AdaptCoaching: February 2021

Saturday 20 February 2021

ADDICTION IS LARGELY AN ADAPTATION TO YOUR ENVIRONMENT (LONELINESS)

The opposite of addiction is not sobriety. The opposite of addiction is connection, having something meaningful to do, important people to relate to, being and feeling part of society.

Best thing I've read in ages ... "Get a rat and put it in a cage and give it two water bottles. One is just water, and one is water laced with either heroin or cocaine. If you do that, the rat will almost always prefer the drugged water and almost always kill itself very quickly, right, within a couple of weeks. So there you go. It’s our theory of addiction.

Bruce [Alexander] comes along in the ’70s and said, “Well, hang on a minute. We’re putting the rat in an empty cage. It’s got nothing to do. Let’s try this a little bit differently.” So Bruce built Rat Park, and Rat Park is like heaven for rats. Everything your rat about town could want, it’s got in Rat Park. It’s got lovely food. It’s got sex. It’s got loads of other rats to be friends with. It’s got loads of colored balls. Everything your rat could want. And they’ve got both the water bottles. They’ve got the drugged water and the normal water. But here’s the fascinating thing. In Rat Park, they don’t like the drugged water. They hardly use any of it. None of them ever overdose. None of them ever use in a way that looks like compulsion or addiction.

There’s a really interesting human example I’ll tell you about in a minute, but what Bruce says shows that both the right-wing and left-wing theories of addiction are wrong. So the right-wing theory is it’s a moral failing, you’re a hedonist, you party too hard. The left-wing theory is it takes you over, your brain is hijacked. Bruce says it’s not your morality, it’s not your brain; it’s your cage. Addiction is largely an adaptation to your environment.

We’ve created a society where significant numbers of our fellow citizens cannot bear to be present in their lives without being drugged, right? We’ve created a hyperconsumerist, hyperindividualist, isolated world that is, for a lot of people, much more like that first cage than it is like the bonded, connected cages that we need.

The opposite of addiction is not sobriety. The opposite of addiction is connection.

And our whole society, the engine of our society, is geared towards making us connect with things not people. If you are not a good consumer capitalist citizen, if you’re spending your time bonding with the people around you and not buying stuff—in fact, we are trained from a very young age to focus our hopes and our dreams and our ambitions on things we can buy and consume. And drug addiction is really a subset of that."

~ Johann Hari TED Talk

https://www.ted.com/talks/johann_hari_everything_you_think_you_know_about_addiction_is_wrong?fbclid=IwAR09paTtx7q--h7WFVxo5XmD-RrmEzCS3jv5tnWAis3db2MFcCxd_nPn6RI

References

https://www.psychiatrictimes.com/view/what-does-rat-park-teach-us-about-addiction

https://www.uvic.ca/research/centres/cisur/assets/docs/iminds/phe9-rat-park-handout.pdf

https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2019-19427-011

Friday 19 February 2021

GOALS HABITS PURPOSE AND WELLBEING

PERHAPS START WITH A LITTLE SCIENCE - WHAT IS HAPPINESS AND PLEASURE AND HOW DOES WHAT WE DO AFFECT THESE?

Do we really understand the difference between pleasure and happiness? Is the pursuit of wellbeing just another consumer fad: something we buy, rent, hire, download or practice and for a small fee we find wellbeing?

You may find this video interesting.

I have previously written in a blog...

I will be particularly interested in what Wellbeing means for people and organisations, and whether they take a mechanistic approach (These interventions yield the happiness + productivity result) or a more humanistic approach (How do we change culture, communication and process to improve our community). The key difference between the two appears to be that the former treats the person and production unit, whereas the latter treats them like an architect of Purpose.

Source: " WHAT IS WELLBEING - ARE YOU SURE THIS IS WHAT YOU WANT?"

