In The Leading Brain, Friederike Fabritius and Hans Hagemann explain several ”powerful science-based strategies for achieving peak performance.” For example, these are their key points in Chapter 5, “Unleash Your Unconscious”:
o Your unconscious brain runs the show. Even when you make what seems to be a conscious decision, your unconscious brain does most of the deciding. These are the key points:
o When given limited time and limited information, experts often make better decisions. The tight restrictions force the brain to tap into the power, speed, and calculating capacity of the basal ganglia, where acquired expertise is stored.
o Intuitive decisions made by experts are often superior to rational conclusions arrived at through conscious calculation.
o Unlike their expert colleagues, less experienced leaders typically need more time, require more information, and usually will have to do a lot of the processing, with the help of the slower and less capacious PFC.
o The fact that experts frequently make their best calls unconsciously can make it difficult to explain how they arrived at them. Forcing an expert to supply an after-the-fact justification for an intuitive decision may lead to hesitation and second-guessing that could underline the original action.
o To optimize the c conditions for rational processing, find a quiet corner, minimize distractions, and concentrate on the problem, solving it logically step by step.
o If the problem you have is a creative one, your overall mood, your level of focus, and the atmosphere around you can all play a role in triggering a sudden flash of creative insight.
o Research has shown that a sunny disposition can increase the likelihood of an “a ha!” moment. So if you’re confronted with a creative conundrum, try to make sure that you or the problem-solving team are in a good mood.
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Friederike Fabritius is head of the Neuroleadership Practice Group. To learn more about her and her work, please click here.
Hans Hajemann is managing partner/cofounder of the global leadership consultancy firm Munich Leadership Group. To learn more about him and his work, please click here.
The Leading Brain: Powerful Science-Based Strategies for Achieving Peak Performance was published by TarcherPerigee/Penguin Random House (February 2017).
I also highly recommend Peak: Secrets from the New Science of Expertise, co-authored by Anders Ericsson and Robert Pool and published by Eamon Dolan/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (2016).