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Success Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Q. To what degree can I change my lifestyle to become successful?
A. The best way to find out is through the following formula:
Degree of Change = Education (quality of thoughts) + Experience (quality of environmental feedback).
In other words, the degree of change is a function of how strong your education is and its validating experience (pain/rewards). A better education leads to less trial and errors, less struggle and a faster change process.

Q. What is the human hierarchy of needs?
A. In the 1940s and 1950s Abraham Maslow developed the Hierarchy of Needs model, which remains valid today for understanding human motivation, management training, and personal development. Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs states that we have five levels of needs. We must satisfy each need in turn, beginning with the first and moving up to level five. Only when the lower order needs of physical and emotional well-being are satisfied are we then concerned with the higher order needs of influence and personal development. Conversely, the lower order needs are removed, we are no longer concerned about the maintenance of our higher order needs. 

1.   Survival (Biological and Physiological) needs: Air, drink, food, sex, sleep, shelter ...

2.   Safety needs: Security, law, stability...

3.   Belongingness needs: Family, love, relationships, tribes....

4.   Self-esteem needs: Achievements, independence, power, social status...

5.   Self-actualization needs: Self-fulfillment, seeking personal growth, rich experiences, helping others grow...

At what needs level are you currently operating?

Q. What is SWOT?
A. SWOT stands for Strength, Weakness, Opportunities and Threats. SWOT analysis was a result of the research conducted at Stanford Research Institute from 1960-1970 and funded by Fortune 500 companies to find out why corporate planning failed. SWOT Analysis is a strategy formulation tool, taught in MBA programs and used by successful executives to analyze the position of their business before planning. Although this tool was developed for the business world, I find it to be an invaluable life planning tool. The first step in planning your personal development (business, career and relationships) is to identify:

•   Strengths (maintain, build and leverage)

•   Opportunities (prioritize and optimize)

•   Weaknesses (remedy or exit environment)

•   Threats (mitigate risks) 

In the workshop, I will translate this tool from the business world to your personal world to bring a substantial positive development to your life and help you succeed.

Q. What is Neuro-Linguistic Programming or NLP?
A. In the 1970's Richard Bandler, a computer scientist and Gestalt therapist, and Dr John Grinder, a linguist and therapist created NLP as a modeling process. Neuro-Linguistic Programming describes the fundamental dynamics between mind (neuro) and language (linguistic) and how their interplay affects our body, emotions and behavior (programming). It is a self-discovery, communication and change tool. NLP consists of a set of techniques for rapid and effective behavioral change. It is based on four operational principles:

1.   Know what outcome you want to achieve.

2.   Have sufficient sensory acuity (awareness) to monitor performance

3.   Take action (to make a change) 

4.   Have sufficient flexibility (vary your behavior until you get desired result)

To simplify, NLP is about thinking, observing, doing and adapting to get what you want out of life.

Q. Why do I fail in achieving my goals?
A. Some of the causes are external, while other are internal. One very common internal cause of failure is having an opposing or contradictory set of values. This is the number one performance barrier. For example "you want to be rich but do not want to work hard" or "you want to enjoy sex but do not want to be seen as a slut." or "You want a better boy/girl friend but you don't think you are good enough" or "you don't want to be lonely, however, you cannot tolerate other people’s differences or mistakes.” Your conflicting set of values hinders your performance. In this workshop we will uncover some of your limiting values and see how they affect your behavior in various life situations.

Q. What do you think of the popular self-development tools?
A. There are several useful personality development tools such as Neuro-linguistic  programming (NLP), EFT, mind mapping, hypnosis and meditation; however, unfortunately, their uses are often exaggerated due to ignorance or marketing purposes. I will explain some of these tools during the workshop and tell you what they can do, what they cannot do and how to best use them.

Q. What is "Motivation Calculus" theory?
In the 1970s Charles Handy's formulated Motivation Calculus extension of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. Motivation Calculus consist of 3 parameters:

1. Needs - Maslow factors, personality characteristics and environmental forces

2. Results - Motivation is a measure of how much additional effort will produce an additional result (ROI)

3. Effectiveness - Do achieved results meet our needs (subjectively)

Q. What are motivation and hygiene factors?
A. In 1966, Frederick Herzberg published Work and the Nature of Man in which he showed that certain factors truly motivate ('motivators'), whereas others tended to lead to dissatisfaction ('hygiene factors'). According to his theory, man has two sets of needs; one as an animal to avoid pain, and two as a human being to grow psychologically. Management and professionals need to understand and evaluate both sets of need to improve the individual performance.

• Example 'hygiene' needs (or maintenance factors): salary, title (status), security and relationships

• Examples of motivators include: achievement, recognition, advancement and personal growth

Q. What are the various personality types? How I can use them?
A. There are several behavioral styles’ theories and personality assessment systems. They can be used for self-awareness, self-development, management training, and recruitment.

• Egyptian Four Temperaments/Personalities (fire, water, earth and air)

• Greek's Hippocrates Four Temperaments/Personalities (cheerful, somber, enthusiastic and calm)

• Carl Jung's Psychological Types

• Myers Briggs personality types theory (MBTI model)

• David Keirsey's personality types theory (Temperament Sorter model)

• Hans Eysenck's personality types theory

• Katherine Benziger's Brain Type theory

• William Moulton Marston's DISC personality theory (Inscape, Thomas Int., etc)

• Belbin Team Roles and personality types theory

• The 'Big Five' factors personality model

• Firo-B personality assessment model

• Other personality theories and psychometrics tests models

Q. What are the 8 Personality Archetypes?
A. In the 19th century, Carl Jung created eight main 'psychological archetypes' structure to use as a psychoanalysis tool to describe various personalities and their attitudes. Even today, these types provide the basis of many of the leading psychometrics systems used today, including Myers Briggs and Keirsey.

