03. EMBODIED
“Human understanding is profoundly embodied...it is rooted in how our bodies and brains interact with, process, and understand our environments...”
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Everyone. Embodied cognition is simply how we make sense of the world around us through our bodily interactions. However, many people still believe that abstract reasoning starts in ‘the head’. However, neuroscience and other fields have shown that people are driven by much deeper layers of cognition. This is latent opportunity.
In the 17th century, a strong belief took root that the mind and body are separate. ‘I think therefore I am’ (Rene Descartes) is a product of this (known as Cartesian dualism). However, we now know that cognition commences with bodily interactions in preverbal, early childhood years. These early physical and social interactions create subconscious building blocks for how we think, talk and act. These building blocks are so baked into our consciousness that we hardly recognise the ‘conceptual metaphors’ we are using when we talk about the ‘shareprice going up’ (Lakoff & Johnson).
Embodied cognition research from transdisciplinary fields across science and humanities now provides an evidence base for leaders to strengthen and broaden their cognitive edge and how they ground their leadership practice.
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When embodied cognition is ignored, disembodied thought becomes the entrenched perspective. This limits vision, innovation and productivity. Often, millions of dollars are invested into ‘innovation programs’ that do not deliver tangible impact.
To reframe this perspective, we need to see with our whole cognition. What is blocking the current view is not obvious until after the ‘aha moment’. This happens when a new metaphor replaces the previous, subconscious way we were framing the situation.
This opens an alternative option for organisations who wish to activate and scale creative intelligence through their existing resources. It builds a network effect: innovation DNA exists in each organisation, but this will not unfold and be expressed without the right signals and conditions.
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Lakoff and Johnson (1980) outlined the neuro-linguistic structures that underpin embodied cognition, particularly through conceptual metaphors. Linking to image-schemas, these conceptual metaphors are not simply poetic devices but form the basis of our reasoning.
It is one thing to identify this thinking and yet another to find a way out. It is not so much ‘statistics damn lies’ as it is statistics damn metaphor - metaphors are so ubiquitous in our language that we don’t see them as framing our view. Stanford research found a staggering 85 percent of people were unaware that metaphors had influenced how they thought about critical social issues.
Dr Barbara Doran, an academic and art-based practitioner, has further opened pathways to activate individual creative intelligence (Doran, 2022).
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The challenge: A cross-sector group of mid career professionals had been challenged to innovate their own practice, and that of their organisation. However, most were stretched across multiple priorities, and could not radically shift their current frame.
The intervention: Drawing on the research on embodied cognition combined with physical practices within the arts, the group were led to reframe their current perspective through tapping into their embodied cognition. This served to push them out of a comfort zone of ‘head thinking’ into deep insights.
The outcome: Each participant developed a personally significant, and professionally relevant ‘aha moment’ that reframed their approach to challenges between their own practice and that of their organisation or sector. The insights unfolded beyond the initial session into the weeks and months that followed.
