Non-conscious thoughts rule your behaviour
When was the last time you:
Got to work and don’t remember driving there?
Tried to bite your tongue in an argument but shouted at your partner anyway?
Bought an item at the supermarket, from a display of over 100 choices, without really understanding why?
Been in a bad mood but can’t explain what’s making you feel frustrated, angry or sad?
All these phenomena and many more are acts of your nonconscious brain taking charge of your actions, emotions and decision making.
Studies have shown that 70-80% of the time nonconscious activities in our brains rule the decisions we make, the things we feel, and the actions we take.
Why do our brains take short cuts?
From the research we have to date, we know that the brain has a limited capacity for attention. When it experiences an information overload, it takes processing shortcuts. This phenomenon is even more prevalent in today's increasingly frantic world when technological stimuli are all around us.
Years of our personal experiences influence the nonconscious decisions the brain makes. It creates patterns based on our past responses to decide how to respond in the future. Psychologists call these schemas. The mind takes short cuts to give it space to concentrate on new things and processes anything old with as little attention as possible.
If this happens so often, why aren't we talking about it more?
I'd be surprised if you're in business and you haven't had a conversation about unconscious bias. Unfortunately, the prevalence of the unconscious bias discussion and the narrow focus of the topic has somewhat diluted the discussion about nonconscious behaviors in general. So much of what we do is nonconscious; it’s not all about unconscious bias in race and sex and choosing recruitment candidates based on people who most are like us; it runs much deeper.
Sometimes it’s useful for our brains to make the decisions for us and take off the pressure, like going on auto-pilot to complete a journey to work that we've done hundreds of times before. However, sometimes we need to be more aware of our decision making processes.
Managing the employee effect
“Because dominant managerial approaches assume that humans are conscious and rational, they underplay or ignore that the vast majority of human functioning happens automatically and outside conscious awareness” (Wilson, 2002). Taken from Mindfulness in Organizations
By making such assumptions, organizations fail to manage up to 80% of employee behaviours. By collecting insights into employees nonconscious thoughts and emotions it's possible to create systems and processes that speak to the real needs of employees, teams, managers and the organization's bottom line.
Measuring the nonconscious is not enough
To make change happen, it takes more than nonconscious research. Understanding why people act in certain ways and how to change behaviours requires a holistic approach. A recent BBC program called “I Can’t Be Racist” documents social psychologist Dr. Keon West's research into conscious and nonconscious bias. On the show, he talked to guests about the importance of tackling habit formation from three angles:
Conscious - We need to consider how people consciously make decisions. E.g., I know that I dislike…. so I won’t choose....
Nonconscious - We also have to consider nonconscious influences; things that impact the decision making, but fall below conscious awareness.
Structural - Lastly, when making any change in an organisation, we must consider the structures, systems, and processes that influence the decisions we make.
Final thoughts
The more research we do into brain functioning, the more we realise we can influence some of our nonconscious decision making. However, it's only possible with scientifically proven methods that tap into our nonconscious thoughts, and it only helps when we think holistically about the factors that influence our decision making and emotions.
As psychologists, we have helped numerous companies to understand the root cause of their issues thanks to our psychological expertise and bespoke tools. If you’re looking to understand your employees' or customers' behaviours better and to make real changes in your business, get in touch; we’d love to help!