Think Possibility to Unlock Braincramp!

Interestingly, Ellen Weber turned the idea of braincramp upside down. Here's her take...

False predictions over at Essays and Effluvia, remind us that innovation is rarely rewarded when brain cramp strikes. It’s pretty much the same at any organization, and Robyn McMaster’s recent articles on brain cramp show why. Here are 25 famous leaders with brain cramp – after they looked innovation in the face and predicted failure rather than see talent. Does your firm suffer from it? There’s likely one top quote in the list that could jumpstart brains back on track … the next time you present a great idea and support seems small….

1. "Man will never reach the moon regardless of all future scientific advances." -- Dr. Lee DeForest, "Father of Radio & Grandfather of Television."

2. "The bomb will never go off. I speak as an expert in explosives." - - Admiral William Leahy, US Atomic Bomb Project

3. "There is no likelihood man can ever tap the power of the atom." -- Robert Millikan, Nobel Prize in Physics, 1923

4. "Computers in the future may weigh no more than 1.5 tons." -- Popular Mechanics, forecasting the relentless march of science, 1949

5. "I think there is a world market for maybe five computers ." -- Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM, 1943

6. "I have traveled the length and breadth of this country and talked with the best people, and I can assure you that data processing is a fad that won't last out the year." -- The editor in charge of business books for Prentice Hall, 1957

7. "But what .. is it good for?" -- Engineer at the Advanced Computing Systems Division of IBM, 1968, commenting on the microchip.

8. "640K ought to be enough for anybody." -- Bill Gates, 1981

9. This 'telephone' has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication. The device is inherently of no value to us," -- Western Union internal memo, 1876.

10. "The wireless music box has no imaginable commercial value. Who would pay for a message sent to nobody in particular?" -- David Sarnoff's associates in response to his urgings for investment in the radio in the 1920s.

11. "The concept is interesting and well-formed, but in order to earn better than a 'C,' the idea must be feasible," -- A Yale University management professor in response to Fred Smith's paper proposing reliable overnight delivery service. (Smith went on to found Federal Express Corp.)

12. "I'm just glad it'll be Clark Gable who's falling on his face and not Gary Cooper," -- Gary Cooper on his decision not to take the leading role in "Gone With The Wind."

13. "A cookie store is a bad idea. Besides, the market research reports say America likes crispy cookies, not soft and chewy cookies like you make," -- Response to Debbi Fields' idea of starting Mrs. Fields' Cookies.

14. "We don't like their sound, and guitar music is on the way out," -- Decca Recording Co. rejecting the Beatles, 1962.

15. "Heavier-than-air flying machines are impossible," -- Lord Kelvin, president, Royal Society, 1895.

16. "If I had thought about it, I wouldn't have done the experiment. The literature was full of examples that said you can't do this," - - Spencer Silver on the work that led to the unique adhesives for 3-M "Post-It" notepads.

17. "Drill for oil? You mean drill into the ground to try and find oil? You're crazy,"-- Drillers who Edwin L. Drake tried to enlist to his project to drill for oil in 1859.

18. "Stocks have reached what looks like a permanently high plateau." - - Irving Fisher, Professor of Economics, Yale University, 1929.

19. "Airplanes are interesting toys but of no military value," -- Marechal Ferdinand Foch, Professor of Strategy, Ecole Superieure de Guerre, France.

20. "Everything that can be invented has been invented," -- Charles H. Duell, Commissioner, US Office of Patents, 1899.

21. "The supercomputer is technologically impossible. It would take all of the water that flows over Niagara Falls to cool the heat generated by the number of vacuum tubes required." -- Professor of Electrical Engineering, New York University

22. "I don't know what use any one could find for a machine that would make copies of documents. It certainly couldn't be a feasible business by itself." -- the head of IBM, refusing to back the idea, forcing the inventor to found Xerox.

23. "Louis Pasteur's theory of germs is ridiculous fiction." -- Pierre Pachet, Professor of Physiology at Toulouse, 1872

24. "The abdomen, the chest, and the brain will forever be shut from the intrusion of the wise and humane surgeon," -- Sir John Eric Ericksen, British surgeon, appointed Surgeon-Extraordinary to Queen Victoria 1873.

25. "There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home." -- Ken Olson, president, chairman and founder of Digital Equipment Corp., 1977

Ready to take your best idea to the next stage – in spite of critics where you work? If so – what would that cutting edge idea likely become?

One thing's sure... Ellen focuses on possibilities. Throughout the time I've worked as Sr VP of the MITA Center, I've learned not to doubt. You'll chuckle when I share that Ellen pushed me through a Department Chair's door when I was to have an interview to enter university... At midnight hour I doubled I had the stuff to do it. Ellen helped turn that around with one fell swoop!

