Taking Ownership in Your Workplace

Taking Ownership of what you are doing

Daniel Theyagu 

 

 

So you are an employee?  You work for a living.  Your boss is always breathing down your neck.  You wish you had a better job.  There must be something better out there for you. 

 

These statements must have occasionally passed through your mind.  Especially when you are faced with uncertainty in the job that you are doing and you feel that your effort and the work that you do does not quite justify and satisfy your true ability.  Then again this is where the paradox lies.  What is your true ability? 

The world we live in today has undergone rapid and disruptive changes.  What were accepted norms are being thrown out of the window!  New ideas, new working philosophy and new creed are replacing the old ones.  This means that your employability and survivability in your organization is based on your ability to take ownership of what you are doing.  Even if you are employed by someone else, you are as much the owner of the company as your employer is.  When you take ownership of what you are doing you internalize that part of your job and become energized in what you do. 

 

It’s like you losing your wallet and wanting to find it very much.  You will notice if this has happened to you, you put a lot of dedication if trying to find that wallet of yours.  However, think what you will do if your colleague or friend comes to you and says that he/she has lost the wallet and ask for your assistance to find it!  You will certainly help, but you might not be that much dedicated in really looking for the wallet.  For a simple reason being that it is not yours. 

 

This parable is what exactly happens in organizational setting.  People working in organization are sometimes simply running around doing things the right way.  They are efficient but not really effective.  They keep to organizational protocols and practices but do not question their validity or the need to change.  After a period whatever they are doing becomes sort of ‘acceptable practices’ and a general state of inertia sets in.  If you have reach this kind of state, it is about time that you start questioning your values and identify your vision and try to figure out whether you are doing the right thing of staying on or perhaps you should move on. 

 

Moving on to something else might be a step in the right direction.  The traditional approach of long term employability is being challenged today.  Many organizations are now offering shorter contract terms to their employees so that the organization have the option of selecting and keeping those employees that they feel would be an asset to the organization.  This sometimes might create a sense of dissonance and lack of conviction on your part as you might not be sure whether you are wanted after your contract runs out. 

 

If you are keen to stay on and you feel that you can be an asset to your organization, what you need to do is to take ownership of your job.  You need to change your paradigm from the traditional “I work for the organization” to one whereby you change your mindset and see as if “the organization is working for me” instead.  You should learn to see yourself as the owner, no matter where you stand in your organization.  Achieving this paradigm shift in you will automatically allow you to start to contribute effectively to your organization.

 

How can you achieve this new paradigm shift? 

 

I would like to propose the 4R that will allow you to take ownership of whatever that you are doing in your organization.  Here they are.

 

Responsibility

Learn to take responsibility for the actions that you undertake.  Responsibility comes from the root word ‘response’. This means you should response to the situation rather than react to it.  Taking responsibility will show you up as a person of high integrity and conviction and that will in turn make others look up to you and value your opinion and the decisions that you’ve got to make. 

 

You can develop this quality in you by volunteering when you know you can take on a certain task rather than waiting to be asked.  Sometimes, people wait to be ask because they have this feeling in them that they are not wanted and by being asked would alleviate them to a higher level of importance.  This is certainly a quality of a person suffering from inferiority complex.  You don’t have to feel this way.  You can dive yourself into your workload with passion and give it all your best.  When you do this regularly, people in your organization will take notice, one way or another. 

 

Taking responsibility will also make you a more confident person and boost your self-esteem.   When you feel this way you inevitably develop the next quality that will make you personally successful.

 

Reliability

When we buy any item we want to ensure that they are reliable.  For one simple reason – when it is reliable it will not give us problem and will serve our purpose.  Likewise, reliability is a personal quality that you should develop and extrude in your organization.  When you are reliable, you will realize that you become your own boss.  You will also become an indispensable asset of your organization.  You will be someone whom the organization feels can help drive them to

 

Resolute

Being resolute ensures that you do not easily get swayed by what others are saying about the organization you are working for and about yourself.  You should learn to be open to constructive criticism that allows you to self-analyze and improve your personal and professional qualities. However, don’t fall prey to those ‘emotional vampires’ in your organization who have the tendency to sap your sense of self-awareness and self-regard and make you feel as if that you are wasting your time with the company.  It is easy to be swayed from what you want to achieve if you are unclear and unsure in your mind what is it you really want.  

