Making quick decisions.

In this edition of Cultured Conversations, we reflect upon two aspects of human behaviour that impact everyone's life and work. Firstly, how do people make quick decisions and how much is down to intellect? Then what are the dynamics that determine the success of any human conversation? The nourishment for these articles comes from our good friends at www.mygrow.me whose mission is to develop an emotionally intelligent world.

In work and life, we prize the ability to think quickly. We use the complimentary term ‘agile’ to describe someone who can handle a tough Q&A session. Or ‘sharp’ for an entrepreneur who spots and seizes a business opportunity before anyone else. But, in ascribing quick thinking to intellect, we are generally mistaken. For quick thinking is almost always unconscious and is powered by emotion.

When we make decisions, our brains use two systems. Let’s call them fast and slow. When you see an angry person in the street, the first thing you register is that she’s angry. Before you realise the colour of her shirt, the length of her hair or her demographic. Your emotional interpretation comes first.?

When, by contrast, you’re asked to work out 17 x 24, you instantly recognise that this is a mathematical sum that’s a bit tricky. The solution is probably more than 20 but less than 800, but you don’t instantly come up with the exact answer. Instead, you probably feel yourself choosing whether or not to try to figure it out.

So System 1 thinking is fast. It happens subconsciously by making associations with data stored in your emotional memory. There’s no voluntary control because this ‘thinking’ happens in the brain's emotional centres. System 2 thinking is slow: it makes a conscious effort to allocate the attention needed. This work happens in the frontal lobes of your brain.

Now look at what happens when we use both systems to solve this puzzle:

• A bat and ball cost $1.10?

• The bat costs one dollar more than the ball.?
• How much does the ball cost?

For most people, the number that instantly comes to mind is 10￠. It’s an easy puzzle, so we feel the answer is going to be very simple. But we’re wrong: if the ball costs 10￠, then for the bat to cost one dollar more than 10c would mean the bat costs $1.10.? Making the total cost $1.20. The correct answer is in fact? 5￠.

While nearly everyone hears from System 1 that the answer is 10￠, some people realise the answer can’t be right without knowing what the right answer is. They have to do some mental work first.

The good news is that both systems are constantly operational while we’re awake. Most of what we think and do originates in System 1, but System 2 takes over when things get difficult. The partnership is highly efficient: it balances our thinking processes to minimise effort and maximise performance. But quick thinking always starts with emotion.

Conversations are transactions

You may be surprised to learn that any conversation between two humans is a transaction. And some conversations have predictable outcomes regardless of the subject under discussion.?

Have you ever noticed that some patterns of behaviour repeat whenever you talk with certain people? Perhaps it’s a colleague who can never say no, but always fails to deliver. Or a relative whose constant criticism of your children puts you on the defensive. Every time you meet them you hope it will be different, but it never is.?

The theory of Transactional Analysis was developed in the 1950s by psychologist Eric Berne to help people understand cycles of problematic interpersonal interaction. Berne suggested that people interact through social actions, which he called “strokes”. Any time one human recognises another, through saying something or giving a look, a smile, a nod or a touch he defined as a “stroke”.?

Berne noticed that as people interact through strokes, they can sometimes change their whole demeanour dramatically. Their tone of voice, body posture, gestures, choice of words, and emotional state can alter depending on whom they are interacting with.?

These changes gave rise to the idea that humans have different ego states (or ways of being)? which emerge in social interaction. Berne identified three principal ego states people take on in different situations:

• The Parent ego state represents our taught concept of life using behaviours, thoughts and feelings copied from our parents. Like the oldest child in a household using what their mother has said to them in a conversation with a younger sibling.
• The Child ego state is our felt concept of life. ?When behaviours, thoughts and feelings replayed from childhood emerge in our interactions.
• The Adult ego state is more rational. It represents our thought concept of life - the independent conclusions we have come to as we have matured.

The reality is that every one of us exhibits all of these states at different times. They’re not linked to age, but rather to the ego state we unconsciously take on in a conversation.

When there’s an imbalance in ego states - such as one person being the Adult and the other the Child -? it can make for unproductive conversations over and over again. On reflection, I realise why many conversations with my wife seem to go the same way!

Culture change in action. Kampala, Uganda

The leading logistics business in Africa is embracing organisational culture change for good reason. A recent acquisition has enabled them to create a new brand identity - Africa Global Logistics - and a new vision - to be At the Heart of Africa's Transformation. This huge business has a heritage of over 60 years and all the resources, capabilities and systems it needs. But it want to create new narrative to drive future success, and employees are being invited to contribute their ideas. The first movers are to be found in Uganda, where The Brand Inside is coaching 240 AGL staff to create their own Culture Transformation Programme. They have named it OBUMU (Togetherness) and are using the opportunity to propose innovations in three key areas: Operational Excellence, People & Culture, and Communications.

First up, Operational Excellence, they ran an exercise to consider how best to make use of the company's latest multi-million dollar investment ...

Chris Harrison is the Managing Director of The Brand Inside. He's a Marketer and Africa expert with 30 years' experience in building and delivering brands across 26 African markets. As a Coach, he currently leads programmes to transform organisational cultures in Logistics, Microfinance, Agriculture, Fintech and Banking. Chris partners with the Emotional Intelligence development platform Mygrow in Africa and helps to develop future business leaders through the Amalgam Leadership Programme

Cultured Conversations showcases the latest thinking in leadership, workplace behaviours and organisational culture change.