Think Outside, LLC

Resources: Research That Informs Our Work

Think Outside draws on research from several fields in the design of our engagements including:

Contemplative practice and the theories from eco-based psychology
Adventure/wilderness therapy
Equine assisted facilitation
“Brain-based” training and learning
Experiential education and adult learning

Our innovative facilitation exercises, expertise in strategic planning and results measurement, organizational culture, and research make our engagements fun and successful.

Drawing on Contemplative Practice and Eco-based psychology

Thanks to the field of eco-psychology, we have a new concentration on impact of the natural world our psyches. We have theory and studies that provide concise language to describe both the sense of peace and stress relief we get from the natural world and the 'fascination' and focus we can gain from the outdoors. There are studies that now show:

better health from being in view of nature (Howard Frumkin, Emory University's School of Public Health),
faster calming of muscle tension, pulse, and skin-conductance after a stressful experience when outdoors (Roger Ulrich Texas A &M),
stress reduction from outdoor experiences (Peter Kayn), and more…

A related area of inquiry is the restorative nature of the outdoors. One explanation of our reaction to the outdoors came in the 1970s when Stephen and Rachel Kaplan began a 9 year study for the Forest Service. They followed participants in an “Outward Bound-like” wilderness program. Subjects reported experiencing a sense of peace and an ability to think more clearly. The Kaplan's used a distinction noted by William James in 1890 about the ways we focus. James distinguished between directed attention and fascination (i.e. involuntary attention). The Kaplans used this idea of directed attention and fascination to help explain the sense of peace and ability to think more clearly after outdoor experiences.. “According to the Kaplans' research, too much directed attention leads to what they call "directed-attention fatigue," marked by impulsive behavior, agitation, irritation, and inability to concentrate. Directed-attention fatigue occurs because neural inhibitory mechanisms become fatigued by blocking competing stimuli." (from Last Child in the Woods). According to the Kaplan's the natural world has 'high fascination', it allows us to rest from having to force ourselves to focus.

Paige, Think Outside’s, President says it this way, “One of the things that I always say about why I like kayaking, or biking or horseback riding is that it requires me to be completely in that moment. You can't be focused on other things or you’re going to fall, flip, get hurt. The activity itself forces us to focus. Now I think I may say it differently, the activity itself so fascinates me that it is easy for me to let go of everything else.”

We at Think Outside ask, ‘is there a way to use this restorative property of the outdoors for our organizations?’ Certainly there is the design of our buildings and offices; designing them in ways that integrate nature. But isn't there something else? Isn't there something besides using nature to relax, as important as relaxation may be? We at Think Outside use nature and this restorative property to put us mentally in a place for new and creative thinking; a place for breakthrough ideas. We believe nature and natural experiences can be a "short-cut", of sorts, that can help us old adults learn new tricks.

We use guided reflection, meditation with sensory awareness exercises to focus on our connection to the natural world.

Adventure/Wilderness Therapy and Leadership Development (i.e. Outward Bound)

There is a long history of research and theory about the use of outdoor/wilderness venues for therapy and leadership development (particularly well know are outward bound programs). We, at Think Outside, use several underlying theories, proven techniques, and outcomes from this field of work. First, are several characteristics of adventure therapy or outward bound type leadership development programs that we often incorporate into our engagements listed below. Adventure/wilderness exercises...

Are in unfamiliar places, places and experiences that create disequilibrium, discomfort and eustress (good stress not too much anxiety).
Intentional use the group incorporating the interaction and reflections of peers into the experiences. Often the group dynamics, communication and interactions are critical pieces to the entire experience and groups learn as much about other people’s responses to new situations and other’s capacities, as they learn about their own. Other people also act as a mirror for participants and their own behavior.
Are tasks or challenges which are organized, concrete, incremental and manageable. The challenges require stretching on the part of participants, but must also be doable. They usually involve some ‘natural’ element, something that is wholly objective. For example a rock wall does not care who it is climbing it or coming down it; it isn’t “out to get anyone”; participants reap consequences of their own and their group's behavior. These challenges heighten stress, but must be managed so that stress does not become unproductive. They also offer clear examples of working individually and with a team and of our own capacity to succeed and learn. The challenges move people out of their comfort zone and into their ‘growth/learning’ zone. It is in this mental place that people are more likely to learn and grow.
Highlight the mastery of new skills. By learning and practicing relatively simple physical skills that we do not do everyday but which are necessary to solve a clear relevant problem, we open ourselves to other kinds of learning. When people are learning a new physical skill, such as repelling, they must be open; they must overcome their natural anxieties about change including fears about failure. In those moments, there is a opportunity, an “unfreezing” (to use Kurt Lewin's and Edgar Schein's term).

Critical to adventure experiences is both the preparation and the debriefing. As we reflect on experiences and apply them to real world work place issues, we draw participants into a natural learning environment that is quite often impossible to get to within the four walls of their workplace. In this space, we are able to explore new ideas and perspectives, as well as encourage participants to practice new skills. Further, many physical challenges (whether it is a silent hike from point A to B or an outdoor scavenger hunt on foot or on skiis) lend themselves to clear goal identification and clear measurement of progress; they lend themselves to clarity of vision and working together in different roles to succeed; they lend themselves to practice adapting. All of which are practice for skills that may be important in their work, e.g. implementing new strategies.