 

You can become more resolute by becoming clear in what your goals are and to synchronize your own personal goals with that of your organization’s goals.  If you are unable to do this, it may mean that you are unable to see what is it that your organization is working towards and this will definitely lead to a clash between you and the organization.  If you feel that you are unable to do this, then perhaps it might be a good idea to move on.  However, if you feel that you can change your mindset and work in-sync with your organization’s vision that you need to develop the next quality in yourself.

 

Resourceful

Sometimes we lose sight of our goals and purpose in life because we feel that we might be in the rut and just plain unlucky.  There are some who believe that they are plagued by hard luck.  This is nothing more than a negative state of mind.  You may have heard of the saying: ‘When the going gets tough, the tough gets going!’! This is absolutely true.  You can become tough by learning to make your own luck.  How? 

 

By becoming resourceful!  Learn how to work within limitations and maximize your productivity.  I’ve never heard of any organization that has abundant resources.  One way or other there will be some form of shortages.  If it is not in manpower, it would be in equipment or other things.  What you need to do is to see what you could do to exploit the resources available at your disposal to the maximum benefit of your organization.  This is one area when you can learn to think creatively.  When you become resourceful you make sure that whatever you have works for you.  Much as you might think you are working for your organization, you must also remember the organization is working for you.  The very fact that you are still employed is a testament to the fact that your organization believes in your ability.  It is up to you to drive your organization from wherever you are.  You can achieve this by doing the next thing.

 

 

 

Re-Learn, Re-ThinkThe day we stop learning is the day we die.  Learning is an on-going process.  It starts from the time you were conceived and continues to your dying breath.  Learning also involves re-learning.  You must develop the habit of letting go out-dated visions and work methods and learn to embrace new technology and new ways of doing things.  Also when things do not work as they should do so, you need to re-think the situation and come up with new ways of doing things.  To quote Albert Einstein who said:  “The world we have made as a result of the level of thinking we have done thus far creates problems we cannot solve at the same level of thinking at which we created them.”  We are everyday confronted with problems.  Instead of trying to avoid these problems, see them as opportunities for you to re-learn and re-think what you are doing.  You don’t have to re-invent the wheel but you could certainly improve on the quality of the wheel and make it more durable. 

Make it a point everyday to learn something new or do something different.  Try to re-think of something that you have been doing regularly in your organization to see whether you could refine the process, perhaps cut short the time or possibly change to something more efficient.  Many a time, people only start thinking when things go wrong.  Learn to be proactive and continuously assess your ground and what you are doing.  Creating this sense of self-awareness in you will make what you are doing more efficacious and help you remain self-motivated.   

President John F Kennedy famously once said: “Ask not what the country can do for you, but ask what you can do for the country!” You and your organization must become as one wholesome unit.  Only when you are able to achieve this state can you feel a sense of completeness in what you are doing and come to terms with your obligation to your organization.  Here too, leaders in organization have to play a pivotal role to create the psychological ambience that allows their staff to take ownership of their organization.   

Leaders can achieve this state of consciousness by empowering their staff when they seem fit to take on additional responsibilities.  Leaders should also maintain an open environment that allows all sorts of communication to flourish so that everyone knows their job. They should also develop a habit of emotionally connecting with their staff so that the staff sees them not just as their superior, but someone whom they can trust and rely upon.  

Sometimes it is easy to forget where we are going and end someplace else.  Only to realize that there was no necessity to move at all in the first place.  Embrace the above 4R qualities and take ownership in whatever you are doing and you will feel a sense of personal achievement. 

