How Emotions are Made: The Secret Life of the Brain

| Author: Lisa Feldman Barret, 2017 |

What's it all About?

In my workshops on emotional intelligence, I often see clients setting goals that revolve around better managing their emotions in difficult situations. By reading this book, I gained a deeper understanding of how our emotions are formed and how they impact our behavior.

In her book, Lisa Feldman Barrett explores the unique and controversial idea that emotions are not necessarily triggered by what is happening around us. Instead, she claims that our emotions are constructed based on our experiences. Feelings are not universal fingerprints or always something we can tell by looking at someone’s facial expression, because each person has different experiences which impact their emotions and responses, including how they show up in challenging moments.

As I read this book, I became even more excited about our ability to develop emotional intelligence based on changing our experiences, and how that changes how we feel about new situations and how we respond to challenges or changes.

Favourite Quote

“You are an architect of your experience”

Biggest Takeaway

As “architects” of our own experiences, we have control over how we feel. Looking at the bigger picture, this also means that the leader at the top of an organization has an even greater impact on the organization’s culture. If a company is run with fear and pressure, it is going to deeply impact the atmosphere of the entire company. To construct a psychologically safe culture, it takes many small and observable behavior changes over time. Once people feel safe, there is more innovation, less turnover, clearer expectations, and increased engagement, which ultimately leads to better results.

Bonus Information

After finding this book in the science section, I read the hard copy version multiple times, highlighting and leaving notes all the way through. If you read it, take your time. It will change how you think about emotions and empower you to change how you feel and show up!

Reviewed by: Trevor Blondeel, November 18, 2021

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Mindfulness Manufacturing

Our show is about providing listeners with real stories that come from a place of experience, transparency, and authenticity. Most importantly it’s about what we learn from these stories and applying Mindfulness in our everyday work and personal lives.
Our intention is to create an environment where people can learn through open honest discussions on how we apply Mindfulness. Although our experiences and stories come from time in a manufacturing environment hence the title “Mindfulness Manufacturing”, we still see our discussions and topics relatable to any organization or profession.

When a mistake occurs on the plant floor, your mind might jump to one question: who caused this issue, and should I write them up for their mistake? But there’s a more productive approach you could be taking—and in this episode of Mindfulness Manufacturing, guest Dr. Jake Mazulewicz breaks it all down!

With a background as a firefighter, EMT, and military paratrooper, Jake knows the challenges of high-hazard industries, and works with organizations to reduce errors and create safer, more reliable workplace environments. In this episode, Jake shares why you can’t procedularize everything, including the way you handle errors and accidents, and offers great insights and stories about how to use connection and curiosity to improve safety, address errors, and strengthen your organization.

3:35 – Procedures and policies are the work that is imagined, and on the floor is how the work actually gets done

4:19 – The work as-done is almost always radically different than the work as-imagined

5:20 – Even when you have standards and people show up wanting to do a good job, you can still see issues that need to be addressed

6:44 – There will always be areas that absolutely need to have procedures in place

8:02 – There are also adaptive jobs, which leans less into procedures and more intro troubleshooting and tacit human knowledge

10:56 – In an ideal environment, both mechanistic and adaptive models are used and respected and needed

12:11 – There are four levels, ranging from strict procedurals to looser guidelines that show what to do, but not how to do it

15:36 – Tacit knowledge gets shared through conversations

16:22 – A way to share important information is to have frontline experts record videos sharing their insights to problems, especially those that are not covered in procedures

19:44 – Through conversation and connection, more knowledge is shared

21:58 – Debriefing also plays a central role

23:45 – If you have strong discipline, you’ll find more freedom

25:31 – In most situations, errors are signals, not defects

27:07 – When an error occurs, be curious and find the deeper cause of the problem

Connect with Jake Mazulewicz

Find him on Linkedin

Visit his website