Building a Positive Agile Mindset

Gerald Leonard is a professional bassist and leads a culture change consultancy focused on productivity in the workplace. Past and present clients include Verizon, Hewlett-Packard and GEICO.

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Topics: Agile

Researchers have shown that a positive attitude literally changes your brain. In “New Stanford Study: A Positive Attitude Literally Makes Your Brain Work Better,” featured in Inc. magazine, the authors reported: “… kids who did well in math liked math more, both according to self-reports and their parents, and kids who hated the subject did poorly. But the brain scans also turned up something much more fascinating. The images revealed that the hippocampus, a brain area linked with memory and learning, was significantly more active in kids with a positive attitude toward math.”

“Attitude is really important,’ said one of the researchers. “Based on our data, the unique contribution of positive attitude to math achievement is as large as the contribution from IQ.”

Musicians are also impacted by developing a positive attitude when they are performing by the process of mirror neurons, which activates when they work together. When a musician sees another musician overcome a musical challenge, they are more likely to feel confident that they can overcome it as well. Jazz musicians tend to imitate each other during the performance; this is all based on the mirror neuron effect.

What about you and your team? Are you building a better brain with your team by cultivating a positive attitude? The research is in, and now it is …

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