RIDE THE WAVES OF UNCERTAINTY 

The phrase “secure future” need not be a contradiction in terms, if you take charge of your career 

By Daniel Theyagu 

In the last segment I spoke about setting short-term, mid-term and long term career plan.  This is important as since the on set of the 21^st Century, the world has undergone drastic and unpredictable changes.  We have been afflicted with natural and man-made calamities.  New medical technology is allowing us to live longer and have better health.  We have more empowerment to take control of what we do and what we can do.

 

 Yet that is the irony of the situation.  With such overwhelming choices that are available to us we sometimes feel a sense of frustration and distortion in our perception of Life. 

 

There has been a constant shift in the paradigm when it comes to employing people.  Gone are the good old days where the employee is taken care of till his/her retiring days.  Pension payment is slowly becoming extinct.  What you hear now are short-term contract, performance appraisal, multi-tasking and more job responsibility for lesser pay.  The world that once looked familiar, predictable and rational is metamorphosing into a complex web where everything seems to be appearing illogical, irrational and totally chaotic.  If you want to take charge of your career you need to make concrete plans taking into consideration the frenzy whirlpool of change that is swirling before you eyes. 

 

Even if you wish to continue your career in your intended path the success formula that you derived will not work again in this whirlpool of sudden and catastrophic change.  What you need to do is to learn to ride the waves of uncertainty.

 

 How?

 

Here are  three pointers!

 

1.  Create a Sturdy Floating Platform

You cannot be like a tall building standing on a firm foundation.  Not any more.  The foundation might keep the building intact, but it’s still no match for a Tsunami or an Earthquake.  You need to liken yourself as a very study floating platform in a wide uncharted ocean.  The ocean represents the uncertainties in your life.  If your platform is sturdy it might falter but will not break.  It will carry you through these uncertainties and allow you adapt with the changes. 

 

You can be the floating platform by keeping your senses open to the changes that is occurring around you.  Be wary and learn to adapt quickly when the need arises.  Always assess the situation that you are facing so that you can control the situation rather then succumbing to the situation.  You need to learn to paddle your own canoe so to speak. 
Hollywood actress Katharine Hepburn said: “As you go through life, you learn that if you don’t paddle your own canoe you don’t move.” 

 

 

2.  Don’t be Afraid to Open the Pandora’s Box

In Greek mythology the Pandora’s box represents all the human frailties that Prometheus took from Man and stashed it away in a box which he sealed and gave his wife, Pandora.  He told her never to open the box without explaining why.  Pandora’s curiosity got the better of her and she opened the box and released many of the hidden frailties of man.  Today when we say, ‘don’t open the Pandora’s box’ it is meant that it is best not to go into areas where angels fear to tread. 

 

However this is only part of the legend.  Out of fear when Pandora closed back the box, she heard a little voice telling her, “let me out!”  When Pandora asks who the voice was the answer she got was “I am Hope!”

 

Pandora let everything out but kept HOPE in the box.  This parable suggests that not everything is bad about opening the Pandora’s box.  Because when everything else fails, perhaps there is still hope.

 

In the career sense, note that the uncertainty that you face might really be an opportunity for you to tap into your latent potentials that you never thought you have.  Sometimes you need such uncertainties to strive effectively in your life.  However you don’t need to wait for a calamity to open you own Pandora’s box.  See how you can maximize your potential by tapping in those weak areas that you thought you possess in your life.

 

 

 

3.  Don’t become the Educated Crook

As a lecturer in the University, I had a professor who oversaw my course module performance.  This professor asked me once: “What do you think is worst than a crook?”  I had to think for a long time not knowing the answer he wanted. Looking at my blank expression he said slowly: “An educated crook!” 

 

A crook is a person who does something wrong.  He may be driven by circumstances and misled into a life of crooked behaviour.  It is possible to reform a crook by pointing out his mistakes.  What is worst is an educated crook who being fully aware of what he is doing justifies his crooked activity.  The educated crook feels that ethics and integrity are for other people and not him. 

 

As you go through your career in life, you need to ensure that you do not become the educated crook.  This is an easy trap to fall in especially if you are desperate or in a dilemma. This is the time you need to keep your wits about you.  You can get many new jobs you want until finding one that suits you, but don’t compromise you ethics and above all keep your integrity intact. 

