Is your Chimp out of control?
Behave like a human, not like a primate!
Are you tired of your emotions running wild? Do you wish you weren’t so irritable, tearful, reactive, anxious, defensive etc.? Does emotional flooding occasionally (or frequently!) impact your workday or personal life? If so, you may want to learn about “chimp management”!
In the bestselling book The Chimp Paradox – The science of Mind Management for Success in Business and in Life, author Professor Steve Peters introduces three parts of the brain, or as Peters calls, the “psychological mind”:
1. The Chimp
All signals that come into your brain first travel through the part of the brain that controls the “fight or flight” reactions. When your emotions are “running wild” it is because this part of the brain is activated. Peters has labeled this the “Chimp”. Chimpanzees’, as with all other wild animals, main purpose is survival. They need to be safe, have food, procreate, be a part of a group to survive. Humans have that same instinct, hence the “Chimp” in your brain!
2. The Human
Once the signal passes through the Chimp, it makes its way to the part of the brain where rational, logical, compassionate, creative, open-minded thought occurs. Unless you are in an emergency survival situation, you want your behaviors to be controlled by this “Human” part of your brain. It can’t happen if the blood is flowing to your Chimp!
3. The Computer
Since you were born, your brain has been storing, sorting and spitting out data and information to guide your behaviors. Most of that information is necessary and helps you get through the complexities of living without much thought. However, some of the data needs deleted or evaluated for its usefulness. Your computer’s data might be causing your Chimp to run wild by quickly feeding it stories that say you’re not “safe” so fight, freeze or run away!
You know what IT folks tell us – data is never really deleted, it’s in there somewhere! Changing a lifetime of programmed reactions is not easy. But if you want to stop crying at work, yelling at your employees, freezing up during conflict or otherwise allowing your emotions to control your behaviors, change your stories so that your Human can step in.
TriVantage Development can help you and your team to continue to be successful by partnering with you for training and coaching on topics like emotional intelligence, stress management and resilience.