The Science of Thinking Smarter

John Med­ina, Direc­tor of the Brain Cen­ter for Applied Learn­ing Research at Seattle Pacific University, and author of Brain Rules: 12 Prin­ci­ples for Sur­viv­ing and Thriv­ing at Work, Home, and School, wrote a great article for us on Brain Rules: sci­ence and prac­tice, bringing brain research to daily life.

We enjoyed the book very much since it pro­vides an excel­lent and engag­ing overview of recent brain research, so we are glad to see it reach­ing new cor­ners. You may enjoy these 2 new resources:

1) A 52-minute video based on his Google talk on April 8th: click Here. Great dis­cus­sion of the brain ben­e­fits of phys­i­cal exer­cise and stress management.

2) An inter­view at Har­vard Busi­ness Review, titled The Sci­ence of Think­ing Smarter. I enjoyed some of the exchanges, such as this one (though I find the ques­tion a bit mys­ti­fy­ing, are we assum­ing it is genes all that mat­ter for leadership?):

Exec­u­tive Sum­mary: Neu­ro­science can show man­agers ways to improve pro­duc­tiv­ity. A Con­ver­sa­tion with brain expert John J. Med­ina by Diane Coutu

Now, I have to add that neu­ro­science (and cog­ni­tive sci­ence in gen­eral) can show man­agers many more ways to improve pro­duc­tiv­ity than those out­lined in the inter­view, but it is a superb start.