 

GET INTO THE DRIVER SEAT  

Before your career hits a plateau, take charge of it and steer it in the direction you want 

 

By Dr Daniel Theyagu 

 

You want the job!

 

You feel that this is the career path for you! 

 

You go for the interview and impress your interviewer. 

Next you got the job!  You are now at the top of the world. 

 

Then when the natural ‘high’ of getting the job is over you fall into a rut of things.  Your career seems mundane.  You feel that there is no more challenge in what you are doing.  You feel that perhaps it’s time to change your career. 

 

But wait!  Can you guarantee that the next career will be an interesting one?  Or is history going to repeat itself all over again?

 

There is no success formula for your career.  You are your career. Period! It is what you make out of it.  Your career succumbs to the natural law of selection in that if you do not want your career to become extinct than you need to nurture it.  To do that you need to adapt to change.  As naturalist Charles Darwin puts it: “It is not the strongest nor the most intelligent of the species that survive; it is the one most adaptable to change.”  To prevent such a catastrophic extinction of your career you need to create your own personal vision and as management ‘guru’ Stephen R Covey mentions as one of the habits of highly effective people to “begin with the end in mind.” 

 

 Once you got the career you want you need to create a short-term, mid-term and a long-term career plan.

 

Short-term Career Plan

A short-term career plan can be from six months to two years.  Here you can maximize your potential by learning everything about your trade, networking and understanding your roles, responsibilities and function in your career.  This is also a volatile period in your career as others might intend to topple you or the challenges you face might seem overwhelming and impossible. 

 

There is a saying which goes: “Just when you see the light at the end of the tunnel it turns out to be an on-coming train.”  This means that you need to be very clear and focus on what you really want if you are going to come out of the ‘tunnel’.  Otherwise you are going to get run over by the ‘on-coming train’ which represents all the resistance and oppositions that you will face in your career.

 

Mid-Term Career Plan

Your mid-term career plan can be three to five years.  By now you should be professionally competent in your job.   You might be highly efficient in what you are doing but the question is whether you are highly effective as well. 

 

Efficiency is basically about doing things right.  Being effective is doing the right things right.  This means that you need to continuously analyse your original career goals to see whether they are still relevant in your industry. Staying relevant and able to respond effectively to the changing environment is crucial to your career success.  Mr Lee Kwan Yew succinctly said: “It’s the ability of a people to respond quickly to the unexpected that decides whether they survive, or they are swept aside by events.” 

This is the period where boredom begins setting in as you start enveloping yourself in a comfort zone.  The original sweet taste of success starts to wither away and you feel that you are in the rut.  Just like an aging car, your need to do a complete overhaul if need be to make sure that your performance is still intact.

 

Long Term Career Plan 

Your long-term career plan is anything from five years and beyond.  There’s the danger that you might get entrenched in your comfort zone such that it will become difficult to manage your career.  Further you may find yourself having the fear of redundancy.  If you are unable to make the changes necessary and take charge of your career you may very well be writing your own career epitaph.

 

This is the time you need to “rewire” yourself. Throw out the old school of thoughts if you have to and embrace the new work philosophy.   Accept and adopt new ways of doing things, attend relevant training courses, learn a new skill and keep identifying new business avenues to exploit. 

 

This might all sound exceedingly insurmountable; however it is easier to make small changes in gradual steps then making one giant leap.  Dutch painter, Vincent Van Gogh said: “Great things are done by a series of small things brought together.”

 

This is the time when you can be an inspiration to others. Engage yourself in a transfer of your knowledge.  When you teach you learn.  And most importantly remain teachable.  When you’ve come this far you might be fearful of failure and this kills your entrepreneurial spirit.

 

Be receptive in trying new things in every aspect of your life. Do not be afraid of failure.  You may not succeed at first but as Lloyd Jones said: “The men who try to do something and fail are infinitely better than those who try nothing and succeed.” 

In the next segment some tips on how you can take charge of your career.

