Benefiting at work from Brain Based Insights

Hi, Ellen,

Your post sparked a related association.

I was just working on a hiring/professional development project with a company lamenting the fact that they had great researchers and engineers but couldn't develop and commercialize new products fast enough.

And it occurred to me, "What if we started looking for people who had an entrepreneurial/business mindset first, and saw themselves as a researcher/engineer in support of that?

Well, that's the direction they chose to go. And the hiring process and related give and take are a lot more fun. Needless to say, surprising to the candidates.

I know this doesn't represent the complete thoughts of your post. But what drove the excitement and solution was a different kind of a question. And now that's what drives the hiring process.

Interestingly, Steve, it is speed that characterizes most successful entrepreneurial groups I know! While, not mentioned in the traits listed in the post below - these leaders seem to create far faster systems to beat the red tape and move people along with more skill and better results.

Unknown to some, the brain often works better with higher focus and more speed than we tend to facilitate. Could that be why innovative people are so bored in most meetings and projects?

Your comment shows the high value of a great question - to guide innovative actions. I love the one your group raised. Was it your idea Steve?

Marketing should be a subject included in the curriculum in any professional college education. An Engineer cannot be a successful businessman if he has no orientation in the subject of making products that supply the needs of consumers. He might probably be successful in an assigned work. To be more creative in product innovation a background in business subject can help a lot. Even after finishing accounting degree, there was no education about going into business and succeed. Accounting was purely academic and theoretical. There was no creative application being taught at school. or being introduced to the profitability of being an accountant.

Lucy, thanks for this thoughtful insight which reminds us of a need for more integrated skills in school. At the MITA Center - we call what you named here SMART SKILLS and these skills would include the skills you mentioned in business as part of the skills needed for science and math.

When we segregate skills as we have done traditionally we cannot help to equip learners to solve the real work problems they encounter. many learners leave our classes with the ability to apply or make use of the content we teach them. Your suggestion would change that for many students. Great suggestion.

How did you eventually learn skills you needed for work - in the end?