Why did You do That? ©copyright 2009 Dr. Kay Potetz 1 Why Did You Do That? 14 th Annual NPPA Conference Monday August 9, 2010 Dr. K. Kay Potetz Speakers

Why did You do That? ©copyright 2009 Dr. Kay Potetz

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Why Did You Do That?

14th Annual NPPA ConferenceMonday August 9, 2010

Dr. K. Kay Potetz Speakers Unlimited 614-864-3703 [email protected]


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The mystery of how we

make decisions is one of the

many things that has been unexplainable

to us.


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When buying a house, for

example, we let our unconscious mull over many variables, i.e., taxes, school

systems, access to public

transportation, location, etc?

Yet we'll spend six months interviewing everybody we know in an attempt to find the best hair salon…


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Human beings are wired to dislike potential losses; most people are

content to sacrifice profit for security.

Loss Aversion Bias


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We hesitate to sell a stock that is going down.

We try to postpone pain as long as possible, which generally results

in more losses.


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• We are defined by our decisions.

• Yet rarely do we consider exactly

what goes on inside our heads

during the decision making

process.


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It takes 8 milliseconds for a signal to get to the Amygdala and set off defensive and stressed memories. We feel “fight or flight.”

It takes that same signal 40 milliseconds to get to the Hippocampus (the reasoning & thinking part of the brain).

THUS, WE FEEL BEFORE WE THINK!

Joseph LeDoux New York University


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You feel before you think…….

•Your feelings actually determine your thoughts.

•How you’re feeling determines which way the Neuro-circuit goes.


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The most popular theory frames

“decision making” in epic terms, as a battle between reason

and emotion, with reason often

triumphing. Jonah Lehrer

For years we’ve been

arguing about the “workings”

of the mind.


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The truth is far more interesting:

If it weren't for our emotions, reason

wouldn’t exist at all.

Jonah Lehrer

For too long people have disparaged the

emotional brain, blaming our feelings

for all of our mistakes.


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So the question becomes, “What makes us feel?”

Why do we feel fear?

Why do we feel love or sadness?


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The answer lies is a single molecule that brain cells use to communicate with

one another:

DOPAMINE

Josh Lehrer

It has been referred to as the “Prediction Neuron.”

Dopamine neurons are more concerned with predicting awards

than actually receiving them.


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Dopamine neurons constantly generate patterns based on experience: if this, then that.

This “pseudo” reality is then distilled into models of correlation that allow

the brain to anticipate what will happen next.

Jonah Lehrer


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This occurs within milliseconds of disappointment; the unique signal generated by the brain

is known as error-related negativity.

Jonah Lehrer

Without the “feel good” dopamine, we no longer experience pleasure; we feel

the twinge of being wrong.


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From the perspective of the brain, there exists a

thin line between a

good decision and a bad decision.

Jonah Lehrer

Our impulsivity encounters little

resistance from our brain.

Jonah Lehrer


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The trick is to determine when to use different parts

of the brain,

and to do this, we need to think harder (and smarter) about

how we think.

Jonah Lehrer


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The first step in making better decisions is to see ourselves as we

really are, to look inside the black box of the human brain.

We need to honestly assess our flaws and talents, our

strengths and shortcomings.

We finally have the tools to pierce the mystery of the mind, revealing the intricate machinery that shapes

our behavior.

Now we need to put this knowledge to work.


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Questions to ask before acting:• Do I WANT this, or NEED this?

• Is this moving me toward my ultimate goal?• Is my innate loss aversion bias influencing me?• Am I making this decision with a clear mind, or am I

being influenced by the chemicals in my brain?• Are the chemicals in my brain influencing me; what

can I do to redirect my thinking?• Are my emotions sabotaging my common sense.

GOOD LUCK! This requires practice.


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References

• Begley, Sharon, (2007). Train Your Mind Change Your Brain. New York: Ballantine Books.

• Boyatzis, Richard; McKee, Annie, (2005). Resonant Leadership. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.

• Boyatzis, R., Goleman, D., McKee, A., (2002). Primal Leadership. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.

• Goleman, Daniel, (2006). Social Intelligence. New York: Bantam Books.

• LeDoux, J.E., (2000). “Emotion Circuits in the Brain.” Annual Review of Neuroscience. 23, 155-184.

• Lehrer, Jonah, (2009). How We Decide. New York: Houghton Mifflin.

Documents

Why did You do That? ©copyright 2009 Dr. Kay Potetz 1 Why Did You Do That? 14 th Annual NPPA Conference Monday August 9, 2010 Dr. K. Kay Potetz Speakers