I really like the phrase ‘brain training’ – it’s a great phrase and feels ‘right’. I guess we all train our brains to some extent. But lately I’ve been getting very aware of some of my mental ‘flab’ and want to think leaner, faster, and more creatively. Almost certainly a side-effect of approaching my 34th year :-|
The last post made me think about the kind of brain training I’ve lined up for myself.

• Some of it will come from physical exercise (swimming & yoga _really_ improve my creative thinking and general mental agility), but I also picked up some books recently that I guess are complete brain training:

• Edward De Bono – Six Thinking Hats

• Tom Stafford & Matt Webb – Mind Hacks

• I’ve been a mild De Bono fan ever since my Dad gave me one of his books and I learnt the ‘negative approach’ (I doubt that’s its real name) where you list everything you _don’t_ want to happen with a project/idea/etc. – it’s brilliant – it’s a damn site easier to think negatively when presented with a problem. By listing all the wrong things, it soon becomes clear what the outcome _should_ be.

• I saw this technique used by Coppola when he was talking about the Godfather’s wedding scene – he was reading a list of all the things he didn’t want it to be (“I didn’t want it all stereotypical italian, big cakes and stupid accents…”) It was amazing, because he listed a bunch of negatives…the documentary cuts to the wedding scene and it’s the exact _opposite_ of his negative list…De Bono in action!

• I’ve just noticed another O’Reilly book, Mind Performance Hacks – now there’s an overt brain training book, if ever there was one.

• And yesterday, in the supermarket alongside the discounted Dan Browns and diet books I noticed a book called bloody Mind Gym! Brain training personified!

I think this a brilliant trend…I’m fascinated by the massive commercial success of The Nintendo Brain Training games in Japan- and Sudoko in the UK (also in Japan).
Will Brain Training become a lasting, norm? What’s the impact in the workplace? Will people change their expectations and quality/pain threshold for traditional corporate learning?
Should the design of learning embrace these trends? What does a ‘brain training’ trend look like? Here’s a shot at design trends that reflect ‘brain training’:

• small pieces of attention filler

• content that asks as many questions as it answers

• immediate challenge

• rewards curiosity

• playful

• links away from itself

• micro-chunks of time required