Google Ad #1 - desktop - 728x90

Google Ad #3 - desktop - 728x90

Google Ad #1 - mobile - 300x200

Google Ad #3 - mobile - 300x200

ATD_Half_Page

Googel Ad #1 - Side Bar - Content pages

ATD Footer Logo

Brian Grant

ATD Links Archive - ATD Links

The Ties that Bind: Social Capital and Human Performance

Julie Dirksen is an independent consultant and instructional designer who has more than 15 years’ experience creating highly interactive e-Learning experiences for clients ranging from Fortune 500 companies to innovative technology start-ups to major grant-funded research initiatives. Her focus has been on utilizing the disciplines of educational psychology, neuroscience, change management and persuasive technology to promote and support the improvement of peoples’ lives through sustainable long-term learning and behavioral change.Dirksen holds an M.S. degree in instructional systems technology from Indiana University. She has also been an adjunct faculty member at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, where she taught courses in project management, instructional design, and cognitive psychology.She recently published Design For How People Learn, in which she gets ridiculously excited about everything from learning applications of behavioral economics to the way glucose is regulated in the brain. She’s happiest whenever she gets to learn something new. You can find her online at www.usablelearning.com.

Julie Dirksen

Todd Maddox, PhD, is the CEO and founder of Cognitive Design and Statistical Consulting, LLC. His passion is to apply his 25 years of scientific and neuroscientific expertise, gained by managing a large human learning and performance laboratory, to help build better training solutions. Todd published more than 200 scientific articles resulting in over 10,000 academic citations. Todd is a prolific learning science speaker, and to date, has won over $10 million in federal grants from the National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, and Department of Defense. After receiving his PhD in psychology and brain science, Todd embarked on a 25-year academic research career achieving status as a leader in the fields of human learning and memory. Todd is especially interested in applying his optimized training expertise to healthcare, corporate training, and the emerging technologies of virtual, augmented, and mixed reality. He is currently writing a book focused on bringing the science of optimized training into the commercial sector. Twitter: @wtoddmaddox

