The Technology-of-Mind toolkit

"Elaborate apparatus plays an important part in the science of today, but I sometimes wonder if we are not inclined to forget that the most important instrument in research must always be the mind [of the researcher]. It is true that much time and effort is devoted to training and equipping the scientist's mind, but little attention is paid to the technicalities of making the best use of it."
[W.I.B. Beveridge, The Art of Scientific Investigation]

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William Beveridge was the director of the Cambridge University biochemistry laboratories in the 1950s, but the same could still be said of modern science - and modern business. So xio's methodologies are underpinned by a wide range of theoretical models, practical techniques and educational tools which all focus on "the technicalities of making the best use of [the mind]". Their overall purpose is to assist individuals to resolve hidden personal and interpersonal conflicts, and maximise their own creativity and potential in support of the business process.

This 'toolkit' is necessarily eclectic, and is extended frequently as we come across new tools and techniques. Some examples include:

• the skills-labyrinth - a useful model of the stages through which skills are actually learnt
• mechanics, methods, approaches - understanding the role of mind in skills development
• 'gumptionology' and the rarity of 'common sense' - adapted from Robert Pirsig's book Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
• personal reality and shared reality - understanding the subjective nature of 'reality', and techniques to balance different perceptions of reality
• verbal maps - Mind Mapping and related techniques developed by Tony Buzan and others
• the only truth is 'anything goes' - an anarchist's perspective on scientific models of reality (from Paul Feyerabend's book Against Method)
• proceed 'as if' true - a 'magician's perspective on experiential reality (from an anonymous book named SSOTBME)
• real and imaginary - reality is not so much discovered as invented (from James Burke's BBCtv book The Day The Universe Changed)
• 'everyone is always right, no-one is ever right' - adapted from Edward de Bono's book Practical Thinking
• 'witness inhibition' and 'ownership resistance' - adapted from the research work of Kenneth Batcheldor and Colin Brookes-Smith

For more details, see the Xio 'toolkit' section of this website.