Blog
FIVE KEY BREAKTHROUGH MEMORY TECHNIQUES
I live in a two-story house. Quite often, I think of something I need from upstairs and jog up the staircase only to have my mind lose the memory of what it was I raced up to retrieve. If such a blur persists for longer than a minute, my solution is to scurry back down the stairs and return to the place in the house I started from. Invariably, returning to that spot successfully helps me recall my original thought. This triumphant return to the spot of origin is a simple demonstration of memory linkage. My mind links a location to a small bit of memory. Without any fanfare, our brains are constantly making such associations. When someone says: “It’s on the tip of my tongue”, that person really means “it’s trapped in the outskirts of my mind”. The tongue is merely a metaphorical bystander in such instances.
So what possible significant lesson can we glean from this rather common occurrence of forgetting and remembering pieces of minutia? The answer is memory linkage. Learning to master the art of linkage is the key to improving memory. Our brains have multiple ways and places to encode inputs and store information, as they use various combinations of the five senses in this process. Bits of memory can be linked to sights, smells, tastes, sounds (especially music), touch, and/or emotions. Often, pieces of a memory are stored in different locations and need an external stimuli to fully form. Emotion plays a pivotal role in memory retention and recall. Traumatic events can create indelible memories, or cause the brain to bury traumatic memories for long periods of time. Strong positive emotions always assist memory.
The way to take advantage of this knowledge is to link incoming information to multiple senses in order to facilitate their eventual recall. Effective memory requires efficient input, storage, and retrieval. Without proper input technique, storage and retrieval become increasingly difficult. Years of memorizing facts as a trivia game show host have taught me the importance of establishing an input system that works consistently. This is also where the art of storytelling becomes prominent. Linking stories to facts is a powerful memory booster. Stories recall facts, and facts recall stories. Stories have the added benefit of infusing emotional content into the equation. While different individuals may have varying systems of absorbing knowledge, here are a few essential guidelines everyone should observe.
1) First of all, RELAX. Clearing the mind at the moment of input is very helpful. It is essential to avoid distractions. Distractions cloud the input of information.
2) One method many find helpful is to WRITE IT DOWN. Personally, this is my key method for memorization. There seems to be a direct connection from my writing hand to my brain. If I write something down without distraction, I will remember it.
3) When possible, CREATE MULTIPLE LINKAGES. That means, link each incoming fact to more than one other fact, feeling, smell, sound, location, or story. Multiple linkage requires finding connections between bits of information. This is especially useful when trying to remember a chain of facts, which brings to mind the clichéd phrase “one thing leads to another”. When people ask me how I can provide extensive trails of trivia questions ‘off the top of my head’ while hosting a game show, multiple linkage connections is what makes it possible. Everything is linked to something else. In the instance of my show, the information is cross-referenced so that categories can shift in midstream. Questions about history somehow find common ground with music, which find references to geography, which overlaps into sports. Such trails can continue indefinitely as ‘trains of thought’. In this case, the metaphor of a train stands for a series of connections. Search for logical connections everywhere. Facts that live in isolation are usually destined for obscurity. Be creative and establish connections between facts and ideas, as connectivity is the key to effective memory.
4) Another helpful hint for improving memory is to BUNCH. My wife recently solved her long-lasting battle to find her keys by bunching. I would often find her standing outside the house unable to unlock the front door because she couldn’t find her house key in the rather large pocket book she carried. That pocket book had at least fourteen compartments all filled with various items to the point of resembling an overstuffed suitcase. One day, my wife decided she couldn’t stand it any more. She realized that carrying loose keys in a large purse made it ridiculously difficult to find them. She decided to purchase a small red zipper pouch and keep all her keys in it. Now she finds her keys in less than ten seconds. They are all in that red pouch. She should get a Ph.D in bunching! In this example, the overstuffed pocket book is a brain and the red purse is a collection of important data. For those inclined to be technological, the pocket book is a computer, with the red purse being a folder. Organizing memory inputs by ‘bunching’ them into distinct groups makes them much easier to retrieve. A slightly more advanced exercise is combining bunches by creating linkages between them. This technique allows you to geometrically increase the amount of information you can recall from the same number of memory triggers.
Remember: It is just as important to relax when attempting to recall information as it is when inputting information.
5) A key word for enhanced recall is MENTAL FLEXIBILITY. In scientific terms, this is called neuroplasticity. If you allow your mind the freedom to roam, this will enhance your ability to access what your brain has stored. While the amount of information a brain can store is infinite, the amount of RAM (computer term for Random Access Memory) is much more limited. The brain needs stimuli to trigger memories. Staying flexible and relaxed allows multiple linkages to provide additional stimuli to trigger memories. It increases your RAM capacity, so that when your brain goes into ‘search mode’, there are more routes for it to take.
Without getting technical about brain composition and chemistry, the above discussion reveals useful guidance for improving memory. Awareness of the five key steps described above builds a solid foundation for sharpening memory. I heartily recommend focusing on undistracted input and multimedia linkage when attempting to absorb information for future use. While there are many complex memory enhancing programs and formulas, honoring the above fundamentals and establishing your own simple systems can prove sufficient in creating a high-functioning memory.
BREAKTHROUGH THINKING FOR SPORTS
Hall of Fame baseball player and legendary wordsmith Yogi Berra famously said “90% of this game is 50% mental”.
While the math of this statement doesn’t add up, it points to a vital aspect of sports and athletic competition. Although the games we play and watch are visibly physical, the key to success in sports is based on mental preparation and approach. Whether you are a sports hobbyist or a top professional athlete, the mental component of sports is what differentiates those who are continually frustrated from those who succeed. It almost always determines the outcome between two opponents who are fundamentally “evenly matched.”
This means that breakthrough thinking is an essential element in all sports endeavors. How many times has it been said that an individual athlete or team ‘just has to get over the hump’ to win a championship, or that one athlete or team has the ‘mental edge’ over another?
In sports, better mental preparation leads directly to superior performance. Mental preparation is just as important as physical preparation. In fact, when properly implemented, mental preparation is actually more important, because it also facilitates better physical practice as well as game performance. A highly skilled athlete in a poor mental state will underperform his or her capabilities. Likewise, some athletes temporarily transcend their own abilities in flashes of greatness that result from ideal emotional and mental states crystallizing during a particular game or moment in time. Sustained greatness always requires great mental strength. The goal of all athletes and teams is to achieve repeated excellence under pressure.
