Patterns

Humans are amazing pattern matching machines!

We especially focus on anything which makes us feel endangered – our reptilian brain takes over before we even notice it’s happening. Or can think through it.

But why is that a problem?

It’s because it often leads us to false assumptions. That’s why we feel nervous about meeting someone with a different accent or skin color or dress. It’s different than what we’ve learned is “normal”, so the reptilian brain starts sending out danger signals.

Fortunately, your brain can be trained.

You can deliberately put more thought into your decisions. If you’re interviewing to hire someone, it helps to have a set of objective criteria developed in advance.

If you’re not really in danger (like 99% of the time), tell your brain to quiet down until you’ve had time to think. Just because someone on the train is acting a little different than you expect doesn’t mean that you’re in any danger. So quiet down a little.

And when that report isn’t organized exactly the way you expected, think about whether it actually matters. Someone may have found a better way to communicate than what you’re used to!

Calm.

Think.