Successful Blog

The Blogging Brain

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Todays guest post is from Dr. Robyn McMaster.

Dr. Robyn McMaster is Sr. VP of the MITA International Brain Center. She’s the author of Brain Based Biz. She’s a close friend and wise advisor.

Blogging stimulates the brain as you make public ideas that rouse “aha’s.” Shaping and sharing ideas with a wider community provides incentive, especially as you’re rewarded by readers’ comments. Another bonus comes as surprises unwrap themselves as you read and learn from others’ blogs.

Interestingly, mental activities required for blogging, such as learning how to use technology to launch a blog, using your computer to write, writing for an audience, selecting just the right photo to go with posts, researching what others have written about your topic, commenting on their posts and writing from a new, fresh approach, leads to changes in the structures of your brain. How so?

Your brain rewires nightly as you sleep, based on the activities you do during the day. “It’s really a matter of neurons and dendrites,” Dr. Ellen Weber reports, “that spark new synapses for change. Ellen describes the process…

neurons

Your browser may not support display of this image. Remember, a neuron’s nothing more than a nerve cell, and your brain holds about 100 billion of these little critters. You can march them much more in your favor – with a few carefully crafted acts. How so? Neurons project extensions called dendrite brain cells – which connect and reconnect daily, based on what you do. Axons, in contrast, relay information back from the body back to the brain. In a rather complex electrochemical process, neurons communicate with each other in synapses, and that connection creates chemicals called neurotransmitters. Chemicals release at each synapse, and these shape mood, open brains to optimize learning and stoke creative solutions to complex problems. Many mysteries still occur in the quadrillion synapses within a human brain, and yet wonderful benefits await people who act on what recent research suggests.

As your dendrites rewire they strengthen blogging and writing skills. The more you write, seek to improve, try new formats, and use tips good writers, like Liz Strauss, share, the more new dendrites for writing skills will be wired into your brain.

Once you launch a blog and you are underway, you can gather readers interested in your topic by becoming active in social networks. And even joining social networks prompts our brains to rewire…

Social Networks Change the Face of Friendships Here’re some facts on ways blogging and networking alter the face of your friendships:

* The human brain steps up to challenges and intellectual ideas. These lead people to discuss deeper issues on topics of similar interest.

* Online users have the same number of friends in real-life, but even more counterparts online

* Myspace, Facebook and Twitter are changing the number of friends people have and the way they communicate

* 90% of online friends rated as ‘close’ have met face to face

* People choose friends in person and online based on their ‘quality’… In person, facial and bodily cues help, but online it’s harder to spot dishonest signals

* Social networks aid communication and may bring about a change in the size and structure of real-life social networks in the future

Social networks change us and we change social networks! Over time the demographics of bloggers changes, as described in Cason Analytics blogging stats.

Blogging promotes higher cognitive skills, according to Dr’s. Fernette and Brock Eide. You stretch your brain through:

* critical and analytical thinking The best of blogs are rich in ideas and promote active exchange and critique.

* creative, intuitive, and associational thinking Blogs must be updated frequently. This constant demand for output promotes a kind of spontaneity and ‘raw thinking’–the fleeting associations and the occasional outlandish ideas–seldom found in more formal media.

* analogical thinking Back-and-forth blog-based exchanges between experts also provide a unique opportunity for young thinkers to witness and evaluate arguments from analogy on an ongoing basis.

* medium for increasing access and exposure to quality information Because blogs link many facts and arguments in branching “threads” and webs, and append primary source materials and reference works, they foster deeper understanding and exposure to quality information.

* combinations of best solitary reflection and social interaction Bloggers have solitary time to plan their posts, but they can also receive rapid feedback on their ideas. The responses may open up entirely new avenues of thought as posts circulate and garner comments.

Think about it … Blogging’s quite a workout. When I finish writing a blog, I find satisfaction from all the intellectual stimulation. You?

5 shared habits that shape every effective blogger’s brain….

A blogger’s brain comes alive … Dr. Ellen Weber summarizes it well …

* Visitors stop by …. Have you seen your messages come to life with a new twist … an unusual turn … or two-bits of wit-‘n-wisdom that bumps a good idea to the next level.

* Traffic means humans more than scores or pings.

* Ideas… images … and applications pop up like popcorn ready to serve and share with eager … diverse crowds.