Don't get me wrong, I am a fan of meditation, reflection and even mindfullness, but I am a skeptic of the simplistic buy now "3 step plan to transform your life"

A BALANCED LIFE

My view is that it is about a good balance and a sense of purpose

#Financial/Career
#PhysicalHealth
#MentalHealth
#Family
#Friends
#Community
#Social
#Educational
#Fun
#Spiritual/Faith

For each element above that is important to you [and add a few more if you like!] write down what is your long-term goal, short-term goal and routine habits. Now put that somewhere prominent [on the fridge, bedroom door, front door] and do something every-day, no mater how small, that moves you forward on that path. You will quickly feel the benefit of progress.

The sense of purpose comes from something more long-term than hunger, thirst, intimacy and more healthy and sustainable than drink, drugs, shop-therapy, materialism and foolishness. These are all great in moderation but a sense of purpose is something more about values than actions, it is something we walk towards rather than the walking itself.It may be family, community, country or religion. But it should be something big, worthy and consistent with your values and sense of self.

SOME THOUGHTS ON GOALS AND HABITS

It may be worth expending on the element "write down what is your long-term goal, short-term goal and routine habits".

Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) tells us that thinking, about action, helps behaviour and feeling. It should be noted that each effects the other. What we do affects how we feel. How we feel affects what we do. We can start the virtuous pattern from either direction.

So when compiling your list of values [what is important to you] rank them so you spend time on the most important. Maybe score them 1 - 5 how much time they get now, and how much time you want to give 1- 5. This will help you identify where you need to change and by how much.

Now list the goals (once only) and habits (daily, weekly,monthly) that will help achieve your best YOU. Maybe also note 1 easy, 2 hard 3 very hard and use a diary or calendar to plan these goals and habits. Don't beat yourself up if you fail a 3-point habit, but just keep picking up the points: make it a game. Repeat and do better next week. And next month.

This point system means you stop doing stuff that scores 0-zero and start doing things that move you towards what is important. This brings happiness (yay!... I achieved something - Dopamine hit) and contentment (mmm... I am bit by bit getting to where I want to be - Serotonin hit)

I recommend you update and re-evaluate every so often, because lifes goals and priorities change with age, experience and circumstance. But now you have a system!

MORE INFORMATION

If you are keen to lean more about wellbeing and mental health there are plenty of good resources on-line which are free and useful

I also recommend the book Habit Stacking: 97 Small Life Changes That Take Five Minutes Or Less by S. J. Scott There are a few more Habit books here https://www.huffpost.com/entry/books-create-better-habits_l_5e149a63c5b6b5a713c119d3

Monday 15 February 2021

MEANING, PURPOSE AND TRUTH IS CREATED BY OBSERVATION OF BEHAVIOUR

Surprisingly we do not need words to create stories and we infer all sorts of things simply by watching behaviour. Actions do indeed speak louder than words and meaning is within the observer rather than the actor.

Watch this video and then have a go at answering the following questions?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FIEZXMUM2I

(1) What kind of a person is the big triangle?
(2) What kind of a person is the little triangle?
(3) What kind of a person is the circle (disc) ?
(4) Why did the two triangles fight?
(5) Why did the circle go into the house?
(6) In one part of the movie the big triangle and the circle were in the house together. What did the big triangle do then? Why?
(7) What did the circle do when it was in the house with the big triangle? Why?
(8) In one part of the movie the big triangle was shut up in the house and tried to get out. What did the little triangle and the circle do then ?
(9) Why did the big triangle break the house?
(10) Tell the story of the movie in a few sentences.

Let's be honest, none of the shapes or actions have a script, objective, personality or culture. Yet you are able to make sense of these abstract objects into something that has meaning. This is how the world is created. It is created in your mind as a function of your nature, nurture, education, personality and biases.

Tim HJ Rogers MBA
CONSULTANT MENTOR COACH
MBA (Management Consultancy) & Change Practitioner
ICF Trained Coach IoD Business Mentor
Mob 447797762051
Tim@AdaptConsultingCompany.com

Friday 12 February 2021

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN CONSULTING, COACHING, MENTORING AND TRAINING?

