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The
traditional definition and use of the term 'Thinking Cap' is
when say; a teacher uses the
tongue-in-cheek phrase, "put on your thinking
cap," and asks students to concentrate and do their
best.
So why do we need to more closely look at our Thinking
Cap? Because when we play the game of life,
not only do we have to put on our Thinking Cap, but also if we have a faulty thinking process that
will “cap” how good we can become!
It is important to note that The Thinking Cap is NOT normally
about improving the content of our thought process, like
our analysis, evaluation, or planning skills.
Executive
Coaching and Unlocking
the Brain’s Potential: -The 'Mind’ Age
So why is it that that only now we can
select the right Thinking Cap to fit? Because, only in the
last
decade has there been sufficient research and practical
experience to form a framework for developing
thinking skills. The
theoretical basis of the 'Thinking Cap' is the ‘active’
theory of ‘learning how’ rather
than ‘learning that’.
The Behavioral Sciences provide Coaches the Keys
The recent ‘rediscovery of the concept of mind’, the
attempts of cognitive psychology to analyse the
processes involved in acquiring the skills of learning, and a
dissatisfaction with the concept of one
measurable form of intelligence provide the context for
coaching thinking skills in executives.
Latest
research in the field of behavioral neuroscience proves that the
brain has the ability to rewire
itself and what you do and think can therefore change the patterns of connections with the neural
networks of your
brain. The
challenge therefore for all of us is to find out how best to help the
brain
maximize its potential.
Change
Your Mind.. and change your life!
Dr Skiffington's Mind WorkOut Coaching Tools® translate the latest advances in
behavioral
neuroscience and psychology
to provide participants the unique
opportunity to find the 'Thinking
Cap' that best fits them. To this end the Coaching Mind Tool's provide: 1) easy-to-use
techniques
and models providing coaches specific a step-by-step set of processes
in critical thinking skills
they have selected and, 2) other key
skills required to master specific tasks.
Behavior (what we do or say) is the by-product of
thought
Let's start at the beginning: life is a thinking
game, so obviously our thought process (in addition to
the other areas, life skills, experience and
knowledge) is an extremely important part of how
successful we are. Yet almost no one is taught in their
earlier years how to create a good thought process. The result, almost
everyone immediately develops bad habits that must be overcome
if they want to fulfill their potential and become stronger.
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Encouraging
good thinking habits
A good thought process must be subconscious, because if
one has to think about how you are thinking, that of course
interferes with the process! For example, when you first learned
how to walk your brain spent a lot of processing time trying to
figure out how to prevent you from falling. But once you got the
hang of it, you no longer thought anything about it – now if
you walk across the room you don't think about which foot to
move next nor which muscles need to be told how to react in
order to do so.
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Coaches help
Executives Pump Iron in
the Mental Gym
However, when you get into bad habits in your thought
process and become aware of them, for a time you need to adjust
your process, and this requires consciously being aware about
what you are doing. So of course at first this intrusion into
your thinking is awkward and possibly even
counterproductive, but once you continue to exercise and
get the efficient process down pat, you start to think about the
improved process less and less until you just do it, with
markedly improved results.
The 'Professional Game'
-An example of Some Thinking Elements required by the Executive
Analysis – The part of the thinking process where you say
to yourself, “If I go there, what can happen
and then what I am going to do in reply?”. Evaluation – Looking at a situation and deciding what
is the 'state of play' and what position are the 'players' in.
Planning – Gathering information on the 'players' and
'resources' and evaluating your and others strengths and weaknesses.
Dr
Skiffington's invitational,
fast-tracked, 4 Day, Very
Small Group Certified
Master Coach Course (conducted in N.Y., London,
Sydney etc) meets the critical needs for executive coaches to be trained and mentored in the use of
validated, reliable psychology-based tools and techniques.
Read More > Coaching Mind Tools....
Footnote: Breaking News: NASA
develops their own Thinking Cap
Here's a new type approach to the 'Thinking cap' that
works a bit differently. It really is a 'Cap'. This thinking
cap actually measures thinking—or brain function, to be more
precise. The National Space Biomedical Research Institute (NSBRI)
is funding the development of a lightweight imaging cap that
is designed to assess brain function. Has the imaging cap been
successfully developed? The answer is a qualified yes.
Laboratory tests have been very positive. Testing has been
done simultaneously with traditional MRI brain scans, and the
results have been compared.
Besides its medical uses,
the imaging cap can help scientists and physicians learn more
about brain function. "The imaging cap serves two
purposes, then," says Director Strangman. "It has
medical
purposes: to monitor heart rate and it can evaluate brain
function, which can help us with cognitive monitoring. We'll
be able to test readiness to perform critical tasks that, for
example, may be affected by stress levels. The more we know
about how the brain works, the better we can aid astronauts
in both health and workload during space missions."
-Courtesy of NASA's
Aeronautics Mission Directorate, Published by NASAexplores
© 2006
Behavioral Coaching Institute.
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