17 Sept 2018
“There are times when we are not in control of our minds. Why? Because part of our brain has its own agenda – we are the source and the solution to our own problems” – Leonie Lightfoot.
Caroline Pearson
Job Title
Have you ever sent an email and wished you could withdraw it, or spoken to a client in a manner you wouldn’t have wanted others to see? Do you ever find your internal voice screaming “why are you such an idiot”?
If so, it isn’t you, but your inner chimp that is to blame, according to the “chimp paradox” – a mind management model developed by Steve Peters for elite athletes. And the good news is, by managing your inner chimp, you can transform your interactions with others both at home and at work.
It was standing room only at the 2018 SPVS-VMG Congress Mind Matters sessions when Leonie Lightfoot, one of Steve’s foot soldiers, introduced the Chimp Paradox.
The model suggests three teams are at work within our brains – the chimp, the human and the computer. Team chimp is the strongest and can take control unless managed. With the motivation of survival, our chimp drives ambition and excitement, but can also be emotive and paranoid, catastrophising every experience and blowing situations out of context. By allowing team chimp to rule, our behaviour can be reactionary and regrettable. Hence, that email you wished you hadn’t sent.
By contrast, team human plays a rational role, looking for evidence, maintaining perspective and producing a balanced judgement.
For example: “My boss is under pressure and probably hasn’t had time to consider my proposal yet. It isn’t that he thinks it’s useless and wants to get rid of me.”
In any situation, these two teams battle to control our reaction and, as Leonie explained, “we can’t rid ourselves of the chimp, nor would we want to, but we should be responsible for recognising and asking when the chimp is unhelpful in our day-to-day lives”.
Carla Whelan of the CVS Group attended the sessions and found Leonie’s suggestion of asking yourself “do I want this feeling?” a particularly useful tool for spotting the chimp. If the answer is no, your chimp may be about to lead you into thoughts or actions you later regret.
Linda Belton, a director at George Veterinary Group, liked the model’s simplicity and has applied it to different practice situations. She said: “By learning to manage our chimp well, we can begin to govern how comfortable we are in different contexts, such as consultations, asking clients difficult questions, theatre or team meetings. If comfortable, we can move beyond our fight or flight responses.”
The third team, the computer, acts as a chimp reference point – more of which will be discussed further into this article. But where and how do we start?
Effective chimp management begins with self-acceptance. Leonie invited the audience to ask themselves: “What sort of person would I like to be?” This is the person you will be if you can manage your chimp. Stop being overly self-critical and become your own biggest supporter.
Carla sees this as a huge strength of the model, observing “it is non-judgemental and actually makes people laugh at themselves as they start to notice the chimp in their behaviour and reactions – it’s positive in that you have to start by accepting who you are and then take responsibility”.
Once we accept we have unhelpful reactions, we have three options for chimp management:
Chimps need to be acknowledged, so ignoring our feelings is never helpful. By letting your chimp offload the emotion, your rational human can step in. That might mean having a moan about a colleague or situation in confidence to a close friend or family member, or even occasionally screaming out loud in frustration.
However, as Linda noted: “If you’re not in a safe place to exercise the chimp, your behaviour could be very destructive to a fellow team member. We shouldn’t exercise our chimp at the expense of someone else, and you need to choose your time and place… and that might not be at work.”
If not in a safe place, boxing the chimp could help by listening to what it is saying, and then challenging it in your head with truths and evidence. This can be a hugely practical tool for veterinary practice, where unpredictability pervades the work life of vets, RVNs and client care teams, and being mindful of the moment can prevent rash choices and behaviour.
Carla suggested: “Boxing the chimp by taking five minutes out to think things over and have an internal conversation can be customer service and team management at its best.”
Linda acknowledged further practice application. She said: “When ‘I can’t handle this’ kicks in, boxing helps us to contain the panic. Is there ever not a way out? This technique provides a healthy dose of realism.”
Feeding the chimp can be a helpful way of managing the chimp in the moment, and refers to either providing a distraction or a reward.
If you are faced with a task where your chimp is shouting “I can’t” or “I won’t”, consider breaking the task down into smaller, manageable steps and rewarding the chimp with a biscuit/chat/walk between steps.
Alternatively, you can sometimes provide a distraction to stop yourself focusing on the unhelpful thoughts the chimp may be giving you.
Linda suggested: “Rather than saying ‘I have no idea where to start with this animal, so let’s not start at all’, think ‘I do know how to perform an examination, so I’ll do that’. Often, you find your first clue, which then leads to the next and gradually you build a picture. When you get to the end, you have managed the situation and hopefully learned for the next time.”
A well looked after and nurtured chimp is easier to manage. Whether having coffee with a friend or taking part in a sport you enjoy, small actions help keep your chimp happy and are not irresponsibly selfish.
Are these steps the road to a harmonious life? Yes and no, Leonie warned. She said: “Constantly managing the chimp can be exhausting. For the chimp management tools to be effective, and to get a step ahead of the chimp, we must have a well-programmed computer, and that is where the real work must be done.”
A well-programmed computer is one with helpful beliefs based on our individual values, purpose and perspective. Ideally, if our chimp is challenged, it refers to the internal “team computer” and receives a rational response that reduces the threat, allowing the chimp to calm down and the human to intervene.
However, if it receives an unhelpful belief, or no belief at all – such as “I have to be in control”, “I must be perfect” or “I don’t know how to do this” – emotions are escalated and the chimp will continue to rage.
We all have helpful and unhelpful beliefs pre-programmed into our computer from a lifetime of experience. Reprogramming is possible, but it takes time and effort.
Good preparation for the day ahead is a good starting point, setting aside time to identify situations where our chimp may try to take over; ask ourselves how we want to behave and plan how we will remind ourselves of helpful thoughts at these moments.
The end of the day allows us to reflect on what went well and what didn’t. Rather than worry, try to accept what happened and what we did, and learn for the next time.
Over a period, the difficult path of controlling our mind and reactions will become easier. The chimp will always remain the first reaction – that is normal. However, by recognising it, we can manage ourselves.
Carla said: “People ask me how I stay calm when things go wrong. The answer is I don’t feel calm initially, but have learned to face my frustrations, and that helps me cope with them. It takes constant practice, but taking a few moments before you speak or press send really helps.”
This is simple, but effective, chimp management.
There is no doubt life would be much easier if everyone could only recognise and manage their chimps. So, how can veterinary practice leaders facilitate good chimp management within their team?
While individuals must remain accountable for their actions and reactions, Linda claimed inconsiderate or unrealistic expectations can fuel dysfunction.
“There are fundamental changes we could make in the vet profession that would make a massive difference,” she said.
“Placing a new graduate on holiday cover not knowing what he or she will be doing or if he or she can cope, and without support, puts that person in an impossible situation. It is little wonder he or she struggles to manage.”
In this situation, it would be surprising if the new graduate’s chimp is not in full rampage.
Rather, Linda suggested a practice culture of open dialogue, trust and support are vital for productive teams.
“If people believe support is there in the night, during a difficult surgery or on the front desk, they are less likely to need that support,” she said.
“This, in turn, releases you to perform better by managing your worries with helpful perspectives and beliefs.”
Carla believes the role of the leader also includes sharing helpful models such as the chimp paradox with team members, and has noted changes in others’ behaviour as their understanding improves. The chimp resonated so heavily with her, she rushed home from the congress to explain the model to her husband.
Clearly, every practice is different. Nonetheless, as leaders and managers, we hold a responsibility to invest in our own mind management, act responsibly and enable our teams to do the same. Small changes in the right direction can reap great rewards.