* Small rewards pay it forward. It could be in the form of a badge … a cup… or just a few words that lift a thought up to the rainbow for another look.

* You learn something new … from somebody new … about a topic that’s new….

Blogs are not only changing the way we think… act … and do business …. They are also helping us to come and go into one another’s worlds… and that reshapes the best bloggers’ brains. What do you think?

Trusting Ourselves, Structure Damage, and Recovering

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A Project Post by Liz Strauss and Kristi Daeda

I’ve been working on a special project with Kristi Daeda, an awesome friend, writer, and career counselor. Our project will take many forms for people working on true trust and business relationships. Right now we’re working on breaks in our trust and world view. We’ve named them structure damage.

relationships button

What Is Structure Damage?

It can happen when the world seems most in order. Suddenly, without warning, someone or something pulls the rug out of from under us. Trusting what’s next can be hard.

Structure damage occurs when we are faced with a change that we’re not prepared to deal with. The change can be big or small, it can occur in our professional lives or our personal lives, it can be something that happens to us or something that we realize or decide that changes the way we see the world.

Not every change causes structure damage. Structure damage is when change moves us into that fight-or-flight mode, impacting our emotions, behavior or worldview. The change doesn’t have to represent a threat, it only has to be perceived as one.

If you want to catch the situation before it gets out of hand, get in touch with what’s normal for you, and what’s abnormal. If you’re experiencing any of the following, you might be suffering from a shaking foundation.

  • Stress that you can’t pinpoint the source of. It doesn’t go away when the project’s done or when you’re away from work.
  • An emotional reaction that’s out of step with the situation, like snapping at a coworker.
  • Taking things personally.
  • Feeling like you don’t know what the next step is to move forward.
  • Irrational fear, confusion, or distress.
  • Questioning your current situation or future path.
  • A feeling of powerlessness.

In high-stress situations, you may also experience physiological effects — things like your heart pounding, difficulty focusing, or headaches.

If you normally feel confident and in control, dramatic swings from even keel are a sign that something’s up. That’s your opportunity to ask yourself why you’re feeling the way that you are. Start working backwards — when did you start feeling this way? Did something trigger that change? What about that trigger situation upset you? Keep tracking, and you might be able to find the source — the body blow.

How to minimize the impact

Cultivate flexibility … a few words from Kristi …

Most people think of bridges as static structures. Concrete and steel, built to weather all manner of abuse. But bridges have hinges and joints. They flex and sway in the wind. Their components are engineered to not only be strong enough to bear the weight of traffic, but also to bend to carry the weight of traffic and respond to the elements. It’s this flexibility that allows this giant machine to function, bearing the impact, working with the conditions.

Growing up, my definition of a successful life was to pursue an education, get a job in a traditionally respected, intellectual, moderately lucrative field, get married, have kids, and buy a house in the suburbs. I had a few gifts to bring to the table, but perhaps one of the most notable was my ability in math and science. It was a natural progression to consider engineering as a field.

When I got to college, I struggled with my classes. Not because I wasn’t capable, but because I couldn’t motivate myself to do the work. For someone who has never had a shortage of drive, this was unsettling. What was wrong with me? I ended up frustrated, confused. I tried to reconcile my definition of success with what I was feeling every day — that I was on the wrong path.

My entire worldview — the plan I had laid out for myself, the rules that I lived by — was on very shaky ground.

The structure damage I experienced was to my understanding of success.

There’s a difference between being in control and being prepared. Being prepared allows you to create a platform for success as you’ll be ready to deal with most issues that come your way. The effort to be in control can only lead to frustration — the world is so large, and your span of control is really miniscule in comparison.

  • Let go of your master plan. The least predictive question still asked in job interviews is this: where do you see yourself in five years? At the pace the world is moving, it’s difficult to predict where you’ll be in five months. We resist change mostly because in order to accept change, we have to relinquish control. We like to have things in order, buttoned up all the time. It’s why we’re so into productivity and time management — helps us build systems to keep things from falling through the cracks. But some of the best things in our lives come when we’re completely out of control. How would your energy change if you didn’t have to push for a specific result all the time, racing across the stream or upstream, and instead went with the flow? Chances are you’ll get to as good or better of an outcome, with a lot less paddling.
  • Look for the opportunity. Practice this skill. When something comes your way that’s unexpected, ask yourself — what doors are open now that weren’t before? It may take a few minutes to shake off your initial reaction, but after that, take a minute and answer the question. It doesn’t do you any good to focus on the paths that have closed to you. Keep yourself focused on how you can move forward.
  • Challenge yourself to succeed. Adapting to change is a verifiable skill. If you can bounce back from a layoff, create a positive lifestyle after divorce, or even change your agenda when all the players aren’t in place, it’s an accomplishment. Dealing with change is such a valuable skill in the business world that there’s an entire area of specialization — Change Management — just for people who can facilitate it well. So aim to make your reaction to change a badge of honor. It’s a badge that will serve you well.

