Quantum Physics of Belief – Thought Energy Manifesting into Events

In the past few weeks, I was writing on how scientific and business research shows that human thoughts and beliefs have an effect on the physical world, with no intermediary action. In other words, thoughts and beliefs directly impact the unfolding of events. There seems to be some confusion among some readers who have asked for clarification on how this occurs. Let me share an overview of what my research is revealing here.

In running a business, even if the business model is well designed and perfectly suited for the market, we would all recognize that success and high profitability are not guaranteed. We realize that there are many elements we can’t completely control, such as the capabilities of the competition, the decisions that customers will make, and the countless choices made by employees each day. It would be impossible for a business to design these elements in a manner that would guarantee success.

My experience tells me that chance is not as random as we believe, and the way to reduce the uncertainty in business is through shaping the beliefs and intentions, or thought energy, of the business organization. When a business organization has a particular, positive thought energy, events are more likely to occur in a manner that is fortuitous for the business. This doesn’t mean that action is not required, because it definitely is. It simply means that the elements that can’t be controlled through action tend to unfold more frequently in favor of the business.

I don’t think it would be possible for anyone to ‘prove’ that an organization’s thought energy directly impacts how events unfold. The important thing to note is that we never even try to architect the unfolding of such events. These kinds of things happen consistently in businesses, which had very positive thought energy.

Did you see the movie Apollo 13? Do you remember Tom Hanks, Ed Harris and Ron Howard who directed the movie from 1995? It was a true story of how NASA got the crippled Apollo 13 space craft back to earth after the oxygen/power supply failed half way through the flight mission. It was a testament to the teamwork, leadership, problem solving and human synergistics.

In that movie, I distinctly remember the Flight Director Eugene Kranz (played by Ed Harris) saying two powerful things: “Failure is NOT anOption.” And “I will not allow that [negative] thought to exist in this space” (even if it was only a thought by a crew member!)

Kranz knew either consciously or subconsciously the power of thought; The power of, how we frame an event and how the framing of the event has a massive impact on the outcome of that event; That a thought in an environment has real power… real impact; Even if it is not verbalized.

Napoleon Hill in his book ‘Think and Grow Rich’ wrote, ‘Thoughts are Real Forces’; as have many other gurus and teachers of metaphysics for hundreds of years. I am quoting scenes from Apollo 13 movie into this blog to illustrate the power of managing group thought and group energy. The words are really about ‘integrity of thought’ or ‘aligned thought’. Kranz had every brain in that NASA teamed, aligned and focused; pushed almost to the limits of human creativity and ingenuity, all focused on getting those 3 astronauts back alive.

What negative thoughts are there in your business you need to clear out?

What plans are all your brains aligned on with the laser like focus of the NASA Apollo 13 mission?

Take a look at the movie clips and ask how you can use that energy and focus in your business.

The economic space and the economic environment we are in right now will either swallow you up or be a time of massive opportunity for all of us.

Harness the thought, energy and focus to make it a massive opportunity.

Failure is NOT an option.

How the Brain Works to Make Decisions

This is a really good book if you have got the same interest as I in how the brain works to make decisions: How We Decide by Jonah Lehrer (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2009).

Here’s what I have learned about the duel between the rational brain and the emotional brain, and how it might apply to sales, business communications and influencing people…

There is a flaw in our thinking habits called the framing effect, which is a part of decision biases called loss aversion. It explains why people are much more likely to buy meat when it’s labeled 85 percent lean instead of 15 percent fat. Also, why twice as many patients opt for surgery when told there’s an 80 percent chance of survival as opposed to a 20 percent chance of dying.

Neuroscientists hooked people up to an fMRI (functional MRI) imaging machine to look at which parts of their brains lit up while making gambling decisions. Here was the gambling game they asked them to play:

Imagine that you are playing a simple game whereby you are given $50 and asked to decide between two options:

1.     All-or-nothing gamble, in which the odds are 40% you will keep the entire $50, and 60% that you will lose everything.

2.     A sure-thing: if you choose this option you get to keep $20.

If you are like most people, you take the 2nd option, the sure $20. Next, they asked people to play the game again. The risky gamble hasn’t changed, but here are the options that are offered:

1.     All-or-nothing gamble, 40% chance of keeping entire $50, and 60% chance lose it all.

2.     Sure thing: but it’s framed as a loss of $30 instead of a gain of $20.

These two gambles are the same, they are just framed differently. In both cases, you walk away with $20 of the original $50. But the different descriptions strongly affect how people play the game.

When the choice is framed in terms of gaining $20, only 42% chose the risky gamble. When it was framed in terms of losing $30, 62% of people opted to roll the dice.

What is interesting here is that they were able to see in the brain: those people whose gambling decisions were influenced by the prospect of losing $30 were misled by an excited amygdala, part of the emotional brain that evokes negative feelings. Whenever a person thinks about loss, the amygdala is activated.

But the others who were not swayed by the framing effect also had activated amygdala, they also experienced negative feelings. They were able to look past their feelings and realize that the options were the same.

What made the difference? They had more elevated activity in the pre-frontal cortex, the rational brain. These people were able to feel their feelings, and choose to ignore them. They were able to make better gambling decisions because they regulated their negative emotions.

How do you regulate your emotional brain so that you can make more rational decisions? Awareness. By simply being aware that our emotional brain is sending negative feelings, we can decide to ignore it. The ability to become aware of our brain’s processes is called metacognition, and it’s a skill that can be developed.