Consultancy
A consultant provides expertise and solves business problems, or develops a business as a whole. A consultant deals with the overall organization or specific parts of it and not individuals within it. Consultants only indirectly affect individuals.

Training
Training is the process of getting knowledge skills or abilities by study, experience or teaching. The trainer by definition is the expert, and the training course is likely to be targeted on specific skills for immediate results. Training is also likely to be one to many rather than one to one.

Teaching
Teaching passes knowledge from teacher to student. The teacher knows something the student does not. The opposite is true in coaching. The client is the expert and the client has the answers, not the coach.

Mentoring
Mentoring is when a senior colleague, seen as more knowledgeable and worldly wise gives advice and provides a role model. Mentoring involves wide ranging discussions that may not be limited to the work context. A mentor is a sponsor with great professional experience in their client’s field of work. Both mentoring and coaching are concerned mainly with achievements in the present and the future.

Coaching
Coaching has been defined in many ways. The essence of coaching is:To help a person change in the way they wish and helping them go in the direction they want to go; Coaching supports a person at every level in becoming who they want to be; Coaching builds awareness empowers choice and leads to change. It unlocks a person’s potential to maximise their performance. Coaching helps them to learn rather than teaching them.

If you are interested in the IoD Mentor Programme, or ICF Coaching and how this may help you (or your organisation) get in touch.

Tim HJ Rogers MBA
CONSULTANT MENTOR COACH
MBA (Management Consultancy) & Change Practitioner
ICF Trained Coach IoD Business Mentor
Mob 447797762051
Tim@AdaptConsultingCompany.com

Thursday 11 February 2021

WHAT IS WELLBEING - ARE YOU SURE THIS IS WHAT YOU WANT?

It is defined as the state of being comfortable, healthy, or happy. But the reality is that it means different things to different people. It can be linked to physiological factors (food, drink, sleep, exercise) and it can also be linked to emotional (stress, anxiety, loneliness). We know this from the chemistry of Serotonin, Endorphins and Cortisol (see References below)

We could break Wellbeing into these elements..

Physical. This includes lifestyle choices that affect the functioning of our bodies. What we eat and how active we are will affect our physical wellbeing.
Emotional or psychological. This is our ability to cope with everyday life and reflects how we think and feel about ourselves.
Social. This is the extent that we feel a sense of belonging and social inclusion. The way we communicate with others, our relationships, values, beliefs, lifestyles and traditions are all important factors of social wellbeing.
Spiritual. This is the ability to experience and integrate meaning and purpose in life. Achieved through being connected to our inner self, to nature or even a greater power.
Intellectual. It is important to gain and maintain intellectual wellness as it helps us to expand our knowledge and skills in order to live an enjoyable and successful life.
Economic. Economic wellness, in short, is our ability to meet our basic needs and feel a sense of security.

How does Corporate and Personal wellbeing differ?

Well in one context we might think (or hope?) that they are the same or closely related given that about a third of our day is spent at work. In another context we might say they differ a lot because our personal hopes, dreams and priorities are seldom the same as our boss or employer.

As a Coach and IoD Mentor I note a high percentage of people who use the term "toxic culture" and the statistics and my own experience suggests between 25-30% of people anticipate leaving their jobs because they are not happy.

To be brutal, firms seldom care about happiness, except in-so-far as it helps productivity. Happy people collaborate, cooperate and perform better. But the evidence is that free fruit, a pool table and flexitime isn't achieving much for people or profits.

This should not surprise us: Hedonism is generally short-term and temporary form of wellbeing. Example: I'm hungry, so I eat. Next. I am thirsty so I drink. Next. I want a nice car, so I get it. Next. I want a better car. Next.

Indeed this type of well-being is materialistic and consumerist. We all know about Shopping Therapy! But like a great wine can lead to a hang-over and your latest toy can lead to debt, this version of Wellbeing is not sustainable.

The relationship between Wellbeing and Purpose.

