The Mirror- Collaborative Team Shape

I'm often referring to the primitive nature of elements of our collaborative working. There is something 'very human' about our need to work together and get along. Giving people the benefit of the most, not all, people seek to work closely together developing a shared understanding and being able to get their message across more easily in the 1-to-1 or group in which they are working. Without repeating a the freely available scientific material here's my own take on this remarkably primitive behaviour that we like when we see it and encourage it when we don't.

A mirror neuron is a neuron that fires both when an animal acts and when the animal observes the same action performed by another. Thus, the neuron "mirrors" the behaviour of the other, as though the observer were itself acting. Such neurons have been directly observed in primate species.

One observation is that behaviour is studied and reported most often in animals and so a separation away from the formal term may be useful. As the doodle suggests the mirror shape is seen when two or more people are working in a way where common ground has been found. This is not always easy and sometimes will not happen at all. When it does it's to be cherished and used as a platform for the development of an outcome for the good of those involved and the wider team.

It's not one specific movement as the doodle suggests however this is one example. In pointing an element of the work out in a particular way then your colleague may reflect back the similar movement in an acknowledgement they concur. I see this like the yawn being passed from one to another, or the a similar, if not natural, pronunciation of a word which is a complement from the second person to the view of the first. Buddies wearing the same fashion is related and always intrigues me. It's natural to want to be accepted and understood and by mirroring an element of our colleagues we are signalling that we are in line. I find this particularly intriguing when it results in an action of use of a term that an individual in normal circumstances would not have used.

I'd love to hear your views of this as my own understanding is purely through observation and therefore not in anyway scientific. As such it's an interest area that I would to develop by understanding your own experiences of the same.

I appreciate you taking the time to pay attention to this thought,