HOW'S YOUR BRAINPOWER?

Here's a link to a fascinating audit of your brainpower from creativity guru Michael Hewitt-Gleeson's School of Thinking.

For the fun of it, just give it a go!

DILIP'S PROGRAMS FOR THE EDUCATIONAL DOMAIN: DOWNWARD MIGRATION FROM CORPORATE PROGRAMS

[This is essentially a continuation of my earlier post, pertaining to my 'Idea Map' showing the distinctive features of Dilip's programs for the educational domain.

The 'Idea Map' has been crafted in conjunction with the recent launch of a series of new programs intended for parents as well as their school-going kids/teens, under the auspices of 'The House of Creative Brains'.

It serves as an intellectual backbone to the program synopsis for both parties.]

Just like Dilip's programs for the corporate world, under the auspices of the Singapore Institute of Management (SIM) for more than decade, both programs for parents & their school-going kids/teens are custom-designed to help participants towards envisioning & preparing for the future.

Dilip & I believe very strongly that what works in the corporate world works in the educational arena as well.

The world out there has changed, & we must change with it. Dilip will show participants how to do it successfully.

Besides sharing corporate lessons in change mastery, Dilip will also coach participants on how to excel in pathfinding, & plotting their career path.

Fundamentally, the program for both parents & their school-going kids/teens shares (and for teachers, too, in large measures) the same distinctive themes, with the following "exceptions":

for parents & guardians (& teachers, too):

- elaboration of the technological underpinnings of Dilip's body of work, with appropriate instructional & coaching components so that, not only they can apply the tools & metholodologies in their own life, but also coaching their own kids/teens; this is based on the principle that parents are their children's first teachers!

for their kids/teens:

- straight into immediate, multiple applications with total relevance to their school life, & of course, their life after school, with some explanations as to why they are doing it your way;

Hands-on applications, under Dilip's systematic coaching, apply to both programs, interspered by short class lectures, meaningful stories, selective video presentations (where appropriate), self-assessments, discovery games, group interactive exercises, project work, etc.

[Dilip's corporate programs in SIM, renewed for 2011, will include: 'Braindancing', 'Building Business Brainpower', 'Corporate Taleblazers', & 'Strategic Visioning with Lifescaping'.

For more information about the series of new programs under 'The House of Creative Brains', please get in touch with Ms. Faye Yeoh via her email faye_yeoh@yahoo.com.]

BOOK TO TANGO with BUILDING BUSINESS BRAINPOWER

If you are contemplating on reading one of Dilip Mukerjea's books as a preambulatory exercise, prior to signing up for his 'Building Business Brainpower' seminar under the auspices of the Singapore Institute of Management in 2011, I recommend the following book:



Please bear in mind that the book was written a few years ago. Dilip has in fact incorporated many of his newer intellectual creations - especially in terms of High-Performance Skill Sets - within the newly-revamped 'Building Business Brainpower' program for 2011.

Enjoy your reading & exploration!

A QUICK & BRISK LESSON FROM MY SLIDEWORKS

The following slides were extracted from my presentation materials, under the tail segment or epilogue of 'Understanding Your Brain', which I had often used in my strategy & innovation workshops for entrepreneurs, managers, & professionals throughout the nineties till the early 21st century.

[In the class, besides short lectures & debriefings, participants played a lot of vision games & do a plethora of self-discovery exercises, some of which I will share with readers in this weblog.]

Specifically, I had used the slides to summarise the pertinent key points in terms of understanding the intricacies as well as idiosyncrasies of the human mind, & also how they could affect our peak performance & what we could do to use what we know & our resources to make our life better.

A RELOOK AT THE TAPESTRY OF CONTENTS: BUILDING BRAINPOWER, by Dilip Mukerjea

In this book, Dilip Mukerjea brings readers to a much higher level of mind mapping for educational as well as business applications.

The prime focus is on:

- advanced mind mapping;

- knowledge of the brain;

- strategies in critical thinking;

This is, in fact, the second book in 'The Creative Brain Series', by Dilip Mukerjea. [The series comprises 'Brain Symphony', 'Surfing the Intellect', 'Unleashing Genius' as well as 'Taleblazers'.]

Jam-packed with examples & anecdotes, it is designed to help readers build expertise in processing information as well as jump-start skills at personal creativity.

In a nut shell, it's invaluable for anyone wishing to discover & experience the genesis of personal genius.


[All the books in 'The Creative Brain Series' are readily available at most of the Kinokuniya Bookstores. If you encounter acquisition problems, please write to the author at dilipmukerjea@gmail.com.

Alternatively, overseas readers can check out his corporate website.]

ENCORE: DILIP & THE SUPERBRAINS!

Whenever Dilip Mukerjea takes a coaching class, be it 'Building Brainpower' or 'Braindancing', or 'Lifescaping', under the auspices of the Singapore Institute of Management, there is - always - never a dull moment from the onset, as you can see from the spiritedness of the participating group in the foregoing snapshot.

Besides making learning = fun, Dilip always shares by the end of the day many pragmatic insights, actionable ideas, powerful tools, ready-to-use strategies & practical hints to enable each & every participant in the class to take on the world... by unleashing his or her genius, so to speak... as if telling the world: "Watch out, here I come! Your butt is mine!"

SMART MOVES!

Dilip Mukerjea has written extensively about the significant aspect of "Smart Moves", when it comes to building brainpower & boosting creativeness.

Here are some of the links to his writings - & also my responses to them - in this weblog:

- "Movement is essential to efficient brain usage";

- "Movement is essential to brain development";

- "Get up & get moving";

- "Movement, the essence of creativity";

- "Smart Moves";

I just thought that the foregoing "cartoon" by the maestro himself is an apt illustration.

A RELOOK AT THE TAPESTRY OF CONTENTS: BRAIN SYMPHONY, by Dilip Mukerjea

In a nut shell, 'Brain Symphony: Brain-blazing Practical Techniques in Creativity for Immediate Application', replaces 'BrainDancing', with both written by Dilip Mukerjea.

The latter book was published during the later part of the nineties, following his debut book, 'Superbrain' & 'Brainfinity' (both out-of-print now) during the mid-nineties.

The focal point of 'Brain Symphony' is to help you to equip yourself with a plethora of practical skillsets to boost your personal creativeness & professional brainpower, which in turn will enhance your organisational prosperity.




'Brain Symphony' is now part of 'The Creative Brain Series', which comprises 'Building Brainpower', 'Surfing the Intellect', 'Unleashing Genius', as well as 'Taleblazers'.

[All the books in 'The Creative Brain Series' are readily available at most of the Kinokuniya Bookstores. If you encounter acquisition problems, please write to the author at dilipmukerjea@gmail.com.

Alternatively, overseas readers can check out his corporate website.]

WHAT IS THE COST OF CONFUSION, & THE VALUE OF CLARITY?

The following is the prologue to the book, 'Building BrainPower: Turning Grey Matter into Gold', by Dilip Mukerjea:

"The Knowledge Economy has transitioned to The Learning Economy.

Brain Force has trumped Brute Force.

The secret to success lies in building your brainpower.

Brainpower transports you from:

- confusion to clarity;

- hostility to harmony;

- self-posioning to self-poise;

- entropy to ecstasy;

Your most valuable asset is your learning ability. It is the architect of your identity. Everything you are was conceived as an idea in your brain.

The primary creative force in your life is the aulity of your imagination.

This has never been more true.

The velocity of life has reached lightspeed. The volatility of evolution has aradicated certainty. The viscosity of prehistoric attitudes has created monuments to incompetence.

Ask youself:

What is the cost of confusion, & the value of clarity?

Make a start by building your brainpower.

Read this book!"

Say Keng's personal comments:

For me, building brainpower is more a strategic question of enhancing one's self-mastery ~ understanding our own brain, with all its intricacies & idiosyncrasies, since it is our preeminent information processor & perpetual idea generator.

More importantly, brainpower is a mere function of how we use our own brain on a daily basis ~ the more we use of it, in novel ways of course, the better it is.

