Brian DesRoches gave a talk at the WSAPD Annual Meeting about The Magellan Factor. This talk discussed what a 16th century explorer and 21st century neuroscience can teach us about focus, intention and leadership.

1. Washington State Academy of Pediatric Dentists
Annual Meeting
October 6, 2018
The Magellan Factor
What a 16th Century Explorer and 21st Century Neuroscience
Can Teach Us about
Focus, Intention and Leadership

2. The Magellan Factor
What a 16th Century Explorer and 21st Century Neuroscience
Can Teach Us about Focus, Intention and Leadership

3. Flow of this Presentation
1. Brief History of Magellan’s Journey
2. The Magellan Factor
3. Emotional Entanglement
4. A Mind-set for Increasing the Probability of Creating
Intended Outcomes
5. Applying this Mind-set to the Challenges of Managing
and Leading a Pediatric Dental Practice

7. What was the real cause of Magellan’s Death?

8. The Magellan Factor
The tendency for individuals to become emotionally
entangled in interactions and relationships that
distract, hamper or derail them from:
• achieving their goals and intended outcomes
and/or
• following their personal values and principles
in communicating and relating with others

9. 2. Emotional Entanglement
Emotional entanglement is the process of taking on or feeling
responsible for the emotional state of another person

10. The Dilemma of Emotional Entanglement
Emotional entanglement is based on the principles of:
• quantum entanglement
• emotional influence
As emotional entanglement increases, the capacity to focus on
one’s intended outcomes and think clearly is impaired.
Individuals use relief-seeking behaviors* to deal with the
distress of the emotional entanglement

11. The strange behavior of
elementary particles when
they become linked (create a
relationship). In this case,
when something happens to
one, something happens to
the other, no matter how far
apart they are. They
influence each other.
• Quantum Entanglement
How NIST Detected “spooky actions at a distance”
www.nist.gov

12. An interpersonal
psychoneurobiological
process in which the
internal state/experience of
an individual influences the
internal state/experience of
other individuals and vice-
versa
• Emotional Influence
The Influential Mind – What the Brain Reveals about Our Power to Change Others
Tali Sharot

13. The 5 Universal Relief-seeking Behaviors
• Conflict
• Withdrawal and avoidance
• Overfunctioning
• Underfunctioning
• Triangulation

14. • blame
• criticize
• sarcasm
• fault-finding
• airing negative feelings
• physical violence
Conflict

15. • withdraw
• avoid
• humor
• diversion
• spacing out
• pretending things are okay
• placating
• denial
Withdraw/avoid

16. • doing for others what they can
reasonably be for themselves
• doing giving unsolicited advice or
constantly giving solicited advice (to
the same person)
• taking responsibility for other’s lives
• talking more then listening
Overfunctioning

17. Underfunctioning
• playing the victim role
• constantly seeking reassurance or
advice without acting on it
• using guilt to get sympathy
• constant complaining
• unwilling to risk in order to learn

18. Triangulating
At this time in human evolution,
triangulating is deeply
embedded in the emotional
process of human beings
Avoiding/reducing negative
internal experiences with one
person by involving (an)others in
the issue being avoided -
forming emotional alliances

19. Emotional Entanglement in a
Pediatric Dental Practice

20. Level 1 - external human behavior -
observable, quantifiable,
describable, objective
Level 2 - internal human
experience - invisible, describable
to some degree, not quantifiable,
subjective, emotional process
2
1
Two Levels of Human Systems

21. Level 1
Practice Infrastructure, Management
Systems, Procedures and Protocols
Level 1
Marketing,
teamwork,
patient
communication,
etc.
Business
systems/procedures,
scheduling system,
etc.
Treatment
infrastructure and
resources, skills
and technology,
protocols, etc.

