When I was on line this morning, self-selecting my news, as we all tend to do, I was immediately drawn to an interview with Barbara Strauch, the New York Times health editor about her book “The Secret Life of the Grown-Up Brain: The Surprising Talents of the Middle-Aged Mind”.  I haven’t had an opportunity to review the book and am interested to find out more about the studies she briefly discussed (but didn’t cite).

I did not grow up being a big science fan, but I now find the research in neuroscience to be incredibly exciting as we “lay people” can understand the simple concepts without having to be brain scientists.

In my transition work with organizations and individuals, I find that my clients are far more receptive to learning about themselves – their feelings, reactions and motivations when they can attach a biological reason for some of their behaviors.  We like to connect the dots in a way that provides an underlying cause for any behavior we judge to not be our best.  For example, I have a good friend who is incredibly sensitive to her blood-sugar levels, and when it drops, so does her smile, she is definitely off her game.  But now that she knows the issue, she keeps healthy snacks around to keep her functioning at her preferred level.

Similar to this, the more we know about how the brain works, the more we can prepare “snacks” to keep us at our best.   “Change” to many people is like the drop in blood-sugar levels, and it can cause the brain to produce a chemical that interferes with productivity.  It is important for organizations anticipating change to recognize this and tap into the resources that can help mitigate the effects and help the team to the “snacks” they need.

If anyone has read Strauch’s book – would you please send me a note?  Thanks and have a great week.