This is where breakthrough thinking enters the picture. In the world of sports and athletic competition, breakthrough thinking can be defined as thinking that facilitates an athlete’s ability to reach new levels of awareness and clarity, which in turn leads to what is called the ‘flow’ state. Without going into great detail, flow states are states of peak performance where all aspects of an athlete’s energies and abilities are optimally functioning simultaneously. Flow states can occur on a team level as well. Flow states can be contagious, as one member of a team who is operating at a particularly high level can trigger a higher level of performance in other teammates. We often witness examples of this in basketball and football games, where suddenly one team goes on a ‘run’ that seems unstoppable after one particular player ‘gets hot’. On an individual level, professional tennis provides many thrilling moments in which players such as Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, or Serena Williams become invincible. The sports phrase used to describe such flow states is ‘in the zone’. Michael Jordan exemplified this state while winning multiple NBA championships. Tiger Woods in his prime was often in the zone. Athletes who are in the zone radiate special qualities that can be mesmerizing to observe.
Breakthrough thinking is the key for any athlete who wants to ‘turn the corner’ and become more adept at their sport. Whether you compete against others, or merely compete against yourself, achieving a breakthrough means more satisfaction and success. If you are a professional athlete, it may mean the difference between a struggling career and stardom.
Breakthroughs help us see new ways to perform better. They can occur on a number of levels ranging from better equipment, better training and better skills, to better teamwork, better performance and better strategies. Sometimes they manifest as small changes, and other times they are the basis for a major shift in tactics.
To best utilize breakthrough thinking, first identify each aspect of your sport. Then begin to analyze the components that go into each aspect. For instance, make sure you are using the best equipment. Perhaps there are some new equipment or training innovations you are not aware of. Some football quarterbacks throw better with a glove on, and some do not. It is very important to realistically evaluate your own strengths and weaknesses before deciding on how to proceed. It is essential figure out ways to fortify your weaknesses, hopefully turning them into advantages. This is where experimentation becomes important. For instance, a tennis player who cannot hit a hard first serve may develop a strategic ‘spin serve’, just as a baseball pitcher who cannot throw hard may develop alternate pitches. The career of R.A. Dickey is a perfect example. After failing as a starting pitcher, R.A. learned to throw a knuckleball. His incredible comeback led him to become the only knuckleball pitcher ever to win the Cy Young Award (2012). By knowing and accepting his limits and weaknesses, R.A. Dickey was able to create a new strength.
Remember, Mariano Rivera was a failure as a starting pitcher. The breakthrough moment for him was his shift to focusing on a career as a relief pitcher. That is one of the great attributes of sports, as there is usually a way to re-invent yourself when necessary. Sometimes, the greatest breakthrough moment for an athlete is a re-directing of the original dream.
Aligning one’s unique skills with one’s abilities and mental strengths is a fundamental requirement. That is the foundation for all sports excellence and success. As an amateur athlete in high school, I experienced this necessity first hand. For some reason, I could never play up to my abilities as a singles tennis player. It took some time, but I eventually realized that I was inherently a team player who needed to be a part of something to thrive. Switching to doubles allowed me to become a part of a tennis team that won the New York City championship in my senior year.
There are many strategies to achieve breakthrough thinking. They all utilize a few essential core elements. Most important is the use of truth and freedom. This means that breakthrough thinking requires honest evaluation coupled with freedom of thought. Suspending judgment when weighing options is mandatory. Asking penetrating questions is most important. Once a wide variety of questions and ideas have been brought to the surface, it is time to evaluate each one of them to identify the best ideas, or combination of ideas possible. After unearthing numerous options and possibilities, focus on the best ones to establish your direction.
Here are the main areas to consider, whether you are a sports hobbyist, an aspiring athlete, or an experienced professional. Evaluate each sport you participate in as a separate entity:
*Physical Conditioning and Practice
*Equipment
*Support & Mental Conditioning
*Weaknesses
*Strengths
*Limits
To clarify the above list, Physical Conditioning is different than Practice in that conditioning includes diet and should be designed to support practice techniques. Support covers vital areas such as coaching, mentoring, living situation, and emotional health. It also includes the concept of nurture, which is finding the support you need and the type of situation you thrive in. For instance, do you prefer individual or team sports? In team situations, support expands to relationships with teammates.
Mental Conditioning has multiple aspects as it applies to visualizing situations, creating strategies & tactics in advance to be better prepared for whatever unfolds. Mental conditioning is also an internal process of controlling emotions to facilitate optimal performance. The mind must connect with physical skills to create a positive cycle of reinforcement for all actions.
The study of mental conditioning brings up a major part of sports competition that is often overlooked. I call it ‘peripheral vision’. In basketball, it is called ‘court sense’. It goes beyond the common ‘sports IQ’ concept. Peripheral vision is an athlete’s ability to have ‘eyes in the back of his head’. It is the ability to know where everyone else is on a court or field, and to maximize your presence in each given situation. It is not only knowing your own tendencies, but also those of everyone on your team as well your opponents’ team. Peripheral vision is a particularly important skill for basketball point guards to develop. Basketball teams depend on their point guard’s ability to create opportunities for teammates. Therefore, peripheral vision is a necessary breakthrough skill for players at the point guard position. The ability to anticipate and spatially locate opportunities and pitfalls is what differentiates the great ones from the mediocre. This skill is honed by the use of breakthrough thinking.
For instance, it is well known that ‘rail horses’ rarely win big races. They often get hemmed in and are unable to make a stretch run, but every once in a while, a jockey sees a ‘surprising’ opening and wins a major race by taking his horse to the rail. This is not always a sudden epiphany, but more often a breakthrough strategy hatched in preparation and then waited for an opportunity. Capitalizing on strategic options is a major key to success in most sports, especially golf. Golfers must adapt to varying weather and course conditions that constantly mandate changes in club use and game strategy. Players must be well versed and prepared to make changes that may seem spontaneous, but are actually carefully planned in advance. Choosing the correct clubs for your bag, and hiring a brilliant caddy are critical factors as well.
The mental edge gained by the use of breakthrough thinking in sports is huge. It is very often the difference between winning and losing. Breakthrough thinking reminds us to hone our minds as diligently as we hone our bodies, to put some extra ‘mental sweat’ into everything we do. Breakthrough ideas can change key strategies, improve performance, and turn underdogs into champions. It is no mistake that the best conditioned, best-rehearsed athletes and teams with the best strategies usually emerge victorious. With some effective use of breakthrough thinking, that athlete can be you!
HOW TRIVIA UNLEASHES BREAKTHROUGH THINKING IN BUSINESS
How to Unleash Breakthrough Thinking in Business
This is a breakthrough system for spurring innovative, game-changing thinking that propels companies and organizations to reach their highest potential.
In today’s rapidly changing and exceedingly competitive business environment, it is imperative to continually uncover new and innovative ways to stay ahead of the curve and, most importantly, not get left behind. To outperform the competition, breakthrough thinking —the kind of out-of-the-box ideation that expands horizons and provokes epiphanies – is no longer a luxury, it is an absolute necessity. This kind of thinking can take a company from good to great, or from failing to wildly successful.
