Reading Dr David Rock\u2019s \u201cYour Brain at Work\u201d is something like hearing a pep talk for one\u2019s brain, in relation to something that happens everyday: decision-making. He addresses it, though, from the vantage point of neurobiology, to help us understanding what is going on in our prefrontal cortex, that \u201csmall, fragile, and energy-hungry brain region\u201d [1], so that increased self-awareness (or brain awareness) will bring more efficiency in the planning, organizing, and prioritizing required in a fast-paced, performance based work culture. I appreciated how Rock then portrayed the difference this increased awareness brought to his fictional characters, Emily and Paul, but showing the differences between two takes, informed by their director. It offers hope that a better understanding of our brains can bring new levels of mastery into decision-making, resulting in stronger performance achievement.<\/p>\n
One of my key take-aways from this book was the \u201cARIA\u201d model for getting past a roadblock, an acronym for Awareness, Reflection, Insight, and Action [2] designed to help break up log-jams in the mind by moving from an impasse to an insight [3]. For me, there is a natural tie-in with classic business coaching, which I was first exposed to in John Whitmore\u2019s \u201cGROW\u201d coaching model (walking someone through their Goal, Reality, Options, Will) [4]. Like in \u201cGROW\u201d, insight occurs within a person, by intentionally honing in on one thought, quieting the mind from other thoughts, and giving the ability to strengthen clear focus by actual reflection. Rock develops his theory by using brain data that supports how insight can be harnessed into action, which all happens in a split second [5]. Kahnemann develops this \u201ceureka\u201d or \u201ca-ha\u201d moment in his work on Slow Thinking, or \u201cSystem 2\u201d, from which he builds his heuristics model [6].<\/p>\n
This is relevant for many multi-vocational workers such as myself. I not only have to quiet the noise of responsibilities for one job, but two, along with all the usual priorities of family and home life, and other commitments. For me, the axiom I picked up over 25 years ago still strengthens this decision-making skill: \u201cFirst things first, one thing at a time, always one more thing\u201d. With ARIA, there is now an added dimension of the neurobiology that works to help sort out priorities, and get things done.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
________<\/p>\n
[1] David Rock, <\/span>Your Brain at Work, Revised and Updated: Strategies for Overcoming Distraction, Regaining Focus, and Working Smarter All Day Long,<\/span><\/em> (HarperCollins, 2020), Kindle edition, 243.<\/span><\/p>\n [2] Rock,\u00a0Your Brain At Work<\/em>, 81.<\/p>\n [3] Rock, Your Brain At Work<\/em>, 75. <\/span><\/p>\n [4] John Whitmore, Coaching For Performance<\/em>, <\/span><\/p>\n [5] Rock, Your Brain At Work<\/em>, 83.<\/span><\/p>\n [6] Daniel Kahneman, <\/span>Thinking, Fast and Slow<\/span><\/em>.<\/em> (Doubleday Canada, 2011). He writes in his work, \u201c<\/span>The operations of System 2 are often associated with the subjective experience of agency, choice and concentration\u201d (Ch. 1).<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Reading Dr David Rock\u2019s \u201cYour Brain at Work\u201d is something like hearing a pep talk for one\u2019s brain, in relation to something that happens everyday: decision-making. He addresses it, though, from the vantage point of neurobiology, to help us understanding what is going on in our prefrontal cortex, that \u201csmall, fragile, and energy-hungry brain region\u201d […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":203,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[2681,2967],"class_list":["post-37306","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-rock","tag-dlgp03","cohort-dlgp03"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37306","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/203"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37306"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37306\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37307,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37306\/revisions\/37307"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37306"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37306"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37306"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}