From State to State…

You may want to stand up to read this tip. Walk around, or even just change your breathing.

OK, so those of you who have worked with Kaizen for some time will know of our obsession with STATE! This tip is intended to be a refresher on some of the fundamentals AND to highlight again that state transitions are where it's at. I can honestly say that my most outstanding results gained while working with clients can be largely credited to a great state management strategy.

It is important to remember the fundamentals of state:

• All learning is state dependent

• State is neurologically linked to learning…the state that you're in when you learn is likely to be the state you'll be in when you apply (or not) the learning

• There are two ways to change state; adjusting your focus or shifting your physiology

• The biggest predictor for the state of your learning is your state

• There are many tools available to construct a `state management strategy', but these should be built in as part of your design process, not `added on' later

• The most effective way to do this is for you to get into the state you want learners to be in when you're designing

State Transitions

It's important to remember that the electro-chemical soups that are `states' rarely last longer than a few minutes. Much research indicates that it is actually more of a challenge to maintain a state, than to move from one state to another. Even the more `stable' states such as `calm' or `anxiety' can only be maintained by perpetuating the appropriate focus and physiology. Being aware of this should make us even more confident about using tools that move our learners strategically from one state to another.

Eric Jensen (Tools for Engagement, ISBN 1-890460-38-9) highlights that states sit on an energy scale, for example `Peace and Quiet' sits at the low energy end of the scale, while `Yahoo!' is definitely a high-energy state. Learners generally don't like going from 0 - 60 (or vice versa) in one leap.

Similarly we give ourselves a much greater challenge when trying to move them from `cynical' to `excited' in one `exercise'. The answer is to `stair step' them through a number of `states' into the most appropriate for that learning experience. Here is an example of a facilitator moving her learners from low energy to anticipation using a mix of changes in focus and physiology.

You've been working quietly on your own for a little while this morning…. How many of you are up for something different now…? (frame)

Yes? Excellent! Put your pens down and take a deep breath…

(change state to mild anticipation)

Now…close your eyes and just remind yourself of one really great way you're going to apply what you've been learning back at work - and create a representation of a future you successfully integrating all this … easily, elegantly, almost effortlessly… and noticing the difference it's going to make…

Good! Outstanding!

(mild celebration and reward)

Please stand up!

(small movement)

Good! How many of you would like to participate in a fun review that will get you at least five NEW fab ideas from other people that you could immediately use?

(more frame)

Excellent! Let's do it. First, you'll need some partners. I'm putting on some music in a second. When the music starts, begin walking. When the music stops, stop walking and then immediately grab the four people nearest you to form a group.

(more movement plus you can introduce an existing musical anchor if already set up)

Now, number the people in your group 1 to 5

(more anticipation)

Done that? Good! Now, listen carefully whilst I brief the next activity

Of course this type of strategy takes some time to `hone', and I still have to practice and revise my strategy, but the key realisation was that my main role is to read and elicit states. In fact I can confidently say that when learning events go less well than I'd want, it's invariably because I've focussed too much on the content rather than the learning process.

There is much, much more than a tip's worth on this fascinating and crucial subject, but I'll leave you with this one final thought…remember learners already move from state to state, they already have their own strategies. (although they probably don't have a label for it)

This week's call to action:

• Revisit your own resources on states and state management

• E-mail me for me top ten tips on eliciting state in others

• List the tools that you currently use when managing learners' states

• List five new tools for managing learners' states that you'll use in your next intervention

This week’s FriendlyBrain Tip comes to you from Richard Nugent of Kaizen Training. Kaizen Training Limited is a well-established consulting and training firm based in the UK and offering its services to the global business community. Training for Excellence is a leading-edge Train the Trainer company based in the U.S. and providing training programs internationally. For more information, contact us at info@wetrain.biz