Today Fed-Ex delivered three copies of November’s issue of Capital Magazine, a glossy finance magazine for top leaders from the magazine’s head office in Dubai, AE. There was my feature story - on page 28 - titled, Keeping the Brain in Mind: Boosting Your Problem Solving Power. But I had to dip deeper than usual to get it there. A math minded readership takes math-related writing, and since we all possess logical math intelligence in some measure, it’s simply a matter of finding and using it.

When Capital’s senior editors asked me for a story about MITA programs and how they boost the brain for problem solving, I dipped into my rather lowly mathematical intelligence to tell a story that might work for people with a penchant for numbers. My story starts… “As strong companies vie for those hard-to-land places at the top, brain based problem solvers can compete with an impressive edge in spite of tough times.” Think my opener will pique curiosity about how to deliver remarkable results, against the backdrop of shifting horizons?

Not that I’m a numbers guru, but it’s fun to tell stories that draw from math parts of the brain, and remember … this intelligence includes logical sequences too. I started with the question, “How could I trigger interest about brain based practices, from readers who think logically or numerical?”

Corporate executives read this magazine for tools to help with the rapid changes that take place in banking, technology, human capital, risk management and, corporate finance. Look below at how numbers speak to show Capital’s estimated readership of 40,000, and you’ll see how math mixes into stories.

Readers, we’re told, include:

- President/Chairman/CEO/Board Members: 35 %
- CFO/VP finance/financial controller: 30 %
- Vice president/Senior managements: 20 %
- Consultants: 6 %
- Procurement/IT managers/Human resources managers: 9 %

Do you use numbers to add zip to your stories? Writers who say they have little logical-math intelligence can develop more through showing ideas in logical order or using numbers as I did here. Can you see how numbers and sequences give more vivid pictures that could easily be lost otherwise? Because math was taught with a narrow focus, that rarely related to real life problems, at times we lost it’s delightful flavors.

My article also drew from mathematical knowing in a sidebar list of eight kinds of intelligence that could solve barriers to productivity. I listed guidelines to show readers how to share something they figured out. And I challenged them to engage their math intelligence in new ways that would grow dendrite brain cell connections for profitability.

My story offered steps for good customer relations from the moment of meeting to closing a deal…. If you were to sequence an action plan for a staff get-together and list the ten tactics your golf club used to win… your story is math related. Simple as that.

Math mingles with life through stories much the way Syntagma owner, John Evans listed London Stock Exchange’s Excellent Results, through story at London Stock Exchange.

Or, look at the way Andrea Pawlsen over at Money Finesse, helped consumers to solve reliability problems for 2006 and 2007 cars, and you’ll see more math intelligence at its best, worked into stories.

Count how many times males and females speak on key issues, during a meeting and you have a story that invites a math response people will love. Still looking for a story topic?

Why not write about Bobbie Fisher’s tactics in a chess game and show how similar winning strategies could win a financial deal. Or look through this morning’s math news for a story waiting to be created. As in any good writing, have fun. Writing that activates your logical mathematical intelligence will play with logical order, organization … and numbers, for instance, … and your mathematically inclined readers will too! What’s your best math story?

How old are you … ? Yikes … the question itself sends ripples up and down some spines. Not mine though … in fact I leap to the challenge of being born with boomers … between 1946 and 1964. Admit to being one of us … and we’ll know you too fall between 42 and 60 age category today.

Tell us more though. Are you one of the 75 million boomers in the U.S who make up about 29% of the U.S. and or one of the 29% of the total population in the UK who qualify as boomers … or one of the 6 million in Canada? You may have barely made it in … along with George Bush and Bill Clinton … both born in 1946….be a newly wed as Prince Charles is… or you could be a young boomer … along with Tony Blair who was born in 1953.

Ok, let’s change the question … and add a prize …. What advice would a ten-year-older-you give to increase your quality of life ten years from today? Squeeze your answer into 250 words … increase our quality of life through your wisdom or wit and you win!

If you’re one of the boomers who plans never to retire … or who find themselves comfortable at the forefront of social change … then perhaps an older you would redefine the meaning of retirement for the rest of us. Tell us how … sketch your ideas for practical or humorous benefits that build a better world.

It’s fun to launch this new blog by getting your wit and wisdom in on the challenges and opportunities of ‘old age.’ Together, let’s look at how new ideas about an aging brain can help to fuel boomers’ challenge to traditional assumptions about older age. We do that best when we embrace a new quality of life … by living and sharing extravagant realities … with the brain in mind.

The race is on. Winner gets the game … Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day … a game that keeps your brain sharp … and which can be quite addictive. This popular game is inspired by Dr. Ryuta Kawashima, a well known and respected Japanese neuroscientist. His goal in creating the game was to… “elevate the impact of performing certain reading and mathematic exercises to help stimulate the brain.” I think it also comes with boomers in mind, but you don’t have to be a boomer to win.

The rules are quite simple:
1. Comment at this site that you are interested and tell us why
2. Mail entry of no more than 250 words to PO Box 347 Pittsford NY
3. All essay entries become property of www.Brainboomer.com
4. Content ends Nov. 1 and winner is announced on Nov 30
5. Winner story will be published on this site in early Dec.
6. Winners can be any age over 18.

Ready …set…go …!

For a lifetime my interests and career – have linked me to how brain works and to interesting people who also care about its extravagance to enrich daily living. Now I have a wonderful opportunity to interact with a new such circle … and I look forward to this blog. Hopefully we will attract people from every walk of life … who want to explore the merits of boomer brains … especially the hidden or unused parts. I look forward for the chance to exchange insights and observations across many population groups, and to learn from all who bring their ideas to the Brain Boomer blog.

When not here blogging, I direct the MITA International Brain Based Renewal Center which has two arms. One arm certifies leaders in brain based leadership practices and the other certifies university faculty in brain friendly teaching, learning and assessment strategies … that keep pace with changing demands in our information age.

My own PhD came only after years of researching… publishing books and … feeding a growing penchant for change. My own offerings for sparking change include multiple intelligences, problem solving possibilities, human diversity, social justice and equity for leadership and learning organization prosperity.

Through the MITA model for change, which includes my pioneer work in brain based leadership and learning … published in several books … I continue to collaborate extensively in global settings. International work is important to me as I remain highly interested in the influences of culture, technology, nature and modern thought, on personal and organizational prosperity.

As I get older … and see what an amazing adventure age can be … I also have the fun being a pathfinder … as I investigate and learn daily. Here in New York I recently won the Award for Excellence from the Rochester Business Alliance - Chamber of Commerce. Having worked with and learned from leaders and learners in many countries, including the United States, Canada, Chile, South America, China, England, Malta, Mexico, Ireland, and Australia, I consider myself a world citizen. That privilege makes me ready to exchange great ideas with you and I know I’ll learn from many of you.

Hopefully I will soon get to know many of you out there who share my interests in gaining more from the human brain as we age. You’ll also hear from a very close friend and another writer on this fun topic … Dr. Robyn McMaster, who is senior VP at the MITA Brain Based Center. With the stage now set … we’re ready to roll out some fun!