We’ve all found ourselves in a situation where someone or something has moved what we believe. Winners take up the gauntlet and find a new set of rules.

How do you recover when structure damage strikes where you live?

–ME “Liz” Strauss and Kristi Daeda
Work with Liz on your business!!

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What Jim Ericson Had to Say About Corporate Trust …

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A community isn’t built or befriended,
it’s connected by offering and accepting.
Community is affinity, identity, and kinship
that make room for ideas, thoughts, and solutions.
Wherever a community gathers, we aspire and inspire each other intentionally . . . And our words shine with authenticity.

When We Trust

Trust is what holds together the conversation on the Interwebs. It’s also what brings me to or leads me to leave a deal. Without trust, I don’t know who is talking, what might be happening where I’m not. Trust is what leads us to communicate even when we have only our computers and our words to connect and protect us.

Here’s what Jim Ericson said about corporate trust …

Hi Liz. The notion that it’s important to be able to build trust with others is one of the latest “silver bullets” ricocheting off the walls of corporate America. As a result, books on trust, seminars on trust, and consultants that say they can help a company create a high trust culture in ten easy steps are in high demand. This is hogwash!

There is no formula or set of skills that you can master to help you build trust with others. Trust building is a raw, organic process that consists of spending whatever time it takes to tell our stories to others and listen to theirs. And,I don’t just mean stories that flesh out our resumes. I mean stories that tell where we came from,and where we dream of ending up; stories that shed light on the paths we’ve traveled – triumphs and tragedies alike; stories that reveal not only what’s on our mind but also what’s in our heart.

Then,at the end of the storytelling, or when we’ve gotten to know each other from as many different angles as possible, we get to decide whether we trust each other or not. And, if we’ve been really truthful with each other, a genuine trust relationship is almost always the result.
Jim Ericson from a comment on October 20th, 2009

A successful and outstanding blogger said that.
–ME “Liz” Strauss

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Business in a high-trust environment can change your life.

Synchronicity and Social Networks

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When I asked my friend, Niro to write a guest post for Successful-Blog, he was quick to point out that English is not his primary language. I assured him that I would have his back on the language … what I wanted was his thoughts on synchronicity.

Thoughts and Ideas by Niraldo Nascimento

niraldo-nascimento

I’m a System Dynamics Professor so, when modeling, I have to focus on the relationships between a system and its components as a whole and, think in terms of cause and effect. It’s an honor and would like to thanks the opportunity to explain some things I’m thinking about involving social networks, Twitter, Liz Strauss, and me.

Bad conclusions in studying complex networks and systems are often fueled by the misunderstanding of the relationship between cause and effect. Cause and effect are often distant in terms of time. When we cannot connect cause to effect over time, we have a cause in one hand and no effects in the other or we have effects without a clear cause or causes. Or we might define two disparate events as holding a cause and effect relationship, when they do not.

This problem led the famous Swiss psychiatrist Carl G. Jung to explore a phenomenon which he called Synchronicity. Jung coined the word to describe what he called “temporally coincident occurrences of acausal events.” There are many articles about Jung and synchronicity. This is only a blog post to share some ideas and not a scientific article.

Social Networks as a Complex System

With this in mind let’s think about Social Networks as a complex system. After that I’ll try join these two components: Synchronicity and Social Networks.

Stafford Beer (1926-2002), a reputable Cybernetics research gave us an example about complexity and I’ll try adapting it to this post. Imagine a Social Network with only seven persons. Suppose you are on Twitter following seven persons and being followed by the same seven persons, a group. How many interactions (messages) can you exchange each other as a group? The formula is simple: n(n-1) where n is the number of the persons. Applying it we achieve: 7(7-1) = 42.

It’s very simple in a first look.