The rewards realized from developing even one breakthrough idea can be immense. Indeed, the most successful companies are the ones that work smarter, not necessarily harder.
Every single employee at any organization is a potential diamond in the rough—possibly possessing latent ideas and visions that lay dormant, which represents an immense untapped opportunity. The key challenge is discerning how to tap into that diamond mine and unearth hidden gems—those game changing ideas that propel companies to reach their highest potential.
How does an organization foster breakthrough thinking? The answer is surprisingly simple: Trivia! While most people consider such games to be hobbies or playful ways to pass idle time, when strategically implemented, trivia becomes much more than just fun and games. In fact, the use of trivia has been proven to unlock the potential of the human mind, thereby improving mental performance and enhancing creativity. One report cited “the engagement and excitement produced by trivia games is directly related to cognitive and brain development.”
In essence, trivia is important because it exercises the mind.
The Art of Transformational Play
Transformational play is the use of the art of play to accomplish serious business. The mantra of transformational play is: Play First – Work Better – Achieve Superior Results. Therefore, the power of play is not to be underestimated. Transformational play derives its power from its combining of play with strong intention. Basically, transformational play can be described as ‘play with a purpose’. When strategically utilized, specially formatted games of trivia become exceptional vehicles of transformational play.
Below are 5 proven ways that trivia serves as a powerful tool for mobilizing breakthrough thinking:
1. Improves cognitive skills by providing mental cross-training known as asymmetric thinking. By inspiring previously unexplored thought patterns, asymmetric thinking stimulates the brain to fire on more cylinders, thereby facilitating greater neuroplasticity which generates greater creativity, innovation, and problem-solving capabilities.
2. Seamlessly shifts participants to be more alert and receptive to useful information, thus accelerating the learning curve.
3. Facilitates better memory by increasing accessible intelligence. This is accomplished by exercising memory recall systems in the brain.
4. Builds community through the sharing of common knowledge, serving as a unique social interaction and communication model.
5. Assists in concept formation by providing targeted streams of information in question and answer formats, thereby dramatizing concepts by connecting the previously unconnected relationships between events, data and ideas. This leads to greater understanding of relevant subjects.
With these benefits as a foundation, businesses and individuals can leverage strategically crafted trivia games to gain various critical business advantages. Among other distinct advantages, trivia can:
• Inspire innovation and facilitate creative ideation
• Expedite problem solving
• Promote team building and corporate culture development
• Enhance the development of leadership skills
• Increase productivity performance and growth
• Reinforce knowledge and clarify concepts
• Foster conversation and communication
Trivia, when presented in a strategically designed game show format for corporate training, can readily promote the power of cognitive thinking within a business to improve mental dexterity and efficiency among personnel. Trivia games can be utilized to expand decision-making capabilities and accelerate progress by helping individuals knock down ‘mental ‘walls’ and think more expansively. When aptly exploited, such breakthrough thinking yields extreme competitive advantages that drive organizations ahead of the curve….and keep them there.
Used in this manner, trivia becomes the entry point for breakthrough thinking. It prepares the mind to function on a higher level. Essentially, the trivia game show format acts as the launching pad for advanced problem solving and ideation by creating asymmetric thought patterns in the brain. For those not familiar with this term, asymmetric thinking is the opposite of linear thinking. When the brain is working asymmetrically, it is firing randomly which creates new patterns and connections between existing memory and new knowledge. To accomplish this, trivia questions from multiple subjects must be presented in rapid fire and in random order. Also, no question can be allowed to go unanswered, even if everyone in the group is stumped. The way to achieve this is by providing random improvisational hints that lead participants to the correct answers.
Combining all the above-mentioned elements in a trivia game forces participants’ minds to work asymmetrically. This effect occurs seamlessly when the presentation of trivia is properly administered.
The reason trivia is able to serve as a superior method of transformational play is that it has so many other qualities that transcend other methods. Using trivia as a method of serious play provides the opportunity to imbed targeted information within the play process. This is a powerful advantage over almost all other play modalities. Sharing trivia is also a natural community builder, as participants discover that they have much more in common than they previously knew. Trivia brings up stored common knowledge to trigger increased conversation among group members..
The next step toward achieving breakthrough thinking is to focus the now ‘warmed-up’ participants on the task at hand. Setting clear goals is essential. It is best to use this process for one specific goal. If there are multiple goals that cannot be combined into one major goal, then it is best to create a separate process for each desired significant outcome. Once a group is warmed up and focused on their task, the road to breakthrough thinking moves directly toward asking incisive questions about the desired goal. The art of asking good questions is a fundamental phase of breakthrough thinking, as asking better questions leads to better results. This is a lesson learned from the presentation of a trivia game show, as the key to the success of such a show is predicated on choosing questions that appeal to each audience. It is also a proven fact that good questions help direct goal-oriented individuals and groups to focus and proceed more effectively. The brainstorming process enters during the question phase, as prospective questions should be posed freely at first, with no judgment. From an initially large number of questions, a few key questions will arise. Focusing on the best questions will begin to galvanize participants and further strengthen team spirit. Those questions in turn lead to another round of brainstorming which search for a solution to the goal or problem presented.
Embracing the concept of transformational play and choosing trivia as a seminal activity can lead businesses and organizations to overcome difficult challenges and achieve superior results. Repeated use of this process will also help to build a healthier corporate culture. This process applies to any organization desirous of creating breakthroughs.
Why not make your path to success an enjoyable one!
THE ART OF GIVEAWAY MARKETING
For the past thirty years, I have done my own version of giveaway marketing, which could also be called ‘giveaway selling’. Looking back on the process, I realize that it arose from my childhood. While most aspiring businessmen began their careers by marketing lemonade at a young age, I learned my craft by buying things. Little did I know that the Girl Scout cookies my mother and I bought would inspire a significant portion of my adult business life.
My Girl Scout cookie experience evolved into a policy of economic benevolence. Each year, we bought a large number of cookie boxes, and then gave most of them away one at a time to various friends and acquaintances over the course of the year. Decades later, I found myself selling a wild assortment of products to clients who paid me handsomely to give them away. That launched me into the role of a lifetime, which has always made me look much more generous than I really am.
I have always told people I have the best job in the world…..getting paid to give things away! Better yet, I make a profit every step of the way.
Setting up such a dynamic is a business Win-Win, with an extra Win for enjoyment and good will. In analyzing the dynamics of my Girl Scout cookie experience, I realized that there were a few distinct elements at work in that model. Basically, the Girl Scouts sell cookies to raise money to support their ongoing operations. They have become a major distributor of cookies without baking a thing. Most people buy the cookies to support the Girl Scouts, and do not necessarily eat the cookies. The baker of the cookies wholesales them to the Girl Scouts, who sell them to people who very often pass them along to others. In the final analysis, there is a cookie seller who doesn’t bake, a cookie buyer who doesn’t necessarily eat, and a huge adolescent sales staff that doesn’t get paid. Meanwhile, the baker is selling a lot of cookies and the Girl Scouts are raising enough money to run their whole organization.
