THE BIOLOGY OF EFFECTIVE COACHING: Selfdirected, solutionsfocused coaching and brain functioning'

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THE BIOLOGY OF EFFECTIVE COACHING Self-directed,
solutions-focused coaching and brain functioning.
Marisa Galisteo and David Rock New York University
Second Australian Evidence-Based Coaching
Conference October 9, 2005
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B
Impact we succeeded!
A
Intention to help someone solve a problem or
dilemma
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Anthropology
Sociology
Person centred approach
Positive psychology
Cognitive behavioural therapy
Brain functioning
Behavioural science
Emotional intelligence
Thinking creativity
Coaching Facilitating positive change
Adult learning theory
Systems theory
Solutions focused therapy
Sports psychology
NLP
Change models
Motivation
Mentoring
Counselling
Philosophy
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Insight 1
We think in maps
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Insight 2
Every brain is unique
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GENES
ENVIRONMENT
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Insight 3
What we expect is what we experience!
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What we perceive is a combination of what we
sense and of our brains' memory-derived
predictions... neurons involved in sensing become
active in advance of actually receiving sensory
input. Jeff Hawkins, 2004
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Mental states can contribute to the final
perception even more powerfully than the stimulus
itself. Jeff Schwartz, 2002
"Every man takes the limits of his own field of
vision for the limits of the world. Arthur
Schopenhauer, 1788-1860
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Insight 4
Everything we do repeatedly is hardwired by the
brain!
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The brain is constantly trying to automate
processes, thereby dispelling them from
consciousness in this way, its work will be
completed faster, more effectively and at a lower
metabolic level. Consciousness, on the other
hand, is slow, subject to error and
expensive. Gerhard Roth, 2004
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Working memory
Versus
Hardwiring
Most of what we do every day is unconscious!
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How do we become conscious, then? Its an
attention economy in the brain
Our focus creates and reinforces neural
connections
The Power is in the Focus We can choose what we
pay attention to! And what we pay attention to,
grows!
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Insight 5
New wiring is quite easy to create and turn into
hardwiring!
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We now have a scientific basis for asserting
that the exercise of the will, the effort of
attention can systematically change the way the
brain works. Jeffrey M. Schwartz, 2002
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Insight 6
We cant take apart the hardwiring thats
already there!
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The brain needs to see a happy face and to hear
occasional laughter to cement its neural
circuitry. The encouraging sounds of Yes!
Good! Thats it! help to mark a synapse for
preservation rather than pruning. Thomas B
Czerner, What makes you tick, (2001)
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Dilemma model
?
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Dilemma model
Id like to(x), but (y)
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From the perspective of contemporary
neuroscience, facilitating positive change in
people means helping them create new maps. The
creation of a new map occurs at a moment of
INSIGHT.
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The four faces of insight
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The four faces of insight
1. Awareness of a dilemma
Our maps are in conflict, we have not been able
to connect or reconcile them yet.
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The four faces of insight
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The four faces of insight
2. Reflection/Incubation

• Alpha band waves are given off by the brain
• Signifying external stimuli being shut out of the
  senses allowing internal process to operate

• Seen just before peak performances
• Are inhibited by doing mental calculations

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The four faces of insight
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The four faces of insight
3. Illumination
Activation of part of the brain associated with
drawing distantly related information
together. Sudden burst of gamma band activity,
which is often associated with complex cognitive
processing.
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The four faces of insight
3. Illumination (cont.)
Gamma band brain waves signify various parts of
the brain forming a new map. The different
pieces of the concept are transported back and
forth between the regions that house them, until
they resonate with each other sustained at the
40 Hz oscillation... John Ratey, 2001
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The four faces of insight
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The four faces of insight
4. Motivation

• We postulate that potent neurotransmitters are
  released endorphins, serotonin, dopamine
• There is a strong felt sense of urgency for
  action
• The sense of urgency fades quite quickly

New maps are delicate creatures that require
careful nurturing to become part of ourselves.
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• From insight to hardwiring
• Attention
• Time
• Repetition
• Positive feedback

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Further resources
NYU Coaching Programs www.scps.nyu.edu (2006)
Quiet Leadership, Harper Collins (2006)
Precursors to Coaching Wiley Sons
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References
- M. Csikszentmihalyi K. Sawyer (1994)
Creative Insight The Social Dimension of a
Solitary Moment The Nature of Insight
Sternberg, J.S. Davidson, J. E., Eds. The MIT
Press.
- J.J. Ratey (2002) A Users Guide to the
Brain, First Vintage Books Edition
-M. Jung-Beeman, E.M. Bowden, J. Haberman, J.L.
Frymiare, S. Arambel-Liu, R. Greenblatt, P.J.
Reber and J. Kounios (2004) PLoS Biol. 2(4)e97.
-T. B. Czerner (2001) What makes you tick,
Wiley Sons
-J.M. Schwartz S. Begley (2002) The Mind The
Brain, Regan Books
-R. Carter (1998) Mapping the Mind, Weidenfeld
Nicolson. University of California Press
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References (cont.)

• G. Roth, The Quest to Find Consciousness (Jan.
  2004) Sci. Am. Mind, 32-39.

-D. Dobbs, Fact or Phrenology? (April 2005)
Sci. Am. Mind, 24-31. -M. Maletic-Savatic, R.
Malinow K. Svoboda, Rapid Dendritic
Morphogenesis in CA1 Hippocampal Dendrites
Induced by Synaptic Activity (1999) Science 283,
1923-1927 -G. Edelman (1992) Bright Air,
Brilliant Fire, Basic Books, New York -J.
Schwartz B. Beyette (1996) Brain Lock,
HarperCollins, New York -J. Hawkins S.
Blakeslee (2004) On Intelligence, Times Books,
New York
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Further research

• Impact of this approach compared to advice,
  criticism, e-learning
•  More on the neurotransmitters released during
  insight
•  Mapping the path that conversations tend to
  follow
• Impact of positive feedback on individual
  neurons
• Analysis of default approaches to dilemmas
• Time after insight we maintain motivation
• Insight frequency in organizations