Turn braincramp upside down and see what happens... Hmm... do you have yet different ways you unfreeze your brain when it's stuck?

Nokia mobile web server

User- generated mobile phone content for your friends and family that doesn't have to be uploaded. It's shared, instant and contextual ! Oh, and it will drain your battery ;)

Juha Pusa, a Nokia man, demonstrated at MobileCamp event in New York for the first time Nokia's Mobile Web Server.
It's the concept of serving web pages directly from a mobile phone connected to the network.

It's a 6 years ahead of thinking for Nokia, IMHO.
The key is access to information such as location, pictures and phone numbers which will enable a new breed of applications to be created. Access from any browser.

But do we need to access all those information using browser ? Is that unnecessary complication while at the same time there is some sort of web service with mobile ''leg'' accesseable from a phone ?

The plan is that every mobile web server will be provided with global URL.
So, I can only imagine a mobile website it will change by its owner and it will be meaningful as the content that is shared may depend upon the current location and context.

If every mobile phone or even every smartphone initially, is equipped with a webserver then very quickly many websites will reside on mobile phones. That is bound to have some impact not only on how mobile phones are perceived but also on how the web evolves.

Mobile Web Server, also known as Raccoon, consists of a port of the Apache web server to the S60 smartphone platform.

It's a very exciting Nokia brave world.
Very interesting to follow up on their actions about mobile web server and it's ''computing'' strategy for the future business.

I can imagine as well this sort of thing; Every mobile phone user is likely to have forgotten his phone at home at some time or another. With a mobile web server on the phone it is easy to browse to it remotely and check, for instance, whether someone has called or sent an SMS, and even answer SMSs.
Cool ;))

All of this is, IMHO , relevant for personal communication and information sharing for small groups not for one-to-many broadcasting.

Marc Rapp's Philosophical Approach on Braincramp

Marc Rapp, author of Uniquely the Epitome, has a very different take on braincramp and quite frankly, unconventional approaches bring change. So let's consider Marc's ideas and see what you think. Marc says, "As endearing a term as 'braincramp' is, I can't help but feel it's actually a result of a braincramp." Here's Mark's thinking on braincramp...

Here we have a concept (combining two or more ideas that where previously considered unrelated) derived from the exact process it's working to resolve.

The act of identifying, acknowledging, and personifying and then later, perpetuating is in-fact, the result of a braincramp.

The concept of braincramps, is a direct result of creative thinking. Which, in my mind ( basal ganglia ) is the brain naturally resolving a proposed problem. The problem being, not being able to think creatively.

So, one get's creative to solve it.

Is it me, or is this redundant and really only disproves itself?

Marc, you've asked a philosophical question and questions lead us to gather wisdom to fill in the puzzle pieces. Your unique thoughts are yet another piece to visualize the whole.

You tapped your intrapersonal intelligence, Marc, to share your personal perspective. Intrapersonal intelligence is that part of our brain in which we develop responses to our life questions. Marc, I sense you have thought deeply and developed a personal philosophy on the creative process since you're an artist. I'm glad you stopped by and shared just a few of your thoughts...

Intrapersonal intelligence allows us to take conundrums and sort them out as we reflect, grow, and change. Ellen Weber recently remarked, "Neglect ongoing intrapersonal visions for growth and we perish in the wake of fast moving ideas that pass us by." My ideas are not always enough. I need to consider what you and others say. Here's what I mean...

The reason I brought this question to others is rooted in Interpersonal intelligence. That is, I wanted to engage others' ideas, entertain different perspectives and discuss the methods and strategies that are brought to the table by folks in community. This keeps me from having tunnel vision.

I've seen so much intelligence brought to the table already, and I'm hoping to hear from others in the community about how you overcome braincramp.

Mark's portrait from Flickr

Beat the Braincramp Syndrome!

Chris Brown took the challenge to share strategies to unlock your brain when it freezes. She divulges unexpected, yet fun ways to beat the BrainCramp syndrome. "You know this happens when your brain freezes and you can't think. It happens to me when I get mad or too tired or I'm trying too hard," Chris explains. So here's her antidote...

Ways that I beat it:

MOVE. I take a walk. I weed the garden. I get on the exercise ellipse machine. Do the stairs. Walk down to the coffee shop and back. Put on some fun rock and roll and dance.

WATER. Sitting by the ocean is the best, but since I'm in Ohio, it's more like walking around the pond in my town. Or taking a shower. Or watching the rain. Wading thru a stream. There is something about the running water, moving water that helps to unlock my frozen thoughts.

