here’s how to use this method, with some tips to get the best from it. What Is Behavioural Event Interviewing? In Behavioural Event Interviewing you ask the candidate to describe an experience or situation they encountered in a
Do you need an easy, structured method of note taking that aids your understanding and recall so you get the most from your learning time? The Cornell Method, developed by education professor Walter Pauk at Cornell University, absolutely fits the bill. Here’s a handy infographic summary from lavidapoliglota.tumblr.com: I should add this caveat from my
‘Think-Pair-Share’ is a tried and tested method for getting learners to reflect on and deepen their understanding of material. It also has the advantage of breaking your course content up into memorable chunks, and helping your students to stay engaged and interested, so it’s a win-win all round. Here’s a very useful summary in graphic form
1. Put the candidate at their ease Job interviews have traditionally excelled at assessing one aspect of emotional intelligence: self-management. Many candidates find interviews somewhat stressful, and there is a whole battery of ‘Stress Interview’ tactics that you could use if you want to make sure that applicants are up to the challenge of a
