Brain Rules: 12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home, and School (Book & DVD) |...

Brain Rules: 12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home, and School (Book & DVD) | John Medina | Brain Rules

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Brain Rules: 12 Pr...

	Brain Rules: 12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home, and School (Book & DVD) John Medina Pear Press, 2008 - 301 pages average customer review:based on 45 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Why is a book on the brain in the top 25 of Amazon's leadership books?

I believe personal productivity and performance as a leader are directly correlated. Just like we have to lead a team, we have to lead ourselves to a higher level of a productivity and effectiveness. In all of the leadership classes I teach, emphasis is placed on knowing yourself. When you know yourself it provides you the ability to adapt to weaknesses and leverage your strengths (increase your personal productivity and effectiveness).

Knowing how your brain functions is part of knowing yourself.

This book is so insightful and valuable that I sent copies to my clients. The value of the book hinges on the understanding of the brain and how it works which allows me to leverage that knowledge for increased personal productivity and in my interactions and relationships with others.

Myth Busters for the brain!

The book is a fairly easy read because the author uses stories to illustrate the functionality of the brain. This book is not a "leadership-lite" book filled with cute and truthful antidotes, but a book with hard science communicated in an interesting way. Dr. John J. Medina is a developmental molecular biologist. He also shares what scientists don't know about how the brain works!

This book gave me many, many take-aways and here are just six ...

I. Some parts of the brain are just like a baby's and can grow new connections and strengthen existing connections. We have the ability to learn new things our entire life. Medina states this was "not the prevailing notion until 5 or 6 years ago." So much for the "you can't teach and old dog new tricks excuse." The old dog line is exposed for what it really is...an excuse.

II. Humans can only pay attention for about ten minutes and then need some kind of reset.

III. The brain can only focus on one thing at a time. This is further rationale on the futility of multi-tasking.

IV. Exercise increases brain power and aerobic exercise twice a week reduces the risk of general dementia by 50% and Alzheimer's by 60%.

V. There is a biological need for an afternoon nap.

VI. The brain is very active during sleep and loss of sleep hurts cognitive and physical ability.

Buy and read Brain Rules. It will benefit you.

One of the reasons I read leadership books is to learn new things but also to get old truths hammered into my thick skull so they result in action. Action! So you may know or have heard of some of the truths in "Brain Rules" but I guarantee the author brings them to you in a unique an interesting way with solid depth that will allow you to easier implement those truths into how you handle yourself and others on a daily basis.

Dr. James T. Brown PMP PE CSP
Author, The Handbook of Program Management

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Brain Rules

Medina's own work focuses on the impact of genetics on human brain development and psychiatric disorders, but in this book he draws on a broad scope of brain research and translates it into eminently readable prose that the average person can relate to. "Brain rules" are things that researchers know for sure about brain function, and I found the them to be quite interesting and surprisingly applicable to my daily life. Rules cover such things as the impact of sleep on learning, what our attention span is (about 10 minutes!), the significance of exercise on brain function and the mechanisms of stress. The author is a dynamic speaker and his book reflects this same approach to communicating brain science to the average person.

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Walking the talk

John Medina walks the talk! Knows how to grab attention. Well written, DVD supliment is interesting, the website, the slideshow on slideshare is brilliant. Working as a trainer I found the book very useful.

Brain Rule #0: Tell me something I don't know

In Brain Rules, Mr. Medina proves incessantly that he has a talent for stating the obvious:

Rule #4: We don't pay attention to boring things
Rule #5: Repeat to remember
Rule #6: Remember to repeat
Rule #7: Sleep well, think well

Mr. Medina explains in every chapter what is currently known about a particular brain function and its deficiencies, and offers "transformative" ideas-solutions to aid people at work, home and school. In the latter, Mr. Medina's efforts leave a lot to be desired. Many of his ideas are impractical and borderline juvenile. Any entity or individual handing out grants for serious scientific work should pause for a moment before funding ideas such as putting a treadmill in every classroom and cubicle. "What if, during a lesson, the children were not sitting at desks, but walking on treadmills?... Until brain scientists and education scientists get together to show real-world benefit, the answer is: Nobody knows," asserts Mr. Medina in the chapter about "Rule #1: Exercise boosts brain power". There are a plethora of more pressing and immediate problems such as acquiring the ability to speak, read and write standard English, and teen pregnancy that can put to better use the $500-$1,000 per treadmill per pupil it would cost to implement Mr. Medina's idea of getting more oxygen to the brain during class lectures. And as for his idea of putting treadmills in boardrooms for use during board meetings, well, while we're at it, why not have all board members wear adult diapers to cut down on bathroom breaks to increase productivity while walking on the treadmill at 1.8 miles per hour?

Mr. Medina seems, rightfully so, to be very fond of Google's practice of allocating 20% of its employees' work hours to the exploration of new ideas. "Fully 50% of new products, including Gmail and Google News" were a result of these exploratory sessions. The problem is, instead of discussing successful and proven ideas not yet adopted in business, home or the classroom, Mr. Medina dabbles mostly in the 20% brainstorming territory in what he himself calls "fantasy" sometimes.

Brain rules, despite these quirks still offers the reader value, particularly in chapters 10 (Vision trumps all other senses), and 11 (Male and female brains are different).

In the last chapter, "Exploration", Mr. Medina mentions "Mirror Neurons" in the brain. Human mirror neurons are scattered across the brain, prompting imitative behavior. Stick your tongue out at a newborn, as Mr. Medina did to his 30 minute old son, and he will do the same. The impact of mirror neurons, however, is still speculative - something not mentioned by the author. I've begun an experiment to test its validity, and I plan on updating my review as soon as my 3 month old daughter sticks her tongue out after I do. So far, after one day of experimenting, I've gotten a few smiles out of her, but no tongue. Stay tuned...

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