Use the idea of evolution to reflect on your own life so far. What have been the most power-
ful moments to date?
What have you learned from these? Which kind of experiences have shaped your development
most so far? (This is an interesting activity to undertake with other colleagues at work and
with your partner at home.)
What are the biggest changes you are facing at work and at home? How responsive are you
to these changes?Change and the brain
You have seen how the human brain has evolved “upwards” from
its most primitive reptilian form, capable of little more than fight
or flight responses. As it has been required to undertake more com-
plex tasks, so it has grown in complexity and size. As evolutionary
biologists have made clear, it has changed in complexity and size
over thousands of years. All change involves some stress, but if
stress levels become too high, the brain ceases to operate as effec-
tively as it should. This can often be because the people engaged
in the change feel that they have lost control of their lives.
You have read various theories of how we learn. It was Jean
Piaget who wrote of learning by assimilation and by accommoda-
tion. You assimilate bits and pieces through reading books and
watching a television program. You accommodate through experi-
ence by reflecting on what you have been through and changing
your behavior accordingly. David Kolb’s theory of the learning cycle
also is helpful. You establish a concept, test it, experience it, and
reflect on the experience. As a result, you do things differently.
You have explored some of the theories of motivation and
may remember the discussion about intrinsic and external motiva-
tion. All the recent research has shown that people perform best
when they are intrinsically motivated, unless they are involved with
very mechanistic tasks. People who are engaged in solving a prob-
lem and who are involved in finding the solution to it “own” that
solution. Put simply, we feel patronized if we are simply told to
change, even if we are offered attractive rewards. The human mind
wants to evolve its own solution and create its own new paradigm.192 Power Up Your Mind
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