HBDI

Question 1

Ice Breaker Activity – Photo Reveal - 4 Steps

Answer 1

1. Step 1: Pair up with someone else
2. Step 2: Find two pictures, one metaphor for what you bring to the team, and one metaphor for what you appreciate in your partner.
3. Step 3: Share your thoughts about the pictures you chose.
4. Step 4: Report out on what you heard your partner say.

Question 2

Marshmallow Challenge - 4 Steps

Answer 2

1. Step 1 - Frame - Show 6 1/2 min video
2. Step 2 - Assemble Kit - 20 sticks spaghetti, 1 yd string, 1 yd tape, 1 marshmallow
3. Step 3: 5 Rules:
   
   • Build the Tallest Freestanding Structure
   • The Entire Marshmallow Must be on Top
   • Use as Much or as Little of the Kit
   • Free to break up Spaghetti, String or Tape
   • The Challenge Lasts 18 minutes
4. Step 4: Debrief - Whole Brain® Thinking is about knowing the demands of a situation and being able to adapt your thinking to suit that situation. Interacting in a Whole Brain® way requires conscious effort.

Question 3

Swimming Upstream - 3 Talking Points

Answer 3

1. Awareness creates choice and is the infrastructure on which the practice of business is built
2. Metaphor of human awareness
   • Technical Dimensions: TQM, Business Process Redesign – Infrastructure, process, & product
   • Human Dimensions: Mental Models, Conversations
   • We need to be able to be aware of what is happening in our external environment, what is happening inside us, and then make decisions on how to respond in accordance to ones vision and values
3. The way we think influences how we make interpretations, solve problems, make decisions, and behave. By revealing the infrastructure that drives our actions, we can have a greater impact on results.

Question 4

Ladder of Inference

Answer 4

**The Ladder of Inference was created by Chris Argyris of Harvard Business School and presentedin Peter Senge’s book, The Fifth Discipline.

Question 5

OAR Model - 3 Talking Points

Answer 5

1. In the Observer Action Results Model, the body is where our habits are formed.
2. Neurons that fire together wire together.
3. Over time these patterns of thinking and doing become increasingly familiar and other ways of thinking and doing become increasingly wierd.

Question 6

HBDI Fact Sheet - 4 Talking Points

Answer 6

1. The HBDI has been used by many Fortune 500 companies and educational institutions. Some examples are on the slide
2. There has been substantial and prolific validation effort with over 2M people having taken it
3. Add the research behind HBDI = # languages, # of cases > 2M, validation research. Derived from 40 years of Brain related research
4. 25 years in use by companies like GE, IBM, Nestle, Bank of America, Johnson & Johnson, American Express, Coca-Cola, Novo Nordisk, Microsoft, NASA, Lockheed Martin, BlackRock

Question 7

Prefrontal Cortex - 4 Talking Points

Answer 7

1. The human prefrontal cortex, developed in primates 2-3M yrs ago, differentiates us from all other mammals.
2. Using our prefrontal cortex is a significant energy drain on the body, so despite its impressive capabilities, it’s daily capacity is limited. Some
3. researches estimate a mere 2-3 hours per day of activity depletes the prefrontal cortex.
4. The prefrontal cortex modulates our limbic instincts and allows us to respond mindfully to emotionally charged situations – to a degree.

Question 8

Limbic System - 4 Talking Points

Answer 8

1. Three major components of the Limbic Brain:
   
   • Amygdala (emotions)
   • Hippocampus (memory)
   • Basal Ganglia (automation)
2. The limbic system operates subconsciously, mostly to pre-recorded hardwired programs that allow us to complete thousands of activities each day without much conscious thought.
3. 40 Hz/20 MHz - conscious mind/unconscious. As such, this vast system is energy efficient, reliable and has almost limitless capacity.
4. When we are tired, stressed, or influenced by alcohol, the limbic system will take control and prefrontal functions shut down.

Question 9

Your Metaphoric Whole Brain® - 3 Talking Points

Answer 9

1. The Whole Brain® Thinking Model is a metaphor for the brain.
2. Each of you has unique preferences.
3. Science supports the Whole Brain® Thinking System.

