BrainChains: Your thinking brain explained in simple terms. Full of practical tools, tips and tricks to improve your efficiency, creativity and health. How to cope better with ICT, being always connected, multitasking, email, social media, lack of sleep and stress - Softcover

Compernolle MD.PhD, Dr Theo

Softcover

ISBN 10: 9082205807 ISBN 13: 9789082205800

Publisher: compublications, 2014

Synopsis

In this book "BRAINCHAINS" you discover your brain, to unleash its full potential in a hyperconnected, multitasking world
Prof Dr Theo Compernolle studied over 600 publications, surveyed 1200 professionals and wrote another easy readable and practical book.As a medical doctor, neuropsychiatrist and scholar with decades of experience in medical schools and business schools in many countries, he integrates science from many domains.

What is your most important tool to be successful as a professional? Your brain!
What do you know about your thinking brain? Nothing.
The sad result: a majority of knowledge workers ruin the performance of their magnificent brain, and obstruct the matchless potential of their brain-ICT collaboration (Information and Communication Technologies).
Taking into account the strengths and weaknesses of your brain you will also get the best results from your brain-ICT synergy.

-Part 1: How your reflecting brain, your archiving brain and your reflex brain influence your thinking
-Part 2: The BrainChains: how always being connected, multitasking, stress and lack of sleep ruin your performance
-Part 3: Practical tools and tips to unchain your brain
-The fifth BrainChain; “Badly Designed Offices” about disastrous open offices is a FREE BOOKLET at www.brainchains.org

“Eye-opener! A great read for all of us who are "juggling-it-all", work and family, are interested in increasing productivity and to get the most of our brains AND our smart phones.Marjan Inbar, Senior Communications Consultant, NY. USA

“...quite a feat to integrate research from so many domains and turn them in a very readable, inspiring, useful often surprising and even stirring book... not only the problems... but also the solutions...”Daniel Blumberg, Principal and Investor, NY

“... a compelling, meticulously researched, and cleverly illustrated case against the twin tyrannies of hyperconnectivity and multitasking... also shows how to free ourselves from them” Nélida and Jorge Colapinto (Psychologists). Wynnewood. PA. USA

“Read this book if you’d like to learn how to master information technology, rather than have it master you and letting it get in the way of doing your best work.” Prof Peter Cappelli.G.W. Taylor Professor of Management. The Wharton School. Philadelphia. USA

“...Multitasking is impossible! Understanding and accepting this, helped me to refocus on tasks which matters and to rediscover my creativity. I used the short MULTITASKING test in my meetings in our global organization. It’s exciting to see everywhere the “aha”-epiphany!”Dr. Peter zum Hebel, Vice President, Manufacturing, Kemira Germany

“... a revelation for me and helped me better understand why people do what they do in a health & safety context. An essential and easy read for practical people, who want to know how people work and what can be practically done to maximize their efficiency and reduce human error”Malc Staves, Global Health & Safety Director, L’Oréal .Paris France

“... an easy to read “page turner”... which I feel everyone in the “connected” world should read”Dave Scott President Barco, Inc. USA

“...everybody is complaining about a continuous input overload. Yet the real quandary is: while we are continuously flooded by the breakers of redundant signals we do suffer from a lack of relevant information. Theo Compernolle describes and analyzes this state of affairs and its impact on our daily life and our habitual and creative performance.”Gottlieb GUNTERN, President of CREANDO - International Foundation for Creativity & Leadership, Switzerland

“...This book shows me a so powerful human brain ... Looking inside into my brain, I get my idea to have my life back under my own control... and recapture time to love and be loved...“Wei TAO, Business Information Manager of DSM China

About this title

From the Author

What's the story behind your latest book?In my teaching, coaching and collaboration with hundreds of professionals I had the impression that the way they use their Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), like email and smartphones, had become very counter-productive: not only undermining the great potential of their brain, but also ruining the very promising synergy between their magnificent brain and their fantastic technology.

Next I dived deep into the research and found out that it was even worse than I expected.

The third step was to find out if this was true for the population of my clients. Therefore I did a survey and 1200 responded, about 50% managers and 50% other professionals. You are probably one of them (thanks!)
Some of you may remember that the results were such that at that point the working title of my book became: "How we unknowingly f***-up our brainwork by being always connected and multitasking". The title expressed how bad it was.

