Increasing Motivation, Right vs. Left Brain, MBTI and Who Will Rule the World
Increasing Motivation, Right vs. Left Brain, MBTI and Who Will Rule the World
Dan Pink, author of several books about motivation and left vs. right brain thinking, presented a very entertaining and informative talk at a TED.com conference called Dan Pink on the Surprising Science of Motivation. The premise of his presentation was that there is a mismatch between what science knows about, and what business does, in terms of motivating people.
He made a strong argument for the importance of how having autonomy may help creativity. A famous example he used is how Google allows employees to spend 20% of their time working on any project they want. He noted how ½ of all products developed at Google are created during this time. He argued for something he called ROWE which stands for Results Only Work Environment. This is when people don’t have to have schedules, attend meetings or do anything specific other than to be sure that they get their work done. By following these guidelines studies have shown it will increase productivity and reduce turnover.
Two of Pink’s books include: Drive . . . The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us; and A Whole New Mind . . .Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the World. After looking through his book on “right-brainers”, I found a lot of what he had to say to be quite interesting. He pointed out the importance of empathy which is a big part of emotional intelligence. For my dissertation, I studied quite a bit about empathy and the part it plays in one’s emotional intelligence. Researchers like Daniel Goleman, Ruevan Bar-On and others have shown that emotional intelligence can be developed. In this respect, what Pink had to say is good news for everyone because we can all work on becoming more empathetic.
The part of Pink’s information that may not be such good news for me and others like me is that he thinks that, as you can see from the title of his book, right-brainers will rule the world. Before reading any further, you might want to take this right or left brain quiz to find out your type. I’ll let you know that I received a 2 which means I am strongly left-brained. Not much right-brained thinking going on here!
To define the difference between left and right-brained, think of it this way: Left-brainers are sequential, logical and analytical. Right-brainers are non-linear, intuitive and holistic.
His theory supports that those with a high N or Intuitive personality type in the Myers-Briggs type indicator (MBTI) may be the ones who rule the world. The N is the opposite of the S or Sensing personality who uses their senses rather than intuition in their processing of information. In my training to become a qualified Myers Briggs instructor, I learned quite a bit about the differences between the personality types assigned by the MBTI. One of the main things researchers have found is that your MBTI results don’t change much over time. It’s about preferences . . . .like whether you prefer to write with your right or your left hand. Think of the MBTI results as your preferences for how you obtain information and this won’t change. So if you are an intuitive or an “N”, you will always be an intuitive and if you are a sensor or “S”, you will always be a sensor. Some people may be very close to the middle of the scale between S and N and so their results won’t be as cut and dry as they may find their type changes slightly when they take the MBTI.
Dichotomies Extraversion (E) – (I) Introversion Sensing (S) – (N) Intuition Thinking (T) – (F) Feeling Judgment (J) – (P) Perception
In our book, It’s Not You It’s Your Personality, Toni Rothpletz and I gave several examples of famous people with different MBTI results. The qualities of the right-brainer, as described by Pink, fall very much into the category of the “N” or intuitive personality portion of the 4 letter type given by MBTI. What is interesting to me is that less than half of people have an “N” or intuitive personality type according to Myers-Briggs MBTI which is close to the about 50% figure experts say are right-brained.
If our type is pretty much set in stone, then 50% of us aren’t going to rule the world! I guess I am OK with that. However, I do take solace in knowing that my MBTI personality type, ESTJ, accounts for l0-12% of the population and of that population some very big names also share that type including Sam Walton, creator of WalMart. He may not have ruled the world, but he came pretty darn close.
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How to Use QR Codes on Your Resume and Business Cards
QR codes are the latest thing in marketing. They are in the newspapers, on billboards and on just about every kind of marketing material you can imagine. Now you can utilize this amazing new technology to make your business card and/or resume stand out from the rest. This is an innovative way to show prospective employers that you are tech savvy. It also can redirect them to important information on your website that you cannot include in your resume.
Here is an example of how to put one on your business card.
Anyone with a smartphone that has an app for reading QR codes can easily point their phone at your card and find out more information about you. If you don’t have a QR reader app on your phone, they are easy to download from sites like iTunes and they are free. I use QR Reader for iPhone. Once you have the app on your phone, open it, and point the phone’s camera at the square on my card. See how it directs you to a site.
The QR codes are simple to create. Check out this article: how to create your own QR codes.
Here is an example of how to include them on your resume:
If you used your reader to scan these codes listed here, you can see they each will send you to a different site. You may just want to send them to your LinkedIn page or some other website that showcases your abilities. You could create a presentation in Google Docs or on YouTube that would make you stand out from the crowd. If you have always felt that you could get that job if only they could see you, now is your chance. Just be careful to create quality content on the site where you direct potential employers.
