The SHED Method by Sara Milne Rowe

Author:Sara Milne Rowe
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780718183974
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
Published: 2017-12-19T05:00:00+00:00

At this moment in his story he reached into his pocket, pulled out that same poker chip and handed it to my son, saying, ‘For you.’

My son carried this chip in his pocket as a trigger to connect to the mood energy he needed for the work. It was a physical, personal connection to Albert himself, above and beyond the lines.

Scientific research has shown that the stronger the original emotional state associated with the trigger, the stronger the emotional response will be whenever the same trigger is encountered in future.

It doesn’t matter what your trigger is. What matters is that it works for you.

A few years ago I saw the athlete Michael Johnson being interviewed by Matthew Syed. Johnson spoke about how he had received a letter from Ruth Owens, widow of Jesse Owens, praising him as the runner who most reminded her of her late husband. Jesse Owens was Johnson’s hero. Jesse’s drive and determination had inspired Johnson to be a better athlete. This letter became his pre-race trigger.

Actually we see triggers across the board in sport. They are almost the norm, even at the highest level. A good example is the All Blacks rugby team, who have used triggers to create a more useful mood when performing under match pressure. With help from forensic psychiatrist Ceri Evans, who explained to the All Blacks what the brain does under pressure, they established two states: ‘Red Head’ (Reptile and Dog), the unresourceful state in which you are off task, panicked and ineffective; and ‘Blue Head’ (Human), the optimal state – when you’re on task and performing to your best ability. The players began using individual triggers to switch from Red to Blue. Richie McCaw would stamp his feet, literally grounding himself, while Kieran Read would stare at the furthest point of the stadium, searching for the bigger picture.

However, while the power of a trigger is openly accepted in the world of sport, it seems to be less commonplace in business and general life. I think it’s worth nicking. Clients of mine who deliberately choose and connect to a trigger, or triggers, say it helps them to pause and shift out of an unhelpful mood into a better one.

Colin had a reputation for being ‘volatile but smart’. He spent a lot of time negotiating with clients either on the phone or in meetings. We began working together because he wanted to lose the ‘volatile’ tag – and yet he also rather liked it. He felt it meant that ‘people didn’t try to get away with things’. When I talked to him, it seemed as if his life was increasingly full of negotiation. He was a single parent and was the main carer for his mother. He was quite a private man, so no one at work knew much about his circumstances.

We talked about how difficult he found it to remain calm. He got easily frustrated with processes and people slowing things down – unnecessarily in his view. His default was to snap.

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