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Wednesday, June, 29, 2011

Where Are the Feedback Loops in Planning?

Harnessing the Power of Feedback Loops is a Wired magazine article by Thomas Goertz. It seems useful to better understand this for change management. He also discusses the use of real-time sensors and responders, which could be useful for planners.

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A feedback loop involves four distinct stages. First comes the data: A behavior must be measured, captured, and stored. This is the evidence stage. Second, the information must be relayed to the individual, not in the raw-data form in which it was captured but in a context that makes it emotionally resonant. This is the relevance stage. But even compelling information is useless if we don’t know what to make of it, so we need a third stage: consequence. The information must illuminate one or more paths ahead. And finally, the fourth stage: action. There must be a clear moment when the individual can recalibrate a behavior, make a choice, and act. Then that action is measured, and the feedback loop can run once more, every action stimulating new behaviors that inch us closer to our goals.

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Thursday, January, 22, 2009

Why So Many Minds Think Alike: The Neuroscience of Conformity

Recent brain image research supports new understanding of why people tend to go along with the majority view, even if that is clearly incorrect. This kind of brain research is a must-understand for people whose jobs require them to manage planning conversations with large groups of people. The story highlights are listed as: "New study looks at how people change opinions of the beauty of images"; "Brain imaging shows group opinion actually shifts perception in the brain"; "Solomon Asch studied conformity in famous experiment in 1950s"; and Researcher: Rethink committees that decide by unanimous consent." Here's a link to a popular article about the research and here's a brief video on the research.

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