DRIVE. It's not the same as moving, but similar. Expressway is best... stop and go traffic doesn't help. We used to live in Rhode Island and had a 12 hour drive home to Ohio & back. That helped. A quick 2 minute drive doesn't do the trick. You've got to get into the rhythm of a longer drive. Maybe it's the white lines going by that's semi hypnotic.

Dumb VIDEO GAMES. You know the kind where the little color things drop. Like Tetris or Cubis or Pop the Balloons? I think it's the repetitive motion, but it opens and unlocks some part of my brain and I can think again.

GOOGLE. Type a few key phrases into google or google blog search or google image search. It takes my mind into new places and helps to make me think about the project differently.

Worst ways that I've found to try to unlock brain freeze: 1) stare into the white nothingness of a blank page of a word document on my computer monitor. 2) stare at a totally white piece of paper. 3) look at a clean whiteboard. 4) Forcing myself to think about something that I can't figure out.

The more if try to force it, the less likely creativity will happen. It's got to be a flow, not a force.

You take a very active approach to jumpstart your brain, Chris. And, that's a great tactic. Interestingly, three parts of your brain, the cerebrum, brain stem and cerebellum need regular exercise, too. Dr. Ellen Weber shares tips to energize our brains to dance ... Now that'll rewire your dendrites!

Chris, your rocking and rolling strategies pump more oxygen to your brain. And, your brain uses 21% of your body's oxygen supply. So it shouldn't surprise you that sitting at a desk too long can stagnate your brain. Why not get out of your seat and move as Chris does to keep plenty of oxygen flowing to the old noodle!

Any more great ideas you use to overcome braincramp? I'd love to hear your thoughts, too!

Try Flow, Bank Serotonin and Meditate to Tap into Creativity and Avoid Braincramp

Danica Radovanovic, a creative information management professional and blogger from Belgrade, tossed three brilliant tactics into the pot to overcome braincramp. She's suggesting that flow, banking serotonin and practicing meditation work to get past times folks encounter blocks that prevent creativity.

Flow In Flow: The Psychologiy of Optimal Experience, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi defines flow as "the state in which people are so involved in an activity that nothing else seems to matter; the experience itself is so enjoyable that people will do it even at great cost, for the sheer sake of doing it." He further theorizes that best moments in life occur when the body and mind are stretched to the limit in an effort to accomplish something both difficult and worthwhile. So Danica, your suggestion leads to extraordinary answers. But there's even more...

For optimal experience, Csikszentmihalyi suggests that it's "necessary to work for external goals and to postpone immediate gratification."

Flow experiences have these elements in common: "provides a sense of discovery, a creative feeling of transporting the person into a new reality. It pushes the person to higher levels of performance." Csikszentmihali sums this up as growth of self.

When people stretch themselves to the limit in flow experiences, the working memory of the brain is positioned to throttle high. Eric Jensen, suggests that the brain leaps to solve puzzles and challenges so it's natural that people achieve more when they work in flow.

Danica, your suggestion to tap into flow or, optimal experience, truly helps folks reach levels of creativity they desire.

Bank Serotonin You mention that Dr. Ellen Weber suggests that people bank more serotonin to maintain a state of well-being. Banking serotonin is an amazing way to establish fertile ground for creativity, Danica since folks would benefit from strategies to avoid cortisol build-up in the brain. Cortisol definitely contributes to braincramp since it inhibits focus and can lead to depression.

And, what is there about meditation that might help?

Meditation Danica says that recent research study findings show that high school kids who practiced meditation 15 minutes each day, regularly, had better grades and their blood pressure was normal or dropped down. And the control group who didn't mediatate for six months, had poor academinc results: no concentration and higher blood pressure...

And, there's more good news from neuroscience research about the benefits of meditation... "Meditation alters resting brain patterns, suggesting long lasting brain changes and increased cortical thickness," according to findings by Harvard, Yale, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Massachusetts General Hospital researchers. Additionally, "Structural changes were found in areas of the brain that are important for sensory, cognitive and emotional processing," according to this extensive research.

Danica, thanks for your contributions. Flow, finding ways to increase serotonin and meditation definitely help folks increase focus and cognitive processing. Since brain research supports your ideas, they're just what the doctor ordered to overcome braincramps. Thoughts...?

Stay tuned for more ways to overcome braincramps...I've had great contributions from many folks!

Adopting New Players for Your Leadership Team

We're preparing to welcome a new grandson into our family in the next couple of weeks. When you think about birth and new life, they're not common, but extraordinary in the context of family. This event's truly special because our new grandson will be adopted...

And, lots of preparations are underway -- redecorating the room, carpeting the floor, buying clothes and other accessories, but most important of all, preparing big brother, now nearing three, to welcome this new brother. After all, he's had the spotlight all this time. Have you ever considered that adopting a new babe in a family's akin to successfully embracing and developing a new key player within your organization? Here's a few thoughts...

