** Staying Connected No. 9

Any change, even a change for the better, is always accompanied by drawbacks and discomforts. -Arnold Bennett

We have been experiencing some beautiful weather in Istanbul. Unfortunately, this experience of beautiful weather has been through the window of our flat. Turkey issued a full lockdown of the entire country this month to control the third COVID spike. We’re all surprised as to how normal this now feels. We are keeping calm and carrying on, indoors :)

** For this month, here are some ideas, hacks, and mental models to think about:

  • Kathie Dannemiller's equation for organizational change: D × V × F > R
  • Strategies for avoiding confirmation biases by Warren Buffet and Charlie Munger
  • Effective Coaching Questions
  • Gaming the halo effect
  • A Great Movie that Illustrates the pain of Introducing change
  • Experimenting with a three day bone-broth fast

** Kathie Dannemiller's equation for organizational change

"To bring about any change, the balance between the forces which maintain the social self-regulation at a given level has to be upset" -Kurt Lewin

Kurt Lewin's force field analysis suggests that organizations are in a state of equilibration and any change effort will be met with resistance.

Kathie Dannemiller's equation(D × V × F > R) is a useful model to further understand the variables that, together, must overcome the resistance.

Dissatisfaction with current state x vision for the future x effective first steps > resistance

If you are in the middle of a failing change effort, perhaps consider which of the above variables are lacking

** Strategies for avoiding confirmation biases by Warren Buffet and Charlie Munger

“There is no question that the human being is best at interpreting all new information so that their prior convulsions remain intact.” Warren Buffet

In the clip (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3fpLa7iwpU) , Charles Munger and Warren Buffet discuss strategies for how they protect themselves from falling victim to their own cognitive biases.

** Effective Coaching Questions

In the book The Coaching Habit, the author The book introduces the 7 coaching questions:

  1. The Kickstart Question - What’s on your mind?
  2. The AWE Question - And what else?
  3. The Focus Question - What’s the real challenge here for you?
  4. The Foundation Question - What do you want?
  5. The Lazy Question - How can I help?
  6. The Strategic Question - If you’re saying Yes to this, what are you saying No to?
  7. The Learning Question - What was most useful for you?

Read the book (https://www.amazon.com/Coaching-Habit-Less-Change-Forever-ebook/dp/B01BUIBBZI/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=) for more.

** Gaming the Halo Effect

When giving an important online presentation, two strategies for using the halo effect cognitive bias to your advantage are speaking confidently and improving your video quality. One costs money (https://www.amazon.com/Sony-Alpha-a6400-Mirrorless-Camera/dp/B07MV3P7M8) and the other just requires you to warm up your voice before the session.

Click here (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EB8sY2PNweY) to learn how to warm-up your voice.

** A Great Movie that Illustrates the pain of Introducing change

One of my favorite movies that illustrate the pain of trying to introduce a new order of things is Moneyball. What I find most interesting is that the catalyst for change was the constraints created by the owners.

It’s currently streaming on Netflix :)

Brilliant scene (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tzin1DgexlE) from the movie.

** Experimenting with a three day bone-broth fast

My knees and shoulders have been aching of late, so I recently tried a three-day bone broth fast as part of a plan to heal my achy joints. I was surprised by the fact that I felt fantastic after the initial couple of hours. And I lost 4 pounds which was surprising. I even made my own bone broth. Prepare for your family to complain about the smell of the bone broth:)

More (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfMAwm2oHcA) on bone broth fasting and the recipe (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6GHwG1y-NE0) I followed. Wishing you a happy May! Until next month, Ahmad