All of this is done in a most cheerful manner.
It is the cheerfulness that has always impressed me. Buying Girl Scout cookies from a neighbor’s smiling daughter makes people feel good about themselves. It makes them open up their wallets and buy cookies that they really don’t want or need.
So what business lessons can be gleaned from this unorthodox approach to sales?
Primarily, it points to the importance of creating compelling incentives to motivate buyers. This is especially important when selling items not related to necessity. In the case of the Girl Scouts, belief in the organization and its principles is the main driver. It’s also very difficult to say ‘No’ to a cute little girl who is smiling at you.
When product sales are linked to a cause, then those inclined to support that cause instantly become potential customers. The first line of products that comes to mind is the assortment of pink ribbons, t-shirts and accessories marketed to support breast cancer research.
The serious side of the marketing coin is finding products that shout ‘give me away!”. Such products have the advantage of turning reluctant customers into volume buyers. In this instance, the coin has three sides. The third key component of giveaway selling is the creation of situations that inspire others to spend….for themselves and/or others.
Any combination of all three of the above components results in a potential sales bonanza. It basically serves as the basis for the promotional products industry. Clearly, promotional products are sold to companies and individuals who give them away in the hopes of either creating new business, motivating employees, or enhancing customer loyalty. The difference between the promotional products model and giveaway selling is that the buyer of promotional products is the end buyer.
He does not pre-sell those products to a third party.
What promotional products and giveaway selling have in common is that both are often utilized in an attempt to modify behavior. Giveaway sellers often give items away in an attempt to fulfill the agenda of a client. Occasionally it is as simple as giving away sunglasses to entice people to get in the mood to dance. Other times, the agendas are far more complex and/or subtle.
What this points to is that giveaway selling is a valuable tool with great potential impact as a social influencer. To explore this concept further, let’s apply the theory of giveaway selling to the trivia game show format. Since the giveaway of choice in most game shows is cash, the cash is provided to the host by the client prior to each show, so there is no profit motive in this particular product. Additional prizes are then awarded to those who win the most cash.The game show host’s job is to give away money – a very pleasant task. By using the cash and other prizes as incentives, the game show host can engage and inspire contestants to new levels of achievement, thereby morphing the game show into an inspirational vehicle for breakthrough thinking…..fusing giveaway incentives with information and conceptual thinking to achieve a state of what is known as transformational play. Game shows, as well as numerous other formats, are often used as team building and learning events that immerse participants in enjoyable activities that are designed to serve an underlying purpose. For many transformational play activities, giveaway selling of products such as trophies, plaques, gift certificates and vacations are key incentives in the quest to achieve meaningful goals.
Effective giveaway marketing requires a good deal of creativity and strategic planning. For those able to master the design and implementation of programs utilizing this enlightened strategy, profits and happy customers quickly are the certain result.
It is the proverbial three-sided coin leading to a Triple Win.
FIVE KEY STEPS TO BREAKTHROUGH MEMORY
I live in a two-story house. Quite often, I think of something I need from upstairs and jog up the staircase only to have my mind lose the memory of what it was I raced up to retrieve. If such a blur persists for longer than a minute, my solution is to scurry back down the stairs and return to the place in the house I started from. Invariably, returning to that spot successfully helps me recall my original thought. This triumphant return to the spot of origin is a simple demonstration of memory linkage. My mind links a location to a small bit of memory. Without any fanfare, our brains are constantly making such associations. When someone says: “It’s on the tip of my tongue”, that person really means “it’s trapped in the outskirts of my mind”. The tongue is merely a metaphorical bystander in such instances.
So what possible significant lesson can we glean from this rather common occurrence of forgetting and remembering pieces of minutia? The answer is memory linkage. Learning to master the art of linkage is the key to improving memory. Our brains have multiple ways and places to encode inputs and store information, as they use various combinations of the five senses in this process. Bits of memory can be linked to sights, smells, tastes, sounds (especially music), touch, and/or emotions. Often, pieces of a memory are stored in different locations and need an external stimuli to fully form. Emotion plays a pivotal role in memory retention and recall. Traumatic events can create indelible memories, or cause the brain to bury traumatic memories for long periods of time. Strong positive emotions always assist memory.
The way to take advantage of this knowledge is to link incoming information to multiple senses in order to facilitate their eventual recall. Effective memory requires efficient input, storage, and retrieval. Without proper input technique, storage and retrieval become increasingly difficult. Years of memorizing facts as a trivia game show host have taught me the importance of establishing an input system that works consistently. This is also where the art of storytelling becomes prominent. Linking stories to facts is a powerful memory booster. Stories recall facts, and facts recall stories. Stories have the added benefit of infusing emotional content into the equation. While different individuals may have varying systems of absorbing knowledge, here are a few essential guidelines everyone should observe.
1) First of all, RELAX. Clearing the mind at the moment of input is very helpful. It is essential to avoid distractions. Distractions cloud the input of information.
2) One method many find helpful is to WRITE IT DOWN. Personally, this is my key method for memorization. There seems to be a direct connection from my writing hand to my brain. If I write something down without distraction, I will remember it.
3) When possible, CREATE MULTIPLE LINKAGES. That means, link each incoming fact to more than one other fact, feeling, smell, sound, location, or story. Multiple linkage requires finding connections between bits of information. This is especially useful when trying to remember a chain of facts, which brings to mind the clichéd phrase “one thing leads to another”. When people ask me how I can provide extensive trails of trivia questions ‘off the top of my head’ while hosting a game show, multiple linkage connections is what makes it possible. Everything is linked to something else. In the instance of my show, the information is cross-referenced so that categories can shift in midstream. Questions about history somehow find common ground with music, which find references to geography, which overlaps into sports. Such trails can continue indefinitely as ‘trains of thought’. In this case, the metaphor of a train stands for a series of connections. Search for logical connections everywhere. Facts that live in isolation are usually destined for obscurity. Be creative and establish connections between facts and ideas, as connectivity is the key to effective memory.
4) Another helpful hint for improving memory is to BUNCH. My wife recently solved her long-lasting battle to find her keys by bunching. I would often find her standing outside the house unable to unlock the front door because she couldn’t find her house key in the rather large pocket book she carried. That pocket book had at least fourteen compartments all filled with various items to the point of resembling an overstuffed suitcase. One day, my wife decided she couldn’t stand it any more. She realized that carrying loose keys in a large purse made it ridiculously difficult to find them. She decided to purchase a small red zipper pouch and keep all her keys in it. Now she finds her keys in less than ten seconds. They are all in that red pouch. She should get a Ph.D in bunching! In this example, the overstuffed pocket book is a brain and the red purse is a collection of important data. For those inclined to be technological, the pocket book is a computer, with the red purse being a folder. Organizing memory inputs by ‘bunching’ them into distinct groups makes them much easier to retrieve. A slightly more advanced exercise is combining bunches by creating linkages between them. This technique allows you to geometrically increase the amount of information you can recall from the same number of memory triggers.