Question 10

A Quadrant: The Rational Self - 3 ?s

Answer 10

1. How many of you identify with this preference description at this point?
2. What are the advantages to this way of thinking?
3. What might be the limitations?
4. Let’s look at these quadrants now from the humorous perspective. We are going to see how these cartoonists poke fun at each of the 4 quadrants.

Question 11

B Quadrant: The Safekeeping Self - 3 ?s

Answer 11

1. How many of you identify with this preference description at this point?
2. What are the advantages to this way of thinking?
3. What might be the limitations?

Question 12

C Quadrant: The Feeling Self - 3 ?s

Answer 12

1. How many of you identify yourself as predominantly Red at this point?
2. What are the advantages to this way of thinking?
3. What might be the limitations?

Question 13

D Quadrant: The Experimental Self - 3 ?s

Answer 13

1. How many of you identify yourself as predominantly Yellow at this point?
2. What are the advantages to this way of thinking?
3. What might be the limitations?

Question 14

Profile Score - 3 Talking Points

Answer 14

1. Please look at the third line of the chart above your profile diagram, Profile Score.
2. Our Profile Score is the total for each quadrant, derived from your responses to the assessment.
3. The higher the number, the further from the center your point on the diagram, indicating the degree of your preference in that quadrant.

Question 15

Preference Code - 4 Talking Points

Answer 15

1. Our preference codes in the four quadrants come from those Profile Scores
   
   • Primary preference – Strong to Very Strong
   • Secondary preference – Medium
   • Tertiary preference - Low
2. An hbdi score of 67, and above, indicates a primary thinking preference (a dominance) and is given a profile code of 1
3. An hbdi score of 34 - 66 indicates a secondary preference and will be given a profile code of 2
4. A score of 33, or less, from the hbdi indicates an avoidance and will be given a profile code of 3.

Question 16

Adjective Pairs - 2 Talking Points

Answer 16

1. The Adjective Pairs scores depict your preferences under stress or pressure.
2. These scores are represented on your profile diagram as the dotted line.

Question 17

Modes - 2 Talking Points

Answer 17

1. Your profile can also be summarized by modes of adjoining quadrants, or hemispheres: Upper/Lower and Left/Right.
2. This person’s profile indicates a significant tilt towards the left.

Question 18

Key Descriptors

Answer 18

The Key Descriptors are 8 words you selected that describe you, with the most descriptive marked with an asterisk (*)

Question 19

Work Elements - 2 Talking Points

Answer 19

1. Work Elements represent your rankings (1-5) for work you do least well to best.
2. Your rankings are shown, sorted into the four quadrant display.

Question 20

Education, Occupation, & Hobbies - 3 Talking Points

Answer 20

1. This section on Adolescent Education and Education Focus displays indicators of an earlier, often influential time in your life. Occupation and hobbies follow.
2. The longer the bar, the greater the preference for that quadrant.
3. The remaining items are things you self reported and are collected for research purposes.

Question 21

Occupations - 4 Talking Points

Answer 21

1. The HBDI® Assessment does not say a person can or cannot do a particular job. Preference is not the same as competence.
2. The HBDI® Assessment does give big clues as to how someone might do their job.
3. There is a strong correlation between thinking preferences and job choice.
4. Job satisfaction is related to the match between the job profile and the individual’s HBDI® Profile.

Question 22

Developing Whole Brain Thinking - 3 Talking Points

Answer 22

1. As we said earlier, we’re trying to increase our overall effectiveness. So it is not sufficient to understand and “camp out in” your own primary preference. You have access to all four quadrants within yourself.
2. We want to build “whole brain thinking” – the ability to understand and tap into the strengths and contributions of each of these thinking preferences. How are you doing as a team with this? How are you doing with your internal, cross functional, and global partners with this?
3. To develop “whole brain thinking” , we need to have a sense of all four quadrants and how they interact in the workplace.

Question 23

Wall of Fame - 3 Steps

Answer 23

1. Step 1: Invite participants to post their Individual Reports on the Wall of Fame
2. Step 2: Walk by each one and invite an interpretation of the reports
3. Step 3: Ask Questions:
   
   • What types of situations make you feel most at ease?
   • What types of circumstances create tension or put you immediately into action?
   • How might others describe how you work (do you tend to be more helpful, analytical, confrontational, or inventive)? examples?