Imagine now you are making a “printing screen” or a photo of each interaction. How many photos should have you take? We call it “State System”. Considering the interactions between two persons each time in this system, the results crossover more than a trillion of pictures!! (The formula is 2 indexed to 42 = 242!) The reality would not happen, obvious.

In this moment, 24-Oct-2009, Liz Strauss has more than 33 thousands of followers on Twitter and follows more than 30 thousands. Imagine what happens if we try apply the Stafford Beer example to Liz’s Twitter group? It’s better forgetting it.

Well, we have now a notion of complexity.

An Effect Without Causes?

What you are reading now is an article Liz invited me to write. The question is “Why did Liz ask me, a Brazilian researcher who has nothing different from others?” I don’t know. Is it an effect without causes?

How can we explore the ideas of Synchronicity and Social Networks? I have a little more than 600 followers and Liz is one of them.

An example

Did you ever hear the rooster sounds minutes before the sun rises? There are two interesting questions that relate to that fact.

  • The first mystery is: how does the rooster know that a new day will arrive? Every night are you sure that will you see really a new day and feel the sun beams? Thanks to roosters … they know. When the roosters quit announcing the daybreak, begin to worry about the planet and your role in it.
  • The second is not a mystery but a beautiful social network of animals. A rooster hears a cock crow and sends on the information for other roosters. In this way, they are a social network every morning. There is no explanation, only admiration!

As one man on Twitter, living in Brazil, so far from U.S., I didn’t understand this invitation for this post by Liz Strauss.

Then, I thought, thought again until I found an explanation which satisfied me. Every year I receive a visit of a lot of swallow birds in front of my veranda. Much of then migrate to Brazil run away of the U.S. winter and return for the U.S. summer. It is possible that, some of these birds are the same who visit me and Liz. They connect us to each other in circumstances that are not Twitter. It’s a kind of energy, a kind of magnetism… It is Synchronicity!

Have you experienced synchronicity?

——
Niraldo Nacimento, Niro, is a System Dynamics professor in Brasilia, Brazil. He writes thinks, and talks about synchronicity, system thinking, sustainability and photography. You can find him at Cerrado Crafts and on Twitter as NiroNash

——
Ah Niro, or it could be that I like the way that you think. Thank you!

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz on your business!!

When An Apology Can Open the Door to Trust

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In case you missed this … I wrote this about a year ago, yet it seems just as valid now.

Not All Apologies Are Equal

In relationships, things go wrong. Person to person or in business, mistakes and missteps can be life changing. A wrongly placed word or deed can bring in question what had gone without thought. Suddenly trust, integrity, honesty, sensitivity, authenticity and the core values that connect us are tested.

Mistakes. No human enterprise or individual gets by without making them. We might not mean them. No harm might have been intended. Yet, we’re not harmless — we can cause hurt or damage by the way we behave. How we respond when we do, is what makes a leader.

In a business relationship recently, my property was mishandled. When I asked about it — when and how it happened — the representative said something like this …

I hear you. We’re sorry it happened. We’re looking into it, but I doubt we’ll ever know the exact sequence of events. Can we move forward now?

Not all apologies are equal. I’m not the only one who wouldn’t call that an apology.

An apology that deflects attention, that says “I regret it happened,” is not an apology.
An “I’m sorry” that doesn’t own the damage done won’t rebuild trust.
An incomplete apology is a missed opportunity to build a stronger relationship by learning from what went wrong.

Apologies that Rebuild Trust, Relationships, and Reputations

Mistakes. No human enterprise or individual gets by without making them. We might not mean them. No harm might have ever been intended. The fact remains, we’re not harmless — we can cause hurt or damage by the way we behave. How we respond when we do, is what makes a leader.

Meet a mistake with trust, the mind of a learner, and a truly other-centered apology and a newer, stronger relationship can be the result. To offer a relationship-building apology, we have to show up whole and human — with our head, heart, and purpose reaching out to fix the bonds that we’ve broken.

No person has lived a life without once behaving badly. Apologies can connect us on that point. A relationship-building apology includes many parts and a whole human behind them.

  • a statement of regret …
    I’m sorry.
  • ownership of the act and responsibility for the outcome …
    I behaved badly … It was may fault this happened.
  • acknowledgment of hurt or damage …
    It made you feel small … It broke your — … It lost you business.
  • a promise for better behavior in the future …
    It won’t happen again.
  • a request or or statement of hope for forgiveness or renewed trust …
    I hope you can believe in me.

