Listening is Everywhere

Written by Marian Thier | September 1, 2010 — Leave a Comment

I just had to add this blurb:

(Dan)Akerson is known as a no-nonsense military-style leader with a serious stubborn streak.  Those traits could serve him well as he continues to widdle away at the bureaucracy that plagued the automaker for years, but even Bob Lutz says Akerson might have to soften up a bit.  “He needs to develop his listening skills,” Lutz told Business Week. As the magazine points out, GM’s directors will be listening hard to make sure he does.

I wonder how Mr Akerson would describe his listening habits!

Posted in Listening at Work

Myths About Listening

Written by Marian Thier | August 31, 2010 — 2 Comments

There are, of course, the simple, obvious myths about listening like:

  • We don’t have to be taught to listen
  • People listen the same way around the world
  • Listening is passive

I don’t think those myths merit much discussion because it’s widely accepted that they are false.  The only one I’d like to make a point about is the second one, that listening occurs the same way globally.  In an earlier blog I wrote about how interruptions are treated differently around the world—in eastern Europe for example, interrupting is a sign of paying attention, while in western countries, it is thought of as being disrespectful.  Cultural norms are powerful influences on who and what we listen to, as well as why and when we listen.

Let’s explore some of the more challenging myths that influence the way we think about and practice listening.

1.     Listening requires 100% attention.

While it is true in most cases that we give less attention than is warranted when listening, our brain is not designed to “be on” all of the time.  In interested and motivated adults, a short-term attention span lasts for about 8 minutes, whereas a long-term attention span can last for as long as 20 minutes.

To deal with the reality of that myth, concentrate hard for a limited period of time. If you feel yourself losing concentration or interest, switch to something else, then return to what you were listening to previously.

2.     We can boost our listening intelligence by listening to classical music.

We can reduce some distractions by adding music, not rock with lyrics; but maybe Mozart.  Frances H. Rauscher, the professor who experimented with the much touted “Mozart Effect,” never said listening to Mozart made anyone a better listener or smarter for an extended period.  He said there are areas of the brain that respond to certain frequencies, thus enhancing temporary alertness that lasts for approximately 15 minutes.

To deal with the reality of that myth, take advantage of the 15 minute-boost that you do get from listening to Mozart  (other classical music would probably work as well, but the experiments were done with Mozart in the background).  Practice, write, speak after the initial 15 minutes to imbed the learning you listened to.

More myths to come—what are some that arise in your mind?

Posted in Adaptive Listening, Cultural Influence, Listening Habits, Research, Science of Listening | Tagged , , ,

Role of Sender and Receiver in Communication

Written by Marian Thier | August 24, 2010 — 3 Comments

Recently I was in a design meeting and we were talking about listening.  One of the team members said listening isn’t actually hard to explain—it’s always comprised of a sender and a receiver.  I sat there trying to digest what he said, knowing something was missing from the simplistic response.

So I went back to my research, confident that I’d find something to shed light on my quandary.

Malcolm Gladwell in The Outliers agrees that listening is comprised of a sender and a receiver, but that cultural norms play a big role in how that plays out.  In the western world, for example, we believe the responsibility for the communication lies with the sender.  Just think about the impact of that norm on interactions.

Managers are trained to be clear, precise, concise, consistent, and timely.  That advice comes directly from the belief that the sender has control of the interaction and the receiver only has to grasp what is directly presented.  If the manager (sender) doesn’t get it right, it’s not the fault of the employee (receiver).  There are lots of expressions to support that norm:  “You didn’t tell me, that’s not what you said, you weren’t clear, …”

The quality of the interaction is dependent upon the ability of the sender.  I’m not implying that the receiver is nothing more than a pair of passive ears, but it does put the onus for the effectiveness of an interaction upon the person talking.

On the other hand, Gladwell says that relationship flips in Asian cultures.  The responsibility of good communication rests with the receiver.  Employees are trained to understand the words and intent of the sender, often the manager, because they will have to execute what is said, and there’s little room for error.

Regardless of what role one takes in an interaction, each party has to send a message that has all the necessary properties to make it understandable (and maybe actionable) in that situation.  We all have to be both Western and Asian-capable listeners.

So, if I circle back to that design meeting, if it were happening today, I’d surface the complexity of the sender-receiver relationship that goes beyond the function of ears and sound waves and delves into the influence of culture on listening.

There’s never a simple answer or model for something as challenging as good listening.

Posted in Adaptive Listening, Coaching, Cultural Influence, Listening at Work, Research | Tagged , , , ,

How Do You Know?

