Secrets of the Brain Part 3

SECRETS OF THE BRAIN: THE PRODUCE AND PLAN PATTERNS

In the previous blogs, I have highlighted nine aspects that science has identified as relevant to how we all complete the tasks we have set before ourselves: the Nine P-Patterns. If you can master your P-Patterns, you will arrive at your career goals more efficiently.

• Proceed – starting tasks
• Prevent – stopping impulses
• Produce – problem solving
• Plan – using strategies effectively
• Present – bringing order to the mess
• Process – carrying out multi-steps
• Perceive – understanding ourselves socially
• Progress – monitoring our status
• Perform – expressing our emotions in the right way

PRODUCE PATTERN

In the Produce Pattern of brain functioning, the concern is how flexibly you can solve problems, move freely from one aspect of a problem to another as the situation changes. This part of your career journey can involve how well you transition, tolerate change, and change your attention from one area of focus to another. In order to produce, you may be required to think outside the box and consider new ways of thinking about a puzzle. Let’s say you are at a point of aiming towards developing your career in the workplace. You have some old resumes you have used before and decide to start sending them out. What you quickly discover is that many jobs are requiring you to submit information online, sometimes using something familiar like a resume and sometimes not. This can be discouraging because what you thought would be easy is now requiring many hours of work!

A classic book Who Moved My Cheese by Spencer Johnson, is a powerful fable about the changing nature of the business world. In it, the “mouse” characters must confront the unexpected and even catastrophic changes that are occurring when the “cheese” is not where it is supposed to be. It is a story about how the person seeking success will have to endure times of stress and how creativity can be grown. For the person in the workplace or those in college, the process can require unique solutions to problems. There is risk in the career development journey and that can be scary. And, there is risk and that can be fun!

PLAN PATTERN

I believe this is the core part of the career journey. You will return many times to the Plan Pattern because this is the experience of creating, organizing, strategizing and implementing your goals. Whether you are seeking college options, or diving into the work world, you will need to bring order to your options and developing steps ahead of time to carry out a task. As funny as it may seem to say, in order for the brain to use it’s resources for planning, it requires that you actually give your brain a plan. For many people, the career development process is a new one. You’ve never done this before. You may not know how other people have figured out their college major, or how they’ve landed their first job. What you need is some guidance, steps, practical advice, and structure to be successful. You may be struggling with:

• Time management
• Priority setting
• Creating checklists
• Managing your discouragements
• Setting achievable goals

Identify people you know who are good at the things listed above.