 

Article contributed by:D Theyagu is a keynote speaker and seminar leader for many conferences and training program.  He runs Lateral Solutions Consultancy which designs and conduct competency based training for organizations.   To engage his services please contact:dtheyagu@singnet.com.sg; www.lateralsolutionsconsult.com; Fax: 67522160 

 

Developing a Razor Sharp Memory Part 2

Developing a Razor Sharp Memory (Part 2) 

By Daniel Theyagu 

In the last part I shared with you on the different types of memory we have.  Here are some ways you can improve your memory.

 

 Forming Creative Sentences 

One method of remembering things is to form creative sentences.  An example to illustrate this is how you can remember the different classifications of length which are:

 

Kilometre, Hectometre, Decametre, Metre, Decimetre, Centimetre and Millimetre.

 

You can remember this by taking the first letter of each word above and make it into a simple creative sentence that the brain can remember.  Like: 

 

King Henry’s Daughter Makes Deadly Careless Mistake.   

This is easier to remember as the sentence will trigger your brain into remembering the unit of measurement of length.  You may have learnt this technique in school to remember the colours of the rainbow.  This can be recalled with a creative sentence like this:

 Richard Of
York, Gave Birth In Vain. 

By taking the first letter of each of the word above, you will have

R.O.Y.G.B.I.V 

This can be translated into: Red –
Orange – Yellow – Green – Blue – Indigo – Violet.

 

You can use a variant of this technique in the office to remember vital information such as a password to open a computer program.  Let say you have a password like:

 

db45yrfm 

By forming this into a creative sentence you will find it easier to recall the password.  Something like:

David Bought 45 Yellow Roses For Me 

Naturally this is easier than trying to remember db45yrfm!

 

Another example – there are four oceans in the world, they are: Pacific, Atlantic, Indian and
Arctic.  Again, you can take the first letter and make a creative sentence to help you trigger your memory into recalling the four oceans.  The one I have in mind is:  Pigs Are Intelligent Animal!

 

The important thing to note here is that the sentence you create must be funny and abstract such that your right brain registers it effectively so that you can recall it anytime.

 

 The Visual Imagination Technique 

In this technique you need to visualize the things that you want to remember.  Note that developing a razor sharp memory is all about improving the power of your observation. 

 

Suppose you need to go to the supermarket to buy the following items:

Ham – Egg – Calendar – Cottage Cheese – Newspaper – Chicken Breast Fillet – Tomato Ketchup – French loaf – Spinach – Yogurt – Dish washing liquid. 

You may write all these down on a piece of paper or spend a few minutes memorizing this list.  It is not hard to do this.  All you’ve got to do is to translate the information into something abstract and silly such that your brain can remember and recall.  This is how you can do it!

 

Visualize yourself making a journey and along the way someone threw a Ham and Egg at you.  You had to wipe this off with a calendar (now that does look silly).  As you are doing this you notice that the calendar is made of cottage cheese.  Since you were feeling hungry you decided to eat the cottage cheese with some newspaper.  Later you still felt hungry and decided to eat a large Chicken Breast Fillet with some tomato ketchup.  As you were doing this someone took a French loaf and hit you over the head, you turn around and saw Popeye the Sailorman with the French loaf and eating spinach.  You offered him some Yogurt which tasted like dish washing liquid.

 

 How could you apply this technique in the office?

  Let’s say that you have ten things you have to do in the office today.  They are:

 

ü     Photocopy minutes of meetingü     Call Air Con maintenance for servicingü     Book airline ticket for the bossü     Order water for coolerü     Meet Jane for Lunchü     Send watch for repairü     Collect parcel from Post Officeü     Pay phone billü     Interview new job applicantü     Return library book 

To remember this here is what you should do.  Visualize that you are dreaming and in the dream you saw a huge photocopier machine (this will remind you to photocopy minutes of meeting); and you notice that the photocopier machine was feeling hot and you decided to install an air-con to keep it cool. When you do this you will remember to call the air-con maintenance. 

