Came across this article from http://www.inc.com on the 3 interview questions , Mary Barra the CEO of GM always asks prospective employees.
Very nice read………..
Category: Self Help
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The 8 principles of “intrapreneurship” – Great post
I recently came across a great post from yourstory.com and felt like sharing the same.For budding entrepreneurs who are not willing to take the risk and pain of starting from scratch there is “intrapreneurship”.
The 8 principles of nurturing “intrapreneurship” in great organizations with examples of these getting adopted has been mentioned in the following link..
https://yourstory.com/2019/08/intrapreneur-principles-simone-ahuja
Happy reading..
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High Quality Work w.r.t Deep Work
Very interesting formula provided by Cal Newport in the book Deep Work is as follows:
High Quality Work = (Time spent) * Intensity of Focus.
This thus makes deep work necessary for creating something magical.
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Worrying trend of modern day knowledge workers
In the book Deep Work , Cal Newport mentions that in the absence of a need for deep work , knowledge workers are very busy checking emails frequently , attending/setting up meeting requests and engaged in tasks he terms as “busyness as a proxy for productivity“.
This is indeed alarming as well as illuminating since in the absence of a proper metric for productivity , knowledge workers are busy engaging in activities which were the central theme of the Industrial Age.
Like a metric e.g. h-index(used for research) , the modern day knowledge worker should be encouraged to do deep work by means of such pointed metrics to help unleash creativity to take the human race progress even further in the modern Conceptual age driven by knowledge workers.
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Different ways to do “Deep Work” – Cal Newport book takeaways
In “Deep Work” by Cal Newport , the author mentions the following notable techniques to practice the philosophy of “deep work” to create something magical in the modern day economy.
- Monastic method – This is a fully reclusive way of practicing “deep work” wherein the person practicing deep work cuts off all modes of distraction in the form of social media , emails , phone calls etc. and remains completely aloof to create something magical for e.g. great authors
- Bimodal method – This is very difficult wherein the person practicing deep work switches between two modes – One “deep work” being completely detached from distraction and the other is the commonplace shallow mode wherein he/she socializes with friends followers to keep himself/herself motivated to go into a reclusive mode for creating something magical.
Depending on the nature of a person , any of these modes must be followed.
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“Deep Work” by Cal Newport – Key Takeaways
“Deep Work” by Cal Newport is very illuminating and goes a long way in communicating the value of “deep work” as against distraction led shallow work in the form of social media posts , frequent emails , phone calls etc.
The messages conveyed in this book would act as an eye opener to the new age millennial who is addicted to the social media.
To me the best part in “deep work” is the importance attached to “oligodendrocytes”.These are highly specialized neural cells whose function is to myelinate neurons and keep an individual focused.
“Deep work”, Cal Newport says. stimulates oligodendrocytes to help an individual stay focused and concentrate towards creating something magical. All examples of celebrities for e.g Carl Jung , Bill Gates who have spend a considerable amount of time in isolation goes to show by a long way that true creativity can be nurtured only in isolation free from the distraction of social media , emails , phone calls etc.
Hence the need in the modern economy to be precious and create something magical is to regularly practice the art of “deep work” as against distraction led shallow work.
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Human brain – Know these guys and relate them to our day to day emotions
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
Pointers to some key features which play a huge role in our day to day activities –
1) Human Brain consists of a) limbic Brain – Emotional inherited from apes & b) Neo cortex – Rational Brain this is the New Brain unique to humans and makes them special.
2) Left & Right Brain – Left Brain for analytical processing -IQ whereas Right Brain for getting a big picture – EQ
3) Some major parts of brain related to emotions-
A) Amygdala – Almond shaped and a key part of limbic brain related to ebb and flow of emotions.
B) Hippocampus – Related to long term memory
C) Basal Ganglia – Responsible for habit pattern formation.
D) Fusiform gurus – Responsible for identification of facial patterns.
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How to shift from L brain thinking to R brain thinking
Few key takeaways as mentioned by Daniel Pink in his great book “A Whole New Mind“.
The need of the hour in the current CONCEPTUAL age is a right balance of IQ(L brain) with EQ(R Brain)
1) Mere function vs DESIGN
2) Argument vs STORYTELLING
3) Focus vs SYNTHESIS
4) Logic vs EMPATHY
5) Seriousness vs PLAY
6) Accumulation vs MEANING
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What is fMRI??
fMRI or Functional MRI scans are used to study patterns of the brain and infer important details..
For e.g when shown something emotional , an almond shaped part in brain known as amygdala gets activated and helps reaching important conclusions.
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Importance of RIGHT BRAIN thinking
The following insight inspired from Daniel Pink’s book A Whole New Mind enlightens us on the importance of right brain thinking.
1) Left Brain for number crunching vs Right Brain for getting the big picture
2) From Industrial Age till Information Age need of the hour was L(Left Brain) Directed thinking.
In the modern Conceptual Age , in the age of abundance , R(Right Brain) Directed Thinking would rule.