To see QR codes in action, check out this video about how QR codes are changing the way people shop:
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fGaVFRzTTP4&w=420&h=345]Related articles
Neuromarketing: The Future of Advertising
In Morgan Spurlock’s movie, The Greatest Movie Ever Sold, there is a scene where they discuss neuromarketing. Spurlock is put into an MRI machine and shown product images. The information obtained showed dopamine was released when he looked at images of Coca Cola. His desire for the product was actually visible on the brain scan.
What is neuromarketing? Tech.FAQ defines neuromarketing as, “a field of marketing that involves studying the way people react to marketing techniques and adjusting those techniques to maximize sales and inform the public about a specific product, idea, or campaign. Neuromarketing includes the use of biometric sensors, social studies, and subliminal messaging. While neuromarketing is a relatively new technique, it has been widely implemented in recent years and nearly every marketing agency and medium-large company in the world now uses it.”
Just less than a year ago the question was asked: Is neuromarketing the future? AdvertisingAge stated, “Neuromarketing offers a chance to get accurate, factual data about the buying habits of target markets.” However, they also pointed out that, “At the end of the day, neuromarketing is still in its infancy. A technology that is unproven outside of laboratory conditions, prohibitively expensive, and potentially a legal minefield is a technology that requires a lot of capital and a solid brand to experiment with.”
The future may be here sooner than anticipated. Combining neuroscience and marketing may just be the next big thing available through the use of apps. ThreeMinds reported, “large companies like Google, Disney, Microsoft and Chevron have already begun to dip their toes in the neuromarketing waters. And research vendors have responded, recently announcing the availability of portable EEG devices that can wirelessly transmit brain scans to iPads, as well as “full-brain home panels” for original research studies.”
Marketing professionals may be able to use this technology prior to products coming onto market. Currently researchers from Duke and Emery are studying how products appeal to the human brain.
iTunes offers a free series of videos from the University of Warwick about neuromarketing. In these videos, find out how “Cognitive neuroscience has revolutionized our understanding of the consumer’s brain – a fact with huge implications for business and marketing…you will hear from practitioners, clients and academics at the forefront of neuromarketing. Hear how neuroscience is being applied commercially to research and develop new products and services, improve the effectiveness of communications and boost revenue.”
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Facebook Making People More Empathetic
This information may come as a surprise with the number of reported cyber bullying cases. Internet Solutions for Kids reported that 17% of 13- to 18-year-olds were bullied online in the past year. However, this is low compared to the reported 40% in-person bullying.
Fear of dealing with social settings has led many to online platforms like Facebook, MySpace and Twitter. Some newer studies have shown that this form of online communication can be helpful for those who are shy or introverted and who may normally find social settings stressful. The WSJ article noted, “In a study of New York University students who described themselves as either socially anxious or non-anxious, participants were randomly assigned to interact in groups of three, either in-person or through an Internet chat room. Anxious students reported greatest shyness and discomfort than non-anxious students in face-to-face groups. In the chat room, however, they said they felt significantly less shy, more comfortable and better accepted by their peers.”
The American Psychological Association (APA) reported some results at a Washington, DC conference this year from 1,283 people aged 18-30. This group was asked about their time spent online and its impact on how much empathy they felt toward their online and offline friends. The participants reported “a significant amount of empathy online, and that the more time college students spent on Facebook, the more empathy they expressed online and in real life.”
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Young Adults and Unique Identity Theft Issues
As more people have embraced technology, more opportunities for identity theft have been created. PC Magazine author Larry Seltzer interviewed a cyber-crimes expert and found that there are some unique new ways that people have their identities stolen. One of the things that may come as a surprise is that misconfigured peer-to-peer apps like Limewire can share information from your “My Documents” folder.
While you may be hip to the Nigerian scams, you may not be aware of skimmers on ATMs that can read your credit cards. Seltzer explains, “These are devices which install over the reader appear to be part of the machine. When you insert your card the skimmer reads it and records the information on it. They are often used in combination with surreptitious cameras to record the keys you press for the PIN. Skimmers are especially popular on gas pump, but they are also being used on the smaller point of sale readers found in stores.”
CNN Money reported that the top consumer complaint is identity fraud. “The Federal Trade Commission counted 250,854 complaints about identity theft in 2010, according to a report issued Tuesday. That was 19% of the 1.3 million total complaints the agency received, putting it at the top of the consumer complaint list for the 11th year in a row. The most common form of identity theft was through fraudulent government documents. Credit card fraud garnered the second highest number of identity theft complaints, followed by phone and utilities fraud.”
Many young adults are going back to school soon. College students may feel they are invincible and not notice identity theft as quickly as they should. They are less likely to track their bank accounts and credit card statements. Mainstreet.com reported, “Studies have shown that it takes 18- to 24-year-old Americans twice as long to find out they’ve been the victim of I.D. fraud – which is usually too late to do anything about it.”
Wells Fargo has come up with tips for college students to safeguard their financial information.
Fraudpreventionunit.org also has listed 10 Tips for an Identity-Theft Free 2011.