As we continue our series on common Thinking Errors, this episode considers the way that sometimes we jump to conclusions with minimal evidence and no facts.

Ricky and Paul explore the different ways we see this playing out, taking examples from sport where commentators take stats from 20 years ago to tell us who is going to win, without anyone pointing out that there are very few sportspeople who were playing 20 years ago playing today, so it is not the same team!

If you are prone to making leaps in your logic, jumping to conclusions that don't help you or move you forward, ask yourself when you do have a conclusion;

• Where is the Evidence?
• What Alternative explanations might there be?
• What are the Implications of this?
• How Useful is this line of thinking?

These four vowels (E A I U) prevent you from getting to Ohh, I got that wrong.

If you have ever had one bad thing happen, and suddenly cannot remember everything good that happened before, then this podcast is for you. In this episode, Graham asks Paul about he common thinking error, Mental Filtering.

Our brains are designed to sort through all of the information presented to us quickly and then focus on the areas that present danger or risk. It is doing its primary job of keeping us alive long enough to pass on our genes! Yet, in a modern world, we are not really at risk, so occasionally this amazing trick backfires and makes us hyper-focused on the challenge as if it is life and death, without adding the context of everything else that is going on.

Paul and Graham discuss why this happens, and most importantly, how you can bring balance and perspective back into your thoughts, to allow you to see problems and challenges for what they are, and remember all of the experience you are bringing to them.

In our series on thinking errors, this podcast explores catastrophising, with Richard and Graham sharing their own personal experience of this cognitive trick our mind can play, as well as examining why it happens and how to deal with it.

If you have ever turned a paper cut into a medical emergency, or a problem at work starts to feel like the first step toward unemployability, then this podcast will help you understand how this simple mental defensive mechanism can easily shift from our best friend to an unhelpful foe.

Now, I don't know about you, but based just on the first 30 seconds of this podcast, this is going to be the best podcast you have ever heard...

As we continue our series on Thinking Errors, this episode explores overgeneralisation. Richard talks Ricky through the risks associated with over-generalising, making broad-brush connections about events, people and situations based on the specifics of a single or a small number of instances.

What happens to our performance when we overgeneralise, making assumptions and decisions based on flawed information?

Over the next few months, we will be running a new mini-series within 'The Question Is...' that explores the most common Thinking Errors. Thinking Errors are cognitive distortions that alter our thinking, distorting the way we see the world and can impact performance and mood.

In this first episode, Ricky talks to Paul about 'All-or-Nothing' thinking. This way of seeing situations as simple, Black or White, Right or Wrong, Good or Bad. This tricks our thoughts into seeing situations as absolute, ignoring the complexity and nuance that typically exists.

From ignoring our own success when it does not quite live up to our expectations, to feeling like we are worthless when one part goes wrong, all-or-nothing thinking adds pressure to situations, making anything that is amazing feel like a disaster. If you have ever felt like that, then this podcast is for you.

Wouldn't it be nice if change just happened, all at once, and then things went back to being stable for a while? The reality is that change in the workplace is rarely a simple one-off event, more often change is delivered in waves, often iterated to allow the change to best reflect the environment.

It is easy to imagine the worst when change happens, assuming job losses, less rewards and more work, over expansion and growth, and when our teams start to imagine these things, it will quickly start to impact productivity, motivation and sometimes even well-being.

How we communicate change as leaders can either help people navigate the change, keep focused and drive the work forward, or can be the catalyst of rumour, worry and concern. In this podcast, Graham and Richard explore the techniques that leaders can use to ensure they get the best for their people and from their people when change happens.

When we change how we work, however much planning and training we put in place up front, we still need to allow a period when things will get worse before they get better. We may need time to adapt to new processes, systems, or unlearn old ways of doing things.

Who wants to get worse at their job? Instead of embracing the discomfort of change, most of us cling to the old ways we understand, hoping to stay within our comfort zone.

In this podcast, Richard and Graham explore why this happens, and what leaders and managers can do to help people through this transition, live with the discomfort long enough to embed the new skills, processes and approaches that will allow them to benefit from the improved productivity that was always envisaged when the new way of working was first dreamed up.

In this episode of The Question, Ricky and Graham continue from episode 147, exploring the impact of constant change on teams.

The modern world of work is one of constant evolution, which, for some, can be a great opportunity. Still, for many, it feels relentless, risking creating change fatigue in the people you rely on to make the change work.

Change is a mixture of practical and people outcomes, and leaders can easily focus on the practical deliverables, leaving the people to transition to the change on their own. Graham and Ricky explore the practical things that managers and leaders can do that will help people move from surviving change to embracing the opportunities that change presents.