I had the pleasure of visiting with Dr. Lorie Saxby last week.
Lorie co-authored Secrets from the BRAIN – Sharpen Your Thinking, Power Your Performance, (2010).
Lorie provided an autographed copy of her book, which now has a place in my little but growing library of author-signed books.
Secrets from the BRAIN – Sharpen Your Thinking, Power Your Performance provides a fresh new way to think about the behaviour and performance we experience in our workplaces.
The book has a top-notch design. It provides reader-friendly explanations of the brain and how our brains, specifically the frontal lobes of our brains, operate and influence our behaviour. Many examples of both good and not-so-good behaviour - ie, the real-life things we are all familiar with – are provided. The straightforward examples allow us to quickly grasp the authors’ points. And, I appreciated the balance between good behaviour and not-so-good behaviour.
Of most importance, Secrets from the BRAIN – Sharpen Your Thinking, Power Your Performance provides help for those who want to perform better and/or help other people perform better.
And, isn’t that exactly what business leaders want to do!
The authors created Executive BrainSmarts. In summary, Executive BrainSmarts is a tool to help us understand and improve behaviour.
Here is an excerpt from the book…
“To this end, we have identified seven key frontal lobe executive cognitive
functions that are particularly relevant to optimal work performance and
productivity. We call these 'Executive BrainSmarts.'”
While I will list the 7 functions – focus, initiate, plan, organize, shift, monitor, and regulate - I recommend reading the entire book to understand the relationship between these functions…all of which is summarized in an excellent way in Figure 3: Executive BrainSmarts Paradigm.
I found Figure 3 so helpful I photocopied and enlarged it so I can post a copy in my office and carry a copy in my notebook.
I intend to re-read this book. It expands my thinking about ‘CHANGING FOR THE BETTER: Good Habits, Bad Habits, and New Things’. The book has triggered several ideas already and I believe more ideas will come with each reading.
More on Good Habits, Bad Habits, & New Things in future blogs…