Movement pattern analysis

Movement Pattern Analysis (MPA) is a comprehensive system for assessing an individual’s core motivations in decision-making processes, based on the disciplined analysis of nonverbal behaviour. MPA has a wide range of applications, from management consulting to career guidance, and over 30,000 individuals – primarily those involved in senior management – have made use of MPA-Profiles over the last 50 years^[1].

Motivational Analysis

MPA maps out how people are intrinsically motivated to take action and interact throughout all stages of a decision-making process. "Intrinsic motivation" refers to inner drive, as opposed to extrinsic motivation – responding positively or negatively to external factors (eg., wages, punishment). "Decision-making process" is used here to refer to the whole chain of actions involved in thinking through, making choices and implementing decisions. MPA is used by companies and individuals to ensure compatibility between people and areas of responsibility and to improve team-balance.

Management Consulting

Professional MPA-Practitioner training^[2] has allowed MPA to spread to a wide range of fields, although its main application has been in management consulting, spanning over 30 countries. Some companies and multinational corporations have continued to use MPA consistently for over three decades^[3], which is rare in the often trend-seeking private sector.

Typical applications of MPA in Management Consulting include: Personal-, leadership-, and team-development; MPA-Coaching and self-management; recruiting and (re-) definition of roles; planning-structures for meetings and long-term strategies.

History

MPA was developed by Warren Lamb in the 1940's and ‘50’s, building upon the innovations of movement theorist Rudolf Laban and one of the UK’s first management consultants, F. C. Lawrence. Warren Lamb assisted Laban and Lawrence in their groundbreaking research within British industry – first among factory workers – then focusing on management^[4].

Laban and Lawrence realised early on that certain aspects and qualities of thinking are echoed in other kinds of bodily movement – and vice-versa^[5]. Warren Lamb went on to synthesise these and his own findings and develop a solid framework and consistent method – now known as MPA – for analysing core initiatives in decision-making.

Warren Lamb’s unique contributions (and notably, the identification of what he dubbed “Posture-Gesture Mergers”^[6]) are unprecedented in the field of nonverbal behaviour and have been used consistently in management consulting for over a half a century^[7].

Notes

1. ^ See Moore (2005) and Lamb (1965).
2. ^ See [1]
3. ^ See [2] for list of references
4. ^ See Moore (2005) and Davies (2001).
5. ^ See Laban and Lawrence (1943).
6. ^ See Lamb (1965).
7. ^ See Moore (2005) for case studies.

References

Davies, Eden (2001). BEYOND DANCE: Laban's Legacy of Movement Analysis.London, Routledge.

Laban, R. and Lawrence, F. C. (July 31, 1943). “The Rhythm of the Office Worker” NRCD Laban Archive, ref. no. E(L)/66/13.

Lamb, Warren and Elizabeth Watson (1979). Body Code: The Meaning in Movement. London: Routledge.

Lamb, Warren (1965). Posture and Gesture. London: Brechin Books.

Moore, Carol-Lynne (2005). MOVEMENT AND MAKING DECISIONS: The Body-Mind Connection in the Workplace. New York: Rosen Publishing Group.