Using Neuroscience to Impact Change

On this episode we will cover: ✔︎ The importance of making mistakes and failing forward✔︎ How an understanding of the most current research can improve productivity and results in our schools, sports and workplaces✔︎ An important ingredient for change to occur✔︎ A review of past episodes to consider what change you could initiate in your workplace✔︎ Prepare for our NEXT EPISODE #210 with Dr. Jon Finn the author of The Habit Mechanic. “You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.”--American architect, systems theorist, author, inventor, philosopher and futurist, Buckminster Fuller This quote made me think of why we launched this podcast in the first place. Not to fight against all the models that we struggle with in our world today, but to offer solutions like Sir Ken Robinson[i] did with his thought-provoking case of creating an educational system that nurtures, rather than undermines creativity. If you haven’t watched Sir Ken’s TED talk in a while, I encourage you to go back to it (it’s got over 72 million views)—and you’ll see how the concepts he talks about are still as valid today, as they were in 2006. Sir Ken’s TED Talk reminded me that “all children have exceptional capacity for innovation” and that “creativity is as important as literacy” in our schools, but we tend to squander it. I could “ponder deeply” (Greg Link, EPISODE 207) about that for a while, and am always looking for ways to increase creativity and innovation for our next generation of students in the classroom. Sir Ken said something else that hit me on a deep level on his famous TED talk, as I sat at my desk, listening to his words, knowing that he’s been gone for some time, but he’s not really gone. His legacy lives on as he makes me think about his words and write this episode, making connections to past episodes and speakers, and sharing these thoughts with you, wherever you might be listening to this podcast. With one of his examples, he said “If you are not prepared to be wrong, you’ll never come up with anything original” when he shared a story of a four-year-old who wasn’t afraid to be wrong and then he brought it back to how school teaches us that mistakes are the worst things you can make. Making me think again-- Am I afraid of making mistakes? Not so much anymore, but take me back to 7th grade, being wrong in class (in front of everyone) probably would have prevented me from trying in the future without someone there to encourage the idea of failing forward, which is such an important concept for us to all learn early. With today’s episode on “The Neuroscience of Change” I’m hoping that we can all take Sir Ken’s advice, and be prepared to be wrong, with the hopes that it somehow moves us forward. Looking back and connecting the many dots over my career, I know I wouldn’t be here today on this podcast if an educator didn’t sit me down in his office, and show me where he thought I was wrong and could improve my work and career path with this understanding of simple neuroscience as the solution. But it did take action on my part without worrying about the outcome. We’ve got to be prepared to be wrong first, Sir Ken reminds us. What about you? Do you have ideas that you would like to move forward with—to impact change? Maybe in your school, or to be used in sports with athletes, or in your workplace?  These episodes were created in the how-to format to generate ideas for all of us.  I hope we can all ponder deeply about this, think about where we would like to see change, write down some thoughts and ideas, and see if these ideas can take us to somewhere new, somewhere we’ve never been before, as we make connections with the neuroscience of change. For returning guests, welcome back, and for those who are new here, I’m Andrea Samadi, author, and educator, with a passion for learning, understanding difficult concepts, and breaking them down so tha