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Build Your Competitive Edge -
5 Exercises to Strengthen your Brain
When I was at San Diego State University, I took a neuro-anatomy class and was awestruck with the genius architecture and engineering of the brain. I looked at brain tissue through a microscope to locate the different centers of thinking, problem solving, and memory. (No worries, we used sheep brains, not human brains.)
I found the Pre-Frontal Cortex intriguing. The Pre-Frontal Cortex is the center that allows humans to plan ahead, create strategies, and adjust to changing situations. It also helps us focus thought so we pay attention, learn, and concentrate on goals.
The capabilities centered in the Pre-Frontal Cortex are the same fundamental competencies needed to be a successful executive and leader.
The lessons from my neuro-anatomy class taught me that the brain is your most important "muscle" in your body. The capacity and strength of your thinking is one of the most important competitive advantages in business and career success.
Similar to any muscle, exercising the brain, especially the Pre-Frontal Cortex is critically important. Here are five exercises for building your competitive advantage through strengthening your brain.
- Read Complex Books - Read books and articles that make you stop and think. Read in a discipline or subject with which you are unfamiliar.
- Debate - Arguing in a civilized manner is excellent in exercising your capacity to think quickly and verbally.
- Write longhand - Another obvious but not common practice. By writing with pen and paper the muscle dynamics and movement fosters more critical thinking.
- Experiment with the Scientific Method - Next time you have a problem to solve develop a hypothesis, collect data. Analyzing the data, reject or support your hypothesis, and discover the best solution through the results.
- Invent Something - Find a problem or annoyance and come up with a simple and elegant solution. Remember the airplane pilot who was frustrated carrying his luggage. He went home, cut the corners of the luggage and attached two wheels. The rest is history.
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"Winning the Brain Game -
Fixing the 7 Fatal Flaws of Thinking"
by Mathew E. May
Along the lines of strengthening the muscle called the brain, is identifying potential flaws in our thinking that could derail decision-making and obstruct creativity.
The author outlines seven fatal flaws and provides solutions for each. Avoiding these flaws, you sharpen focus, problems are solved more quickly, and you enjoy the sense of confidence in solving problems others can't.
Below are the 7 fatal flaws and a suggestion for preventing the flaw from becoming an intellectual "derailer."
- Leaping - Immediately and instinctively leaping to a conclusion is a "mental knee jerk" reaction. The solution is "Framestorming," a mixture of framing and brainstorming. It means to generate ideas without judgment
- Fixation - This is when we having difficulty looking at an object or subject in a new way. The solution is "Inversion" or "Opposite World." The next time you are fixated on an idea, ask yourself what is the extreme opposite or reverse?
- Overthinking - When we spend so much time thinking we become less vigilant. The solution is "Prototesting." This is a mixture of prototype and testing. You "prototest" by asking yourself "what must be true?" and then testing your answer.
- "Satisficing" - Nobel laureate Herbet Simon developed this term in describing the inclination to settle for "good enough." The solution is "Synthesis." This requires "both and" thinking instead of "either or" thinking.
- Downgrading - The tendency to declare victory too early through a "pre-emptive surrender." The solution is "Jump-starting" or forcing yourself to replace "can't because" with "can if" statements.
- Not Invented Here - This is the tendency to resist or automatically reject ideas or solutions produced somewhere else. The solution is "Proudly Found Elsewhere" or the strategy where there is an "outside in" flow of ideas and an "inside out" connection with sources of new information.
- Self-Censoring - Thisis the deadliest flaw, since we kill or deny a great idea after we recognize the value of the idea. The solution is "Self-Distancing," a form of mindfulness where we notice moment-to-moment changes through higher order attention.
If you or your team seem to be stuck in unproductive thinking, engage an executive coach to help you sort through the morass and move forward with effective, fertile thinking.
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Leading Research -
IQ Outperforms EQ
Barrick and Mount in 1991 published a study where they analyzed 24,000 individuals and found that personality contributes only 4 % to predicting employee performance ratings, while IQ accounted for over 30%, or ten times the predictive power of personality.
Emotional Intelligence reliance on personality traits alone at its core will always severely limit its predictive power.
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Remember that when you are uncertain about a potential new hire that a mistake could cost you betwee
n 1.5 and 3.5 times that person's compensation.
- If you want to increase your success, find opportunities to solve problems that others can't or won't.
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Solving People and Management Issues
The Heller Group focuses on coaching for senior level executives. We facilitate change within an organization that results in more effective leadership, increased productivity, innovative thinking, and improved employee morale and retention.
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Dr. Bruce Heller
Dr. Bruce Heller, founder of The Heller Group, Inc., has over 20 years experience consulting with managers and executives on executive education, leadership development, and organizational.
He is an adjunct professor at Southwestern Law School.
Dr. Heller is a consulting psychologist and member of the American Psychological Association Consulting Psychology Division. Dr. Heller holds a Ph.D. and Masters Degree in Education from the University of Southern California.
Dr. Heller is the author of The Prodigal Executive-How to Coach Executives Too Painful to Keep, Too Valuable to Fire.
Read the book.
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