Vision Parents picture best outcomes and share news of forthcoming babe with "older brother" and motivate him to see benefits. Similarly, CEO's and managers can facilitate similar opportunities in an organization.
Why not ask two footed questions that spark current players' ideas for new vision. Listen carefully. Collaborative community springs from caring about others.

Nurturing Just as a big brother can feel closer to babe if he's given the chance to hold and feed him, your firm's leaders can play a major role in nurturing a new hire to succeed.

Everydayness When a babe's ushered into a family, Mom and Dad don't just provide a big welcome and then forget him. There's everyday tending to help babe grow into the kind of leader who'll use his gifts and talents in amazing ways.

Diversity Adoption opens wide the door for parents to welcome a babe from another culture. Immediate bonding lifts parents and big brother beyond any differences because they see a precious person. As the world grows smaller, people's unique gifts and talents enhance organizational outcomes.

Interestingly, Harvard Medical School Psychiatrist, Dr. Amy Banks, explored the neurobiology of human connection, and found that bonding and healthy relationships can change the structure of the human brain. More serotonin, a hormone of well-being, flows in the brains of top team players when cooperation and collaboration take the stage rather than competition and heirarchy.

My daughter and son-in-law are now preparing older brother for a new babe. Any new ideas about enhancing your recruiting and "adoption" process?

When Braincramp Hits, Brad Shorr Avoids Panic

"I have brain cramps all the time," Brad Shorr reveals. "Over the years I've learned not to panic. It only makes them worse."

Brad, you do yourself a favor by avoiding panic. You see when you panic, your brain fills with cortisol, a brain hormone that leaves you with an inability to concentrate. Some folks' minds tend to go around in circles. McGill University researchers "measured the stress hormone, cortisol, in older adults over a period of three to six years. Their findings showed that individuals who had continuous high levels of cortisol, performed poorly on memory tests and had a notably smaller hippocampus, the part of the brain responsible for learning and memory." You see added dangers over time when folks panic, Brad.

Your approach, "Patience makes perfect," is right on! For folks to overcome braincramp you suggest, "Walk away from your project, let your mind wander. Suddenly an idea will hit you. I've experienced that many, many times."

And Brad's strategy, "Sometimes it's enormously helpful to seek out those people with whom I have creative chemistry," is win/win. He finds, "An hour of conversation with the right person makes my brain cramp disappear." This is brilliant, Brad! And it helps to bring more serotonin, a hormone of well being.

And as a finale, you add, "A beer or two during the conversation can accelerate the recovery process even more."

Brad, thanks for taking time to share your wisdom.

How about it, do others have yet another tactic to relieve braincramp?

Scott McArthur's Method to Unstick Your Brain

Scott McArthur says to relieve braincramp challenge your schemas. Scott revs up his brain by using templates Chip and Dan Heath share in their recent book Made to Stick. Challenging the schemas you've embedded in deep recesses of your brain's basal ganglia is a great approach, Scott.

You see, we all have preferred ways of doing things, or the schemas we have programmed because they're comfortable and trusty. Once you grasp ideas or skills, they're stored in your brain's basal ganglia. They require little effort, they're familiar and let's face it - just plain comfortable.

On the other hand, when you operate from your brain's working memory, it takes more effort and it's discomforting to you because you're treading swift running water and you need to stay afloat. You see, ideas and new ways of doing things easily spill out of the working memory because its so small compared to the basal ganglia.

Scott suggests, "if you get braincramps you need to get yourself a new template!" He lists six below based on the Heath Brothers research:

Pictorial Analogy
Extreme Consequence
Extreme Situations
Competition
Interactive Experiments
Dimensionality Alteration

So how about challenging your routines and dive into a new template that unsticks you from comfort zones? By so doing you'll deeply engage your working memory and find those creative surprises that currently elude you.

Play to Recharge Your Brain

Now and then it's good to pause in our pursuit of happiness and just be happy. Guillaume Apollinaire

Most days when I take time to "play" golf, enjoy a festival or simply walk in the woods, I come back to my work very refreshed. Fact is, after I relax I work faster and with more focus. Is that true for you as well? There's more truth to this than meets the eye. The brain needs a break!

Want to see where you stand? Take this burnout test.

"You need more time to fix burnout," explains Joe Robinson, author of Work To Live: The Guide to Getting a Life. The trick is to cut yourself off from a stressor, Joe maintains, for a sufficient amount of time to give your mind and body a break. After major stressors, your body needs two weeks to rebound.