Written by Marian Thier | August 17, 2010 — Leave a Comment

My dear friend and colleague Allan Ackerman, replied to me (not on my blog) after my last post on multitasking:

“When I’m on the phone with someone who’s typing I can tell because I can hear them typing. Also, their replies get very mechanical and less frequent, and make less and less sense in relation to the conversation, stay on the surface and never go either to an especially insightful level or to any kind of free association.”

That response prompted me to search for information about what is being done to counter multitasking.  Here are a couple, but not much going on:

A missed stop sign can have a devastating effect on more than one car or pedestrians at a street crossing; however by placing a solar powered stop sign with the flashing LED lights at each corner, more accidents could be prevented because the flashing LED lights could help attract the attention of distracted drivers and they will hopefully proceed with caution.  Posted in Geeky Speaky by Kolleen, go to articles/computer technology/ technology for Dec. 2, 2009.

In The New York Times on June 6, 2010 there was this little bit of news that could be considered encouraging:

At the University of Rochester, researchers found that players of some fast-paced video games can track the movement of a third more objects on a screen than nonplayers. They say the games can improve reaction and the ability to pick out details amid clutter.

Back to Allan. He’s very insightful and expects meaningful conversations, so imagine how frustrating a fragmented conversation would be to him.

Let us know how you can tell when someone is multitasking and not focusing on you?

Posted in Adaptive Listening, Listening Habits, Listening at Work, Multi-tasking, Research | Tagged , , ,

If Multi-tasking Is So Bad, Why Do We Enjoy It?

Written by Marian Thier | August 10, 2010 — 3 Comments

Both Dr. Nass and Gazzaley recognize their messages about the harm of multi-tasking fall on disbeliever ears.   They don’t really know why we enjoy it, given the scientific warnings, but they and others have some ideas:

  1. Gadgets are fun.  Every time a new upgrade or toy comes on the market, people rush to buy it and play with the functionality.
  2. Moving from one task to another provides novelty.  We don’t get bored and switching to something new excites us.
  3. For a while—when the excitement wears off we look for a replacement.
  4. The more there is to choose from, the more we like it.
  5. Addictive personalities can change from being addicted to one thing, to being addicted to multi-tasking.  A person who is addicted to multi-tasking is doing so many different things at once it may not look as though that person is addicted, but just busy.  Thus we don’t get alarmed by multi-tasking addiction and even reinforce their behavior because it looks like they’re getting a lot done.
  6. People believe new information is better than the old, thus we are always on the lookout for what is most current.
  7. We want to get away, to escape, and not focusing on one thing allows for variety.
  8. We don’t want to think deeply.  Staying on the surface of many options keeps us from deep diving into one area of thought.

So is there hope?  Are there tips to manage our multi-tasking selves?

  1. Clean your plate of everything but what must be attended to.
  2. If you must listen to music while doing something like homework or writing a report, listen to music without words.  Music with words uses the same part of the brain as required to compute, write, or talk, while music without words uses a different part of the brain.
  3. Reward the outcomes of deep mental work (but don’t punish yourself if you slack off a bit).
  4. Intermix tasks—start with something routine, then switch to something new, and so forth.  Change frequently, but stay with only one task at a time.
  5. Practice discipline—close the door, select one important task, check for quality before moving on to another task (do you want your name attached to the work?).
  6. Sit through a meal with your machines elsewhere and do not get up to check on messages.
  7. Set aside family time to interact—be conscious of it and never cut it short.
  8. Think hard about listening—stay focused on someone else, it will make that person feel great.

Let us know how you manage your multi-tasking or how it plays into your life.

Posted in Adaptive Listening, Listening Habits, Multi-tasking, Research, Science of Listening | Tagged , , , ,

More on Multi-Tasking and Brain Imaging

Written by Marian Thier | August 3, 2010 — 4 Comments

Remember a conversation like this with teenage kids (could have been you):

Parent:            How can you listen to music and do your homework?

Teen:            Huh?

Parent:            Take those things out of your ears.

Teen:            (Removes one and looks at parent with a vague recollection of who that is.)  What did you say?

Parent:            I asked how you can do your homework with music blaring in your ears?

Teen:            I don’t know I just do.  My grades are fine, don’t worry.

That typical conversation still occurs, but the ante has been raised.  Many kids not only listen to music while they’re doing homework, they also text, talk on their cell, and may be surfing or playing games on the computer.

And the parent?  That very same parent might not be very different than the teen.  Instead of reading in the living room or interacting with other family members, that parent is answering email, texting, and maybe surfing in the home office.