Challenge Course, and Team Building exercises use some of the elements of adventure therapy and outdoor leadership development. However, these experiences are usually shorter lasting a day or an afternoon and are often (by time necessity) focused exclusively on a particular skill – group communication, trust, teamwork, etc. These experiences can be effective and lead to new insights. They are based on the underlying theories described above. Unfortunately, these group experiences are often isolated or done annually with little connection back to the workplace or follow up afterwards. We, at Think Outside, draw on the exercises used in challenge course and team building work, but we integrate it into fuller process that includes the preparation and follow up to help make the learning stick.

Equine Assisted Facilitation

In equine assisted facilitation, we use the horse’s finely calibrated senses and reactions as a mirror for participants. Horses in the wild are prey animals and as such are keenly in tune with what the intent of other animals are including human animals. For hundreds of thousands of years, horses have lived in herds and have relied on their ability to sense danger and quickly communicate it to the herd. Horses hyper aware of movement, posture and intent coming from animals; they know when a tiger is stalking and when it is heading to the watering hole, and they can communicate this to their fellow herd members with no more than a twitch of the ear or raise of the head.

Horses are particularly effective acting as mirrors, because, in addition to being sensitive to what we are ‘saying’ nonverbally, horses have been working closely with humans for 1000s of years. This relationship makes them ideal to provide us direct feedback on what we are communicating and how we interact with others.

For years, physical therapists have used horseback riding as therapy, where the riding is a means of building coordination and muscle development with its own intrinsic rewards. Somewhat more recently, counselors and coaches have begun using horses to help clients with mental health and or emotional problems. This is also sometimes called equine assisted growth and learning. These ways of using horses and the successes they have demonstrated with individuals is the bases for equine assisted facilitation.

Equine assisted facilitation is particularly effective in helping participants become more aware of their communication style, how they interact with groups including their work team, problem solving, and building confidence and appropriate assertiveness. We are indebted to Sheryl Jordan of Kindred Spirits for first showing us the power of collaborating with horses in this way.

Brain-Based Training and Learning

There has been significant writing about our left and right brain functions and left and right brain characteristics. Some even seem to say that some people are “left brainers” or crazy “right brainers”. While there is some specialization between hemispheres, the reality is we are all “whole brainers.”

The most commonly heard of specialization is the right and left brain, but “energy in our brain moves up and down on a vertical axis—from the brain stem to the cortex and back down…we process spatially from left to right hemisphere…we process time (past to future) from back to front….Each area of the brain sense what is needed and interacts with other areas in a symbiotic micro-second. What we can safely say about each brain hemisphere (the left right brain dialogue) is this: The left hemisphere processes parts sequentially; the right side process wholes randomly.” (Jensen, E. Brain-Based Learning) So, what we have in our brains is an almost infinitely complex system that processes the information given to it from our senses in many many different ways. For example, when we listen to someone speak our left hemisphere is primarily processing words, definitions, language while the right side is processing inflection, tone, tempo, and volume. Together we can interpret speech and its meaning.

In the United States and indeed much of the “Western” world our professional paths have emphasized what are typically left brain processes—language, linearity, focus, logic, setting objectives and achieving them. Through the use of contemplative practice and outdoor creative arts (e.g. building ‘sculptures’ out of natural materials) we focus on and develop some characteristics often associated with the right brain—attention to the moment, to the whole and how things connect to one another in often nonlinear ways, appreciation of the chaotic, new and beautiful, creative, outside of the box, not limited by rules. In this way we become more “whole-brained’ more able to operate out the rich depth of our entire minds and the different ways we perceive the world.

Experiential Education and Learning and Adult Learning

"Tell me and I'll forget; show me and I may remember; involve me and I'll understand." ~ Chinese Proverb

At the heart of businesses' and nonprofits' ability to respond appropriately to today’s and tomorrow’s challenges is the need for their employees to be life-time learners, to be curious and open to new ideas. However, as any of us who have tried to learn a new skill or consider new ideas know, we, adults, have barriers to learning.

From Adult Learning Theory we know, adults are self directed and need to have a particular goal; that adults need to be motivated by understanding the need for the information or skill and this must be communicated with some level of real urgency. Adults need to feel challenged and need reinforcement of the ideas and skills in an on-going way, and finally adults usually need help transferring the new ideas and skills to our lives and our jobs.

We use this information about adult learners and combine it with the underlying theories of experiential education. Two of these underlying theories are if we experience something with our body and minds, we are more likely to remember it; and experiential education or facilitation assumes the outcome of the exercise is NOT pre-ordained, consequently adults are more likely to make it relevant to their own situations. The Association for Experiential Education defines experiential education as “a philosophy and methodology in which educators purposefully engage with learners in direct experience and focused reflection in order to increase knowledge, develop skills and clarify values.” In this way, it fits well with adult learning theory, it is learner centered and relies on participants to help direct learning and fulfill objectives.