Here's some reasons why we need more play in our lives... "A recent English study shows that if you are sleep-deprived for 72 hours, the stress hormone levels rise and the brain stops making new cells" according to a recent BUSINESS LINE article, Give more power to your immune system... make it stronger

The fact that our brain shuts down and stops making new brain cells is a pretty scary situation and we need to act!

Joe Robinson offers some sound advice about how to make play and relaxation work for you and not against you...

"You have to unpack before you pack," is the way Robinson sees it. "Put together an unpacking list of the stuff that has no business going with you," he advises. These include work worries, the boss, colleagues, career progress, laptops, pagers, cell phones. Stash it until you get back.

To the pile of stuff you leave home add your guilt over taking a vacation. You also have to put aside the productivity yardstick and remember how to "do" leisure.

Here are a couple of suggestions:

• Target your passions and build your vacation around the things you like to do.
• Wander. Yes, relearn how to explore and discover, with no other purpose.
• Linger with a friend over dinner.
• Put on your kid hat. Connect with play.

How might you target time for a mini-break to relax today? Play increases serotonin, a hormone of well-being, in your brain. I desperately need some. You?

Shhh...don't tell anyone, but I'm making a dive for the links today. Happiness...you bet!

Mike Wager Comments on Ways to Relieve "Braincramp"

Mike Wagner of White Rabbit Group says he "fishes with a net" to generate solutions and "loosen up cramped brains." Thanks for such brilliant reflection on the questions I posed, Mike, and I know my readers will benefit from your thoughtful wisdom as you explain this metaphor in depth...

Many of my business clients suffer from what could be called a "braincramp".

A physical cramp keeps us from moving at full speed and takes us out of the game.

An organizational braincramp keeps us from advancing as a group toward a successful outcome thus taking us out of marketplace competition.

When a business does not know how to generate lots of ideas around challenges that arise, it is suffering a braincramp.

Most have one or two ideas with which to run and they don't work all that well. They are hobbled and pull up lame.

I tell the clients I serve to "fish with a net" when it comes to generating possible solutions. And then I show them well proven ideation models that help them loosen up their cramped brains.

Better to have lots of fish to choose from when the time comes to fry one up!

Will think on this more but what a provocative metaphor!

Mike your comment brought deep wisdom from your business experience and a metaphor to remind us of a great strategy to uncramp brains in our circles. I appreciate what you shared.

I welcome responses from other readers. Please do check out my question: Ever had a Braincramp?

Ever Had a Braincramp?

A grad student in a class I taught said, "I have a braincramp." What picture comes to your mind? I don't know about you, but at first I had a real belly laugh since the expression was new to me.

Just for fun, how would you define a braincramp?

What would you suggest to overcome a braincramp?

Have some fun and let's see what develops. If you create a post at your site to show your answer and it's not "R" rated, I'll give you a link from my site and announce it here at Brain Based Biz.

Challenge Your Brain for Productivity - 5 MITA Steps

"How do you get more productive with your creativity or stay productive and creative?"

My immediate answer's quite simple... Challenge your brain because the brain leaps to the adventure of unraveling puzzles and problems.

When folks mine rich resources of their brain to solve problems they'll be more productive! How so? They use more gifts and talents at work. Why then, doesn't that happen more?

Interestingly, one barrier is bosses or CEO's who see themselves as boosting productivity, while in reality they stifle job satisfaction. Misplaced efforts to improve worker morale tend to lessen productivity according to research at University of Michigan. The secret is to empower peoples' gifts and talents.

Amazingly, MITA strategies worked to increase my personal productivity in ways that changed who I am. Here's a brief overview with links to provide deeper insights for the five MITA steps that jumpstarted my brain and led to productivity in career and more satisfaction in personal life as well...

Question... Ask questions that connect you personnaly to problems. That process guides your brain to solutions or new opportunities. Such questions might begin "What if I..." "How might I change..." "What would happen if I tried..." You get the picture.

Target... Make a plan that initiates solutions or strategies for the outcome you have in sight. I began to work smarter and not harder by using short term benchmarks and jotting them in my weekly calendar so I kept progressing toward the overall target.

Expect... What do you expect anyway? Your expectations must be clear and not foggy or nothing gets done. I wrote down exact descriptions for best end results. Do you seek excellence as I do?

Move... What personal resources contribute to the target you have in mind? Most people automatically dip into one or two intelligences used on the job. Some leaders compartmentalize gifts and talents used at work. For instance they use verbal and logical intelligences to tackle tasks day in and day out, so they miss seeing a project through bodily-kinesthetic or interpersonal lenses. To look at your job differently is often to draw on new talents. When you tap into new intelligences to tackle old projects, watch for rejuvenated results!