Two scientists whose work is about multi-tasking, say the more we task the brain, the worse it functions.  Dr. Clifford Nass, author of The Man Who Lied to His Laptop and Dr. Adam Gazzaley, from UCSF, and Director of the Imaging Center have scientific proof of what happens when we try to multi-task.

Some of their points are:

  1. Brain imaging shows what the brain is doing when we challenge it to perform two high-quality tasks.  Each time the brain switches from one task to the next, performance of either task is reduced.
  2. When the brain switches gears, it drops one task to pick up the second.
  3. The people who think they are the best at multi-tasking, when tested, are actually the worst.  One of the researchers says those people are actually bad at anything having to do with short-term memory.
  4. Multiple source streams reduce the ability to interact with the environment.  That helps explain why driving while talking on the cell phone produces behavior similar to being drunk.
  5. Social pressures to stay connected, even at work, prevent people from having time to engage in “hard” thinking (problem solving, experimenting, researching, reading, debating, etc.)
  6. While there’s no long-term data for young people growing up in a multi-tasking world, there is concern for developmental implications.  The two researchers fear that population might lose some fundamental capabilities such as being able to stay engaged in one focused activity for a long time (such as reading a book, writing an essay, conducting an experiment).

Stay with me, the next post is going to consider if multi-tasking is so bad, why do we enjoy it, and some tips to help before the addiction is too far gone.

Posted in Adaptive Listening, Listening Habits, Research, Science of Listening | Tagged , , ,

The Trainable Brain

Written by Marian Thier | July 27, 2010 — Leave a Comment

In the article The Creativity Crisis in the July 10 edition of Newsweek Magazine, the authors Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman postulate that creativity can be taught (and untaught).  They, like Malcolm Gladwell in Outliers argue that practice is at the basis of learning anything well enough to be proficient.

Bronson and Merryman say, “Is this (creativity) learnable? Well, think of it like basketball. Being tall does help to be a pro basketball player, but the rest of us can still get quite good at the sport through practice. In the same way, there are certain innate features of the brain that make some people naturally prone to divergent thinking. But convergent thinking and focused attention are necessary, too, and those require different neural gifts. Crucially, rapidly shifting between these modes is a top-down function under your mental control. University of New Mexico neuroscientist Rex Jung has concluded that those who diligently practice creative activities learn to recruit their brains’ creative networks quicker and better. A lifetime of consistent habits gradually changes the neurological pattern.”

Here we are again thinking about habits and the role they play.  While they are talking about creativity, the same can be said about listening.

When I reviewed Gladwell and his claim that it takes 10,000 hours to achieve mastery of a competency, I started to run some numbers in my head:

  1. 50% of our day is spent listening = let’s say 4 hours
  2. We work 5 days per week = 20 hours of listening
  3. We work 5 days per week for 48 weeks (assuming 4 weeks vacation or other absences) = 240 days of work
  4. Therefore, we listen about 960 hours a year at work
  5. And, at least that amount in non-work settings = about a total of 2,000 hours per year of listening interactions

That’s enough time to develop some very bad habits or to become a best-of-class listener.  If you need to be the latter, there’s no better time to start training your brain (it controls your ears and mouth).

Posted in Research | Tagged , ,

Are We Our Brains?

Written by Marian Thier | July 19, 2010 — 3 Comments

Recently I was driving from Boulder to Golden, CO and noticed a new office dedicated to some sort of brain training.  I’m not sure what the service is, but the parking lot was full.  True, there are not as many brain development centers as those hawking medical marijuana, but the phenomenon has just begun.

Either my Reticular Activation System (RAS—Post#11) is in overdrive, or neuroscience and the functioning of our brains is on a lot of people’s minds these days.

In David Rock’s superb book, Your Mind at Work, he explains how we can increase our ability to be the director of our brain’s activities.  He says, “when characters (people) have learned to think and behave with the ‘brain in mind… When they’ve developed the ability to understand their minds more deeply—to have what I call ‘mindsight’—they have a conscious choice over how to engage their brains, and now have the power to change their habits.”

That thinking is behind my work on listening habits—we might have habits that serve us well or poorly, but they are habits and can be controlled.

In an interview with Srini Pillay by Tom Atkinson and Robin Heyden of The Forum Corporation, Pillay says: “…neuroscience information is a very ripe area in brain research. One example:  mirror neurons in the brain that function to help you pick up information when you are near someone else, when you are present.  So this knowledge about the way the brain works can be used to inform managers about the importance of getting out of their offices and spending time with the frontline workers.  By being present, you will acquire additional knowledge that you cannot acquire any other way.”