Increasingly it is clear that sustainable wellbeing comes from a sense of Purpose, a goal, something that engages us emotionally, physically, head, heart and gut. These other distractions (yoga, meditation, fasting, or religion) may be helpful and possibly transitional but they are not a replacement for Purpose or the sense of belonging that goes with responsibility and pursuit of Purpose.

Your life's meaning is unlikely to be to stand on your head, recite a holy text, or deliver quarter 2 growth in sales. These things may earn you a pat on the back, but that is not the same as the contentment that comes from a worthwhile pursuit of something really important - to YOU.

I welcome We Talk Wellbeing research into Wellbeing in Jersey and look forward to seeing the results.

As a Consultant, Coach and IoD Mentor I am interested in how we might better help people and organisations better define and achieve their goals.

If you are interested in the IoD Mentor Programme, or ICF Coaching and how this may help you (or your organisation) get in touch.

Tim HJ Rogers MBA
CONSULTANT MENTOR COACH
MBA (Management Consultancy) & Change Practitioner
ICF Trained Coach IoD Business Mentor
Mob 447797762051
Tim@AdaptConsultingCompany.com

References
Serotonin is the key hormone that stabilizes our mood, feelings of well-being, and happiness. This hormone impacts your entire body. It enables brain cells and other nervous system cells to communicate with each other. Serotonin also helps with sleeping, eating, and digestion.

Endorphins act on the opiate receptors in our brains, they reduce pain and boost pleasure, resulting in a feeling of well-being. Endorphins are released in response to pain or stress, but they're also released during other activities, like eating, exercise, or sex.

Cortisol is what gives us our 'fight or flight' response to a stressful or dangerous situation. It helps us perform better in some situations and improves focus.

Welfare hedonism is a philosophical theory which says that individual well-being or welfare consists solely in the presence of pleasure and the absence of pain experienced by an individual

Tuesday 2 February 2021

USEFUL TOOLS TO STRUCTURE YOUR BUSINESS, YOUR LIFE OR YOUR THINKING

As a consultant, coach and mentor I support people or organisations achieve their goals. These may be business strategy, projects or objectives or more personal and individual pursuits at home, at work or in life. I have often found that some tools, if used loosely and flexibly can be valuable as a trigger for conversation, reflection and action. I say loosely because life should not be formulaic, but should be explored. Rules are for the obedience of fools and the guidance of wise men [Harry Day, the Royal Flying Corps First World War fighter ace]. In a modern context we might rephrase: Models should not restrict thinking but reveal possibilities, and it is the exploration of these that can bring opportunity and growth. In this article I will journey from business mission and vision to personal fulfilment travelling through the some useful models that may help us understand the components and formulate strategies to improve the process and outcome for either, and ideally both.

LEAN CANVAS

Lean Canvas is a great tool when working with customers to help them summarise their business mission, vision, dream or ambition. The real value for a Consultant, Coach or Mentor is that this offers a framework for discussion and some rigour in terms of coverage, yet at the same time is not too prescriptive. Below are two worked examples.

