Working Styles Explain Diversity

Your manager asks you to conduct a survey and you suggest a colourful questionnaire, professional but light-hearted in tone. The boss, however, insists on a sombre set of formal questions. You try to comply, but despite all your efforts, the survey doesn’t seem to take shape. You feel frustrated and de-motivated. You may even feel worthless and not suited to your job.


What you’ve just experienced, is a typical example of mismatched working styles: your working style was not compatible with your boss’s. Barbara Prashnig, a leading world expert in the field, defines working style as the way in which people concentrate, work, make decisions and solve problems.

“Some people are analytical in their thinking and perform tasks step-by-step,” she explains. “Those are the ones who like formal questionnaires. Others prefer to approach problems holistically, with colour, humour and thinking outside the box.”

And that's just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to human diversity in the workplace. Some people fidget and pace the room when pondering the next sentence in the report. Others need to chew or nibble when working on a project, and if a snack is not around, they will bite on pencils, fingernails, hair or ties.

And then there’s the timing. The proverbial owls and the dawn-driven larks. Somebody who leaps out of bed at five in the morning, completely refreshed and ready to tackle the day’s workload, will never understand a colleague who arrives in the office at nine, yawning and demanding coffee.

What about noise levels? If Paul from accounts finds it impossible to work in a room full of people, it doesn’t mean he’s anti-social. It may be that his working style is stifled unless he has absolute silence. The secretary, on the other hand, might need the reassuring buzz of traffic outside.

Do you prefer working in a darkish room or one filled with bright electric light? Do you think better when your bare arms tingle from the cold, or when you’re wrapped up in a big woolen jersey? Is your desk tidy and your paperwork in neatly labelled files; or do you use your in-tray to store your lunch and the floor around your desk for piles of work ‘to be done’?

So much to find out. Start today.

Goal-Oriented or Journey-Oriented?

Picture this: you're baking a birthday cake. Your goal is to get it done as soon as possible, but your children are looking forward to the job itself, not only to the end result. Kids are super-good at enjoying the process: making a cake is every bit as fun as eating it. If you try to speed them up, you’ll end up stressed and with unhappy children.

Is your learning style goal-oriented or journey-oriented? Find out how you tick.

So, what can we learn from this? The Journey can also be The Goal in itself. The goal of the Sunday walk, for example, is to have fun, not to get to the other end of the beach - so it's ok to stop and build a sand castle.

Of course, sometimes you have to do some basic goal setting in life. Here's how:
1. Set your goals with a positive attitude.

2. Be specific. “I want to get better at Maths” is vague and difficult to measure, while “By the end of the term, I want to do addition in my head, up to a hundred” is a clear, achievable goal.

3. Be realistic. “I want to do addition in my head, up to a million” may not be the right goal.

4. Write down your goals.

5. For bigger goals, write a step-by-step plan how to achieve them.

6. Stay excited and passionate about your goals.

Things To Consider When Home Schooling

Imagine learning geography, history and maths by travelling from country to country. One family did just that, letting the world be their textbook. They taught 3D shapes using the cylindrical pillars in the ancient ruins of Antigua and biology on the black beaches of Monterrico.

Do you have what it takes to home school? Here are some factors to consider:

• Long-haul or short-term? If you only see yourself home schooling for a couple of years, it's important align your teaching with the school syllabus, so that your child will have less trouble adjusting when back at school. 
• Is your partner fully supportive? Home schooling may mean changes to your household and income.
• Do you have the time? While shorter than a conventional school day, home schooling still takes time away from other activities (job, volunteer work, exercise, caring for a new baby).
• Do you have the patience? While being your children 24/7 may sound great in theory, prepare strategies for grocery shopping, hairdresser appointments and your off-colour days.
• What is your child's learning style? If they enjoy the structured approach and learning in groups, home schooling may not be for them. On the other hand, if they thrive on kinesthetic input and individual attention, they may not thrive in a conventional school. Find out today.

Some children would like nothing better than staying home all day with Mum. Others thrive on the teamwork and constant socialisation at school. Schools may have expert teachers, better sports equipment, music and art facilities. Best of all, school teaches healthy competition, taking care of your things, getting along with kids you may not like very much, and dealing with issues such as bullying.