Remember: It is just as important to relax when attempting to recall information as it is when inputting information.
5) A key word for enhanced recall is MENTAL FLEXIBILITY. In scientific terms, this is called neuroplasticity. If you allow your mind the freedom to roam, this will enhance your ability to access what your brain has stored. While the amount of information a brain can store is infinite, the amount of RAM (computer term for Random Access Memory) is much more limited. The brain needs stimuli to trigger memories. Staying flexible and relaxed allows multiple linkages to provide additional stimuli to trigger memories. It increases your RAM capacity, so that when your brain goes into ‘search mode’, there are more routes for it to take.
Without getting technical about brain composition and chemistry, the above discussion reveals useful guidance for improving memory. Awareness of the five key steps described above builds a solid foundation for sharpening memory. I heartily recommend focusing on undistracted input and multimedia linkage when attempting to absorb information for future use. While there are many complex memory enhancing programs and formulas, honoring the above fundamentals and establishing your own simple systems can prove sufficient in creating a high-functioning memory.
BREAKTHROUGH DESTINATION RESORTS
The need for breakthrough thinking is never-ending. To master the fast moving tides of modern society, every individual and every business needs to constantly innovate and grow.
Sometimes a change of scenery can be most beneficial to achieving important breakthrough states. Breakthrough destination resorts are a valuable resource in this quest, providing vibrant environments that assist corporate leadership to inspire their teams. Such resorts are gateways to mindfulness and creative advancement for those wise enough to embrace them.
This concept is what led me to explore The Lodge at Woodloch in Hawley, PA.
The Lodge at Woodloch is a magical destination spa resort located surprisingly close to New York City. I had never heard of Woodloch until my GPS stumbled upon it during last year’s annual Christmas migration to visit my wife’s family in Ohio. On the way home, we casually checked for resorts along the Route 80 corridor to see if there were any interesting hotels. The Lodge at Woodloch popped up as we approached Scranton, PA. My wife and I could not believe our eyes as we read the eclectic list of workshops and classes offered daily at this bucolic resort. As we scrolled through the photo gallery showing lovely rooms, indoor waterfalls, multiple Jacuzzis, a lake, elaborate spa, large gym, etc., it became apparent that the Lodge at Woodloch was no ordinary resort. Although we did not divert our trip home at that time, we tucked away Woodloch as a ‘must visit’.
This year’s arrival of summer seemed to be a good excuse to take a three-day vacation at Woodloch. After a pleasant two-hour ride from New York City, we arrived at this secluded gem in the middle of Pennsylvania farm country. The Lodge is a world unto itself, totally removed from outside sights and sounds. It is absolutely serene, and brilliantly sculpted into the surrounding forested landscape.
Arriving guests immediately sense something different as they pass through the towering entry hall to be greeted by three oversized crystal singing bowls on the branches of a beautifully sculpted tree trunk.
One quickly senses a supreme sense of overriding intelligence hovering over this resort. Beyond masterful hospitality management, there are an abundance of small touches that make the Lodge at Woodloch a splendid place for people to relax their minds and bodies. Starting with an impressive staff-to-guest ratio of more than 2 to 1, every staff member seems superbly trained and attentive to all guest needs at all times. Requests for extra blankets and room repairs were consistently responded to in less than five minutes by employees who seemed thrilled to be able to help out. The resort’s no tipping policy added credibility to the staff’s sincerity.
In addition to tasteful modern amenities, the resort features classes in journaling, Sanskrit mantra, yoga, fly fishing, cooking, wine tasting, bird watching, kayaking, water aerobics, and much more. There is an official Artist in Residence who is available five hours a day for anyone interested in learning to draw or paint. There are guided hikes and nature walks, mountain biking, cross country skiing, snowshoeing, gardening, life coaching, tai chi, and a wide assortment of spa treatments. The spa itself is abundant and absolutely immaculate, featuring large saunas, steam rooms, and swimming pool in addition to indoor and outdoor Jacuzzis garnished by two waterfalls.
Transcending the understated beauty of the place and its exceptional offerings, there is a more important aspect of the Lodge that inspired my writing this article. Seamlessly blending all the above-mentioned traits, the Lodge at Woodloch possesses an alchemical mixture of architecture, closeness to nature, and spirit that facilitates breakthrough thinking. There are very few resorts capable of achieving such a special state. Even fewer of them are within two hours two major Northeast metropolitan areas: Philadelphia and New York City. This makes Woodloch a very special resource for companies desirous of a unique location for offsite corporate meetings. While enjoying my three days at Woodloch, I kept thinking of what an exceptional corporate meeting venue it is -the perfect place to whisk away employees for transformative interactions. With that in mind, I investigated all of the Lodge’s facilities, imagining how such a meeting would flow from breakout rooms with fireplaces, to picture-windowed dining rooms featuring French service, outdoor fire pits, and forested hiking trails. It was easy to envision supremely productive corporate gatherings, as the Lodge presents an inviting canvas on which to create quantum progress. That is the beauty of a breakthrough resort: the ability to seamlessly inspire guests to explore their inner potential and then share those discoveries with fellow colleagues. With proper guidance, corporate retreats in this type of environment can reach superior levels of progress toward any desired goal.
Since I am someone who teaches my own brand of breakthrough thinking, I felt an immediate kinship with this resort. I wanted to know everything I could learn about how it evolved. Approaching the front desk, I asked if I could talk with someone about the history of Woodloch. I was surprised to discover that the congenial person greeting me at the front desk was the hotel manager, Jenifer Mangione. She has been managing the Lodge for two years, after working 27 years for owner John Keisendahl, at his neighboring Woodloch Pines family resort only a mile away. The Keisendahl family has been in the hospitality business for over 55 years, expanding the tradition with each generation. Mrs. Mangione cheerfully informed me that all her children had also worked for the Kiesendahl family. The feeling of family resonates throughout the resort, as there is a familial connection between all aspects of its operation. This ‘blending’ is worthy of mention because of its applicability as an example for outside business operations and organizational management. The Lodge at Woodloch is a fascinating hybrid of a family run resort and a visionary spa, as it was largely conceived by John and Ginny Lopis, two legendary spa designers who have masterminded some of the most elite spas in America. Experienced spa goers will notice many familiar amenities and concepts of other breakthrough resorts such as Canyon Ranch and Miraval in Tucson, AZ.
