Framestorm® – the way to a more flexible mindset
In 2012, the peer-reviewed NeuroLeadership Journal published Anette Prehn’s article on Framestorm. It is a registered method to nurture a more flexible mindset based on core neurological principles, such as “self-directed neuroplasticity”, “Neurons that fire together, wire together”, “confirmation bias” and “priming”.
We all know what a brainstorm is. Typically, brainstorms take place at the level of behaviour and products. People brainstorm on new solutions, product/service ideas, strategies – even what to do at the next teambuilding session.
A Framestorm® – or flipping the brain – is different. It is a systematic and playful brainstorm at the level of interpretation and mindset. And it invites the Framestormer to reframe, i.e. reinterpret, a challenging situation.
Is this done in the illusion that you may all of a sudden radically transform the challenge in itself? No. But it holds the potential of radically transforming your perception of the challenge.
MINDSET MATTERS
A Framestorm is initiated when you realise that mindset matters and that one’s interpretation of a situation or a relationship can make it significantly and unnecessarily more difficult to cope with. A Framestorm helps you tweak your perception of a situation by first pausing your current frame, then gently and playfully view the situation/relation at hand from all sorts of angles. This is what makes Framestorm® a 360 degrees mindset brainstorm.
During this process, you come up with at least 15 reframings, preferably 30, but Anette Prehn often facilitates Framestorms that end up with the Framestormer(s) having identified 70 or even 100 new ways of looking at the situation.
For operational reasons, and in order to respect the limitations of the working memory and pave the way for implementation, one or two reframings are then chosen at the end of the process, after which the Framestormer goes out and tries them out: S/he walks down those “paths in the forest” (i.e. strengthen those connections in the brain) whilst letting the (now former) framing of the situation become still more overgrown … just like a path in the forest that you have left in order to walk down another path will become overgrown.
You can read the full 2012 article here.
The method itself consists of three “ABC” steps:
- Ask calibrating questions
- Begin the Framestorm
- Choose your reframing(s)
Since 2012, Anette Prehn has ordered the 30 potent questions into a structure called The Five Fingers of Framestorm™ making them easy to recall and use in everyday life.
In 2013, Anette Prehn published the online course “Master Your Mindset and Brain – Framestorm Your Way to Success in Business” on the Udemy.com platform. It is a masterclass for the students who have already taken her basic, free 2012 course on “The Neuroscience of Reframing – And How to Do It”. The students give the masterclass on Framestorm 4,5 out of 5 stars. Please see some course reviews at the bottom of this page.
Anette Prehn has furthermore written about Framestorm in her three latest books (the BRAINSMART-trilogy) of 2015, 2015 and 2016, but unless you read Danish, Swedish or German, you’ll have to wait a little before reading these. In Autumn 2018, her next book “FLIP” will be published. It is about how to flip your mindset, analysis and strategies based on the rules of the brain. It is possible to “flip” the brain, when you understand it key logics (but very difficult indeed, if you don’t).
Anette Prehn is currently the only facilitator who can teach the Framestorm® method to others.
Feel free to contact her via anette@anetteprehn.com.
WHAT DO PEERS SAY ABOUT FRAMESTORM®?
“Anette Prehn, who has spent the majority of her career thinking about and researching the science of reframing, has developed a model called “Framestorm,” to help put reframing techniques into everyday life. In order to become a better reframer, whenever one spots old frames intertwined with unhealthy emotions, Anette advocates initiating a Framestorm to disrupt the old neural connections and forge new ones … The key to Framestorming is to “just keep going,” no matter how outlandish the frames are that your imagination is creating. Anette puts it well: “When the reframing brainstorm begins, the individual gently and playfully pauses the neural connection that has always fired and redirects attention to constructive alternatives that induce resourcefulness.”
Online students say:
John Kirton: “All I can say is wow! This is a powerful, insightful course which I intend to use and develop in my new life as a language coach. It has explained so much as to why certain approaches are more likely to produce success and others will most likely lead to disappointment. ‘Framestorming’ gives many more tools for systematically helping to move people towards a more positive and productive approach to language learning and indeed, of much,much more importance, just about anything. Masterclass is an often overused word similar to ‘legend’ by football fans. Anette can be compared to the likes of Cruyff in using neuroscience to help people in business and in life. This is a true masterclass which will stand the test of time in the developing area of applied neuroscience.”
Geoff Skeats: “I am familiar with re-framing and made use of it in my own life. This course will show you why re-framing is such a powerful tool (when used correctly) and also increase the options available thereby increasing the success rate. If you have had an unsuccessful experience of re-framing, this course will show you why it failed and how to correct it. You may well be surprised at the answer.”
Olubunmi Robbin-Coker: “Fantastic course. I cannot recommend this course too highly. As a psychologist, I was impressed with how Anette made the science so easily understandable. The content is easy to grasp and apply. I will be recommending this course to my clients or anyone who really wants to change the way they think to a more resourceful approach. Thanks, Anette!”
Sociologist (MA) Anette Prehn is a prolific keynote speaker, trainer, and bestselling non-fiction author, who has inspired hundreds of thousands across the planet, since establishing her business in 2005.
Anette Prehn is on a mission to make neuroscience available to all, i.e. easy to understand, remember and apply. She has worked in the field of NeuroLeadership since 2009 and has taught the rules of the brain to leaders and employees since, thus strengthening their leadership, learning, habit change, cognitive flexibility, and mental health.
Highly skilled at explaining complex ideas in down-to-earth and accessible language, and impossible to pigeonhole, Anette Prehn has developed techniques that make it easy for people to turn their brain into an ally rather than an opponent. The Framestorm® method, that is patented and trademarked, teaches people to flip and widen their perspective, thus paving the way for innovation, emotion regulation and making the most of whatever life throws at you.
In 2018-2019, Anette chaired The National Stress Panel, established by six Danish cabinet ministers. The panel comprised 10 experts and was tasked with identifying 12 actions to radically influence the stress level experienced in Denmark in recent years as well as to engage the Danish public in understanding what stress is and does and how mental health can be strengthened.
Her clients include Maersk, GN Group, Grundfos, Danfoss, Siemens, Bosch, Ericsson, Roche, Lego, Novo Nordic, Man Diesel and Turbo, Nordea, Danske Bank, 40+ Danish municipalities and 100+ educational institutions and schools.
She has written more than 20 books and mini books, among these "BrainSmart Leadership" and "Play Your Brain".
Throughout these many years, her clients have been powerfully inspired to apply neuroscience to work situations, but they have also asked her::
“How do I more specifically apply the logics of the brain to parenting?” and “I can see my kids gaining from knowing this as well. What’s the best way to introduce them to these tools?”
Being the mother of two and the stepmother of two, those questions got Anette Prehn going.
She therefore started adding to her portfolio how parents, teachers and nursery nurses can become more BrainSmart, thus nuturing environments that help kids learn, thrive and regulate emotions relevantly.
In her Brain Friends series, she is sharing with children and teenagers how to strike up a friendship with their brain rather than being at the receiving end of its impulses and habits.
Contact Anette by email: