[Sent via email]
September 9, 1996 03 00050 96090901
Mr. Thomas K. Landauer, Phd
University of Colorado
Campus Box #345
Boulder, CO 80309
| Subject: | Research on Cognition |
|
People Use only Small Portion of Mental Ability |
References:
Below is a short article
for a management newsletter citing the notion that
people use only a small part of mental capability, and drawing a corellary with
the small amount of stuff people write down from dialog and personal analysis.
I thought possibly you could point me to research/studies on the amount of
"brain power" people use, per the article.
Second, have you done or know of studies on whether mental acuity is "improved"
by writing a diary? Seems like there are examples from history, Ceasar,
Monroe, Churchill, Getty, who kept a diary. Stephen Covey, a writer in the
business field, says keeping a daily journal sharpens mental acuity, but are
there any studies on the issue? Thanks very much.
Sincerely,
THE WELCH COMPANY
by Rod Welch
The concern that we use only 2% of our mental capacity reflects poor results
from meetings and other efforts by leaders to align the team through
communication called out in section 2.4.1 of the PMBOK. Constant meetings,
calls, email become a blur. No one can remember what was said, intended nor
how it relates to commitements, contracts, letters and policy. This reflects
an AP story on February 4, 1996 reporting managers are wasting 70% of the day
in unproductive meetings.
Some people say so what! Why worry about what was said; the past is water
under the bridge. They say the bridge to the future should forget the past.
Others say letting experience flow into the past without critical analysis
results in a bumpy ride down the river, where Murphy's Law causes stress,
anger, loss, recession, downsizing, even failure.
Regardless of what people say, it appears humans are genetically wired to apply
past experience in planning the future. The experience humans use is called
"knowledge" of cause and effect: we recall that doing "x" got "y" results. The
only issue is whether we apply the past correctly. The mind makes connections
automatically but time causes them to creep away. Indeed, as time passes
information becomes mere "straw in the wind" unless it is linked to objectives
and related events. Maybe that is why great leaders are students of history.
They know the continuum of past, present and future empowers leaders to see
ahead by understanding the past. Since each day new experience flows into the
past, organizing and analyzing daily details yields critical understanding that
converts innert information into useful "knowledge." Is this the secret of
turning "straw into gold"?
Rather than let daily experience flow by like water under the bridge, if we can
arrange to capture and invest it as intellectual capital, might this result in
a resource to increase use of human mental capacity? Is this why Stephen Covey
says keeping a journal of daily experience sharpens mental acuity? If so,
then, since progress rests on human mental acuity, it seems to follow that
increasing utilization above 2% offers a huge target of opportunity for project
managers to exploit. How difficult can it be to reach 5% or 10%? Can our
friends in technology help?
Rod Welch
Enclosures
The Welch Company
440 Davis Court #1602
San Francisco, CA 94111
415 781 5700