Play Your Brain : Adopt a Musical Mindset and Change your Life and Career

241 Pages·2012·1.05 MB·English

by  Anette Prehn

ANETTE PREHN & KJELD FREDENS
PLAY
YOUR
BRAIN
Adopt a Musical Mindset and
Change Your Life and Career
SELF-DEVELOPMENT
“A masterpiece... One of those books you must have!” – Tobias Kiefer,
Head of Global Learning and Development, Booz & Company
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What people are saying about
P L AY YOUR BRAIN
“ This book humanises science, by exploring how things work in
relation to how we work. And the key to this exploration is music.
The brain as jazz band is a delightful analogy — a collection of cells
that plays and improvises in harmony. No longer will it be thought
of as a lump in the head on a trajectory of decay, but rather, an
infi nitely adaptable and playful part of all we are and know.”
— Stephen Hough,
classical pianist, composer & writer
“ What companies need today are adaptable, innovative and collab-
orative people. Play Your Brain convincingly demonstrates how
to achieve this and strengthen your results by adopting a musical
mindset. A must-buy for anyone working in ever-changing envi-
ronments, and aiming to deliver out-of-the-box performance.”
— Alex Myers,
President & CEO, ArjoHuntleigh

“ A pioneer work in the emerging fi eld of applied neuros cience,
Play Your Brain likens the brain to a jazz band — in its capacity to
improvise and make new connections. The authors show how to
maximise its enormous potential, through immensely thoughtful,
practical and brain-based suggestions. Highly recommended!”
— Paul T. Brown,
Visiting Professor in Organisational Neuroscience,
London South Bank University
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“ A masterpiece, and tight to the core, Play Your Brain is essential
reading for all leaders and managers who want to orchestrate their
employees and organisations to become highly self-regulated.
Combining brain science with real-life examples, this book paves
the way to implementation in relation to everyday challenges. One
of those books you must have!”
— Tobias Kiefer,
Head of Global Learning & Development,
Booz & Company
“H ow do you acquire the readiness to change that is so sought after
in today’s business environment — but also so hard to achieve
without the nearly insurmountable eff ort and cost of ‘change pro-
grammes’ and course activity? Play Your Brain shows you how. If
playing certain ‘keys’ does not deliver — change! If you feel stuck
on a key — change! If your ‘melody’ goes out of tune — change!
Thus readiness to change and a fl exible mindset become a natural
part of your approach to life and business. An engaging and very
approachable book for any layer of an organisation.”
— Henriette Kistrup,
Supply Chain Director, Carlsberg UK

“ Mathematics and melancholy, poetry and logic, narrow rules and
grandiose dreams — all possible strategies and inspirations unite
themselves in the musician. Play Your Brain makes clear how
everyone can gain from approaching life and goals in musical ways.
The inspirational potential of this book is immense.”
— Morten Zeuthen,
Professor, Royal Danish Academy of Music
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“ Play Your Brain is like a wise friend off ering tools and pointers for
acting in useful ways and staying on top of situations. It is great to
be able to ‘look up inside yourself’ when you need help. It creates
energy to give — and this surely is what society needs today.”
— Lisbet Thyge Frandsen,
Group Senior Vice President, Grundfos Management
“H ow to adopt a musical mindset and create the change you want?
Anette Prehn and Kjeld Fredens propose playing the eight keys
of your ‘inner piano,’ to create a fl exible state that adjusts to every
situation — an invaluable ability in today’s changeable world. Play
Your Brain will help readers succeed in both life and career.”
— Yi-Yuan Tang, Professor of Neuroinformatics,
Dalian University of Technology
“ Play Your Brain off ers refreshing, new insight into how we can all
grow and adapt, breaking the habits that hold us back. The idea of
unlocking the magic of the musical mindset is a powerful one that
will boost life and career coping around the globe.”
— Paul Satti, Managing Director,
Novozymes Malaysia
“ A brain expert and a coach. Neuroscience and sociology. Innova-
tion and leadership development. Two very strong authors and an
immensely important challenge: How may I understand myself
better and become more skilled in reaching my goals? Anette
Prehn and Kjeld Fredens have come together and written a very
inspiring and useful book that introduces how to play eight ‘keys’
that will turn your brain into a co-player.”
— Steen Hildebrandt,
Professor of Management Studies, Aarhus University
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P L AY YOUR B RA I N
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ANETTE PREHN & K JELD FREDENS
P L A Y
Y O U R
B R A I N
Adopt a Musical Mindset and
Change Your Life & Career
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Copyright © 2011 Anette Prehn & Kjeld Fredens
First published in 2011 by Marshall Cavendish Business
An imprint of Marshall Cavendish International
PO Box 65829
London EC1P 1NY
United Kingdom
[email protected]
and
1 New Industrial Road
Singapore 536196
[email protected]
www.marshallcavendish.com/genref
Marshall Cavendish is a trademark of Times Publishing Limited
Other Marshall Cavendish offi ces:
Marshall Cavendish International (Asia) Private Limited, 1 New Industrial Road, Singapore
536196 • Marshall Cavendish Corporation, 99 White Plains Road, Tarrytown NY 10591–
9001, USA • Marshall Cavendish International (Thailand) Co Ltd, 253 Asoke, 12th Floor,
Sukhumvit 21 Road, Klongtoey Nua, Wattana, Bangkok 10110, Thailand • Marshall Cavendish
(Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, Times Subang, Lot 46, Subang Hi-Tech Industrial Park, Batu Tiga, 40000
Shah Alam, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia
The right of Anette Prehn and Kjeld Fredens to be identifi ed as the authors of this work has been
asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any
form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without
the prior permission of the copyright owner. Requests for permission should be addressed to the
publisher.
The authors and publisher have used their best efforts in preparing this book and disclaim
liability arising directly and indirectly from the use and application of this book. All reasonable
efforts have been made to obtain necessary copyright permissions. Any omissions or errors are
unintentional and will, if brought to the attention of the publisher, be corrected in future printings.
A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 978–981–4328–58–6
Cover design by OpalWorks
Printed and bound in the United Kingdom by TJ International Ltd
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Contents
Introduction
Setting the tone
1
The music in your brain ............................................2
The eight keys of your inner piano ...........................4
Adopting a musical mindset ......................................6
The plasticity of your brain ......................................9
Making the most of the time with yourself ..............12
Thoughts
Tuning your mind for success
15
From judging to mindfulness..................................16
Narrative circuitry vs. direct experience .................18
The power of optimism ..........................................20
From rocking chair to the Circle of Infl uence .........23
Pass me the remote control, please! .........................25
Improving the quality of your questions .................28
Playing the Thoughts key .........................................33
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