We know when we are angry. Every emotion comes with the ability to think about it, to label it, to try to figure out why we are feeling it. Sometimes a feeling may make no sense, as in the case of this gambling game. We can deliberately choose to ignore the emotional brain.

The question is when to ignore it and when to pay attention to it. We don’t always know or take the time for it. And because emotions can also help us make better decisions, the key is being able to discern.

Thinking 'Out-of-The-Box'

How many times have you been advised to "think-out-of-the-box"?

How many times have you wondered why you are unable to "think-out-of-the-box" more often?

We are all products of our environment and our backgrounds usually prevent us from viewing situations with the unique eyes of our personal experience.

However, successful leaders who think "out-of-the-proverbial-box" do so by applying their own kinds of action-oriented logic to problems to help them find new wisdom; discover opportunities or see the facts in different ways.

In short, truly creative types act differently, in ways that can be called "Logical Action-Steps". You can multiply your creativity and creative leadership skills just by applying these strategies to all of your problems, situations and decisions.

Logical Action-Step One: Achieve Understanding not Mere Reasoning

You want to find the basic or underlying meanings of the problems facing your group. You could reason-out what is happening, by using your linear thinking skills to negotiate, analyze or plan your response. 

Creative thinkers would aggressively investigate by:

- Intensely searching for answers,

- Through disillusioning or transforming their pre-conceptions,

- Looking within, around and beneath the conditions,

- Recognizing and deeply understanding their core assumptions

Logical Action-Step Two: Seek the Strategist's Viewpoint

If you're like most knowledge-workers, you probably have a fairly extensive network of friends, colleagues, and associates. Your social network has been built over time through your individual experiences, efforts and encounters.

Strategists release the latent energies of their social networks through collaborative inquiries into finding new solutions, handling challenges and exploiting opportunities for transformation. Thus by being the strategist you actively look for ways to create, leverage and extend synergy throughout your group.

You would want to set-up an environment or atmosphere of synergism where your team interacts and has processes or policies which encourage interactions in such a way that the total impact of the group's efforts add up to be more than the mere sum of their individual contributions.

Logical Action-Step Three: Engage in First-Person Research

Creative leaders make it a point to evaluate the progress of their own personal development - such as, the stages of growth and the legitimacy of each stage; they also assess their behavior and preferences.

Do you regularly or completely write down or record your thoughts, feelings and ideas? How much effort do you devote to keeping a journal, a diary or notes on your inner self?

Are you the type of person who looks for and analyzes the contradictory desires inside yourself or do you tend to notice a distinction between your desires and intentions?

What do you use to practice consciousness development or strengthening activities? In what ways do you structure your time to engage in meditation, martial arts, crafts or improvisational theater kinds of activities?

Logical Action-Step Four: Empower Their Shifts to Change

You can add power to your group through practicing techniques which enable people to discover the ideas, approaches and solutions hidden within them.

Effective leaders transform interpersonal activities into creative exercises. They orient their followers to focus on reflecting, learning, thinking, questioning, resolving, creating, discussing, debriefing, playing and interacting.

You would involve and join your stakeholders - partners, associates, peers, suppliers, constituents and others who might have a part or vested interest in your venture - to build a shared vision with as broad a group of your stakeholders as possible.

Logical Action-Step Five: Capitalize on Wise Synergism

Perhaps you have heard of the principle of master-mind - it's where two or more people harmonize their thinking around a specific project or problem for the express purpose of forming a mind that is greater than the sum of its parts.

Great inventors and leaders like Thomas Edison, George Washington, Alfred Nobel and many others used their mastermind groups to generate fantastic innovations, policies and achievements for all humankind.

You can leverage the collaborative activities of your team through the strategist's approach to leadership. You can expand the time horizon of your strategies to encompass a range from 3 to 21 years.

The benefits that strategic leaders provide is that their groups enjoy opportunities to:

- Share their reflections on your mission and vision

- Openly disclosure, support and confront any differences between the organization's and their personal values

- Conduct corporate and personal performance appraisals

- Creatively resolve paradoxes or contradictions in productivity versus inquiry, autonomy versus control, and quality versus quantity

- Interactively develop self-amending and self-correcting structures

"I am personally convinced that one person can be a change catalyst, a "transformer" in any situation, any organization. Such an individual is yeast that can leaven an entire loaf. It requires vision, initiative, patience, respect, persistence, courage, and faith to be a transforming leader."  - Stephen R. Covey

Are you ready to leverage, empower and energize your creative leadership? Are you willing to be that catalyst, agent of change or provocateur who inspires others to contribute to the growth of your organization?

Ensure the success of your team with the above five "Logical Action-Steps" - your teammates and organization will be so glad you did. Get out of the comfort zone and start implementing your logical action-steps. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you need further help in team development.

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Surya M Ganduri, PhD. PMP. is the founder and president of eMBC, Inc., an international firm specializing in strategic and executive leadership development processes that Help People Succeed in an Evolving World. His company is affiliated with Resource Associates Corporation, a network of 600+ associates that are dedicated to helping organizations and individuals manage strategic change, innovation, cultural transition, and goal achievement. Surya has over 26 years of business experience in management consulting, leadership development, executive coaching, process improvements, organizational development and youth leadership. Contact Surya at s6ganduri@eMBCinc.com. For more information, visit www.eMBCinc.com or contact eMBC, Inc., directly at (630) 445-1321.