The Lodge was constructed in 2006, but because of its impeccable upkeep, looks as if it just had its grand opening. Conversely, it has many timeless design features that give it a very homey old-fashioned flavor.
All breakthrough resorts serve as magnets for eclectic individuals who populate their signature offerings. Merging these transplanted practitioners with the general staff establishes a unique culture that becomes a hybrid world of its own. The Lodge at Woodloch is a shining example of an assemblage of specialists from all over America, blending with the local population to create a vibrant healthy staff culture. From a management standpoint, it requires a high degree of sophistication to successfully orchestrate such an unorthodox culture. This is what facilitates the alchemy of a breakthrough resort and gives such resorts the power to inspire creativity and freedom of thought on a different level.
Each breakthrough resort has its own special chemistry, encouraging guests to reach their potential greatness. This innate ability to nurture, transform and inspire others is greatness in itself. That is why it is well worth one’s time to study destinations such as the Lodge at Woodloch. Breakthrough thinking needs enlightened staging combined with insightful guidance. It is wise to consider utilizing an exceptional facility when hosting such an ambitious endeavor.
The Lodge at Woodloch
109 River Birch Lane
Hawley PA 18428
866/953-8500
thelodgeatwoodloch.com
57 guest rooms
110-120 guest capacity
BREAKTHROUGH: ENJOY EVERY MOMENT
As I sipped my cup of green tea this morning, I found myself pensively dipping the teabag over and over again. This insignificant action caught my attention because it is not my usual style. I usually let the teabag slide into the cup and then disappear beneath the murky water. After years of drinking green tea in the morning, this morning I finally noticed that there is a wisdom phrase on the miniscule flap of paper attached to the string dangling from each teabag. In a change of ritual, I grabbed the string, rescuing it from sliding into the cup. Realizing I have missed thousands of pieces of advice from the Yogi Tea Company, I decided not to let this morning’s message escape unread, so I squinted to absorb what was expected to be a standard fortune cookie comment. Little did I know that this teabag had something important to say:
“The purpose of life is to enjoy every moment.”
Reading that simple sentence put my mind into a spin. It stated an obvious fact most of intuitively know, but too often ignore.
The purpose of life is to enjoy every moment.
Is that truly the purpose of life?
Is human existence really that simple?
What about all the other animals and plants…..do they have the same purpose?
I flipped the tiny piece of paper over, hoping that the other side would say
“Just kidding!” …..but it didn’t.
It isn’t fair when a teabag changes your day……even worse when it changes your whole life.
So I’m sitting there staring at a teacup, vowing to change my life.
First of all, I don’t feel like working today. There are lots of projects screaming for my attention, but it’s a gorgeous day begging for a walk in the park. Standard procedure finds me back in the office aggressively meeting every responsibility while longingly staring out the window.
The teabag starts to laugh.
It wants to know why we so often deny ourselves enjoyment.
It wants to know what moments we actually plan to enjoy.
I scramble to explain that I am planning a fabulous vacation with my wife, who is also suffering from the pressures of her job. In fact, we both know exactly how many days it is until we leave for that trip. Recalling that number makes me sweat, because it is too large.
The teabag falls silent.
It’s disapproval hurts. It needs not speak any more, as the message is clear:
It is time to enjoy life now!
I gulp down the cup of tea, as if drinking that energized water will offer some miraculous epiphany. I tear off the small flap of paper from its string and wander toward my computer.
Staring at ‘The purpose of life is to enjoy every moment’ is making me feel miserable.
Something has to change…..but what? I can’t leave for vacation for another three months.
What about the deadlines?
What about the responsibilities?
What about the mortgage?
How does a person find enjoyment in every moment of life?
And then it hit me like an oncoming truck.
Enjoyment of life must arise from inside.
Enjoyment of life is an attitude.
We can learn to enjoy even what we do not enjoy.
We can change the way we feel about any situation. Some events or situations will sorely test our ability to enjoy them, but taking a sunny attitude towards life is the only solution to this profound challenge.
Every moment, even painful ones, offer the possibility of some unexpected pleasure. It is up to us to explore those possibilities.
Rejuvenated, I stare down the now limp teabag. Before tossing it into oblivion, I am determined to enjoy conquering its message. In triumph, I declare that I am going to enjoy all the things I never enjoyed before.
Furthermore, I don’t have to quit my job……I just have to learn how to enjoy it more.
As I return to my computer, I pause to take in a moment of sunshine, realizing that grabbing a few extra moments of life on my own terms is the first step towards enjoying all the others.
I feel liberated.
I might even drink a different flavored tea tomorrow.
No matter what flavor I choose, I’ll certainly read the teabag.
GETTING BUSINESS OUT OF THE BOX
Year after year, my friend Bob listened to discussions about out of-the-box thinking. It has become the ultimate business cliché. Corporate meetings overflow with discussions about who is in the box, who is out of the box, and what the box actually is. After feeling boxed in by all this chatter, Bob couldn’t stand it any more. He had to do something extreme. He was in search of a breakthrough, but wasn’t sure where to start.
So Bob wandered down to his local appliance store to buy a refrigerator, just to get a box he could fit into. Bob encountered a salesman named Artie in the appliance department, who quickly became confused by Bob’s lack of interest in any refrigerator features. Bob explained to him that those features were too ‘in-the-box’ to be appealing to him, but Bob soon realized that Artie was too ‘boxed in’ in this instance to understand.
Artie looked befuddled when Bob asked his only question:
“Which refrigerator comes with the biggest box?”
This question was not covered in the appliance store training manual.
To calm Artie down, Bob informed him that refrigerators used to be called ice boxes.
Following that line of thinking, Bob asked for the largest refrigerator with the fewest features.
As soon as Artie located the bulkiest, lowest rated model in the showroom, Bob was thrilled. However, Artie was nearing a state of shock when Bob asked if he could pay for the refrigerator but only keep the box. Clearly, Bob’s thinking was so far out-of-the-box that salesman in the store was able to help him. Artie stared at Bob as he came from another planet. Bob had to take the refrigerator with the box.
The next morning, a large truck backed up Bob’s driveway. Two deliverymen unloaded the refrigerator and asked where the kitchen was. Bob told them he already had a refrigerator in the kitchen, so could they unpack this new one and then take it away, because Bob only wanted to keep the box. This request terrified Rafael the crew chief. He had never heard such a request. There was no policy or protocol for him to follow. Rafael stammered that he could only take the refrigerator back if it was in its box.
Once again, Bob had hit the wall.
Bob knew it was necessary to get the refrigerator out of the box so he could begin his experiment. He directed the men to unpack the refrigerator and leave it in the garage next to the box.
Saying goodbye, the delivery crew looked at Bob in a similar way that a German Shepard looks at his master when something incomprehensible has happened. As the truck rumbled down the driveway, Bob was finally ready to get to work.