Reflect...Reflection leads to growth and change that steps you back to see what's working and what isn't. That leads to adjustment opportunities along the way. Without reflection, each new flight you take traverses the same path and engages the same components. Ellen Weber, who created the MITA model, claims if reflection is left out, stagnation results. How does reflection guide your productivity?

Many folks want research evidence to know that MITA strategies work. Recently, PhD University lecturers in Ireland, began using MITA strategies as they taught and assessed university students in medical settings. Research conducted in 2006 showed that professors using MITA strategies had 5% increase in student motivation and achievement. Similar results hold true in business settings.

Whether blogging, writing articles, having fun with grandchildren, or keynoting to university faculty, I discovered MITA strategies bring productivity in all facets of my life.

Ben Yoskovitz is the originator of The Ultimate Guide to Productivity - What's your secret? He's nearing the 100 posts that he hoped to receive and I hope mine makes the list!

As I read productivity posts on Ben's web site, some of the interesting tips I took note of are:

Best Productivity Tip: Disable Your Inner-Critic by David Wahl

Ultimate guide to productivity: My tip by Julie Fleming-Brown

Choices Are Made Long Before You Decide - Productivity Tips by Jonathan

Ultimate Tip To Reach GTD Nirvana by Andrew Flusche

Productivity Hint? NO! by Annie Boccio

Chris Brown tagged me... I'm tagging

Paintsmh

Appollomemories

Dan316

SNoel

Jsbi in India

Here's Ben's guidelines to enter:

Write a post on your best productivity tips.

1. Challenge yourself by picking your single best productivity tip (although this isn’t a requirement; you can give us more if you want!)

2. Include links to other people that have written posts, or include their tips in your post with proper attribution. And be sure to tag me at Brain Based Biz.

Note: Ben's not asking that you link to everyone in the group writing project meme; pick the ones you want to connect with. You certainly can link to everyone, but it’s not a requirement. Ben likes leaving more decision making power in your hands so this isn’t just a link grab, but you’re thinking about what your audience & community wants to read about.

A link back to Ben's post is appreciated though, to help spread the word!

3. If you use Technorati Tags then tag your post “ultimate guide to productivity”.

4. Tag others in your post to spread the meme. Tag as many people as you like!

5. If you link back to Instigator Blog Ben’ll make sure to include at least 2 links back to you. But this isn’t a requirement, it just helps him keep track of what’s going on. And be sure to tag me at Brain Based Biz.

The question "What guides my productivity" was a fun challenge, Chris. Thanks! Now it will be interesting to see how the folks I've tagged add to Ben's big pot! And, if you'd like this challenge, too, just jump in!

Blogging's a Fine Art

Diogenes recently interviewed me on “the fine art of blogging.” I love the internationality of this interview because Diogenes appears to be a world citizen - interested in commonalities across all cultures. Blogging really brings peoples across the world closer - and Dio's blog shows how it can be done.

Interestingly, “Dio” wanted to know why and how I blog. My first inspiration came when Dr. Ellen Weber, with whom I work, began to blog. She was so enthused with blogging she couldn’t stop talking about the joy she found. That stirred me so much that I thought I’d like to begin a blog, too...

You might enjoy reading the rest of Dio’s interview at Quasi Fictional.

What inspired you to begin blogging and what inspires your blogging now?

Google Vision With The Grande Phone App

A future gadget ?

Wow, what's this ?

It's a concept developed by UK designer Callum Peden.
''Branded'' as Google Vision features a handset-type device that opens out to reveal a retractable flexible screen.

Callum envisages WiFi access , GPS, image recognication features etc.
Nice try. But if you take in the account what Andy Rubin did with Android software that is now part of Google Inc, things can get more interesting ;))

Still, I don't think Google is acctually building mobile device.
They are in the software and media business .

So, my guess is still that Google will build UI software platform for mass market mobile phones .

The Grande Phone App is only my fictional name for Google's suite of apps that will include Search, Gmail, Maps and Gtalk etc co-developed with MNO, handset makers and advertisers.

Just like Dr. Eric Schmidt, Google CEO, once said;

Your mobile phone should be free," Schmidt told Reuters. "It just makes sense that subsidies should increase" as advertising rises on mobile phones.

Maybe Blyk is onto something after all.

Celebrating Bloggers Who Use More Intelligences

When I attend sports events and folks make a great play everyone celebrates. In my journey around the blogosphere in the last couple of weeks, I noted intriguing ways bloggers get more of their multiple intelligences up and running. Here're the posts I'm celebrating this week...