Nonetheless, I like to share with readers one pragmatic way to reduce confusion & enhance clarity, especially when reading a book, or listening to a speech or a presentation, or participating in a workshop:

Within the first ten minutes or so, you should quickly ask yourself these questions:

1) How is this relevant to my sphere of work or current job or existing business?

2) What are the immediate Next Steps after this reading/presentation/workshop?

3) What does successful application of this reading/presentation/training look like?

4) What follow-up tools & support do I get after this reading/presentation/workshop?

5) What's in it for me ? or How do I, personally, benefit from this reading/presentation/workshop?

These powerful questions help you to ignite your reticular activating system (RAS) ~ your automatic goal-seeking system, so to speak, just like the servo-mechanism in a Tomahawk missile!

My knowledge has been inspired & fine-tuned by the brilliant work of productivity strategist Bill Jensen, who wrote the classics, 'Simplicity' as well as 'Simplicity Survival Handbook'.

THE BUZAN TECHNIQUES: BUILDING BRAINPOWER SEMINAR, by Dilip Mukerjea

Dilip Mukerjea is scheduled to conduct the next session of the foregoing popular seminar at the Royal Plaza on Scotts from 28th to 30th April 2010, under the auspices of the Singapore Institute of Management.

The seminar synopsis is outlined as follows:

Introduction:

It is said that the human brain is like a computer, but unlike a computer, “Hard Drive Full” is something your brain will never experience. With its unlimited capacity to learn, the brain is seemingly infinite in power and capabilities.

The thing is, how do you tap into this unlimited source of power?

Benefits to You:

Mind Mapping®, Speed Reading and Power Comprehension, and Memory Enhancement train your brain to:

- convert information into usable intelligence
- attain simple solutions to complex problems
- understand that true TQM equates effective brain usage

It will also:

= Significantly enhance your information processing capabilities
- Boost individual and group mental literacy
- Become an intellectual power pack.

Programme Outline:

- Checking your Brain
- Test your memory
- Measure your creativity - how good a problem solver are you?
- Thought organisation - disentangling clutter
- Leading through thinking
- Reading speed and comprehension
- Are you a positive thinker?
- Mind Mapping®
- Dramatically increase memory and concentration via Mind Maps®
- Stimulate creativity in yourself and others via Mind Maps®
- Applying Mind Maps® in note-taking, note-making, problem solving, speech writing, meetings, planning and studying
- Distil immense amount of information or materials onto one sheet of paper
- Speed Reading
- How to immediately increase your reading speed
- Boosting comprehension to merge with the increase in reading speed
- Equate speed reading via power browsing, to Mind Mapping®, and achieving a high-speed thought organisation
- Boosting your Memory
- Stretch your memory with advanced memory techniques for a tremendous improvement in recall and retention of names and faces, data and numbers
- How to use your memory before/during/after learning
- How to improve access to your memory when under stress

Learning Features:

Fast-paced but with ample opportunity to develop these skills for future use. Emphasis will be on practical applications.

Who Must Attend:

Executives at all levels and from any discipline.

Venue : Royal Plaza on Scotts (for 28/4-30/4/2010 class only)
Time : 8:30 - 18:00
Fee : S$1,605.00 (SIM Members)
(Inclusive of 7% GST)
Enquiries : 62489407 exec@sim.edu.sg

For registration, please proceed to this link at the Singapore Institute of Management.

ACTION POINTS FOR YOU & YOUR BRAIN VII

[continued from the Last Post.]

Dilip Mukerjea, writing in his book, 'Building BrainPower: Turning Grey Matter into Gold', offers the following Action Points for Your Success:

1) Re-evaluate the "failures" in your life; know that every "failure" contains an infinite range of opportunities for success. Research examples where "failure" led to success. dare to fail.

2) Establish life goals. Maintain a creative tension in your life, so that you keep setting and achieving new goals. This ensures your growth towards self-mastery.

3) Check your inner and outer dialogue for negative talk. Look for the positives within negatives, and cat on them. Strive for composure in your life, as it informs every other aspect in your quest for the best.