1.   Extraverted Thinking (analytical, strategic, plans, implements, organizes others)

2.   Introverted Thinking (contemplative, discovering, theoretical, seeks self-knowledge)

3.   Extraverted Feeling (sociable, sentimental, seeks personal and social success)

4.   Introverted Feeling (inaccessible, enigmatic, self-contained, seeks inner intensity)

5.   Extraverted Sensation (practical, hands-on, pleasure-seeking, hard-headed)

6.   Introverted Sensation (intense, obsessive, detached, connoisseur, expert)

7.   Extraverted Intuition (adventurous, innovative, seeks novelty, proposes change)

8.   Introverted Intuition (idealistic, visionary, esoteric, mystical, aloof)

Which type describes you best? This is a good exercise in self-awareness and behavior assessment in various environments and situations.
 

Q. What are the different types of cultures?
A. In 1978 Charles Handy wrote, "Gods Of Management" using a metaphor of the Greek Gods to explain different organizational cultures.

•   Zeus (power and patriarchy - 'the club' culture)

•   Apollo (order and bureaucracy, - the 'role' culture)

•   Athena (expertise and meritocracy - the task culture)

•   Dionysus (individualism and uniqueness - the "existentialist" culture)

Although these classifications were made to describe the organizational culture, they are applicable to social and family cultures as well. These classifications can help you to determines the influence they have on individual personalities.

What is KASAC?
KASAC is an acronym for Knowledge, Analysis, Synthesis, Application and Communication.  It is an education methodology and evaluation model designed by International Institute of Management (IIM) for leadership development, however it can be applied to other learning and developmental domains. The model emphasizes critical thinking and applied education versus traditional academic models with a focus on memorization of theories for quiz-based assessments.

Q. What is "Equity Theory"?
A. In 1963, John Stacey Adams, a workplace and behavioral psychologist, published his Equity Theory on job motivation. In his theory he acknowledged the subtle and variable factors that affect each individual's assessment of their relationship with their job and their employer. People seek a fair balance between what they put into their job (input) and what they get out of it (output). Our concept of a fair balance is highly influenced by our colleagues, friends and partners. They have a key role in establishing "fairness" benchmarks for output and input.

•   Inputs are typically: effort, commitment, tolerance, enthusiasm, trust, support and personal sacrifice, etc.

•   Outputs are typically: financial rewards, respect, recognition, praise, development, etc.

Although Equity Theory was developed for the workplace, it very much applies to our personal relationships. The success and the length of any relationship (work or personal) is a function of how the two parties in the relationship think about Equity. Do you feel you have Equity in your relationship? Are your fairness reference points or benchmarks valid for your personal situation? If you are unhappy in your current relationship or if you have been moving from one relationship to another with no success or improvement, maybe its time for you to re-evaluate your benchmarks.

Q. What is Mehrabian's communications model?
A. In the 1960's, Professor Albert Mehrabian pioneered the understanding of communications. He established the following statistical model for the effectiveness of spoken communications:

•   7% of meaning is in the words that are spoken.

•   38% of meaning is paralinguistic (the way that the words are said)

•   55% of meaning is in facial expression.

Considering the context of the communication, style, expression, tone, facial expression and body language, Mehrabian's communications model is particularly useful in identifying mental issues, deception and communicating more effectively. Beware, this is not a general rule that you can transfer to any given situation. Communication is an essential skill to help you build relationships, meet your needs and succeed in life. Communication is an integral part of coaching programs.

Q. What is Bloom’s Taxonomy (Classifications)?
Taxonomy is a Greek word meaning classification. In 1956, Benjamin Bloom, an educational psychologist, published, Taxonomy (Classification) of Learning Domains - Cognitive (Mental), Affective (Emotional), Psychomotor (Physical) Domains. Bloom’s Taxonomy was created originally for the academic field, but since his Taxonomy is relevant to learning and development, most corporate trainers and HR professionals, coaches and teachers can benefit substantially from understanding it. Unfortunately, like most academicians and researchers, Bloom focused more on theory than application and used an academic language that made it difficult to understand and apply. To simplify the concept Bloom’s Taxonomy is divided into three domains

•   Cognitive domain (thinking and knowledge)

•   Affective domain (emotions and attitude)

•   Psychomotor domain (manual and physical)

This has given rise to other variations such as Skills-Knowledge-Attitude (KAS), Do-Think-Feel (DTF), etc.  

Q. What is FSNP?
A. In 1965, Bruce Tuckman analyzed the team-development model and found that teams go through four stages; Forming Storming, Norming, Performing and Adjourning. Understanding this process allows you to better manage the process of developing and ending relationships between teams whether they consist of two or two hundred members.

Q. What is Cybernetics?
In 1948 Norbert Wiener wrote, ''Cybernetics, or Control and Communication in the Animal and the Machine." Wiener outlined the first law of cybernetics that states, "The unit within the system with the most behavioral responses available to it, controls the system." This is also known as 'the law of requisite variety', which is central to the concepts of Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP). Various subsequent publications came up with different interpretations and translations. My own understanding and translation to the social domain is that "The unit (person) within the system (society) with the most behavioral responses available to it (choices) controls the system." The best way to have more choices is to educate oneself of available resources and ways to acquire them. Simply put, power comes from knowledge or as it is commonly known, "knowledge is power”. If you were wondering why a certain person succeeded more than you did, there is something he/she knows that you don't.