So you’ve  heard of Freud and Jung.  But there’s more psychologists out there than that pair.  I’d like to introduce you to a few of them.  Maybe you’ll like them too, maybe not.  That’s up to the both of you.  Grab an Earl Grey.

First, meet three unlikely amigos: K. Anders Ericsson (expert in the psychology of expertise), Robert Sternberg (expert in the psychology of intelligence), and Chris Langan (highly intelligent guy with no discernible expertise but killer biceps).

What do they have in common?  Read my Amazon book review of Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers to find out.  If you make a comment I’ll be your friend for life, or as near as dammit.  (It’s the first book we’re deconstructing at BookCamp.)

Then there’s Donald Winnicott, psychiatrist and general deep thinker.  As well as inventing the concept of anti-social behaviour, Winnicott has some seriously interesting stuff to say about the relationship between play and reality.

Next, Carol Dweck, yet another psychology type person, this time specialising in motivation and personalty.  Specifically, she has researched the mindset of success, or, I should say, the mindsets.  Some believe success in ‘fixed’ according to innate ability, others that success ‘grows’ by hard work and learning.  The second don’t dread failure because they realise that performance can be improved.

And talking about personality, try Gordon Allport, founder of ‘trait’ psychology, or those habitual patterns that can rule our lives.  Interestingly, Allport believed that most of us don’t have a ‘cardinal trait’, a trait that dominates and shapes a person’s behavior. These are rare as most people lack a single theme that shape their lives.  Sad.

Finally, you just have to meet Theodore Dalrymple, psychiatrist and prison doctor.  I particularly dig his analysis of modern sentimentality, a dangerous emotion that is the cause of many of today’s societal ills.  IMHO this toxic attitude is behind much of the trouble our wee island has suffered over the last number of years.  Sermon over.

So that’s the introductions made.  Now you’ll have to excuse me.  I must mingle.

Image credit: redgoober4life.

Since we started to tentatively promote the launch of BookCamp for March 2011, people have asked for more juicy details.  Let me oblige.

Is there a booklist?

In an attempt to make the choice of books objective and contemporary, I’ve decided to select from the New York Times Business Best Sellers list.

That way, BookCamp doesn’t collapse into a “let’s all study the books Allen likes best” club.

Once things get up and running, I want attendees to vote on the books we read.  But until that glorious day when democracy kicks in, I’ve picked the first four.  Here they are:

• March – Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell
• April – Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard by Chip and Dan Heath
• May – Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner
• June – Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us by Daniel Pink

So now you know what to request from Santa this Christmas.

What about great books that aren’t on the NYT list, or have been but aren’t there now?

Good question.  Maybe there’s a book that has shaped or helped you in some significant way that you’d like a chance to discuss with others.  Or a well-known book that you detest and demand an opportunity to publicly mangle (constructively, of course).  So what I plan is this.

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The majority of our time will be taken up discussing the selected book.  However, I will provide a slot where one person has an opportunity to talk about a book of their choice.  The only stipulations are that the book falls within the general parameters of books with business applications, and that you have strong views on it.

I’ll fulfil this role on the first night to model the format.  After that, its over to you.

Is there any sort of study resource available before the event?

A brief, downloadable study resource will be made available for attendees on registration.

It will provide information about the author, a summary, definitions, key concepts, web links, and further reading. It will also provide space for you to jot down some thoughts and notes to take with you.  So attendees are advised to print it out and bring it with them.

If you don’t have the book, or haven’t read it, are you barred?

That would be harsh.  So no, you aren’t barred.  However, I will be giving a chance for all participants near the start of each evening to say what they think about the book in a few sentences.  If you haven’t read it, you can’t do that, obviously.

Therefore, I would ask that those who haven’t read the book don’t come and ask questions like, “So what’s this book called again?  And what’s it about?”

I will facilitate discussion on the assumption that everyone has read the book and knows what it is about.  So if you haven’t had time to read the book but want to listen to the informed discussions of others, come along to learn and enjoy the networking.  You are very welcome.

Is there a dress code?

Yeah, right.  As long as your vital statistics are covered, I literally do not care.  However, wearing Man United sportswear will demean you in my eyes.  ;)

If you  have any other questions, please ask.

