Learning Resources - Q.Learning

All our Q.Guide Publications are now available to download, simply click the download button under each Q.Guide.

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Change

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Much of what happens with change is difficult to predict or control. However well designed, the law of unintended consequences, chaos theory and complexity often triumph over the best-laid plans of mice and men. Therefore, the aim of this Q.Guide is modest – to offer the hope that we can be a little more rigorous in our understanding of change; a little more precise in defining and describing it; and a little more effective in how we manage through it.

Coaching Over Coffee

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With little more than a cup of coffee (or tea) at your side, it’s possible to support, challenge or give feedback to a colleague. This booklet gives you tips and ideas for how to do coaching. In this booklet, you will find some coaching models, processes to work through that deliver good coaching outcomes, techniques, tools and tips to sharpen your coaching practice. Though time might be tight, there’s much good you can do in a chat over coffee.

Conflict Management

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Professor Robert Winston, maker of BBC TV series such as Human Instinct, sets conflict in the context of the origin of our species:

Humans are competitive creatures, and the seeds of conflict are built deep into our genes. We fought each other on the savannah and only survived against great odds by organising ourselves into groups which would have had a common purpose, giving morale and fortitude.

Conflict seems inevitable. It is also manageable – and this brief guide will help with ideas.

Decision Making

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Judgement and decision making are vital life skills. They matter hugely for organisational leaders. This booklet will offer a few insights into the field of decision making. Many of the ideas hinge on recognising your own patterns for choosing and exercising judgement. (If you have not read it yet, our guide to Emotional Intelligence will help you understand how to train your self-awareness.) Finding a reliable coach can help too. Getting support, feedback and challenge for key decisions enables you to test your thinking and develop better options. For many of the issues covered in this guide, coaching can be a helpful way forward.

Emotional Intelligence

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It’s hard to overstate the importance of Emotional Intelligence (EI). And even harder to say precisely how much it influences our success in navigating situations, relationships and careers. Daniel Goleman – one of the godfathers of EI responsible for its popularisation in the 1990s – explains it matters more than IQ in such realms as love and leadership. He knows a thing or two about EI, so let’s agree EI matters – a lot!

We have seven big ideas about EI for you in this booklet. At the back there are links to things you can read, watch or listen to if you want to dig deeper. But before you dive in, here’s a simple summary of what EI is all about:

A set of emotional and social skills that influence the way we:

› perceive and express ourselves
› develop and maintain relationships
› cope with challenges, and
› use emotional ‘information’ effectively

Empathy

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The latest neuroscience research shows that 98% of human beings have the ability to empathise wired in their brains. (Exceptions to this rule include psychopaths.) However, many of us fail to tap into the full potential of our empathy capabilities, according to an article by the BBC (see page 8 of this brochure).

In this Q. Guide we explore empathy – and the absence of it – and look at ways in which we can improve our use of it in everyday situations and as a manager or leader. We are not required to like or agree with how other people see things. Instead, we can all do better appreciating why and how others see situations, the world or us.

Resilience

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Stuff happens. One-off major stressors and never-ending minor stressors challenge our lives, not least because many are outside our control. Unexpected and unwelcome events (such as death or natural disasters) test our mettle, whilst repeated episodes of adversity (such as chronic illness) can gradually raise stress levels to the point of snapping.

In this guide we will look at both aspects of resilience – surviving and thriving in the face of adversity, and becoming stronger through failure.

Time Management

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Many of us desire to ‘manage our time’ – to make good use of it and feel we have been productive. No surprise then that thousands of books have been written and endless courses taught to help us do better. In this guide, we offer seven ideas that will help you think differently about time. You won’t be able to change the orbit of the earth around the sun. A day will still be a day. But hopefully when your head hits the pillow you might feel a bit happier with an orbit’s worth of expended energy.