Todd Maddox

Talent development professionals help others. Ben Nemtin, star of The Buried Life, called attention to that in his keynote address closing out the Association for Talent Development’s Virtual Conference: Unleash Potential. And he noted that attendees could likely relate to his bucket list pursuits that entailed not only going after the big things he wanted to do before he died but also involved helping others.The Roots of The Buried LifeAs he began his session “Impossible to Possible,” Nemtin spoke about falling into depression after seemingly being on top of the world as he graduated high school in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. He had a spot on the national under-19s rugby team and a college scholarship.But that joy soon turned to anxiety, trouble sleeping, and then depression. He became a shut-in in his family’s home, not understanding why he was feeling the way he was. A summer in a new town, securing a job that brought him confidence, and talking with others about his feelings led Nemtin to start turning the corner. From there, he decided to only surround himself with people who inspired him. He found three individuals who fit that definition: Jonnie, Duncan, and Dave.Sketchnotes provided by See In ColorsWhat followed was their decision to make a film. The quartet were inspired by the Matthew Arnold poem The Buried Life, in which the poet described how we all too often leave our dreams and aspirations buried with day-to-day life getting in the way.To avoid dying without living their dreams, the young men created a bucket list—the stipulations being that they would act as if they had $10 million in the bank and that the goals had to be crazy big. They also knew they wouldn’t be able to accomplish their goals by themselves. They decided that every time they crossed off an item on their list, they would help a stranger do the same.The list that Ben and his friends crafted included such things as helping deliver a baby, having a beer with Prince Harry, and playing basketball with President Barack Obama. That last one required all the grit and persistence they could muster, including dealing with a number of rejections before it finally happened.“Doing what you love actually inspires others to do what they love,” said Nemtin. There’s a ripple effect. The same ripple effect occurs when you help others: They, in turn, have a propensity to help those around them.Your Resiliency Tool KitTo be able to help others, you need to take care of yourself, emphasized Nemtin. Here are some tips to do so, and these comprise what he calls his resiliency tool kit.Gratitude. Think of one thing each night before you go to bed and one thing in the morning when you get up that you are grateful for. They can be as minor as a meal with a loved one, a walk, or the sun being out.Exercise. You don’t have to go for 60 minutes, Nemtin pointed out. Five minutes of push-ups or a 15-minute walk will help you release negative emotions.Mindfulness. This can take the form of the Headspace or other app, a walk, meditation, or being cognizant to breathe deeply from your abdomen.Detox. This may mean staying off social media for 24 hours or avoiding the news for the same period. When you return, only use the tools that bring you joy—come back in control of how you spend your time.Connect. To ease anxiety and stress, talk with friends or a therapist, continued Nemtin.Purpose. This is what the bucket list is all about: doing the things that are most important to you and that bring you joy.Help others. You can’t feel bad when you’re helping others.Nature. If you’re unable to actually go outside for 15 minutes right now because of the pandemic, bring nature inside by getting a plant or two.Fulfilling Personal GoalsThough this belief is hopefully shifting, it’s long been the pervasive mindset that pursuing our personal dreams is selfish. Nemtin refuted that, noting that pursing our dreams is actually a service. Prioritizing your goals, he says, is beneficial to you, your friends and family, your career, and your organization. And if organizations and leaders create an environment that encourages people to go after what they want, those individuals are far more likely to stick around.Psychologist Tom Gilovich reported in his research “The Ideal Road Not Taken” that 76 percent of people identified on their death beds that their greatest regret was not fulfilling their ideal self. What leads people to stop short of that goal? Nemtin identified two reasons. One is that—unlike work goals and duties—our personal goals have no deadlines. The second is that we often lack the inspiration to move forward. To that, Nemtin suggested that we create our own inspiration through small steps and think of “dreams as projects.”Here are five steps he outlined to accomplish your personal goals:Write them down. Putting them down on paper makes them real.Share them. As Nemtim showed with his bucket list, you need others’ help. All too often, we don’t share our goals due to fear—either because we’re afraid of what others may think or because we fear falling short of accomplishing them.Persist. Sometimes we fail because we give up too quickly. Nemtin showcased his persistence in his and his friends’ efforts to play basketball with President Obama.Go for moonshots. Nemtin, smiling, noted that the level of competition for reachable goals is much higher than the competition for ambitious moonshot goals, which few people strive for.Give. Nemtin briefly recalled speaking at ATD TechKnowledge 2019, where he shared the stage with Tiago, a brain stem tumor sufferer who, through the Make a Wish Foundation, expressed his desire to go bobsledding. As a result of Nemtin and the conference attendees, Tiago realized his dream.Ripple effects happen not only from big things—for example, a smile causes a ripple, as does a compliment—Nemtin pointed out. And we don’t necessarily see those reactions happening, and that includes training and development results. But know that as talent development professionals, said Nemtin, you create a positive difference in others.Share your ATD Virtual Conference experience on social media. #ATDVirtualConference