Make ice cream at Zany Zeus, Wellington, New Zealand

Learn maths at a fruit marker, Wellington, New Zealand

Discover the laws of physics, Coromandel, New Zealand

Quality Education and Learning Style Analysis

What is Quality Education?

Dr. W. Edwards Deming of Total Quality Management (TMF) defines quality as “having characteristics required by customers and having been produced without wasted human or non-human resources”.


Let us consider for a moment what that might mean in a school environment. The customers would almost certainly be the parents, the pupils and the whole society. The human effort that we don’t want to waste would be that of teachers and pupils and parents alike.

What outcomes do we need?

Pupils who understand the syllabus? Yes.

Pupils who are interested in the material, listen in class, do their homework, attend school without resorting to truancy? Yes.

Pupils who do quality work in class and at home? Yes.

Pupils who are self-disciplined and not disruptive? What a bonus!

So, how can we achieve it?

Research shows that while most students know what quality is and are generally capable of delivering it in class, many admit that they’ve never bothered and don’t intend to do so in the future. The most often quoted reason for their lack of commitment is not that the work is too hard, but that it is too boring. And “boring” usually means that the students cannot relate to the class work and the material they are requested to learn.


In other words, the learning task at hand is not satisfying the students’ needs, because it doesn't take into account their learning style.

Enter Learning Styles Analysis - a tool that can change all that by providing teachers with the awareness awareness of their students’ learning needs:

• do they need tactile tools?
• would they work better in a darker room?
• do they thrive when given a work structure?
• are they more productive when working in groups?
• more

 Especially for schools

We offer new improved group profiles for teachers. See your class's learning needs at a glance and start your journey to stress-free teaching - today.

Child Prodigies and Learning Styles

• Brian Greene (born February 9, 1963) could multiply 30-digit numbers at the age 5.
• Cameron Thompson (born 1997) began studying with the Open University when he was 11. He gained the Cert.Math(Open) qualification at the age of 13.
• Brianna and Brittany Winner published their first novel at 12 and became America's youngest multiple award winning authors. At the end of fourth grade they used a speech to text software to complete an 80,000-word novel.
• Akiane Kramarik born in 1994, sold paintings worth three million USD at age 7.

The list of child prodigies goes on and on, in fields such as astronomy, medicine, chemistry, art. We're talking extraordinary abilities here, something that most adults wouldn't be able to accomplish.

Inborn talent? Yes.

Hours and hours of practice? Yes.

Extraordinary inspiration? Probably.

Nevertheless, the children's learning styles have a role to play, too. Typically, a child prodigy's information processing style will be integrated between holistic and analytic, and their way of learning will be multi-sensory. What is your child's learning style? Find out today.




Here is a video clip of Akiane Kramarik painting and playing the piano. Below, one of her paintings.



Exam Anxiety and Learning Styles

Last week, we hosted a guest to talked to us about overcoming fear and anxiety, a topic that's particularly close to the hearts of  those students about to embark on their school and university exams.

Today, we'll take a closer look at how exam anxiety is linked to your own unique learning style. Essentially, the world is divided into two types of people: those who are fine with exams and those who would rather juggle twin-bladed swords.

If you're an analytic thinker, there's a good chance exams don't cause you more than a butterfly flutter in the pit of your stomach. Provided you knew about the date of the exam well in advance, your organised mind scheduled your learning sessions accordingly without your ever realising it.

If you're a holistic thinker, though, you definitely don't like exams, just like you dislike any other deadline imposed on you. Even holistic thinkers, though, have to write exams from time to time. So how do you cope with that? Firstly, realise that the purpose of the exam is to make sure you've mastered the content of the course you're taking - so if you know your work, there's nothing to worry about. Secondly, have a look at your learning style preferences to determine your best studying environment.

Do you learn better:

• in a quiet room or with background music on?
• at a desk or on the bed?
• with a friend or alone?
• when you're able to chew gum or snack at the same time?
• in the morning or the afternoon?
• from a textbook or by doing things?
• in the sun or indoors?

Find out today.

Would you rather study here (Shangri-La hotel suite, Sydney)...

... or here? (Shangri-La hotel terrace, Sydney)

The Fear and Anxiety Solution

Friedemann Schaub, MD, PhD, is a physician specializing in cardiology and molecular biologist who has helped thousands of people to overcome fear and anxiety with his breakthrough and empowerment program. We're privileged to have him in the virtual studio with us today.

