Brain as a Business Model

As we move toward publication of the second edition, with all-new passages and practical advice, we are honored to be featured on the cover of the current edition of The European Financial Review, "the leading financial intelligence magazine read widely by financial experts and the wider business community," as the publication bills itself.

Co-authored by Top, Bottom authors Stephen M. Kosslyn and G. Wayne Miller with Leo M. Tilman, Executive Chairman of Capitol Peak Asset Management (with offices in New York and Denver), adjunct faculty at Columbia University, and author of Financial Darwinism, "Brain as a Business Model" applies the Theory of Cognitive Modes to the business world.

"Brain as Business Model": The European Financial Review

Here is an excerpt:

The human brain and “brains” of business enterprises have a lot in common. Both set goals, create situational awareness, and use experience to refine and execute plans. Both have distinct yet highly intertwined parts with complementary roles. The classification of people’s cognitive strengths and weaknesses has useful parallels to those of companies.

Akin to successful individuals, thriving organizations exhibit a rich and balanced collaboration between different parts of their corporate brains. This enables them to understand “the future that has already happened,” evolve strategies, and remain competitive and relevant...

Executives and board members who constitute the “top brain” of a company put forth strategic vision and goals, set up processes and plans, direct execution, and revise plans when expected events do not occur. They react to changes in the operating environment through changes in strategy, new products, and business model transformations. 

In complementing these “top brain” activities, employees and divisions who form the “bottom brain” of a company classify and interpret what they perceive – in terms of changing customer needs and feedback as well as emerging dangers and opportunities. These “bottom brain” activities allow companies to execute the evolving strategy, innovate, and improve methods and processes – all while helping executives and boards evaluate and refine strategies.

Read the full article here.

Pre-order the second edition of Top Brain, Bottom Brain: Harnessing the Power of the Cognitive Modes.

Coming in March: Revised second edition!

 

The revised second edition, with expanded practical applications, highlights how readers can harness the theory to succeed in their own personal and professional lives. A new focus, a new subtitle, built on the ground-breaking new science. Details here. And to preorder, click here.

33voices features the Theory of Cognitive Modes

Thanks to 33voices founder and president Moe Abdou, our discussion of the Theory of Cognitive Modes went live today. Click here to listen to the interview and see the extraordinary slide deck.

For those unfamiliar with 33voices, it is becoming a leading forum for thought leaders in business, innovation, leadership, life and startups.

Here is Moe's introduction to the interview:

"In 2006, when Daniel Pink’s epic manifesto, A Whole New Mind, became the inspiration for the creative class, the world was convinced that the twenty-first century belongs to the ‘creators and empathizers, pattern recognizers, and meaning makers’ in essence, the right-brain thinkers. Pink shared a compelling perspective that described a future where linear and analytical thinking will no longer be sufficient to surviving, rather its the ‘right-brain qualities of inventiveness, empathy, joyfulness, and meaning - increasingly will determine who flourishes and who flounders.’ The science is persuasive, but listen to Stephen Kosslyn and G. Wayne Miller and their evidence might suggest otherwise.

"In their book, Top Brain, Bottom Brain, Kosslyn and Miller suggest that how you think is actually shaped by your different brain regions, here’s why:"

Our new Psychology Today blog debuts!

 Today, we published the first post on our new Psychology Today blog: The Theory of Cognitive Modes. We will be posting regularly -- original content, answers to reader questions, excerpts from Top Brain Bottom Brain: Surprising Insights Into How You Think, and more.

Here is how we began:

In the posts ahead, we will explore in depth the Theory of Cognitive Modes, a new way of understanding thought and behavior that, until now, has largely remained inside scientific circles. We will discuss everyday implications of the theory that might help you, the reader, in matters ranging from relationships to family dynamics to work to your own voyage of personal discovery. We promise a lively and sometimes provocative experience. We welcome input from you and we will address your observations and questions as best we can. Please write.

Read more from our maiden post and check back often for new guidance, observations, explication and more...

Stephen and Wayne: The Psychology Today blog.

'Startling revelations' in book, says Italian medical publication

Dossier Medicina: The Online News Magazine of Medicine goes on to explore the book, "which aims to reflect on the implications, all testable, this new way of analyzing brain and thought," according to a Google translation.

"The four modes of operation and interaction identified by Kosslyn and Miller high for the brain and the lower brain," Dossier Medicina says, "are called Dynamic ('Mover'), Thoughtful ('Perceiver'), Creative ('Stimulator') and elastic (Adaptor)." Read the full article here.

Italy is one of several foreign markets where the book is being sold (China, Japan, Russia and Korea are others). And the foreign press has paid attention since before publication, with articles in Brazil, Mexico, Korea and elsewhere.
 

Dossier Medicina illustration

Your brain explained

Click here for a good primer on how the brain works, and is affected by digital technology -- i.e., neuroplasticity at work. Told with clarity and humor by The Providence Journal, where Top Brain, Bottom Brain co-author G. Wayne Miller is a staff writer, this is a good companion to the Theory of Cognitive Modes.

And for a three-minute introduction to the theory, watch this video.

Use your brain to set your New Year's goals

Every New Year we traditionally reflect on where we are and where we’d like to be. As 2013 gives way to 2014, it may be useful to contemplate the words of the ancient Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu:“He who knows others is learned; He who knows himself is wise.”

Do you really know yourself? Are you open to a new way of understanding why you—and the people around you—think and behave as you do? Do you hope to succeed at work, start a new relationship or improve an existing one, or get in better overall shape?

Whatever your ambition for 2014, your journey will begin with your mind, those cognitive faculties that arise from your brain -- and the new Theory of Cognitive Modes, a scientifically-based new theory of personality, may be useful. Read New Year's resolution tips, take the test, and find practical year-long advice at the Simon & Schuster Tips on Life & Love blog.

-- For specific relationship insights from the Theory of Cognitive Modes, click here.

-- For specific work and business guidance, click here.

-- To delve deeper into the psychology and neuroscience behind the theory, read this.

-- The theory even has application for sports.