Jack Be Nimble: Using Brain Science to Cultivate a Nimble Mind L Linda J' Page, Ph'D', ACC Canada

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Jack Be Nimble Using Brain Science to
Cultivate a Nimble MindL Linda J. Page,
Ph.D., ACC Canada
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• The Purpose of todays presentation
• Apply lessons from neuroscience to coaching
• The Plan
• Present 3 requirements for a Nimble Mind
• Experience Jacks Nimble Mind Challenge
• Draw lessons to apply to coaching
• The Outcome
• A mind that is more nimble for you for those
  you coach

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William Wallace Denslow, illustrator. Mother
Goose, 1901
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When faced with a challenge, Jack must jump up

• To avoid being burned by the flame (escape
  immediate threat)
• To avoid putting out the candle, especially if
  there are no matches (maintain future
  opportunity)
• 3 requirements to be nimble enough to deal with
  immediate threats but keep bigger picture
  opportunities in mind

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Nimble requirement 1 Brain
Why do we need a brain?

• To identify positive opportunities
• Activate toward response

• To recognize negative
• threats
• Activate away response

To provide mechanism for flow of information
energy
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Nimble Requirement 2 Mind

• Why have a mind?
• To ANTICIPATE threats opportunities
• To learn from past experience
• To apply information from past to present
  future
• To consciously decide where to direct energy

Regulates flow of information energy
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Nimble Brain/Mind Collaboration

• Ideally, brain/mind work together to achieve
  opportunities avoid threats
• However, threat trumps opportunity
• Experience of threat, past or present, can
  disrupt minds ability to
• Plan ahead
• Recognize or seize opportunities
• Perform in the present to avert future threat
• Brain systems limbic prefrontal cortex

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Brain Threat-Related Limbic Functions

• Stands on guard against threats (amygdala)
• Activates is activated by autonomic nervous
  system
• Serves as a gatekeeper to long-term memory
  (hippocampus)
• Can interfere with short-term working memory
• More sensitive to negative emotions
• Related to survival motivationsfear, anger, sex

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Brain Opportunity-Related Prefrontal Cortex
(PFC) Functions

• Physical
• Mental
• Social

• brain/body regulation
• emotional balancing
• fear modulation
• response flexibility
• intuition
• self-insight
• attuned communication
• empathy
• morality

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Brain Limbic/PFC Mutual Interaction

• Simplified, is like a see-saw
• Limbic activation tends to disrupt PFC functions
• PFC activation (fear modulation, emotional
  balancing, attuned communication, empathy) tends
  to calm limbic reactions
• especially aided by self-insight , an Impartial
  Spectator, METACOGNITION
• Nimble situation-appropriate shifts
• How can we escape from a downward spiral?

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Brain Whats important to remember from
neuroscience

• Even adult brains can grow
• Neuroplasticiay Neurogenesis (Begley, 2007
  Doidge, 2007)
• We can choose to use our minds to change our
  brains
• The role of attention (Schwartz Begley, 2002
  Stapp, 2007)
• Our minds are not limited to our individual
  brains
• The importance of social participation (Brothers,
  2002 Siegel, 2007)

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Requirement 3 Relationships

• Why do we need other brains?
• To provide scaffolding when we havent yet
  developed a capacity
• To enable escape from downward spiral
• To make virtuous cycles last longer
• To encourage nimble shifts between immediate
  threats big-picture opportunities
• To learn more, accomplish more, remember longer
  than a single brain/mind is capable of
• To share information energy

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Social threats challenge nimbleness

• The SCARF Model
• Statusnot just above others, but recognition of
  value
• Certaintyeven knowing time of next information
  can be comforting
• Autonomy why coaches avoid giving advice
• Relatednessisolation as punishment worse than
  death
• Fairness some will take less pay to be treated
  fairly
• (Rock Page, 2009 Rock, 2009)

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Two Jack Be Nimble Exercises

• Discussion Examples of SCARF limbic activations
  how they were resolved
• Jacks Nimble Brain Challenge a game involving
  Neuron characters that must solve a problem
  nimbly

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Exercise 1 SCARF examples

• Form tables of exactly 6 people
• At each table, introduce yourselves
• Assignment from your own or your clients or
  others experience, come up with ONE example of a
  threat reaction from EACH of the social threats
• What do you notice about
• Effect?
• Reaction?
• What helped?

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Exercise 2 Jacks Nimble Brain Challenge

• A game to raise awareness of effects of social
  threats how to deal with them nimbly
• Tables of six people together form a Brain that
  must solve a problem
• Each person is a Neuron with a particular role
  to play in Brain processing
• To find out which Neuron you will play, open
  distribute contents of envelope on your table.
• Each person take one description of a Neuron
  character become familiar with its role

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Characters in Jacks Challenge

• Amygdala Neuron (on guard for threats)
• Hippocampus Neuron (gateway to long-term memory,
  shuts down when triggered by amygdala)
• (together, 1 2 form the Limbic System)
• PFC Neuron (attends to physical functions)
• PFC Neuron (attends to mental functions)
• PFC Neuron (attends to social functions)
• Metacognition Neuronthe Hero! (aware of
  whole-brain/body/mind/social activity)
• Take 5 minutes to become acquainted with your
  character assignment.