Then I started asking hundreds of professionals in my workshops and lectures: what is your most important tool to be successful as a professional? 99% answered: my brain!
Next I asked: What do you know about your brain? The answer for 99% was: Basically nothing.
Quite unbelievable that 99% of professionals don't know anything about their most important tool to be successful: their brain.

The sad result is that a huge majority of knowledge workers, unknowingly, ruin the performance of their magnificent brain, and obstruct the matchless potential of the collaboration between their brain and their ICT.

Therefore I wrote the book "BRAINCHAINS" to help you discover the science about your thinking brain and the very day-to day, down to earth consequences for your intellectual performance. It will help you to unleash the full potential of your brain in a hyperconnected, multitasking world. Taking into account the strengths and weaknesses of your brain you will also get the best results from your brain-ICT synergy.
As a medical doctor, neuropsychiatrist and scholar, with decades of experience in medical schools and business schools in many countries, I am able to integrate science from many domains. For this book I studied over 600 publications and turned this knowledge into an easy readable and practical book.What is your writing process?Let's start with what drives me.
> I am driven by curiosity: especially about the modern brainworkers, their intellectual productivity, their life balance, their personalities, their brains, their leaders and their companies.
> I am Passionate about simplicity: burning the midnight oil to get to the essence of what I learn from research and conversations.
> I am Zealous about teaching; transmitting my knowledge in a simple, but not simplistic, lasting and useful way to professionals, students and the public at large.

I am also very suspicious about mere opinions, especially of uninformed people, my own opinions included.

Therefore the first step is always a question, my own or the question of one of the participants in my workshops or lectures.
If I don't really know the answer I will delve in the research literature, sometimes very deep.
Helped by the fact that as a neuropsychiatrist I am trained in very different disciplines like medicine, psychology, biology, physiology, neurology, psychotherapy etc... etc... I then try to integrate the findings in different disciplines to really understand the issue.
Once I think I understood the issue, I further burn the midnight candle to find a way to explain this knowledge into very simple terms, in a text a metaphor, an image, a slide for a presentation, an interview and ultimately in a book. I try to follow the advise of Leonardo da Vinci: Simplicity is the Ultimate Sophistication.This process was perfectly described by Steve Jobs:
"If you read the Apple's first brochure, the headline was 'Simplicity is the Ultimate Sophistication.' What we meant by that was that when you first attack a problem it seems really simple because you don't understand it. Then when you start to really understand it, you come up with these very complicated solutions because it's really hairy. Most people stop there. But a few people keep burning the midnight oil and finally understand the underlying principles of the problem and come up with an elegantly simple solution for it. But very few people go the distance to get there"

About the Author

Prof Dr Theo Compernolle MD. PhD. Is a neuropsychiatrist.
He is an adjunct professor at the CEDEP European Centre for Executive Development. 
He teaches and coaches in the executive programs of business schools like INSEAD in France and TIAS in the Netherlands.
He consults, teaches and coaches professionals, managers and executives in a wide range of (multi)national companies, professional services firms and training institutions in many different cultures and countries. 
He holds these sessions in English, Dutch and French.

He has held the positions of Suez Chair in Leadership and Personal Development at the Solvay Business School, Adjunct Professor at INSEAD, visiting professor at several business schools and Professor at the Free University of Amsterdam. 

As a medical doctor, neuro-psychiatrist, psychotherapist and business consultant, Theo studies research from very different fields including medicine, biology, psychology, neurology, physiology and management. He then burns the midnight oil to integrate this information into a coherent whole and to find simple ways to pass on this knowledge, in a memorable way, to all kinds of professionals. His clients often call his sessions "Science made simple and useful".

He has published several non-fiction books and more than a hundred scientific articles. Three of his books ao. "STRESS: FRIEND AND FOE. Vital Stress Management at work and in the family" became bestsellers and long-sellers.
He has also been the director of several inpatient and outpatient departments.
Theo gained a Ph.D. at the University of Amsterdam (the Netherlands). He is certified as a psychotherapist and as medical specialist in neuropsychiatry and psychotherapy. He trained at the universities of Amsterdam (The Netherlands), Leiden (The Netherlands) and Pennsylvania (USA) where he was a fellow. He graduated as a Medical Doctor from the Catholic University of Leuven (Belgium).

Edition details

• Publisher: compublications
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 9082205807
• ISBN 13: 9789082205800
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 520