 

Now go on to make a story to link the remainder items.  Your story might come up something like this – The air-con maintenance man complains that the air con was not working because your boss’s airline ticket was stuck in it.  Therefore you had to pour some water from the cooler into the air-con to extract your boss’s ticket.  This was when you realized that you had an appointment with Jane for lunch.  You miss this appointment as you forgot to send your watch for repair.  You went to collect your watch and pass by a Post Office when you remembered to collect a parcel and also to pay your phone bill.  As you are paying your phone bill, your phone was ringing to remind you of the job applicant interview and as you rush to your office you trip over the library book that you were suppose to return.

 

The visual imagination technique is excellent to remember huge chunks of information.  All you need to do is to link the first item to the next like one long chain and soon you will be able to work out you memory.  The more you engage yourself in this activity the more active your brain becomes and you will realize that you can have a razor sharp memory.

 

In part III  I will show you how you can remember things in a random order.

 

Article contributed by:D Theyagu is a keynote speaker and seminar leader for many conferences and training program.  He runs Lateral Solutions Consultancy which designs and conduct competency based training for organizations.   To engage his services please contact:dtheyagu@singnet.com.sg; www.lateralsolutionsconsult.com; Fax: 67522160 

 

Reading has no speed limit

READING HAS NO SPEED LIMITS

Being able to speed-read will help you raise your productivity Jul 26, 2006
ST Recruit

WE are faced with increasing volume of reading materials in the workplace today. They include journals, reports and e-mail messages. Being able to read fast is a useful skill that can help you to finish your work earlier, and allow you to devote more time to other areas such as planning and decision-making. Speed-reading is a technique that you can acquire anytime. What you need is commitment and confidence in yourself. The average person reads approximately 220 to 240 words per minute. This is because our eye takes approximately one-fourth of a second to register an image. Therefore, if we see one word in a one-fourth of a second, in one second we will see about four words, depending on the length of each word. It is possible to increase the number of words that we see in a single glance if we acquire some essential techniques in speed-reading. Use your finger One of the most effective techniques of speed-reading is to use your finger. Our eye has an innate tendency to follow a moving object. When you move your finger across a row of words, you will find that your eye will also follow the movement of your finger and capture the words that you are reading at a faster pace. Vary the speed of your moving finger until you find you are comfortable with the pace of reading. Initially, this exercise might seem a bit irritating, and that is a good sign. Speed-reading is similar to riding a bicycle or driving a car. It is a skill that you need to engage in actively. It becomes easier once you get used to it. Peripheral vision This is a slightly more challenging technique, but once you master it, you will realise that you can read at a speed exceeding 1,000 words per minute. For this technique, instead of looking at one word at a time, try looking at a few words at a time. A newspaper is the best thing to use to practise this technique. Most newspapers in the world are divided into columns. The average lines in a column consist of four to six words. What most readers do is to read every word in the sentence. Thus, their eye movement is restricted to each word. What you need to do is put your finger somewhere in the centre of each sentence and stretch your vision as much as you can to capture as many words as possible. You will notice that your eyes are actually engineered to see more than a word at a glance. Initially, this technique might slow down your reading speed. However, as you become more accustomed to it, you will start reading faster and better. Skimming and scanning The trick to reading faster is “adaptive reading”. This means that you should learn to skim through the article and pick out key words that are important. Again, this is not a big problem for most people, especially if you are reading articles that you are familiar with. For example, if you have bought a new DVD recorder and want to know how to use the recording function, you will not read the whole manual. Instead, you will skip to the portion on recording. Scanning is a technique that is useful for reading newspapers, magazines, e-mails and Internet webpages. Like a scanner, your eyes will sweep through the text and look out for information that you want. Practice makes perfect Learning to speed-read will help you to improve your vocabulary and increase your general knowledge. Like any new skill, do not expect to learn to speed-read overnight. You need patience and, most importantly, discipline in practicing the techniques. For a start, try re-reading this article again using your finger and see how fast you progress. Article contributed by Daniel Theyagu, a corporate trainer in Speed
Reading and Memory Enhancement. For details, contact
daniel@lateralsolutionsconsult.com Website: www.thinklaterally.com .

