Neuroscience and Innovation
May 10, 2023 | AUVSI News
On Wednesday, May 10, XPONENTIAL 2023 featured keynote speaker Amy Posey, Founder and CEO of SUPER*MEGA*BOSS. She has spent the last 20 years speaking about human performance at work. She is an author, facilitator, and business leader who uses her understanding of applied neuroscience to uncover better ways of working.
By understanding how the brain works and how it affects behavior, decision-making, and learning, Posey focused on how organizations can develop new technologies and strategies that improve performance and drive innovation.
The Four Brain Networks
While the brain is “the most complicated thing in the known universe,” Posey broke it down into the following four networks:
With an understanding of these networks, she went into how they can be utilized to spark innovation.
5 Things to Spark Innovation
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Positivity: Broadens your focus and attention, increasing right hemisphere activation and creative cognition
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Daydreaming: Formally referred to as ‘incubation,’ complex neural connections for insight take time. By daydreaming, the brain can transfer conclusions to consciousness.
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Quiet: Working in quiet provides ‘sensory gating’ and an opportunity to dull one’s senses, which must happen in order to have an a-ha moment.
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Reframe: It’s important to look at challenges from a different perspective. This can be getting insights from people or ideas from other spaces. This broadens your base of existing.
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Struggle: You must struggle to innovate. It is part of the process, and likely a sign that you are heading in the right direction.
Environment and Physical Surroundings
Posey explained that where people do their best thinking impacts their innovation. Nature is a natural re-set for the human brain and inspires Blue-Sky Thinking, which occurs when brains operate at their best: outside, in motion, amid complex thought. Since the modern workday tends to take place inside, stagnant, working on many complex tasks, Blue-Sky Thinking must be inspired intentionally.
Amy is the author of the book Wild Success, which can be purchased here.
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