The strap-line for BookCamp is Read to Lead.  I hope you’ll find the time to take up this challenge and opportunity with us.  And that you’ll have a safe and relaxing holiday season.

Click here to read more and register.

Image credit: aheram.

This is another selection of juicy-but-overlooked news stories that I found interesting and that have some relevance – promise – to the services of Sensei.

How good software makes us stupid is a quality article about a fascinating book called The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains.  The books author is Nicholas Carr, an American writer on technology, business and culture.  His basic thesis is that the web specialises in giving us a broad, superficial knowledge at the expense of deeper thinking skills.  I concur, although I don’t believe it’s an either/or between the net and books.  It is true however that the objects of our thinking shapes the structure of our brains.  This is a sobering thought for Glee addicts.

On a related theme, Is our relationship with books changing? We’re abandoning public libraries, but buying more books first-hand and enjoy doing so in a cafe-cum-shop setting.  Thanks to Ophera, book clubs are enjoying a renaissance.  But will e-books replace paper?  My opinion – only when 3D movies replace 2D i.e. never beyond the odd blip.

Read all about it, good news for footballers!  It’s good to think – but not too much, scientists say.  Well, kind of.  If you think more about your decision-making then you will more cells in the part of your brain that deals with decisions.  But if you brood too much about ‘life in general’ you’ll have a poorer memory and greater proneness to depression.  Which takes us nicely back to the first article.

So be careful what you think about, what thoughts you allow into your brain.  Remember my question from weeks ago: What is the most resilient virus?

Any ideas?

Image credit: rutlo.

Every now and then ‘the news’ produces an interesting story that flies dangerously close to the ground.  It therefore fails to register on our radars, which are primed to catch those important-sounding-but-personally-irrelevant ones instead.

I thought it might prove useful if I gathered some of these together at semi-random intervals for your perusal.  Their general theme is covered by the four main training areas of Sensei: Thinking, Learning, Communicating and Performing.

So here goes.

The secrets of changing the world looks at the personal qualities of the world’s greatest contemporary innovators: an indestructible will, passion beyond reason, outrageous optimism, a super-sized ego, and the rebel yell.  Oops, I only have one of these.  As for the rest, optimism can be learned.  The super-sized ego thing makes me flinch, even though I suspect it’s true.

Market trading: How hard can it be? Darn good question.  This article surprised me in that it doesn’t place skill with numbers at the top of the list.  Instead it talks about the importance of the right kind of psychology instead, one that looks to the long-term and evaluates risk dispassionately.  But above all, information is king.  There’s also a good glossary of ‘trader speak’.

Superheroes ‘poor role models for boys’ says some idiot psychological society.  Makes me sick.  But wait!  Turns out what they mean is contemporary superheroes in contrast to the heroes of yesteryear who had a strong sense of responsibility and ethics.  I’m half convinced.  Big difference between The Lone Ranger and The Punisher, true.  Frank Castle kills the bad guys instead of just knocking them out.  But which character is more realistic and nuanced?  Isn’t there value in this?

Add to this blog by sending in your almost-missed stories!

Image credit: rutlo.

Darn it but I loved The A-Team as a boy!  For me, this was the film of the summer.  Reviews have been mixed. This reflects my own judgment of the final product.   But as a concept it still has class!

In a venture like this, casting is everything, more important than plot or even dialogue.  They had to look and feel the part, they had to have that chemistry of camaraderie that gave The A-Team its magic.  IMHO the movie has it in spades, perhaps even more than the original TV series.  Team-bonding and teamwork are the heart of the matter.  And the four guys made us believe that they belonged together, fought together, and would happily have died together.  Slam-dunk right there!

Issues?  Too much emphasis on Faceman.  He is a quarter of the whole but the movie made him more, even allowing him to usurp Hannibal’s role as planner at the end.  Too much unnecessary swearing for me.  If you’re going to shoot it as a movie for adults, then make it an 18 and be done with it.  And the main bad-guy – Agent Lynch – was cartoonish and grating in the extreme, two parts frat-boy and one part politician.

For those of you who’re burning to know what The A-Team actually means, please peruse the following blogs:

• I Love It When An Archetype Comes Together #1
• I Love It When An Archetype Comes Together #2
• I Love It When An Archetype Comes Together #3

I pity the fool who doesn’t read these blog posts!

Image credit: simononly.