4) Develop and consciously use your senses so as to receive better feedback. It will help you to graph and monitor aspects of new learning.

5) Strive for cardiovascular fitness; it equates with composure and provides you with the engine for success.

6) Establish and nurture loving relationships. If not, your peace of mind will turn into pieces of mind!

7) Without compromising your sense of ethics, strive for financial freedom. Wealth is not how much you have but how little you need. develop character with this in mind.

8) Become a good role model; this way you will be an inspired individual inspiring other individuals.

9) Develop persistence towards worthy ends! Then persist with your persistence, with indefatigable determination.

10) Maintain clarity in your values, your thoughts, and in your actions.

ACTION POINTS FOR YOU & YOUR BRAIN VI

[continued from the Last Post.]

Dilip Mukerjea, writing in his book, 'Building BrainPower: Turning Grey Matter into Gold', offers the following Action Points for Your Mind & Body:

1) Mind Map your health and fitness goals and make a start TODAY! Learn to translate intention into action with a clear sense of purpose. You should aim to improve with age!

2) Know yourself better; regularly measure strength, flexibility, fintness and poise - physically, mentally, and spiritually.

3) Do basic aerobic training: 20 minutes per session, at least three times a week. This will help you to develop focus, improve memory, and project viability.

4) Strengthen your muscles through correct regimes for diet, sleep, and exercise.

5) Keep flexible by remaining active at a level that does not strain your physique. Equate physical flexibility with mental flexibility. Cognitive agility and creative perspectives emerge from this quality.

6) Develop your poise through: The Alexander Technique, Tai Chi, Yoga, Aikido, and other such practices.

7) Rest at regular intervals so as to nurture and nourish your heart and brain. Minimise, or eliminate stress, by thinking positive, happy thoughts. This 'intangible' quality is the spark plug for your creativity and increased productivity.

8) Play! Play! Play! Remember the Greek words: PAIDEIA = the concept of education; PAIDIA = the concept of play; Thus, Education and Learning are very closely related to PLAY!

9) Persist woth your persistence. NEVER GIVE UP! Chase your passion but retain your composure.

10. Daily, help others to rise above their status quo. You can never help yourself on the inside if you forget about those on the outside.

[to be continued in the Next Post: Actions Points for Your Success.]

ACTION POINTS FOR YOU & YOUR BRAIN V

[continued from the Last Post.]

Dilip Mukerjea, writing in his book, 'Building BrainPower: Turning Grey Matter into Gold', offers the following Action Points for Your Reading:

1) Develop your reading program. Improve the general quality, breadth and depth of your reading. Strive to read at least a book a week.

2) Use established techniques (such as 'visual guide') to attain acceleration and smoothness in your reading.

3) Build your vocabulary, with at least 3 new words per day. Use these words actively, in speech as well as in writing.

4) Seek out key words within text. Equate this information with mental Mind Mapping (no paper and no pens) and other memory techniques, so as to monitor your progress in Mental Literacy.

5) Study about, and exercise, your eyes e.g. Bates Method, Yoga techniques, and so on.

6) Enhance your reading environment in line with the Mental Matrix. Consider reading in full-spectrum lighting so as to eliminate eye fatigue.

7) Learn to 'deep read' material that needs to be absorbed at a more philosophical level.

8) Monitor your reading speeds on a regular basis.

9) Teach other people to acquire these skills and to apply this process to their studies and work assignments.

10) Create and run 'High Eye Cue' Society! Remember, Readers Make Leaders!

[to be continued in the Next Post: Actions Points for Your Mind & Body.]

ACTION POINTS FOR YOU & YOUR BRAIN IV

[continued from the Last Post.]

Dilip Mukerjea, writing in his book, 'Building BrainPower: Turning Grey Matter into Gold', offers the following Action Points for Your Mind-Mapping:

1) Make regular Mind Map notes, even if they are crafted solely in the mind.

2) Spot key words in lectures, notes, and books. Endeavour constantly to convert them into images.

3) Create a colour code for your notes and in your activities.

4) Develop 3D symbols and codes.