Logical Mathematical Who would have guessed that the height of the ceiling where you work can affect your creativity and focus. Frank Roche shares new information from the August issue of the Journal of Consumer Behavior:

"When a person is in a space with a 10-foot ceiling, they will tend to think more freely, more abstractly,” said Meyers-Levy. “They might process more abstract connections between objects in a room, whereas a person in a room with an 8-foot ceiling will be more likely to focus on specifics."

How might you make adjustments for more focus where you work?

Interpersonal or Social Intelligence David Armano practices what he preaches about conversations. In fact, David believes that we can't participate well in conversations without being willing to be quiet and listen. If we go back far enough, according to David, the conversation virus began to spread...

If we are to give credit—it belongs to the first individual who decided to listen before choosing to speak (or grunt). Now all we have to do is unlearn some of the things we've been taught as professional adults and move forward.

David models great strategies to provide voice for others in your blog. What strategies do you use to create more voice for your readers?

Naturalistic Intelligence Most of us may not realize that we're contaminating our home environments even more than the world outside our door. Check out GreenBurbia's post on common household items that are hazardous to your health. What an eyeopener!

Verbal-Linguistic Intelligence Story Brings Brands to Life. C.B. Whittemore shares depth found in the art of story. Here's just a quick overview...

S-tudy the audience
T-ailor the experience
O-rchestrate the details
R-elate
Y-ield long term relationships

There's so much depth here that you'll gain great new strategies by checking out the details.

Spatial Intelligence Scott McArthur shares an amazing visualization tool and tells us about its capabilities....

The categorisers have thoroughly sliced the categorising! For instance, they've color-coded their categories: data,metaphor, concept, strategy, information, and compound visualisation techniques. As if that were not enough to spark your brain, the creators also provide clues as to whether the model works best for convergent or divergent thinking, and whether it is more for an overview vs. detailed perspective.

Play with this one - it really delivers!

Bodily-kinesthetic Intelligence Bob Glaza's now in training for a Bike Ride Across Iowa. Bob last reported that he had 300 miles under his belt. On another note last weekend Ellen Weber and I participated in a Rotary District Conference golf tournament along with Ruth Cronkrite and Maureen Hall to place first in women's competition. When exercise is fun it's so much easier to get my heart pumping harder! And, of course, that supplies the brain with needed doses of oxygen! That's a real secret for people who want to keep their noodle at peak performance.

Intrapersonal Intelligence When we dream, we need to connect to realities, too, according to Joanna Young. She's making some of her goals reality by going for a two-week getaway at a book festival in Scotland. Now why didn't I think of that as a great way to enhance my writing? Hmmmm.....

Musical Intelligence Want to fine tune your blog with some upbeat sounds? You might enjoy Jeremy Jacobs' jazzy playlist to move your brain waves fairly fast as you write your blog post today.

So many of you are tapping more brain in your blogging... I hope to catch you at your best and celebrate your unique ideas with others.

Procrastinated? Timing's Just Right to Save Bucks for SOBCon07

Have you procrastinated about attending SOBCon at Chicago's Hotel Sofitel May 11-12? Just think... you can find last minute airfare at reduced rates. Right now is perfect timing to follow through and save bucks. Now that's using the old noodle!

And you gain a million dollars' worth by attending...

1. One thing about SOBCon that intrigues me . . .to discover what people like Liz Strauss, Jim Walton, Drew McClellan, Lisa Gates, Easton Ellsworth and Tammy Lenski are really like.

2. They better have plenty of activities because I like to be engaged rather than sitting. From what I see in the advertising, it looks like they plan to deliver!

3. The one thing I would have to bring to SOBCon... new discoveries about how the brain works and strategies to tap its rich resources.

4. The perfect location for SOBCon 08 would be near a golf course as Ellen Weber suggested.

5. One reason to go to SOBCon is to pick other peoples' brains to gain strategies to improve my blog overall.

6. At Live Open Mic Night at SOBCon, it would be hilarious to share humor about blogging.

7. What I wish I knew about SOBCon is ...I'd have to say with all the great advertising and people sharing what's on the agenda ahead, that Liz and the crew've really put out the scope of the conference with excitement.

Ellen Weber tagged me share my thoughts on SOBCon07. Now's just the right time to sign up if you haven't done so... No more procrastinating!

Magazines to Push Thinking

What we read reveals a lot about us because it influences how we think. For instance, "believing something is true," according to Tulving, "results from the accumulation of information over time, is largely context independent, and has been ascribed to the semantic memory system." I choose magazines with latest ideas and information to push my thinking. So here goes...

Scientific American Mind - provides some of the latest insights about how the mind functions and how that affects us.

The Artist's Magazine - highlights articles on art trends and features new artist's work.

PC Magazine - provides tips about software, PC's and hardware.

