The article below builds upon Maltz, Maxwell (2015). Psycho-Cybernetics: updated and expanded. Penguin and expands upon a book summary by performance coach Dean Bokhari. Image by jcomp on Freepik.
Psycho-Cybernetics
The theory of Psycho-Cybernetics teaches us that each one of us is ‘the helmsman’ (in Greek language: cybernetic) of our own ‘brain-and-nerves machine’. Based on our ways of thinking our brain and body coordinate, often unconsciously, a myriad of motions to do what we intend to do (at the helm). We ‘feed’ our brain with a goal and it goes to work. Psycho-Cybernetics helps us to become aware of this process and use it to our advantage.
Goal striving machine
The theory of Psycho-Cybernetics assumes the fundamental nature of people to be goal striving machines. Practical goals could be using our hand to grab a knife and use it to cut a tomato. More abstract goals relate to career preferences and leisure time spending. Often these inclinations and aptitudes are an innate characteristic within us which guide our behavior. The goals always pertain to striving for more ‘life’, in essence expressing ourselves as organisms to reach for a maximum quality of life. More concretely this means finding happiness and success in various areas of life: career, leisure, personal development and dealing with others (both relationships and conflict management).
The understanding of Psycho-Cybernetics helps us with optimizing ourselves as goal striving machines and to make ‘the machine’ work better in case of ‘malfunctioning’. Malfunctioning happens when someone frequently doesn’t reach his or her goal or has trouble identifying them, leading to frustration or depression.
Once the (realistic) goals are selected by you, the servo-mechanism goes to work to make it a success. The servo-mechanism is an unconscious mechanism coordinating the brain and body. Remember, you are often not aware of how your body works. Also, flashes of insights often occur when you least expect it, meaning your brain is working out things in the background.
The servo-mechanism
In order for the servo-mechanism to work properly you need to understand yourself as follows:
- Your servo-mechanism is basically a success mechanism which must have a goal. It can exist in actuality, or in potential.
- You focus on the end goal, not the means. When you supply the goal, your success mechanism finds a way.
- Making mistakes helps the success mechanism to direct you toward your goal. It provides an autocorrect that helps you redirect towards your goal, like a guided missile.
- You gain skill by redirecting your errors until you are heading in the right direction. Then, you must forget the past (the errors), and focus on the final successful choice that led you in the right direction. When you focus too much on the errors (your mistakes) your success mechanism won’t work properly and becomes a failure mechanism, never reaching its goal, (e.g. choking during match-point in a game of tennis).
- Trust in the process (success mechanism) without worrying about it or trying to adjust it. “You must “let it” work, rather than “make it” work.” The servo-mechanism mostly works in unconscious ways, coordinating our body without us being aware of it.
Go to part 2.