22. Level 2 in a Dental Practice
Level 2
Emotional Process

23. Level
1
Level 2
The “Field” of Emotional Influence at Level 2
Emotional influence creates “fields” of emotional energy

24. The Complex Human System that is a Dental Practice
Level 1
Level 2

25. Level 2
Emotional Entanglement
Emotional entanglement is the outcome of emotional influence

26. As the degree of emotional influence increases, the
potential for emotional entanglement increases

27. Level 2
Although individuals cannot avoid or bypass the process of
emotional influence, they can manage it to reduce the degree
to which they are emotionally entangled with others

28. The Magellan Factor
The tendency for individuals to become emotionally
entangled in interactions and relationships that distract,
hamper or derail them from:
• achieving their goals and intended outcomes and/or
• following their personal values and principles in
communicating and relating with others

29. Lapu Lapu of Mactan
Magellan
Rajah Humabon of Cebu

31. Personal Reflection and
Brief Discussion in Triads
Think about a recent
experience of The Magellan
Factor:
• Who was involved?
• What default behavior did
you use?
• What did you want to did
that you were emotionally
inhibited from doing?

32. Flow of this Presentation
1. Brief History of Magellan’s Journey and Demise
2. The Magellan Factor and Emotional Entanglement
--------------------------------------------------------------------
3. A Mind-set for Increasing the Probability of Creating
Intended Outcomes
4. Applying this Mind-set to the Challenges of Managing
and Leading a Pediatric Dental Practice

33. A Mind-set for Increasing the Probability of
Creating Intended Outcomes
(and Managing Emotional Influence)
Intended
Outcomes
P(IO) = 𝒇{(C + M) x (F + E)}

34. P(IO) = 𝒇{(C + M) x (F + E)}
C = Clarity = degree of clarity, specificity and precision of the IO
M = Motivation = strength of the emotional energy associated
with the IO
F = Focus = degree of attention directed toward the IO
E = Effort = expenditure of physical, emotional and mental
energy directed toward creating the IO

35. C = Clarity = degree of clarity, specificity and precision of
the intended outcome
Intended outcomes are clear, specific and precise using
positive words and descriptors.

36. Some of the challenges of creating intended outcomes:
1. The mental effort required to define IO’s which are
clear, specific and precise
2. The tendency to create IO’s for others
3. The tendency to neglect creating IO’s for one’s self
4. The tendency to define an IO as the absence of
negatives versus the presence of positives

37. • based on the absence of a negative outcomes
 outcomes defined as what I don’t want
• do not align with one’s values and principles
• created for someone else (other-referenced)
 focused on what you want someone else to
feel or do
Some characteristics of devitalizing intended outcomes:
• based on general thoughts or ideas with no
outcome measurability
 I want to be “happy”, “successful”, “a good
leader”, “ a good communicator”

38. • stimulate curiosity to acquire and apply
knowledge and skills
• are experienced internally (subjective) and can
be measured externally (objective)
Some characteristics of vitalizing intended outcomes:
• are created for one’s self (self-referenced)
• are based on an external and an internal outcome
• induce a creative tension and enhance focus
• based on positive outcomes

39. My intended outcomes for you today:
My intended outcomes for myself today:

40. M = Motivation = strength of the emotional energy
associated with an intended outcome
Motivation is a “measure” of the emotional energy that is
stirred up when we become aware of a difference between
what is (current outcome) and what one wants to create
(intended outcome)

41. The challenge of motivation is maintaining it when
• one depends on others to achieve the
intended outcome and they are not motivated
to the same degree
• the inevitable resistances and distractions
that emerge with the application of effort

42. F = Focus = degree of attention directed toward the
intended outcome
The challenge of focus is maintaining it when the inevitable
resistances and distractions emerge with the application of
effort

43. The Quantum Zeno Effect
The QZE is related to the established observer effect in quantum
physics: The behavior and position of any atom-sized entity, such
as an atom, an electron, or an ion, appears to stabilize when that
entity is observed. (Copenhagen Interpretation)
The Mind and the Brain - Neuroplasticity and the Power of Mental Force
Richard M. Schwartz, MD

44. The Quantum Zeno Effect and the Human Brain
Applied to neuroscience, the QZE states
that the mental act of focusing
attention stabilizes the associated brain
circuits. Concentrating attention on . . .
a thought, an insight, a picture in your
mind’s eye, or a feeling/emotion,
maintains the brain state arising in
association with that experience. Over
time, . . . . these circuits can then
eventually become not just chemical
links but stable, physical changes in the
brain’s structure.
?