Here is a quick explainer of each Lean Canvas block (and in the order to go through them): 1. Problem Each customer segment (CS) you are thinking to work with will have a set of problems that they need solving. In this box try listing the one to three high priority problems that you CS has. Without a problem to solve, you don’t have a product/service to offer. 2. Customer Segments The problem and Customer Segments can be viewed as intrinsically connected — without a CS in mind you can’t think of their problems, and visa-versa. 3. Unique Value Proposition In the middle of the canvas is the UVP. A value proposition is a promise of value to be delivered. It’s the primary reason a prospect should buy from you. A way to get your head around this is to think why are you different and why should your CS buy/invest time in you — further reading: Useful Value Proposition Examples (and How to Create a Good One) 4. Solution Finding a solution to the problem is the golden egg! You’re not going to get this right off the first bat — it’s OK, as that’s what Lean is all about. What you need to do is Get Out The Building — a phrase coined by the godfather of Lean Startup, Steve Blanks. And what Blank’s here is that the solution is not in your office, it’s out there in the streets. So go interview your customer segment, ask them questions, and take those learnings. Remember the Lean Startup is validated learning through a continual Build — Measure — Learn cycle. 5. Channels Channels are ways for you to reach your CS. And remember that in the initial stages it’s important not to think about scale but to focus on learning. With that in mind try to think which channels will give you enough access to your CS at the same time give you enough learning. Channels can be email, social, CPC ads, blogs, articles, trade shows, radio & TV, webinars etc. and BTW you don’t have to be on all of them, just where your CS are. 6. Revenue Streams How you price your business will depend on the type of model it is, however, it’s quite common for startups to lower their cost, even offer it for free to gain traction, however, this can pose a few problems. The key being it actually delays/avoids validation. Getting people to sign up for something for free is a lot different than asking them to pay. There is also the idea of perceived value. Further reading: Simple pricing strategies for your products or services, the lean way! 7. Cost Structure Here you should list all the operational costs for taking this business to market. How much will it cost to build / landing page? What is your burn rate — your total monthly running costs? How much will it cost to interview your customer segment? How much do market research papers cost? etc. You can then use these costs and potential revenue streams to calculate a rough break-even point. 8. Key Metrics Every business, no matter what industry or size, will have some key metrics that are used to monitor performance. The best way to help with this is to visualize a funnel top down that flows from the large open top, through multiple stages to the narrow end. A good model to help with this is Dave McClure’s ARRRR (aka Pirate Metrics) — further reading: Startup Metrics for Pirates 9. Unfair Advantage This is the most difficult to block to answer. However, do try to think about this as having an unfair advantage can help when it comes seeking partners & investors. Here is a great definition of unfair advantage: “The only real competitive advantage is that which cannot be copied and cannot be bought.” — Jason Cohen. Unfair advantage can be insider information, a dream team, getting expert endorsements, existing customers etc. So rather than think about adding something like “commitment and passion” as an unfair advantage (because it is not), think about what you have that no one else can buy.

BUSINESS PROPOSITION

Problem we are solving

Solution

Key Metrics

Unique value

Unfair Advantage

Channels

Customer Segments

Cost

Revenue

7 S MODEL

The 7s model can be used when organizational design and effectiveness are at question. It can help all stakeholders to work towards agreement when there are differing opinions about how the seven elements should be aligned. It can be used as a good diagnostic took when looking at the mechanics of an organisation and asking systematically: What do we need to do here? At a push you could use a tool like this to structure your life. If you think of yourself as the captain of your ship or the leader of your household you might start to think about the people, property and process of your life like they were a business to be managed. Whilst this may seem incongruous or possibly manipulative to think of family, friends and fundamentals as something to be managed the counter-argument is that these things are too important to be left to chance and good stewardship is essential in life as it is in business.

Structure - Structure is the way in which a company is organized – chain of command and accountability relationships that form its organizational chart.
Strategy - Strategy refers to a well-curated business plan that allows the company to formulate a plan of action to achieve a sustainable competitive advantage, reinforced by the company’s mission and values.
Systems - Systems entail the business and technical infrastructure of the company that establishes workflows and the chain of decision-making.
Skills - Skills form the capabilities and competencies of a company that enables its employees to achieve its objectives.
Style - The attitude of senior employees in a company establishes a code of conduct through their ways of interactions and symbolic decision-making, which forms the management style of its leaders.
Staff - Staff involves talent management and all human resources related to company decisions, such as training, recruiting, and rewards systems
Shared Values - The mission, objectives, and values form the foundation of every organization and play an important role in aligning all key elements to maintain an effective organizational design.


The focus of the McKinsey 7s Model lies in the interconnectedness of the elements that are categorized by “Soft Ss” and “Hard Ss” – implying that a domino effect exists when changing one element in order to maintain an effective balance. Placing “Shared Values” as the “center” reflects the crucial nature of the impact of changes in founder values on all other elements.