Developing a Razor Sharp Memory Part 1

DEVELOPING A RAZOR SHARP MEMORY 

By Daniel Theyagu 

 

You’ve so often heard it!

 “I’ve got a bad memory!”

“I’m not good at remembering names!”

“I always forget what I want to do!”

“My memory is failing!”

 

These are all just superb excuses to the one undeniable fact that we all have an excellent memory.  The trouble is that we are not using it well enough.  As such our memory begins to atrophy with time.  Your memory works like a muscle.  When you work on your muscle you get fitter and well toned.  Likewise when you work on your memory you will get your memory to work effectively for you.

 

You can develop a razor sharp memory at any moment in your life as long as you are a normal human being.  However, it’s not going to happen overnight nor is it going to be a simple process.  You need commitment and constant practice to keep your memory intact.  Many of us spend lots of time trying to keep our body healthy and fit.  I think that some of that time should also be spend on keeping your brain in good working order.  The best way to do this is to work out your brain’s wonderful ability to remember and recall information. 

 

There are several ways in which you can develop a razor sharp memory.  For a start you need to understand how your brain works.  Putting it simply, our brain consists of three types of memory – Sensory memory, short term memory and long term memory.

 

 

Sensory Memory

This memory helps us remember things that we need to survive. Like feeling hungry or feeling cold or warm.  The body will respond to these stimuli appropriately.  Like if you are feeling too warm, you will start to perspire.

 

Short Term Memory

Short Term Memory or STM is like the RAM (Random Access Memory) of your computer.  If you have a small RAM in your computer and run many programs your computer system crashes or ‘hangs’.  Likewise, when we try to store too many information in the STM, we start to ‘forget’ these information as the storage capacity of the STM is limited.  Our STM can remember information for a period of seven seconds to a maximum of 48 hours.  In fact within the first 24 hours we forget up to 80% of the information we are trying to remember unless this is transferred to the long term memory (LTM)

 

Long Term Memory

The transfer of information from STM to LTM requires you to re-configure the information in a manner that allows the LTM to remember.  The LTM is situated more to the right part of the brain and thus it remembers information in a unique manner very unlike the STM which is situated more to the left hemisphere of the brain. 

 

Put simply your LTM only remembers three kinds of things.  If you want to develop a razor sharp memory, you need to change whatever information that you want to remember long term into any of these three modes. 

The first of the three kinds of things are survival skills like eating, walking or swimming.  Silly as it may sound, can you ever ‘forget’ how to walk or swim?  The second is events that remind us of something sad that had happened in our lives like a bad experience or an accident that we had.  Such information automatically gets stored in the LTM and often we are triggered into remembering it. 

 

The third kind is those things that are funny, silly or stupid.  Just to prove this point, see whether you can answer the following questions:

i.                 What was the fruit that Snowhite ate?

ii.               At 12 midnight what did Cinderella leave behind?

iii.             What is Popeye’s favourite food?

iv.             Who was Little Red Riding Hood visiting?

 

If you can answer all these questions it just goes to show how much you’ve retained such information from your childhood days.  And why so is because these stories are funny and sometimes ludicrous such that your brain seems to enjoy it. 

 

Now think for a moment what you were doing this time last week!  Unless you’ve been doing something very interesting, chances are you need to refer to your diary or crack your head a little to try to figure out what you were doing.  Mundane activities are processed in the STM and soon forgotten. 

 

The key to having a razor sharp memory is to engage more of the right brain and make information creative and exaggerated such that the right brain will want to remember it.   This may sound difficult however you will notice that with practice it is easier than you think.  

 

Tomorrow I will share with you some techniques that you can use to help you develop a razor sharp memory.

 

 

Article contributed by:Daniel Theyagu is a keynote speaker and seminar leader for many conferences and training program.  He runs Lateral Solutions Consultancy which designs and conduct competency based training for organizations.   To engage his services please contact:dtheyagu@singnet.com.sg; www.lateralsolutionsconsult.com; Fax: 67522160