45. E = Effort = the expenditure of physical, emotional and
mental energy directed toward creating the IO

46. The challenge of effort:
1. Sustaining the effort by managing its velocity and direction
2. Managing the external resistance and internal distractions
generated by emotional influence*
3. Managing external distractions
4. Openness and willingness to change the intended outcome
and/or the velocity and direction of the effort based on
feedback

47. Managing the external resistance and internal
distractions generated by emotional influence
Intended Outcome?

48. Within your practice, your effort can be optimized with:
1. Documented, efficient systems, procedures and protocols
2. An appropriate and supportive infrastructure – equipment
and facilities; marketing; financial management
3. A clear, specific and precise statement of the values that
guide and channel the effort of your team*
4. A feedback system to measure progress toward the IO and
a process for making changes to the IO or the effort being
expended
5. Outcome-oriented positive communication
6. A clear, self-referential intended outcome for interacting
and communicating with others*

49. Example – video of learning to ride a bike

51. A Spectrum of Human Behavior
and Communication
Instinctual
Learned
Intentional

52. Instinctual
physical survival is key
able to assess the internal state
of others (neuroception)

53. Learned
adaptive patterns of
behavior that enable us
to fit in and belong
based in societal,
cultural and familial
patterns

54. Intentional
often involves some "discomfort"
in the "doing" of new behavior
involves significant frontal cortex
activation for thinking, planning,
creating, choosing, focusing,
regulating emotions

55. Human Behavior and Communication
Instinctual
Learned
Intentional
95 - 99%
1- 5%

56. 1-5%
95-99%
intentional
learned
and
instinctual
Human Behavior and Communication

57. Intentional
often involves some
"discomfort" in the
"doing" of creating new
patterns
involves prefrontal cortex
planning, clarity and focus
practice and motivation
are the key elements of
changing patterns

59. The Magellan Factor in Action
The tendency for individuals to become emotionally
entangled in interactions and relationships that distract,
hamper and derail them from:
1. achieving their goals and intended outcomes and/or
2. following their personal values and principles in
communicating and relating with others

61. Hi Brian, (first email)
This is . . . .
I have been speaking with . . . about a situation that I find myself in, and he suggested that
I set up a time with you to talk about it.
It involves my associate dentist in my office. She is driven by likability, which is nice, and
patients like her...however her level of competency is at times very questionable. She
believes she is quite competent, and therefore does not greatly strive for learning. I am
driven by competency, and based on everything I've learned, we have grown in different
ways, and my patients are now clearly getting two different levels of care.
It is clear to me what I should do, however I once went through a traumatic experience
after firing an employee over competency issues, and therefore I have a mental block
about how to handle the situation. That has caused me to look the other way a lot of
times versus confronting her about her level of competency in the way that I really want to
(a much more direct way). In lieu of that, I have tried influencing her in gentle ways, going
one down, etc., but have not been successful because apparently, she doesn't get hints or
is not self-aware. I know that her lack of development is partially my fault as well for not
guiding her as well as I should have, and letting her practice mostly on her own accord.
. . . To be clear, I don't want to let her go...but at some point, I have to do what's best for
the practice. So I'd like to try and find a way to keep her, that would be my first choice.

