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Smart people may not always succeed

Urgency addiction to manage many things is turning in to a common condition called ‘Attention Deficit Trait’. Success in careers and professional growth depends on our ability to balance calmness and crisis by creating an environment in which the brain can function at its best, writes M R Chandramowly.

DILIP scans his e-mail while drumming on his desk using his right index and middle fingers. At the same time he answers the ringing phone on the desk, briefs the last week’s progress to his superior sitting in UK. His right foot vibrates like a circulator. He pulls his ear and rubs his eyes and goes out to get a hot cup of coffee. Deeply involved in multitasking, forgets his outlook reminder which popped up 15 minutes ago.

Lakshana, the HR Manger gets in to her MD’s cabin, her cellphone goes off only to find his phone lighting up, someone knocks on door, he suddenly turns to his laptop monitor to send a mail or he tells her a new issue other than the one she was supposed to discuss. Anything done by the leader will be blindly followed by most of the other members of the group, taking that action as the standard.

Edward M Hallowell, a psychologist, called it Attention Deficit Trait. The time management consultants and coaches do not address the underlying causes of ADT says Edward. ADT springs from environment, by the demands of our time.

Attention deficiency trait

Attention deficiency trait (ADT) is a new epidemic in organisations caused by brain overloaded. Distraction, inner frenzy, impatience are symptoms of ADT. People with ADT have difficulty in staying organised or to set priorities to manage time. It entirely springs from environment factors like a traffic jam. With our mind full of noise-feckless synaptic events, brain gradually loses its capacity to attend fully and thoroughly to anything. The research shows that ADT comes upon a person gradually. Managing responsibilities by accepting pressures, keeping in all the troubles without complaining or resolving makes us increasingly hurried, curt and unfocused. MRI scans have found that people with ADD (now known clinically as attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder) suffer a slightly diminished volume in four specific brain regions that have various functions such as modulating emotions (especially anger and frustration), organising activities by prioritising and making decisions.

ADD confers both disadvantages and advantages. On a positive side, people with ADD often posses an entrepreneurial flair. They try to improvise well under pressure and display ingenuity. Because they have the ability to field multiple inputs simultaneously, they can be strong leaders during times of change. The negative characters include a tendency to procrastinate, forgetfulness, drift away mentally in the middle of the conversation.

Shift to calmness from crisis red alert

“Studies have shown that as the human brain is asked to process dizzying amounts of data, its ability to solve problems flexibly and creatively declines and the number of mistakes increases. Hallowell finds that the most dangerous disability is not ADD. It is fear. Fear shifts us into survival mode, where the deeper areas of the brain assume control and begin to direct the higher levels. The crisis mode changes our physiology from peace and quit to red alert. This can occur when a manager is desperately trying to deal with more input than he possibly can. In survival mode, he makes impulsive judgments and feels robbed of his flexibility. He forgets the big picture, goals and values he stands for.

Unfortunately, employees who seem unable to keep up the pace are seen as deficient or weak. Treatment of ADT does not require medication. It requires creative engineering of one’s own environment, emotional/physical health and building positive, fear-free emotional atmosphere. Emotion is the on/off switch. People are likely to suffer from ADT, if they are more isolated and disconnected with environment or do not get enough sleep.

File, do not pile

Here are some tips from Edward: Don’t start your day allowing yourself to get sucked into vortices of e-mail or attending minor tasks that eat up your time. Attend to a critical task indeed. The number of tasks should not be more than five priority items. Use OHIO rule: “Only handle it once”. If you touch a document, act on it, file it or through it away and do not put in a pile.

ADT is induced in companies if their employees are demanded fast thinking than deep thinking. If managers are made to do more with less support staff, managers end up doing more jobs of administrative assistants and the companies lose money in the long run. Attention is a mental exercise and most of the time invisible. Bhâgavatam confirms this scientifically by elucidating “attention styles” of animals. Attention surges from fish, tortoise and birds by vision, meditation and by touch. The fish brings up its offspring simply by looking at them. The eggs of the tortoise are laid on the land and the tortoise meditates on the eggs while in water. Birds use their sense of touch. So is our attention supported by our senses of sight, sound, touch, taste and smell.

“Biochemistry of our productive states revolves around activating the sympathetic nervous system and the adrenals to secrete chemicals called catecholamines. When we invoke positive emotions, the brain chemicals will be at work to generate enthusiasm. These brain chemicals are different from those that respond to stress and threat. There are two kinds of stress — good and bad — and two distinct biological systems at work. Our peak performance lies in balancing in between.” (D Goleman, Working with EI).

“When your heart rate is faster and blood pressure is higher because you’re habitually angry, then over thirty years that may lead to a faster build-up of plaque, and so lead to coronary artery disease.” (Per Kaufman). When fear is replaced by courage, sadness by acumen and anger by awareness we are attentive to balance life with work.

All of us face bitter competition and immoral strife, compelled to battle constantly with things and beings. We are caught between our objective tensions and subjective confusions. The modern man comes to be torn between his slavery to uncontrollable desires/undisciplined thoughts and the influence and pressure from the outer world. The external threats are bound to reach us time and again and none can escape them. The success and joy of life is measured by the extent of control one has over the inner subjective confusion.

How can we overcome fear and anxiety, the root of stress and ADT? How would we nurture our children with healthy knowledge of healthy human values, courage and wisdom? These statistics as devastating: 65 per cent of the children are deprived of the “parental” attention (Fatherless America). Among fathers who maintain contact with their children after a divorce, the pattern of the relationship between father-and-child changes. They begin to behave more like relatives than like parents. Instead of helping with homework, non-resident dads are more likely to take the kids shopping, to the movies, or out to dinner. Instead of providing steady advice and guidance, divorced fathers become “treat dads”. (F Furstenberg, A Cherlin, Divided Families. Harvard Univ. Press)

When does the stocktaking in the life’s busy shop end?

Which day’s account is the final and bound?

In the end less account of profit and loss

Greed and Need akin to Servant and Boss

(Dr DVG’s “Kagga” - 594)

(concluded)

The author is former Corporate Vice President - HR and currently HRD and Leadership Competency Building Consultant. E-mail: cmowly@hotmail.com