The New Yorker - gives very different views and pokes fun at bureaucracies.

Prevention - proactive ways to maintain a healthy lifestyle.

I generally choose Time or Newsweek when in a doctor's or dentist's office because they give an overall update from so many areas.

In addition I read many books. Here's a few I'm reading currently - The Message, for one more day, If Minds Had Toes, Poetry 180 and The Yoga of Drawing

Rob Watts and Steli Efti tagged me for this Magazine meme. And, now I'm tagging Drew McClellan, Ben Yoskovitz, Hsien Lei, Nancy Friedman, and Gavin Heaton. Plase post a link back to my magazine post.

What magazines do you enjoy most. Go ahead and join the magazine meme if you wish and be sure to tag me.

Mobile User Experience to be debated

People's forum for open, calm discussion. London. Today. Tomorow. No hype.

There is constant need for better mobile interfaces and interaction. People from mobile telecom industry are gathering in London and talk about mobile UIs .
It's the first ''manifesto statement'' I've seen in the mobile space .

Sort of guide and creative thinking highlighting the key issues in mobile user experience. Read a conference blog.

One Last Message...Love

According to the Urban Monk, the blogosphere is coming to an end. If I had just one last post, what would it be? What would I want to leave as my legacy?

Love... wide and deep, infinite and all-encompassing.

Paradox of love is that the more I give it to others the more it seems I have received... Even if you give love and it's not returned, your brain fills with serotonin, a hormone of well being. The giving of love brings well being.

Power of love is expressed in actions and not just words. For instance, if I show grace and mercy to an enemy I gain more than I can through revenge. Though another person's intentions toward you may be bad, and causes cortisol to fill your brain, you can begin to turn that around by finding a new solution...a "where to from here" approach as you walk away from it and start afresh. For example, Terry Waite, a journalist held captive in Lebanon forgave his captors for taking away five years of his life. He resumed freedom with new vigor rather than stewing in the juices of wrongs. When cortisol fills the brain, it takes years off your life and leaves you susceptible to disease.

Celebration of love brings people together in ways that spills happiness to all. In events such as the first words, the first steps and smiles to graduation, marriage and career to the way we choose to face our final days to bless others around us demonstrate how powerful love is in our lives. These celebrations fill us with serotonin a hormone of well being.

Love for people in the wider world If you're fearful of people unlike you or if you hear rumors about groups of people, ask what you can do to change your assumptions about others since they're likely not true. Many volunteer to care for the wider community.

For instance, I belong to Rotary, which I joined because I want to give "service beyond self." Many Rotarians help meet needs of people in the inner city. I work on a camp board that provides a camping experience for special needs children. By participating in these activities and others, our fears of others soon vanish and we build new respect for many people in the community. Through gifts of Rotarians, polio has virtually been eradicated across the world. Rotarians "build good will and better friendships."

Love for the Natural World We've inherited a very beautiful world. We demonstrate love the natural world by being a good steward of what we received. In this way, we share that bounty with future generations.

The Message of Love a contemporary rendering of the Bible from the original languages by Eugene H. Peterson, provides the goals I have and they reveal the true nature of love in very majestic language...

If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don't love, I'm nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate.

If I speak God's Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, "Jump," and it jumps, but I don't love, I'm nothing.

If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don't love, I've gotten nowhere. So no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I'm bankrupt without love.

Love never gives up.
Love cares more for others than for self.
Love doesn't want what it doesn't have.
Love doesn't strut,
Doesn't have a swelled head,
Doesn't force itself on others,
Isn't always "me first,"
Doesn't fly off the handle,
Doesn't keep score of the sins of others,
Doesn't revel when others grovel,
Takes pleasure int the flowering of truth,
Puts up with anything,
Trusts God always,
Always looks for the best,
Never looks back,
But keeps going to the end.

To love well takes a whole life's journey and I keep learning more! But be a little easy if I slip up and I'll do the same for you!

Cody McKibbean tagged me as part of the Blog Apocalypse meme. If you want to participate in the Blog Apocalypse meme–Urban Monk will give $500 to charity!! Anyone who wants to participate is welcome–just link to my post here, and link to this page that tells you all about the Blog Apocalypse meme.

STEP ONE
The blogosphere is ending. No more blogs. Blog apocalypse. The Internet is still working, the world is fine. But you can’t write anymore. Write your last post. Make it a good one. What is the reason you blog? What is the last gem of knowledge you want to leave? What do you want to be remembered for? Who are you? What is the meaning of life? Haha…well not exactly but you get the point. Pour your heart into it.

I'm tagging Mike Sansone, Liz Strauss, Rob Watts, Starbucker and Ellen Weber because I'm curious about what they'll develop.