It was chilly in the garage as Bob crawled into his seven-foot long refrigerator box. The first thing he noticed was how dark it is inside a box. After closing the entry flap, he sat down and took a deep breath. Looking around, Bob could see nothing but blackness. The inside of a box can quickly become a suffocating prison. Bob tried lying down, then rose to his knees and shouted as loud as he could. The thick cardboard walls deadened the sound of his voice. The folly of his experiment began to weigh Bob down.
What had he expected the inside of a box to be like?
Of course it was stifling and pitch dark. Long exposure to this condition might lead to asphyxiation or some other physical disability. Who can survive life in a box?
Bob’s mind was racing as he tried to figure out what to do next. Should he meditate? Should he try to sleep? Should he escape the box and return the refrigerator for a refund?
After a few deep breaths, Bob started taking on a prison mentality. He had seen the movie The Great Escape, and watched numerous other prisons break movies. He had also seen The Birdman of Alcatraz in which Burt Lancaster turns his jail cell into a bird sanctuary.
Now Bob was thinking!
What would Burt Lancaster do in this situation?
Should he try a birdcall?
Unable to see anything, Bob remembered that there was a pen in his shirt pocket. He pulled out the pen and started poking at one of the walls of the box. Soon he had created a pinhole. Through the pinhole streamed a tiny beam of light. This was the first sign of progress. Bob was elated, and quickly crawled around the box poking holes in at least a hundred different spots. Not only was light streaming into the box, but also fresh air began to flow through those tiny holes. Digging further through one of the holes, Bob managed to carve an opening large enough to see into the garage. A small fan was only three feet away. Bob crawled out of the box, aimed the fan towards the box and turned it on. Picking up a nearby sofa cushion, he returned to solitary confinement…or should we say: his box.
Suddenly, life in the box was bearable. Comfortable on his cushion, Bob was tempted to start writing commemorative graffiti on the inside of the box with his pen, but instead sat down to contemplate his next move. He pulled out his cell phone and called a local Chinese Restaurant to order some lunch. Then he phoned his wife. She asked Bob what he was doing. Bob told her he was boxing. She didn’t even flinch as she simply warned him “just be careful…. I’ll be home for dinner at 6”.
Bob’s spirits were definitely rising.
He darted out of the box to unlock the garage door and then dragged a small television set into his box. It was connected to cable. Bob turned on CNN. Now he was plugged into the outside world. He was ready to check on the stock market.
The sound of a small car pulled up to the house. Bob heard a car door open, so he shouted out ‘I’m in the garage – the door is open”. Fortunately the deliveryman had a good sense of hearing and understood English. When he entered the garage, Bob yelled over here – Inside the box!” As if nothing was unusual, the deliveryman opened the box flap and handed him a hot aromatic bag of food. Bob handed the man some cash with a big tip and asked him to shut the garage door on the way out. Unpacking his meal, Bob saw on the stock ticker that his stocks were up. Over a bowl of wonton soup, Bob made a sales call on his cell phone. Amazingly, he closed the deal.
As finishing his delicious lunch, Bob decided to expand his plan. Things were getting crowded in his box. If he had more boxes, he could probably fit a small futon and coffee table inside and start using his computer. Since the computer was connected to WIFI, he could run his whole business out of just a few boxes. A third box could easily house a small file cabinet and an all-In-one printer. Bob can still remember what an out-of-the box idea ‘all-in-one’ printers once were. Now they are vestigial dinosaurs for those primitive enough to use paper products.
Bob realized that the privacy of the box was serene. He had adapted to a whole new way of doing business. He had never had a home office. Now he decided to terminate his office lease and start working out of his garage.
Bob returned to the appliance store to buy some more refrigerators. However, he was worried about Artie’s mental state, fearing that this multiple out-of-the-box thought process might cause Artie to faint. Bob considered going to a different appliance store for each refrigerator, but that idea didn’t ‘scale’,
Cautiously approaching Artie, Bob asked if there was a discount for buying multiple refrigerators. Although in a daze about Bob’s unique purchasing habits, Artie was able to get Bob a significant discount for buying three more refrigerators. When the same delivery crew backed his truck up Bob’s driveway the next day, they knew exactly where to unload. While unpacking the boxes in the garage, Rafael asked if Bob consider selling one of the unused refrigerators to a friend of his. Rafael unpacked all the boxes and then purchased one of the refrigerators for more than Bob paid for it. As his truck rolled down the driveway, Bob realized he could make money selling refrigerators once they were out of the box.
That is how my friend Bob got into the appliance business – by thinking out-of-the box!
C.E.O. LEADERSHIP HAT THEORY
Recently, I attended a luncheon sponsored by the CEO Club of New York. This lively group of Chief Executive Officers convenes each month to compare notes, discuss pressing business issues, and network. Their meeting is a delightful event held at the Harvard Club, which includes roundtable discussions, guest speakers, cocktails and lunch. During the time spent amongst fellow CEO’s, I listened to numerous concerns and challenges faced by men and women in leadership positions. It became clear that all CEO’s go through similar phases of self-questioning and self-evaluation, demonstrating that CEO life can be exasperating as well as euphoric.
Corporate coach extraordinaire Brian Souza was the guest speaker after lunch was served.
In sorting through his analysis of management styles, Brian divided them into four distinct categories: The Nice Guy, the Do It All, the Micro Manager, and the Coach.
Creating a graph with Productivity on one axis, and Rapport on the other, Brian expertly explained how the first three of these styles always run into serious problems and inhibit employee productivity, while a Coach style of management boosts employee performance and greatly benefits a company. When the CEO and upper management adopt a coaching style, it empowers employees to reach their potential while also maximizing rapport with management. This constructive state filters down through all levels of the company if properly implemented.
Here is Brian Souza’s breakdown of the four different management styles as I understood it:
In Nice Guy mode, management is overly concerned with rapport and tends to overlook important matters relating to productivity and performance.
In Do It All mode, managers show distrust for those under them by taking over key tasks and not allowing employees the satisfaction of completing jobs/projects they may have started. This creates very bad social dynamics in a company and leads to poor rapport between management and employees. Such a style is particularly destructive in larger companies.
Micro Management has similar negative effects on employee rapport as Do It All, but instead of distrust, employees suffer from annoyance and irritation. It is difficult to discern whether it is worse having someone constantly hovering over your shoulder, or having them repeatedly rip the work out of your hands.
A Coach method of management enriches rapport while teaching employees do their jobs better. In its optimal state, the coaching style of management benefits all parties involved while leading to greater corporate profits.
My contribution to this discussion is what I call ‘The Hat Theory of Managing People and Business’. Wise delegation of authority and responsibility is the key. Effective delegation facilitates the creation of the healthy corporate culture necessary for the success of any company. My personal metaphor for how this is accomplished is ‘The Hat Theory’.