5) Use Mini Mind Maps on a regular basis.

6) Build your vocabulary and strive to understand meanings at diverse levels.

7) Mind Map all aspects of yourself. Create a Life Plan Mind Map and monitor your progress.

8) Review a book with a Mind Map. Then review several books and distill the contents onto One Mind Map.

9) Make a group Mind Map for a holiday, party, project, or subject.

10) test your memory with elaborate Mind Maps to see if your ability to retain vast amounts of information is being developed on a continuing basis.

[to be continued in the Next Post: Actions Points for Your Reading.]

ACTION POINTS FOR YOU & YOUR BRAIN III

[continued from the Last Post.]

Dilip Mukerjea, writing in his book, 'Building BrainPower: Turning Grey Matter into Gold', offers the following Action Points for Your Creativity:

1) Recognise your uniqueness and build on your strengths. You DO NOT have poor memory, you CAN learn how to remember because it is one your natural strengths.

2) Make and maintain your own Creative Thinking Zone.

3) Break your own moulds - new clothes, persona, activities and so on.

4) Play with children - and rediscover (recover) the child within yourself.

5) Create spaces and times (spacetimes) to rest. Catnap regularly if nighttime sleep is a problem.

6) radiate out on notes - use colour, imagery and symbolism.

7) Set memory targets on a daily basis, and very soon, incremental improvements will metamorphose into quantum accomplishments.

8) Pose hypo-problems and work at solving them. Try this without pen and paper, play Creative Mind Games to provoke synaptic connections. This will also help build your spatial intelligence.

9) Read widely, and deeply. Become polymathic. Readers make Leaders!

10) Meet new peoples, experience unfamiliar cultures, and keep observing with a fascination towards life.

[to be continued in the Next Post: Actions Points for Your Mind Mapping.]

ACTION POINTS FOR YOU & YOUR BRAIN II

[continued from the Last Post.]

Dilip Mukerjea, writing in his book, 'Building BrainPower: Turning Grey Matter into Gold', offers the following Action Points for Your Memory Management:

1) Inject colour and diversity into your life.

2) Look, think, link, and ink the stimuli of life; it will build your memory muscle.

3) Make dramatic beginnings and entrances (start starts!).

4) Dare to imagine, unleash your sense of fun! Risk it and realise what you have been missing!

5) Observe with a purpose, then link, connect, and realise whatever you wish to remember.

6) Take regular breaks between prolonged learning sessions.

7) Apply your memory skills to numbers, data, names and faces.

8) Use the Memory Principles constantly.

9) Review constantly - see things again, preferably using Mind Maps, Imagination techniques, and interactive discussions; this practice embeds information into long term memory.

10) Ensure that your diet is healthy; remember that three-quarters of the word 'diet' is terminal ('die') if what you ingest is unhealthy.

[to be continued in the Next Post: Actions Points for Your Creativity.]

ACTION POINTS FOR YOU & YOUR BRAIN

Dilip Mukerjea, writing in his book, 'Building BrainPower: Turning Grey Matter into Gold', offers the following Action Points for Your Brain:

1) Establish goals to develop your brain. Link it to a vision that is real and vibrant. Match them both to your purpose in life and to your calling, which is your embedded destiny.

2) Apply the mental matrix (left & Right Brain Hemispheric specialties) to your life, family, learning, and relationships so as to achieve cognitive balance, and thereby boost your creative output.

3) Put more colour in your life, personality, conversations, dress, notes, and the people you meet.

4) Increase your day-dreaming time.

5) Develop your imagination; look for a 'Return on Imagination' (ROI).

6) Look for the connections between things, events, and phenomena in life.

7) Take up your dream hobby (music, art, languages, sports, etc.), and live it at a molecular level.

8) Find role models such as the "Great Brains" throughout history; allow them to inspire your efforts in life.

9) Keep physically healthy to remain mentally healthy; these two qualities are indispensable in becoming spiritually healthy. Take up aikido.

10) Think in metaphors and analogies, and equate them with every aspect of your life; they provide wisdom and are the ingredients of 'brain song'; the music of your inherent genius.