The interdependency of this strategy development framework means that if one element changes, you will have to address the other six elements to analyze how the change affects them and to determine how each may need to change to keep organizational goals aligned.

Business uses of the McKinsey framework include:

Determining how your business will achieve targets and goals
Boosting productivity and performance
Putting a proposed strategy into effect
Facilitating the complexities of aligning departments and processes during mergers or acquisitions
Examining the effects of organizational changes within the company
Implementing policies to improve employee skills and competency


CULTURAL WEB
The Cultural Web is a tool used to map the culture of an organisation and is a way of seeing and understating the different influences that affect organisational. culture. It can be used to map existing culture and it can also used to map future. This, just like the 7S model above, could be applied to you personal life. Again it may seem incongruous or possibly manipulative to think of family, friends and fundamentals as something to be managed but it is all about relationships and behaviour whether that is in the business or home context.

Stories and Myths

What form of company reputation is communicated between customers and stakeholders?
What stories do people tell new employees about the company?
What do people know about the history of the organisation?
What do these stories say about the culture of the business?

Rituals and Routines

What do employees expect when they arrive each day?
What experience do customers expect from the organisation?
What would be obvious if it were removed from routines?
What do these rituals and routines say about organisational beliefs?

Symbols

What kind of image is associated with the company from the outside?
How do employees and managers view the organisation?
Are there any company-specific designs or jargon used?
How does the organisation advertise itself?

Control Systems

Which processes are strongly and weakly controlled?
In general, is the company loosely or tightly controlled?
Are employees rewarded or punished for performance?
What reports and processes are used to keep control of finance, etc?

Organisation Structures

How hierarchical is the organisation?
Is responsibility and influence distributed in a formal or informal way?
Where are the official lines of authority?
Are there any unofficial lines of authority?

Power Structures

Who holds the power within the organisation?
Who makes decisions on behalf of the company?
What are the beliefs and culture of those as the top of the business?
How is power used within the organisation?

LIFE WHEEL
In some aspects the Life Wheel combines much of what was in the 7S model and the Cultural Web and so it is logical to conclude our journey with this model. We have travelled from business mission and vision to personal fulfilment travelling through the some useful models that may help us understand the components and formulate strategies to improve the process and outcome for either, and ideally both.

This tool was created by The Coaches Training Institute (CTI) in San Rafael, CA. I have found it to be a very useful tool for assessing where coaching may be of benefit to you. To complete the assessment, print this page and follow the directions. Rate each area of your life on the wheel from a 1 (not at all satisfied) to 10 (completely satisfied/could not be improved on) by drawing a line across the corresponding number in that section of the pie and then shading below it. When you are done, you will be left with a jagged wheel that should effectively illustrate areas for growth. This is where coaching starts. What happens next is up to you.

Tim HJ Rogers MBA CITP
PROJECTS, PROGRAMMES and CHANGE / CONSULTANT MENTOR COACH
Adapt Consulting Company
Consult CoCreate Deliver
Mob +447797762051 Tim@AdaptConsultingCompany.com

Tim Rogers is an experienced Project and Change Leader. He is founder of ciChange.org and curator for TEDxStHelier.Com . Roles have included Programme Manager for the incorporation of Ports and Jersey, and Jersey Post, as well as Operations Change and Sales Support for RBSI/NatWest. He is also Commonwealth Triathlete and World Championships Rower. He has a passion for learning and has been a Tutor/Mentor for the Chartered Management Institute. He is a Chartered Member of the British Computer Society, has an MBA (Management Consultancy) and is both a PRINCE2 and Change Management Practitioner.

USEFUL LINKS

An Introduction to Lean Canvas
https://medium.com/@steve_mullen/an-introduction-to-lean-canvas-5c17c469d3e0

Change Models
http://www.timhjrogers.com/blog/compendium%20change%20management%20models.html#A8

The Wheel of Life: a great personal assessment tool
https://strategic-solutions-coaching.com/wheel-of-life/