In small businesses, each CEO must wear many hats since there are few, if any other employees. There is little delegation of authority in this case, except in the hiring of various outside contractors who can temporarily be given ‘hats’ to wear when needed. Often operating in a vacuum, the CEO of a small business must be clear on all hats needed in order to limit eventual burnout caused by trying to do too much. Clarifying such a hat situation helps to prioritize the use of one’s time and energy.
CEO’s with few or no employees can benefit from the exercise of autobrainstorming, a process that allows an executive to establish a vibrant boardroom in his/her own mind. The process of autobrainstorming provides a system for lone individuals to see all sides of even the most complex situations, as if consulting with a number of colleagues. This system employs the same process used in team brainstorming sessions, except the autobrainstormer must administer all aspects of brainstorming technique in the absence of other voices. Writing down each challenge and then opening one’s mind to a variety of possibilities provides the necessary input to be considered and processed. This initial procedure must be done without judgment. Autobrainstorming requires some training, but can easily be mastered by any CEO open to flexible multi-dimensional thinking. The ability to create such thought patterns, known as asymmetric thinking, is a most beneficial skill.
In large companies, the Hat Theory is much different. An effective large company CEO must know how to distribute the hats in a manner that maximizes employee performance and corporate profits. This type of CEO must also keep track of the hats, and know when it is time to shift their possession. Every corporate culture is dependent on the sagacious distribution of hats. A good CEO also will keep a couple of hats in his own locked closet, including the oversized hat of ultimate responsibility. Along with each hat distributed, the CEO conveys power, accountability, resources, reward and recognition. When all hats have been properly distributed, companies function more efficiently and have a much better chance to succeed.
Mid sized companies often present the most difficult dilemmas regarding Hat Theory, as limited resources frequently collide with oversized needs and responsibilities. Chains of command are often understaffed, leaving the manager wearing one small hat in desperate need of help he cannot find. Without stretching this metaphor beyond its usefulness, let it be said that giving a manager a hat to wear does not guarantee successful delegation of responsibility. Each hat carries with it a complex array of issues. That is the key to Hat Theory as well as management: Knowing what to delegate, and how to properly support that delegation of authority.
Too often, employees are given positions of authority without being given the resources to accomplish stated goals. This is just as serious a management problem as the employee who is given an assignment without being given the authority to carry it out. CEO’s in companies of all sizes share the common challenge of making the correct call on who to empower, how much power to delegate, and how much support to give in each business situation. This high wire act, onto which I have cutely bestowed the shape of a hat, is only part of a CEO’s total job that inevitably includes major responsibilities such as formulating corporate vision and maintaining functional integration of all business operations.
This is why there is great camaraderie among CEO’s -they all face similar issues that often seem overwhelming. Gathering together for a monthly lunch is an excellent way for high level executives to share experiences, learn some new approaches, and compare hat collections. It is refreshing to be in the company of so many motivated men and women as they openly discuss the endless search to achieve maximum potential in both business and personal arenas.
Such a gathering highlights the unique business perspective of the CEO position, and the undeniable fact that as a collective group, CEO’s are the drivers of our contemporary culture. Regardless of the scale of their company, every CEO has the opportunity to sculpt a company that can potentially impact society, which is the ultimate challenge and reward of running a business enterprise.
TRANSFORMATIONAL PLAY AND BREAKTHROUGH THINKING
Transformational play is an innovative complementary method for education and corporate training that facilitates accelerated learning in a playful environment.
It is fundamentally the use of serious play to accomplish serious business.
Transformational play can be implemented to achieve breakthroughs in all business operations, most notably problem solving, innovation, leadership and team building, as it seamlessly transcends standard operating procedures to elevate thought processes and create the visionary mental environment needed to achieve such progress. By converting the element of play into serious business applications, four major beneficial effects are quickly achieved:
Participants’ minds become more alert, more open, more focused, and more motivated.
This means that their minds become more flexible and more hungry.
In this case, hungry is interpreted as curious, energized, and ready to tackle any challenge.
Transformational play also changes the risk/reward quotient by removing judgment from the equation. This reduces fear of failure, which paves the way for increased creativity, especially in brainstorming sessions. Shifting the risk/reward quotient is a key aspect of productive transformational play. It is a known fact that the human mind will find or create distractions when not comfortable. Transformational play lessens participants’ insecurities and makes them less self-conscious. In removing such distractions, this process helps participants focus more clearly on the task at hand.
For a company planning to utilize transformational play, it is important to first decide on an intention/goal prior to commencing activity. Another key to achieving desired results is the follow up session, which is always designed to harvest the benefits of the enhanced mental state that has been established.
Triviation is a unique example of transformational play. Its methodology utilizes targeted and diverse information delivered with creative proprietary blend of questions geared to induce random thought patterns known as asymmetric thinking, while simultaneously creating a playful atmosphere that facilitates breakthroughs. This seemingly miraculous result is achieved in a playful environment that leads to high impact results. Triviation’s combination of asymmetric thinking and question analysis sets the stage for teams to move into supremely productive interactions once they focus on a specific goal. This exercise takes on a Socratic tone, as participants’ thought processes are unlocked to connect and/or offer up surprisingly brilliant ideas they never imagined could arise from within their own minds.
In analyzing of the above concept, it can be said that Triviation complicates to simplify.
This seemingly contradictory statement points to one of the most important aspects of the Triviation process. Each initial session introduces an overabundance of information, mixing targeted facts with diverse unrelated data. Combining this conglomeration of information with a unique group interaction dynamic initiates waves of asymmetric thinking, which sets the stage for synthesizing new mental connections that lead to breakthrough ideas and concepts. Essentially, the process focuses down from the complicated, to distill all inputs into workable solutions. In the process, surprising connections are often discovered that lead to important developments.
An analogy for this process is the preparation and cooking of a gourmet soup. Diverse ingredients are acquired, chopped and then mixed together to form a single delicious pot of soup. The soup ingredients are galvanized together and can be easily identified by a name such as Split Pea Soup. Although the name is simple, clearly there are many more ingredients in this soup than split peas. In fact, the key to an exceptional split pea soup is everything but the split peas! This analogy applies to a myriad of items ranging from spaghetti sauce to laptop and tablet computers. Another excellent soup to analyze is lobster bisque. It is one of the most gourmet of soups, yet if someone proposed pouring cream on a lobster, few people would find that appetizing. This points to the art and science of making innovative connections.
Connecting the previously unconnected is a major key to successful innovation.
To quote Steve Jobs: “Creativity is just connecting things.”
The great challenge is figuring out what elements to combine, and how to do it most effectively. Purposeful transformational play can effectively lead participants to significant breakthroughs in solving even the most complex business challenges. By facilitating the connection of the previously unconnected, this modality proves itself to be an invaluable tool for corporate success.