Dr Schaub, please tell us what led you to find the solution to fear and anxiety.


As a physician and molecular-biologist I became increasingly fascinated by our natural healing potential. Every single cell in our body has sheer unlimited abilities to change, adapt and heal. But how can we consciously access and leverage this force to promote health and accelerate the healing process? One of the keys are our emotions. Studies have shown that positive emotions can boost the immune system, decrease diabetes, and improve heart conditions. On the other hand, negative emotions, such as stress, anxiety, and depression, have the opposite effects and can cause serious health problems.

The problem is that we usually interpret negative emotions such as fear and anxiety, as flaws and weaknesses that need to be overcome, managed, or suppressed, rather than trying to understand their deeper meaning. Consequently “negative” emotions don’t get adequately addressed; instead, they accumulate in our subconscious and eventually cause greater emotional and physical challenges. In other words, the real problem is that we don’t know how to listen or relate to our emotions, let alone consciously guide and work with it. This is why it is so important to learn how to consciously work with the source of our emotions – our subconscious mind.

Yes, I can see that. How does it work, in a nutshell?

The Fear and Anxiety Solution approaches these emotions not as flaws or disorders, but instead guides you to transform these strong forces into powerful allies, messengers, and healing catalysts that lead to greater confidence, self-worth, and wholeness.

The book offers a step-by-step program to discover and address the meaning and subconscious root causes of fear and anxiety and gain a deeper understanding of who you truly are. There are three subconscious root causes of fear and anxiety: inner conflicts, stored emotions, and self-limiting beliefs. To become free of the symptoms of fear and anxiety and to shift into an awareness of emotional freedom, all three root causes need to be addressed.

However, releasing the root causes fear and anxiety in and of itself isn’t cannot create permanent change. Once you have been able to create a clean-slate on the subconscious level, the book guides you through processes, which allow you to replace you old anxiety-driven identity with a new empowered foundation of self at the subconscious and cellular level.


That makes a lot of sense. Please can we have an excerpt from the book?

From Is Anxiety a Biochemical Problem Requiring a Biochemical Solution?

….”I like to look at anti anxiety drugs as a form of emotional painkiller. The purpose of pain medication is not to mend the fracture or close the wound that causes the pain, but to make the time it takes to heal more tolerable. It would be denial or plain ignorance if you would drown out the pain without tending to its root causes. If fear and anxiety are like physical pain, then their natural purpose must be to call your attention to the deeper emotional and mental wounds they are caused by. What if tending to these inner wounds—whether they are unresolved traumas, self-sabotaging patterns, or limiting beliefs—could lead to greater peace, wholeness, and self-empowerment? Would it still be enough for you to just fix and get rid of fear and anxiety? Or would you want to take advantage of their true meaning, heal yourself from the inside out, and gain access to your true potential? This is what I call the healing power of fear and anxiety……..

Or From The Purpose of Emotions?

Generally speaking, our modern society has little room and patience for feelings. Reason and logic are far more accepted and valued than sensitivity and emotions. However, we need emotions for guidance and to bring meaning to our lives. They provide us with important information about our likes and dislikes, our strengths and weaknesses, and the value of our actions and choices. Every day, emotions have a significantly larger impact than facts and reasoning on the choices we make and how we experience our world. Isn’t it true that the moments we remember and cherish the most are those we associate with the strongest feelings?......

……The natural reaction to so-called negative emotions such as fear and anxiety is to try to get rid of them quickly because they feel uncomfortable and disempowering. But true healing is not about fixing or getting rid of a problem. Healing is about remembering and reinstating our wholeness. In this sense, negative emotions provide us with the opportunity to find and regain our wholeness. When we discover and understand their deeper meaning, they become powerful catalysts that lead us to our greater, self-empowered, authentic selves. After all, if fear and anxiety didn’t have an important function, wouldn’t evolution have eliminated them by now?

Thank you, Dr Schaub.

NOTE - Dr Friedemann Schaub shares information that is beneficial for you and your loved ones, in The Fear and Anxiety Solution. His says that people who read this book and implement the step by step program – will find a difference in their lives by the time they reach the end of the book. For more details about The Fear and Anxiety Solution, visit the tour page - http://bookpromotionservices.com/2012/10/03/fear-anxiety-solution-tour and Dr Schaub’s website www.thefearandanxietysolution.com.