The brain is probably one of the most complex adaptive systems.
A feature of complex adaptive systems is that one small change can have a big impact.
We’ve all experienced what that means, although sometimes not really noticed it. Take walking for instance. It’s actually quite complicated but unless there’s a physical issue we all managed to walk and then we started to run and never looked back.
In many cases we don’t notice the small changes we need to make because we’re not aware of what’s actually happening. Take the Mind Fit journey of Annaliese.
Annaliese is a biochemist with a large pharmaceutical company. Her life is one hectic round of meetings, analysing data and sharing it with colleagues, managing deadlines, keeping up to date with projects throughout the company and ensuring she is in touch with advances being made in the industry. The result – a very stressed individual. She would describe her day as being frantic from the moment she got up. Nothing ever seemed to go right when she was getting ready to leave for work, the traffic hold-ups were always bad so that by the time she got to work her mind was already over-flowing with negativity and she felt awful. Her days were a continual rush. She could not see a way out of this situation.
With some of her colleagues she attended a Mind Fit programme. As a direct result she re-examined her daily routine and identified where the problem lay.
She quickly discovered that when she got up she ‘knew’ – or ‘believed’ – that things would always go wrong. So that was exactly what she saw and experienced. Her solution was to get up fifteen minutes earlier ‘knowing’ she had plenty of time. And the result? The rush to get ready was gone, the traffic was lighter so that by the time she arrived at work she was in the right frame of mind to tackle her job. She was able to focus better, communicate with her colleagues more professionally and within three months she said that she felt 100% better.
The first thing to notice is that everyone’s Mind Fit journey is unique. What worked for her may have no relevance to you. It’s her world and that’s what needed changing.
Also that was the first thing she changed and from there she was able to make more changes to improve her work and her life. Because she was focused and far more aware of what was actually happening. No more knee jerk reactions. The business and personal benefits will just grow and escalate from a simple, small change.
I’m sure people would have told her many times but until the tipping point for her was acknowledged, by her, nothing was going to change.
Sounds simple doesn’t it? Well it is, but you have to notice what it is that needs to change first. We can help you self-assess and find out where you are on the Mind Fit Map. The actions are then down to you.
To really take advantage of the complex adaptive systems in your organisation, get your team Mind Fit and you’ll never look back.
Mind Fit is
scientifically sound, business focused, practical and sustainable