The dirty little secret that “Brain Training” app creators don’t want you to know.
Over Christmas, a key executive at a large, well-known tech company approached me, wanting help with a very specific problem:
He sits in meetings with counterparts who seems to operate with superior vision. It’s like they're playing on a different level to him. Or even, playing a completely different game all together.
The question he came to me with was
“How can I raise my game, so I can be ‘ that’ guy?"
Which begs interesting questions such as:
- Is it possible to deliberately develop a potentially limitless mind?
- Can you consciously train mastering pattern recognition in your field?
- And if so, is it possible to accelerate these processes, and have the confidence that you can keep your edge?
His meetings are frequently high-pressure, high-stakes situations, often negotiating on major M&A deals and other strategic partnerships.
For a while he experienced a little mental niggle at the back of his mind. Slowly gnawing away, this psychological worm infiltrating in the form of a voice:
“Am I losing my edge? I don’t think I’m as sharp as I used to be.”
… all the while meeting daily with people at the top of their game.
He had been trying to develop his mental acuity through a couple of routes, including experimenting with various brain training apps as well as binge-listening to reputable productivity podcasts.
Like many professionals today, there is a common fear of losing your edge, resulting in missing a crucial detail on a deal or negotiation… or making critical decisions whilst operating with glaring blind-spots.
You live in hope that there is a solution out there which is just right for you, so you can escape that niggling feeling that there are other smarter, faster people out there who might just eat you for lunch.
And I’m guessing you are not in the market to be eaten.
What is the misconception around brain training and brain training apps?
Like many people trying to surmount this concern, it can be easy to get swept along in whatever new pop-psych fad is de rigeur.
The Power of Habit. Mental models. Decision making. Behaviour design. Communication. Storytelling. Transformational leadership. Innovation. Empathy. Emotional intelligence. Resilience… And on, and on it goes...
It is all rather dizzying, isn’t it?
Claims from the “Brain Training” industry will have you believe that they can “make your brain younger”, albeit by practicing mental arithmetic, or by testing your memory by practicing matching up pairs of random images.
Please be warned: Without properly understanding your own situation, this can all be an utter waste of time.
You could pour countless, pointless hours into matching up pairs of images, or working through another course on Linkedin Learning only to find that you are no sharper in your client meetings than you were a month ago. If anything, you’re probably worse, because now you’re spending time on these games and courses rather than focusing on the task at hand.
Why is this the wrong approach?
Here’s the key point: the development (& retention) of skills and knowledge is incredibly domain specific. An oft-cited analogy by way of a thought experiment is to imagine if Michael Phelps and Usain Bolt swapped sports. (I know you know how this one plays out, but bear with me).
Both are supreme athletes, but would Phelps get anywhere close to the 10-second barrier in a 100m dash?
Can Usain even swim?
Phelps got good at swimming by getting in the pool, while Bolt got busy running quick by staying put on dry land.
Though the idea is not new, it’s worth restating; you need to focus your (mental or physical) training efforts in the relevant arena.
But the analogy goes further.
Get into the right arena, yes. But also make sure you’re practicing the very specific discipline you need to master. And rehearse it intelligently so that you really ‘have’ it.
He may be in the pool, but Michael Phelps totally flops from the high-diving board and his synchronised swimming routine isn’t much worth turning up for either.
Brain training is no different. And all the brain training apps out there simply miss the fundamental point that training needs to be incredibly domain specific.
What is the truth?
I've had the privilege of giving talks in partnership with professor Adrian Owen during his tenure as professor of cognitive neuroscience at Cambridge University (UK).
Some of his work has involved researching the efficacy of brain training apps.
His findings on studies involving over 10,000 participants, prove conclusively that there is no positive impact.
Famously, in 2016 the brain training app Lumosity agreed to pay a $2m settlement to customers in an FTC deceptive advertising charge. They were also fined $50m for damages.
Point being; these brain training games simply... Do. Not. Work.
When I used to be a competitive memory “athlete” it was possible to be a whizz at the "names and faces” discipline - through training, being able to process and retain 100+ names in under 5 minutes.
I was also quite good at random numbers. You’d be presented with sheets of paper, each one with 1,000 random digits on it, and you would have 1 hour to mentally “onboard” as many numbers as possible before testing.
People could be great at these tests, yet dismal at doing decks of cards and rubbish at random words.
So you see, you can develop remarkable mental acuity in very narrow disciplines which doesn’t necessarily carry across to other fields.
In case you were wondering, I managed to top 1,500 random numbers in an hour before hanging up my competitive memory boots, choosing to apply the same powerful underlying principles to other more useful domains.
Anyway, not-so-humble-brag over.
Here’s how to solve for your situation:
If you want to build a bulletproof mind for peak performance in any given situation so you can see round corners and be 10 steps ahead of your competition, this is how you do it:
- Look at which specific skills, frameworks and bodies of knowledge are actually of relevance and use to you right now.
- Go out and find the best sources of wisdom on the planet for what you are trying to do.
- Keep it simple. Ignore the noise. Eliminate as much as possible.
- Use the meta-skills of rapid knowledge acquisition and (importantly) retention, to ingrain whatever you are trying to learn so that you ‘have' it at your fingertips for the long-term.
- Apply it in the real world as soon as possible.
- Repeat.
So, what happened to our executive M&A friend at the tech company?
Well... (scroll)
...we took material hyper-relevant to his situation and worked to embed essential client data in his long-term memory.
Then we coupled that with best-in-class negotiation frameworks, (embedding those too), so he was then able to move fluidly from a 30,000-foot view right down to the finest detail.
This enabled him to maintain composure, and control the arc of each conversation, so now he can lead meetings precisely to where he wants them to go, all whilst having rock-solid confidence in his mental prowess.
And how about you?
What is the cost of one dropped catch in your life…? What is one lost deal worth to you?And if you do screw up one deal now, what does the future downward trend look like over the next 5-10 years of your competitive career?
If this poses a potential problem for you too, then ask yourself the following question: If you do not solve this now, then when? And know this; no one is coming. No one else is going to step up and do this FOR you. You have to be the one to take action.
Consider this note a friendly tap on your shoulder to do something about it now.
If this message resonates with you on any level and you’d like to discuss your specific situation, then take action today and schedule time to talk:
Thanks for reading.
Richard