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You will be presented with a case requiring
nimble problem-solving

• RULES
• All Neurons submit ideas for what to do.
• PCF Neurons scan for physical, mental, social
  effects, rejecting ideas that would do damage.
• Winning idea from your brain (table) must have
  agreement of ALL neurons.
• Once the Limbic Neurons (Amygdala Hippocampus)
  are triggered,
• all but first idea on remaining list is erased
  AND
• no processing is allowed until Limbics are calmed
• Metacognitive Neuron has task of calming Limbics

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Case Brain Family Company

• You are on your way to a family meeting about the
  company you, your siblings, and your parents all
  own together. Two years ago, your parents, Mr.
  Mrs. Brain, the founders of the business, applied
  for a patent that will undoubtedly turn the
  company (and family) fortunes around. But they
  recently found that final award of the patent may
  take another two years. Meanwhile, the recent
  economic difficulty has meant substantial losses
  that cannot be sustained. Your parents have asked
  for a meeting of all the shareholders to generate
  ideas for how to respond to the crisis.

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Engage!

• You have 20 minutes to generate your brains best
  response to the crisis
• If you need more information, make it up
• Amygdala Neuron stands on guard by watching the
  screen for rumors and signaling when threatened
• Hippocampus Neuron notes all ideas presented but
  must delete anything recent (except for one) when
  Amygdala Neuron is threatened
• When time is called, all Neurons in your brain
  select best response from the remaining ideas on
  the list
• Hippocampus shares best idea

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Rumor Mill 1

• You are being demoted your least favorite
  sibling will take over as your boss!

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Rumor Mill 2

• This meeting was called to announce bankruptcy
  you the rest of the Brain family will lose
  everything!

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Rumor Mill 3

• A competitor has already bought the company a
  representative is here to replace all the Brains
  with staff from new head office!

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Rumor Mill 4

• Your parents have consulted privately with
  everyone else in the family but you. You ask your
  mom if she wants to talk, and she says, What
  for?

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Rumor Mill 5

• You do more work than all the other Brains put
  together, but youre the one who will be pushed
  out left with nothing!

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Reports from the Brains

• Best response from each Brain
• What was that like for
• PFCs?
• Amygdala?
• Hippocampus?
• Metacognition?
• What supports nimble problem-solving in the face
  of threats?

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Summary Nimble Brain/Mind/Social

• Brain Perception of threat results in
• amygdala activation
• hippocampus disruption
• PFC inhibition
• Mind Strong metacognitive abilities enable
• Awareness of reaction to threat
• Insight as to source of threat
• Self-soothing to calm limbic system
• BUT, when caught in threat feedback loop
• Social interaction Sharing allows us to
• Normalize reaction (I am not alone)
• Shift our attention outside narrow zone of threat
  reaction (This wont last forever look at other
  options)
• Borrow metacognitive scaffolding until can
  develop it ourselves
• (coach holds the space for clients potential
  to emerge)

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Recommended Reading
David Rock Linda J. Page. (2009). Coaching with
the Brain in Mind Foundations for Practice.
John Wiley Sons. Sharon Begley. (2007). Train
Your Mind, Change Your Brain How a New Science
Reveals Our Extraordinary Potential to Transform
Ourselves. Ballantine Books. Leslie Brothers.
(2001). Mistaken Identity The Mind-Brain Problem
Reconsidered. State University of New York
Press. Norman Doidge. (2007). The Brain That
Changes Itself, Penguin Books. David Rock.
(2009). Your Brain at Work. Harper
Collins. Jeffrey Schwartz Sharon Begley.
(2002). The Mind The Brain Neuroplasticity
and the Power of Mental Force, Harper
Collins. Daniel Siegel. (1999). The Developing
Mind Toward a Neurobiology of Interpersonal
Experience. New York Guilford Press. Daniel
Siegel. (2007). The Mindful Brain Reflection and
Attunement in the Cultivation of Well-Being.
Norton. Henry Stapp. (2007). Mindful Universe
Quantum Mechanics and the Participating
Observer. Springer.
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Presenter ContactLinda J. Page, Ph.D., ACPC,
ACC ljpage_at_adlearn.net President, Adler
International Learning890 Yonge Street, 9th
Floor Toronto, Canada M4W 3P4Tel [phone]
4419 www.adlerlearning.comThe ICF values your
feedback. Please take a moment to complete an
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