One of the joys of working in a Network of curious people with widely varying interests is the breadth of ideas that we are exposed to. This provides the environment for the creative collision of ideas2. Regular readers of the Enablers blog will be used to such collisions and enjoy adding their own connections and insights. The theme of this…
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neuroscience
“Flow”: the elusive peak state of motivation and productivity by Marvin Faure
Tuesday February 28th, 2012 0 commentsOur partner, Marvin Faure, runs Mindstore Europe. He has recently completed a study on motivation. It is his first publication on our blog. “The unusual feature of this study was that the participants were all known to be highly motivated amateur cyclists in their private lives: the sort of people that cycle 8000 – 10,000 km per year and think…
The most successful posts of 2011
Saturday December 10th, 2011 0 commentsOur blog is now two and half years old and we would like to thank you all for your loyalty over that period. As you will have noticed, we changed to Mailchimp this year. This company sends you the weekly e-mail and confirms with your filters and firewalls that Enablers is not a source of spam. They also give us…
Smile, and the world smiles with you… by Michael Newman
Saturday November 12th, 2011 0 commentsIn a non-descript, grey and often wet corner of East Manchester, just off the ring motorway, you will find a large furniture shop with the not especially inspiring name of ‘Housing Units’.1 There are many other stores in the Greater Manchester area from which to furnish a house, but there is something unusual about a visit to Housing Units. If…
“We’re Number one: What could we possibly learn from you?” by Michael Newman
Saturday October 8th, 2011 0 commentsOur success comes from being smart; yours is simply due to luck. We benefit from our carefully crafted strategies; you just happened to be in the right place at the right time. We are confident; you are arrogant…. Dismissing the opposition is a comforting pastime, but becomes a real danger if they are hungrier than us. In the Enablers Network,…
So here comes the Depression again… Watch your unconscious reactions!
Saturday September 24th, 2011 2 commentsIs the crisis really back or not? For some, it increasingly seems that Stock Exchanges’ agitation (leave aside ethics and rationale) is cut off from the reality of those who really work and create value. And for others, suffices to study some leading indicators to be entitled to be seriously concerned again… In the recent months, I met with executives…
"Why Pathos is crucial in any engagement process"
Sunday June 5th, 2011 0 commentsAntonio Damasio[1] and Joseph Ledoux[2] are two leading neuroscientists. I admit a slight bias in favor of Ledoux who fits well with our Enablers philosophy of hiring bright and atypical individuals: He also heads a rock band, called “The Amygdaloids”[3]. Understanding and simplifying the writings of such advanced thinkers is a real challenge. Christophe Lachnitt, another atypical individual who heads…
"Delegation, Oxytocin and Con Men" by Michael Newman
Sunday April 3rd, 2011 0 commentsWhether your business calls it delegation or empowerment, the ability of leaders to effectively hand over work to others is a critical part of their role. Whilst most of us do it, often successfully, there are very few of us who would not want to improve. It is therefore surprising that there is so little general understanding about the mechanisms…
Powerpoint, Neuroscience and Magic by Michael Newman
Sunday March 6th, 2011 0 commentsEarlier this week I had reason to remember a Management Meeting of a team I was coaching. I had asked this particular team to have a normal meeting so I could observe their dynamics, behaviours and processes. Inevitably there came a time when one of them wanted to use PowerPoint to support her part of the agenda; enabling me to…
“Everybody wants to “Grow”: the biggest blockage is our orthodoxy!”
Sunday October 31st, 2010 4 commentsI don’t breach any confidentiality by sharing that wherever I travel in the world, “Growth” has become the central strategy piece of all organizations I speak to… at the point of wondering if un-grow couldn’t be a really worthy disruptive strategy! So everybody wants to grow? Those who truly will, in a sustainable way, will put energy behind that intention…