(RE)VITALIZE VISUALS

The EXPERIENCE

I had the opportunity to attend both a SkillShare on Brain Technology (#braintech) and a Platypus Workshop put on by IEA (Idea Engineering Agency) in collaboration with WECREATE NYC (@wecreatenyc) (more than just co-working space; community & innovation hub run by brain researchers). Both workshops were facilitated by Araceli Camargo with help from Daniel Gutierrez. The amount of energy and passion for the topic was evident in the presentation. It’s refreshing to attend a workshop where energy around the topic nearly infuses from those sharing their research/knowledge/ideas into a wide-eyed audience. I’m excited about what I learned – it makes me feel lighter on my feet!

Both the SkillShare and Platypus focused on the way our brains work and what we can do to prepare our bodies and brains for the kind of project we are working on. There are simple things we can do to our environment that help us think a certain way… Enjoy the visuals! I captured each session differently, although much of the content overlapped. I will include my take-aways as well.

BRAIN TECHNOLOGY SkillShare

MY TAKE AWAYS

This workshop highlighted a few important points for me that have actually changed the way I think and the way I move forward every day. It’s enlightening.  ”All decisions are emotional.” That’s a big statement that not all of the world, particularly the traditional business world would agree to without some hesitation. We often think about ourselves as different from animals, but in fact, upon approaching another human being we ‘sense’ whether we will like them or not and whether we will be able to trust them. Our eyes dilate, the chemicals in our bodies shift and our body (intertwined with our emotions) has already made a decision. The traditional business world expects us to separate emotion from what happens in business but this brain technology suggests that we are only fooling ourselves if we believe we are doing this. “Our body gets it first.” Everything we think, our body already ‘knows’ – so all I have to do is learn to listen to my body?

The more I use my brain, the more it will develop. If I can ignore the voice in my head full of FEAR, and if I can avoid procrastination because of FEAR, I will be able to start things with a clearer head, or change without the incredible emotional turmoil that change typically brings. Sounds so simple… yet it’s hard not to exaggerate our reactions, playing them over and over in our heads.

As human beings we have ‘feelings,’ but in our animal state those feelings would come and go and there would be no repercussions from them. Since we have the ability to think further and think deeply, these feelings often turn to ‘emotions.’ If we continue on this same path, they turn to a ‘mood’ and eventually a ‘state of mind.’ As humans we have the ability to choose whether we allow our reactions to take us down that path, or simply acknowledge the feeling and move on. WHOA!

If you look carefully at the visual, you will find several simple actions you can do to help your brain and body stay happy. One example is to hold a pen in your teeth (without chewing on it) for at least 30 seconds (for better results try 10 minutes!). It changes your physiology and can change your day. Try it, it works!

The SkillShare class is coming up again if you’re interested! Check it out!

PLATYPUS Workshop

Platypus Workshop - 'a little bit of everything'

My TAKE AWAYS

This workshop looked at problem solving, idea engineering, innovation alchemy, and then asked participants to brainstorm as related to a business problem… which we then stepped through a theory to begin talking about resolutions for that problem. (This brainstorming began on page 6 above.)

One of my favorite moments from this workshop was when Araceli said, “Really we should high five our brain when it tells us there’s a problem for letting us know what is going on,” because for me (as a visual thinker) the image that this brought was lots of people slapping themselves in the head as to give their brains a high five. The situation that then occurred in my imagination was one where others in the room misunderstood this as people hitting themselves in the head and attempts to ‘help’ these people created a confusing mess… sometimes you get a laugh by letting your imagination take you on a silly tangent.

The equation Araceli proposes is as simple as y = f (x) and includes asking the right questions. If you can ask the right questions then you are well on your way. She also offered up D.M.A.I.C., an acronym which stands for Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control – yet another great tool to help us turn our ideas into money making realities.

We often joke about our personalities using M.B.T.I. (Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, a personality trait instrument) or other tools that aren’t meant to put us in boxes or label us but are meant to help us understand ourselves and the way that we work in teams. I had never thought about having a ‘predominant’ chemical that my brain releases. Dopamine, serotonin, estrogen, and testosterone are present in all of us. Naturally, the balance of these chemicals is different in each of us. (Although, yes all women have some testosterone and all men have some estrogen.) Perhaps our dominant chemical can help us understand further about our personalities?!

(Click here for an interesting blog post from IEA on how dopamine is the ‘idea generating’ chemical.)