62. Values
A clear, specific and precise statement of the values
that guide and channel the effort of your team

63. Value – from Latin “valere”, meaning to be of worth
The attitudes, beliefs and principles that guide
the behavior (and the emotional process) of
individuals and groups

64. The Power of Words as Emotional-thought Symbols

67. Values
What are two values that
inform how you practice today?

69. Self-referential IO
A clear, self-referential intended outcome for
interacting and communicating with others

70. Template for Creating a Self-referential
Intended Outcome
Level 1 - External Outcomes
Level 2 Internal Outcomes

71. Level 1 Outcomes
Level 2 Outcomes
1. What do I want to communicate about my thinking
and observations?
2. What is my responsibility in the situation and
relationship?
1. What do I want to remember about myself
during the interaction?
2. What emotional state will support me in
conveying my message?
Creating a Self-referential IO

72. Level 1 External Outcome
1. To experience myself as caring and non-anxious and
remember that it is her choice to decide what she wants
and my choice to focus on the importance of competency
in my practice
2. To be open to her ideas and concerns about developing
her competency and what her priorities are
3. To remember that I am caring person who seeks the best
for my patients, my associate and myself
1. To present my thinking about the importance of
competency and clarify its meaning to me, and take
responsibility for how I have not communicated that clearly
2. To invite the associate’s thinking and discussion about
competency and its meaning to her
3. To request clarification about what my associate wants
professionally and in the practice
Level 2 Internal Outcome

73. Outcome after Clarifying Values and Applying the Self-
referential IO template to the Situation and Relationship

74. Hi Brian, (second email)
I met with my associate today, and I wanted to let you know how it went.
I started off by asking permission to talk about goals. I then showed her my mission
statement, and then defined what competency means to me, and why that's
important for the practice and for our patients. I told her that I didn't do a good job
of communicating it previously because if I had, I would be seeing different things
from her. (self-referential)
She tried to derail, talking about how the staff needs to get better as well, and how
she's had to step in and make temporaries for them, etc. I refocused and said that
this meeting was going to be about her, not the staff. (managing emotional
influence)
I asked her what goals she has for herself, what does she want out of her career,
this job? (curiosity) She stated that she wants to do bigger cases, better things, but
is not sure how to get there. She says she learns by doing it, maybe failing, and
then trying it a different way the next time.
I told her that if I were clear about my goals for the practice, then she would be
asking me more questions, going to study clubs, attending more practical courses,
etc. She agreed that she has not done those things, and admitted that she has
been using her family as an excuse because she feels intimidated, feeling like
everybody else is on a different level, and not wanting to get looked down upon.

75. Think about a recent
experience of The
Magellan Factor:
• Who was involved?
• What default
behavior did you
use?
• What did you want
to did that you were
emotionally
inhibited from
doing?
1. What do I want to
communicate about my
thinking and observations?
2. What is my responsibility in
the situation and
relationship?
Reflection
1. What do I want to
remember about myself
during the interaction?
2. What emotional state will
support me in conveying
my message?

76. The Magellan Factor
The tendency for individuals to become emotionally
entangled in interactions and relationships that distract,
hamper or derail them from:
• achieving their goals and intended outcomes and/or
• following their personal values and principles in
communicating and relating with others

77. Emotional Entanglement
Emotional entanglement is the process of taking on or feeling
responsible for the emotional state of another person
Emotional entanglement is the outcome of emotional influence

78. You cannot escape, avoid or ignore the process of emotional
influence.
You can reduce the degree of emotional entanglement you
experience.
You can leverage and optimize emotional influence and
increase the probability of creating intended outcomes by
reducing the degree of emotional entanglement you experience
If you want to reduce the degree of emotional entanglement in
your life and relationships, consider the following process:

79. 1. Identify when you default to your relief-seeking
behaviors
2. Identify the internal dilemma associated with the
situation (example – I want my associate to
perform at a higher level of competence but I
don’t want to make her feel criticized or judged
when I talk with her about this)
3. Use the Template for Creating a Self-referential
IO to define the outcomes you seek at Level 1
and Level 2
4. Apply the necessary effort to communicate your
concerns and observations while being aware
that you may be uncomfortable with doing so

81. If you want to live a happy life,
tie it to a goal, not to people or
objects Albert Einstein
The secret to change is to focus
all your energy, not on fighting
the old, but on building the
new
Socrates
We choose our joys and sorrows
long before we experience them
Kahlil Gibran