[to be continued in the Next Post: Action Points for Your Memory.]

CONCEPTUAL SYMBOL: Building BrainPower

Again, this is another conceptual symbol from Dilip Mukerjea. It is self-explanatory.

It captures the essence of his signature corporate seminar, designated as 'Building BrainPower', & held about 4 times a year, under the auspices of the Singapore Institute of Management.

In a nut shell, Dilip shares with his seminar participants most of the stuff that are elegantly embodied in his wonderful book, 'Building BrainPower: Turning Grey Matter into Gold'.

Copies of the book are readily available at all the Kinokuniya book stores.

Alternatively, readers can also go to his corporate website to view excerpts from the book. Here's the link.

When you step into any Best Denki or Courts or Harvey Norman store near you, you can easily pick up the latest high-definition television set or one of those super-duper desktops or maybe laptops that are equipped with four parallel processors, with an accompanying, often well-illustrated, operating manual.

Unfortunately & sad to say, for all homo sapiens like us when entering this rapidly changing world at accelerating pace & with increasing complexity, we don't get to enjoy the luxury of an operating manual.

We have to go through trials & errors, with hard knocks on our own, so to speak. A few of us get it quickly, but most of us are still at a loss.

In many ways, 'Building BrainPower' as envisaged by Dilip is a pragmatic solution to our dilemma.

By the way, here's the link from which you can download the seminar brochure with a registration form from the Singapore Institute of Management.

100 WAYS YOU CAN TAP INTO MORE OF YOUR BRAIN

Here's a link - with the courtesy of Amber Johnson from OnlineUniversities.com - to a very interesting resource that offers '100 Ways You Can Tap Into More of Your Brain'.

Thanks, Amber, for sharing.

DANGER IN THE COMFORT ZONE: MINDPOWER HAS REPLACED MANPOWER!

1st Worker: Is your job in jeopardy?

2nd Worker: No. My job is very secure. It’s me they can do without.”

The era of womb-to-employment is over. There are no longer any guarantees of lifelong employment. But you can guarantee lifelong employability.

Organisations are looking for executives who can make quantum leaps in speed, fluidity, responsiveness, precision, and agility.

We are now in a digital world. A supercharger has been attached to speed as a competitive business weapon. The safe routes of yesterday now lead to sterility and extinction.

So what’s to be done?

Take a sledgehammer to your business model . . . before someone else does it for you? Start re-skilling. Elasticate your possibilities.

Flexibility amplifies opportunities. Brain force has trumped brute force.

Start reading different books, meet different people, master different skills.

Keep creating value. You will enrich your actions, interactions, and transactions. Out of such relationships come products, services, and intangibles that will benefit you in the decades ahead.

[Excerpted from the 'Igniting Innovation' edition of The Braindancer Series of bookazines by Dilip Mukerjea. All the images in this post are the intellectual property of Dilip Mukerjea.]

Say Keng's personal comments:

In a nut shell, what Dilip Mukerjea is talking about in the foregoing essay is: Break your Old Habits & Adopt New Habits!

I like to share an insight.

According to peak performance experts, there are three zones of existence:

- Comfort Zone: the realm of our existing old habits;

- Stretch Zone: where true change occurs!

- Stress Zone: where the challenges are far beyond or may overwhelm our current experiences;

Recent neuroscience research has discovered that when we consciously adopt new habits, we create parallel synaptic paths, & eventually new set of neurons, that can cause our pattern of thoughts to jump into novel tracks.

That's to say, the more new things we experiment, the more we step out of our Comfort Zone, & move into the Stretch Zone, . . . the more creative we become as a result, both in the workplace & in our own personal lives.

Interestingly, the new ingrained habits can create parallel pathways that can even bypass those old ones. How about that?

So, my humble advice - as well as Dilip's - is to do something different every day!

We believe, just by getting out of your normal habitual routines will make you more aware of the many possibilities that may come your way.

Come to think of it, I reckon these are the only few things you actually need to get moving: a sense of wonder & a willingness to explore, experiment & play!