Question 24

Greatest Team Appreciative Inquiry - 4 Steps

Answer 24

1. Step 1: Imagine you were the greatest team. It is now Dec 2015. Speaking in present tense…
2. Step 2: Take 10 minutes in pairs to answer these questions:
   
   • What: key indicators of success, challenges overcame, milestones achieved?
   • How: key ingredients (people, capabilities, commitments, resources, processes, team dynamics, strategies, tactics, etc.)
3. Step 3: Post Ups
4. Step 4: Debrief

Question 25

Improv Games Intro - 3 Parts

Answer 25

1. # 1 Rule: “Yes, and…”
2. Story Structure:
   
   • Opening - who, what, when, and where
   • Context – Background to draw audience in
   • Challenge – threat, unmet need, unfulfilled expectation, opportunity
   • Proposed Solution
   • Cliffhanger – a complication or escalation to increase the stakes
   • Crescendo
   • Lesson or Moral to the Story
3. Game Options: Near & Far, Open Fist, Speech & Freeze Tag, Zoom

Question 26

Cover Story - 4 Steps

Answer 26

1. Step 1: Spend 5 quiet minutes imagining your own story before working together
2. Step 2: Work as a team to generate:
   
   • “Cover” tells the BIG story of their success.
   • “Headlines” convey the substance of the cover story.
   • “Sidebars” reveal interesting facets of the cover story.
   • “Quotes” can be from anyone as long as they’re related to the story.
   • “Brainstorm” is for documenting initial ideas for the cover story.
   • “Images” are for supporting the content with illustrations.
3. Step 3 – Draft vision statement from essence of the cover story
4. Step 4: Debrief

Question 27

Whole Brain Values - 2 Steps

Answer 27

1. Step 1: Take 10 minutes in pairs to answer these questions:
   
   • What do these values mean to us?
   • How do our values shape our decisions, and in what ways are we willing to make sacrifices for the sake of our values?
   • Meaning… What are we proud of?
   • Even Better if… What do we aspire to be better at?
2. Step 2: Group Debrief

Question 28

Improv - Zoom - 8 Instructions

Answer 28

1. Divide into pairs.
2. Pick an “A” and a “B”
3. B will act as the storyteller and A as the Director
4. Storyteller begins telling story.
5. Director periodically instructs the storyteller to zoom in. Storyteller focuses on a detail within the story and provides additional information.
6. Director instructs the storyteller to zoom out. The storyteller moves to a higher-level view.
7. Director may “zoom in” or “zoom out” more than once in a row to get wide variations of levels in the story.
8. 5 to 10 min. Switch.

Question 29

Improv - Speech Tag - 6 Instructions

Answer 29

1. Ask group to suggest a topic—a story title, a character or product name, a technical process
2. Display story structure
3. Ask for a volunteer to go first. Have them begin to talk.
4. After a bit, have the second person tag them out (tap them on the shoulder) and continue the story exactly where the first person left off.
5. Other participants may randomly tag in and continue the story until it is finished,
6. All the players participate, tagging in when they feel they want to, or their partner needs to be relieved.

Question 30

Improv - Open Fist - 4 Instructions

Answer 30

1. Ask participants to sit in a circle and raise their right fist.
2. The first player calls out an interesting little known fact about herself.
3. Ask the other participants to open one finger from their fist if this statement is also true for them.
4. Ask the first player to point to any other player who will then become the second player. Repeat the process so that everyone has a chance to share a little-known fact or until someone’s fist is fully open.

Question 31

Improv - Near & Far - 4 Instructions

Answer 31

1. Ask the participants to select a near person to stay close to. Keep the identity of this near person a secret.
2. Select a far person to stay away from. Again in doing so, ask participants to keep their choices secret.
3. Safety requirements to ensure nobody gets hurt: no running, hugging, or touching is allowed.
4. Instruct everyone to take a few steps forward to form a tight huddle. At the count of three, ask the participants to wander around, implementing both the near and far rules at the same time without talking.