Apologies are about admitting human error. If you worry about saying the wrong thing, write it down and offer a choice the other person a chance to read it or listen while you do. The point is to be human and mean what we say.

Keep the apology simple. Don’t use an apology to move other issues forward. Save other conversations for other days.

Never lose the opportunity to apologize.
Never take that opportunity away from someone.

Which Social Media Apologies Rebuild Trust?

In the online world, every mistake has a potential for magnification. Every word has millions of opportunities to be misread. The ability to apologize with grace and respect can build respect, relationships, and reputation. In a trust economy, the apology is a powerful form of communication. Simply said and complete, a sincere apology shows respect, inspires confidence, and makes a great step toward rebuilding the trust to move forward.

Here are five well known social media apologies …
Dell’s 23 Confessions
A Commitment On Edelman and Wal-Mart
JetBlue Launches Cross-Media Apology Campaign
Turner Broadcasting Apology Letter
Motrin

In your opinion, which social media apologies rebuild trust with the community?

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz!!

What Is Trust?

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That Was the Question

Some of you will click away before you read this — for whatever reason — we can’t invest in every message offered us or every person who brings it. For those who stay, thank you.

About a week ago, I spent time with someone I’ve known since I was 7. By the time one day had turned well into the next, we had caught up our lives and were well into our thoughts. Our friendship has lasted a life-time and we share in both silence and conversation. Picture two introverts not concerned with sharing thoughts aloud … a no-filter conversation.

In that amazing context, she looked me in the eyes to ask, “What is trust?”

That question is still with me.

Trust Is the Conversation

About a week before I sat with my life-long friend, I watched world leaders discuss how to get the world turning properly after we’ve undone so many things. Each speaker brought a message and each listener could choose whether to trust what he or she said. Trust, candor, and truth were common themes.

Trust has become the conversation. We talk about it with family, friends, business partners, clients, and journalists … online and offline. Seems reasonable that world leaders might talk about it too.

We’re defining it, outlining it, and promoting it to each other, but the how to seems less than firmly drawn. As I watch and listen I become more aware of what moves me to trust and what undermines that.

What Trust Is Not

I’ve never been one to trust or distrust power — the power of print, the power of a microphone, the power of office, the power of your signature on my paycheck. I am surprised and sometimes frightened by those who are.

Trust is a relationship not an office. It’s not situational.
Power and position get an opportunity, the same opportunity as anyone, not a better one. Politicians might even get less.

Trust is not good deeds, good looks, or the right t-shirt. Context helps, but doesn’t guarantee it. If you come in a context I trust, I listen more easily. If some way you look like me or sound like me, I might offer trust more easily. Still the trappings don’t make the real thing. My decision to trust you does.

And trust isn’t unilateral or blind. One-way trust is a handing over of power. Blind trust goes against self-preservation.

What Is Trust?

Trust is a decision, a commitment, a pact and a bond that builds and connects. Trust is shared values. Trust empowers by the questions it removes.

Trust is brave and vulnerable. Trust is not sparing my feelings. Trust is the hard truth spoken gently.

Trust is knowing and believing, giving and receiving without hesitation. Trust is not wondering whether what I say is true, whether I will follow through, whether my thoughts and feelings will change when I’m talking to someone other. Trust is knowing you are safely invested and protected.

We can lose it before we have it or find where we least expect it. Trust can be given, but not invented, stolen, or demanded.

Trust is a delicate sculpture we build through relationship, communication, thoughts, and behaviors. Once it’s shattered we can’t glue it back together. The only replacement is remaking the sculpture. Like wellness, generosity, or kindness, we’re most reminded of its value when it’s gone.

In the end trust is knowing you are the same when I’m not there … Trust is keeping promises, even the unspoken promises. Not every trust relationship is that of two life-long friends who communicate with or without words. But imagine if that were so.

Trust is a risk, venture capital. It’s a gamble with a friend, a lover, or a business. Trust is us leading and leaning on each other when the outcome isn’t clear.

9169_child_leading_blind_guitar_pla

When I don’t ask, when I’m not present, when I don’t even know that your actions might have been different,

when the reality is consistently …

I bet on you and I won.

trust is.

What is trust … to you?

–ME “Liz” Strauss

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