I also went back to notes I took in a presentation by the leadership expert, Ron Heifitz who said, “Assumptions drive the way we think and act.  In the past we were subject to them. Now, with increased understanding of how our brains work, we see and guide the assumptions, thus being in greater control of how we think and act.”

Yet the brain wasn’t always revered. We recently attended the current King Tut exhibit at the Denver Art Museum.  In one of the rooms there were gorgeous pots that were used to hold organs removed from the dead pharaohs’ bodies.  They removed the organs so the rulers would have them as needed in the afterlife.  The brain was different.  It was pulled out through the nose and discarded because it was not thought to have any value.

Posted in Listening Habits, Research, Science of Listening | Tagged , ,

The Conceptualizing Listener

Written by Marian Thier | July 13, 2010 — 2 Comments

Four blog posts will describe each of the four listening habits:  inner-personal, extra-personal, problem-solving, conceptualizing

The conceptualizing listener goes into a meeting and listens for anything that pertains to an idea.  She might say, “This information might help me come up with more ideas or options.  The speaker is stimulating.  I’ll jot down some notes and sketch some pictures as I listen—helps me stay focused.”

The conceptualizing listeners are very good at seeing the big picture. They also often read between the lines, thus think about “what if” scenarios that can head off potential problems.

Ideas matter is the operative phrase.

While their listening often leads to new ideas, they can take a meandering trip and never come to a point-of-view or decision.  Going back to the above example, if someone were to ask the conceptualizing listener after the meeting, “How do you think what we learned in the meeting will impact our market position?” it’s possible she might say, “Oh, there are so many opportunities in the marketplace right now.  We can do this and that and them and those, and…”  In that case the conceptualizing listener immediately began to spin ideas.  The reaction might be overwhelmed or delighted.

Tips to recognize the conceptualizing listener:

Questions they might ask:

  • Who are the thought leaders in this field?
  • What are the options/alternatives?
  • Where can we test the info to see what else we come up with?
  • What if we tried this, or that or…?

Body-language they might display:

  • Movement, wiggling in seat, bouncing legs
  • Can be disruptive if bored
  • Sits with friends
  • Doodles—good sign

What not to do when interacting with conceptualizing listeners:

  • Talk nothing but facts and details
  • Ask for quick decision
  • Stop their contributions
  • Make it one-sided—they like energetic interaction

Remember, this is a description of a person with a strong conceptualizing listening habit.  We usually have blends of habits.

Posted in Coaching, Listening Habits, Listening at Work | Tagged , , ,

The Problem-Solving Listener

Written by Marian Thier | July 6, 2010 — 1 Comment

Four blog posts will describe each of the four listening habits:  inner-personal, extra-personal, problem-solving, conceptualizing

The problem-solving listener goes into a meeting and listens for anything that pertains to a problem.  He might say, “This information might help me get to a right answer.  The speaker is providing relevant facts and data that could make a difference.  I’ll take notes for accuracy.”

The problem-solving listeners are very good at selecting problem-centered information from a presentation and are generally good at knowing what is inaccurate.  They choose what matters to a problem/situation and discard what seems to be irrelevant, especially anything to do with feelings.

Matters to the problem is the operative phrase.

While their listening often leads the path towards a solution, they can push aside otherwise valuable information.  Their challenge is to look beyond factual meaning to personal meaning.  Going back to the above example, if someone were to ask the problem-solving listener after the meeting, “How do you think what we learned in the meeting will impact our market position?” it’s possible he might say, “I don’t know, there weren’t enough details to have a position.  Poor presentation.”  In that case the problem-solving listener was critical of the entire presentation instead of selecting from it what could have been meaningful.  That reaction would most likely shut down further examination of the topic.

Tips to recognize the problem-solving listener:

Questions they might ask:

  • Who knows the most about this field?
  • Where’s your proof?
  • I’ve got enough information, when can I run with it?
  • How can this information solve the problem?

Body-language they might display:

  • Direct-facing, but turns away when dissatisfied
  • Rubs chin or other places on head when thinking
  • Sits away from speaker if skeptical
  • Might often look puzzled—shows they’re thinking

What not to do when interacting with problem-solving listeners:

  • Talk about feelings (or if you do, wait until the facts are out)
  • Be abstract or present big-picture thinking
  • Be unfocused or present ideas without details
  • Take time—best to be crisp and to-the-point

Remember, this is a description of a person with a strong problem-solving listening habit.  We usually have blends of habits.

Posted in Coaching, Listening Habits, Listening at Work | Tagged , , ,
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