Ripple Effect of Helping Others

The worldwide talent development community is diverse. Our members bring a wealth of experience and insight to their work. We're spotlighting their stories.Hans de Graaf has been a member of ATD since 2015 from The Netherlands. Here's his story in his own words.Tell us a little bit about yourself.I am a father of two sons and a daughter, and a grandfather of four beautiful girls and a boy. My wife, Janita, and I will celebrate 30 years of marriage in July.I live in Assen (the Netherlands). My office is just a five-minute bike ride away. From there, I serve customers around the world via online media.I was born in 1966 in a little town in the middle of the Netherlands. I studied analytical chemistry at Utrecht University.My first jobs were in the pharmaceutical industry. I started as a sales rep. After a few years, I was promoted to head of the purchasing department.In 1995, I started my first official company. Since then, I have started, sold, and closed several companies. See my LinkedIn profile for a complete list of my work journey.As an entrepreneur, I fell into the trap that when you become successful and get people working for you, you become a manager. For me, that meant that my day was filled with things I didn't like and things I wasn't good at. Unfortunately, this also influenced the atmosphere within my family.2015 was a significant turning point. After almost burning out, I decided to sell all my companies and start from scratch. The result is the project I am working on right now: the Brainfulness Institute.What are your personal and professional goals?My goal in life is to empower brilliant brains to bloom.Your brain does not come with a user manual, so how can you live with and use your brain in the best possible way?My answer to that is brainfulness. Brainfulness is the rational counterpart to mindfulness. It teaches you how to use all your brain's features and not only the ones that are triggered by the environment your brain is in.Because brainfulness is so rational, it is specifically targeted to people who are not attracted to mindfulness and other forms of meditation.What challenges have you overcome throughout your career?Sometimes I introduce myself as a former VIP—very indecisive person. I am a typical maximizer. Maximizers take long to decide. And even after the decision, they are not satisfied. They keep researching to find proof that they've made the best decision possible.Research shows that maximizers make better decisions but at two high costs: time and happiness.Because of this mental handicap, I started to study decision making and the role of the human brain.This quest helped me to find practical ways to mitigate my natural tendency to maximize.One example: I minimized the number of my decisions to make some decisions for the rest of my life. On stage, you will always find me wearing the same brand of shoes (brown or black), size 43, width H. Instead of spending one or two days buying shoes, it has now become a no-brainer.What’s the most valuable thing you’ve gained or experienced during your membership with ATD?I've learned never to overestimate people's knowledge. The solution that I've found to work for me is never to assume but always ask relevant questions.Learning how to ask good questions is still a work in progress for me. I believe that the master will always be a student. I'll always be a student in questioning, that's for sure.Can you share any professional tips, specific to talent development, that you have picked up along the way?Don't expect people to remember what you say or try to teach them in an e-learning course. There are many things you can do to improve retention. The one thing that people forget too often is to repeat the message. If you don't repeat several times, people will forget most of it. This phenomenon is known by the name “The Ebbinghaus Forgetting Curve.”At ATD’s International Conference & EXPO in 2016, I spoke about this topic. As an ATD member, you can watch the video of my presentation here.What’s a common misconception you see when it comes to talent development?I see that many brain myths are still educated and used.For example, the myth that humans have an attention span less than a goldfish. Please search in Google for “attention span goldfish myth.”Human brains like simple stories, and they like the accompanying conclusions. But simple is not the same as truthful.Suggestion: Order a book about learning myths—for example, Millennials, Goldfish & Other Training Misconceptions. You can order it on the ATD website.Do you have any advice for people looking to further their careers?Never see your career separate (or even opposite) of your purpose. Having a purpose in life gives you not only a direction in the long-term helps you to make purposeful decisions on a day-to-day basis.Do you want to have a purposeful career and be happy too? Then you'll need a purpose where you serve people. A people-serving purpose will give you meaning. And making progress on your purpose will give you moments of happiness.What is your personal definition of talent development?Talent development = brain development.Every brain is wired differently. That is why a one-size-fits-all approach is rarely successful. The challenge in talent development is to develop every brain within your organization.How do you stay motivated?I evaluate my behaviors in relation to my most valuable values every day. Where did I trust my autopilot too much and showed behaviors that are not in line with my values or purpose?For me, it turned out to be a practical solution to have my priorities almost always top of mind. They guide me in personal and business decision making. Besides, I track progress on my purpose regularly. Seeing progress on my purpose is the best motivator for me to keep going.How do you find meaning in your work?By serving people. I think that I have an important message to share that can help many people around the world. That fuels my battery and gives me the energy to not only work hard but also to be resilient when things don't go as planned.I strongly feel that brainfulness is my legacy, my gift to the world. It is my wish that even after my time on this earth has ended, people will perform better and be happier because of the simple brainfulness principles and practices.Have your own story to tell? Share it with us.

Search results for 'Brian Grant'

Categories

Refine By