Introduction
Welcome to The ContraMind Code.
The ContraMind Code provides you with a system of principles, signals, and ideas to aid you in your pursuit of excellence.
The Newsletter shares the source code, through quick snapshots, for a systems thinking approach to be the best in what you do.
The Code helps you reboot and reimagine your thinking by learning from the best and enables you to draw a blueprint on what it takes to get extraordinary things done.
Take a journey to www.contraminds.com. Listen and watch some great minds talking to us about their journey of discovery of what went into making them craftsmen of their profession to drive peak performance.
Meeting Overload Is a Fixable Problem
by Rebecca Hinds and Robert I. Sutton
This thought-provoking research and article on ‘The Meeting Overload’ will give you more ideas on deconstructing the root cause and addressing it very logically.
Here are some concepts that were learnt:
Adopt a subtraction mindset - Our instinct is always to add something to a list. It’s always hard to subtract something from a list. Find a way to be mindful of this and think of what you can subtract from your list or calendar that recurs by default or habit. Thinks what will happen if you don’t do it. Test it.
Start with a clean slate - What if your calendar was empty suddenly? Try thinking about what you would do when you wake up every day or at work if there were no calendar requests or slots in your daily time slots. What will be the priorities you value but are not forced to do through recurring meeting schedules? Try to skip a few meetings and see what happens when you are missing.
Use data to decide what to subtract - Assess every meeting by its effort and value. Most people find a problem in assessing this. Consider different factors, including meeting length, size, day of the week, and title and then start to score these meetings. The findings will be a revelation for you and help you decide what you can subtract.
Don’t just subtract meetings — redesign them - Encourage people to redesign meetings with what they think is valuable and not follow a boring, standard template that does not add value or disengages people who attend them.
The article has many more nuggets that will make you think and reflect on how to fix your meeting overload.
Read the entire article here.
Can We Predict Your Capacity To Focus?
By Big Brains
Monica Rosenberg, a Neuroscientist from the University of Chicago, researches the science of attention and answers all sorts of questions about focus.
Here are some key takeaways:
How the blood moves around in the brain is a proxy for nerve activity.
How various parts of the brain interact with one another is unique to each person and is like their own brain fingerprint.
The networks of the brain differ from person to person when performing tasks and can predict accurately how somebody can focus better than others.
Brain fingerprints, when studying a resting brain, are robust predictors of how well one maintains attention, predicts the performance of tasks assessing creativity etc.
Also, they studied if there is a correlation between the brain’s attention networks and positive or negative emotions, as it affects what people remember and the level of engagement in the narrative.
Sustained attention peaks later in our life in the 30s and 40s!
Getting enough sleep, exercising, and staying healthy improves our attention and focus. Also, try and avoid multi-tasking to help improve your attention and focus.
Nike CEO John Donahoe | The Next Play
in Conversation with Reid Hoffman
In this conversation with Reid Hoffman, Greylock's general partner, both talk about his leadership beliefs, people who inspired John Donahue in his early days, digital transformation at Nike etc.
What will stick to you here, when you watch this conversation, is the absolute authenticity of John’s answers and, therefore, explains why he does what he does every day with a sense of purpose and conviction.
What are the broad themes that can make you think and reflect on:
The importance of Servant Leadership and where he observed and learnt it from
Why it is essential to have an outside-in mindset
How to bring the culture of the locker room into companies and meetings
Why, what, and how questions that help him lead companies
On how it is harder to define an ‘inner purpose’ for yourself but far easier to define a company purpose
The importance of collaboration and understanding between cross-functional teams in making digital transformation happen.
There are a lot more insights here. Just take a pause and watch this now.
What leaders must care about
Reading, Listening and Watching this week’s articles and chats, the importance of what leaders must care about was something a lot of time was spent reflecting on. Here are some essential traits that need to be developed and practised:
Authenticity - Better to be realistic and mindful than be lost in one’s illusionary beliefs, hearsay and achievements.
Irrational Belief in People & Their Capabilities: Leaders must have a significantly higher belief in the people who work for them than the people’s own belief in themselves. That can make a huge difference in how people start to think, scale and deliver results.
Prepare People For Unedited Feedback: Leaders must instil a sense of honesty in how teams work and share their views and feedback. It is essential to create a platform for people to speak their minds and handle unedited feedback.
Reinventing Oneself - At every stage, old work habits and leadership methods that worked in the past must be purged, and new ones must be learnt. Therefore, the need to disrupt yourself as a leader once in a couple of years is essential. This is to ensure they stay relevant to the folks they lead.
Aligning Inner purpose with Company Purpose - When there is a misalignment between these two purposes, it creates unwanted mental stress, non-authentic behaviour, and poor decision-making. It is essential to be aware of this non-alignment, which must be fixed in the near and long term.
Inspire diverse-skilled teams to work in convergence - Leaders must know how to influence, persuade and make multi-multi-disciplinary teams appreciate each others’ skills and the value they bring to the table. This will help them win the battle for customers’ trust.
Some of the lessons we learnt from this week’s mission:
Subtract your investment of time in meetings by understanding the effort and outcome of these meetings.
Focus and attention strongly correlate with sleep, health and eating healthy. Each of us has a unique brain print which strongly predicts our ability to focus and maintain sustained attention. Understanding your brain network can help you improve your focus and attention.
Leadership is a function of staying true to your purpose and executing the principles you believe in with conviction, consistency and discipline.