Rock Stars' Brain Health Wisdom for the Workplace
Brain health rock star Dr. Rudy Tanzi and Aerosmith's Joe Perry tell us how leaving the ego at the door and listening to others make for our best selves.
Two most admired rock stars had a "brain health" discussion at last month's Fifth International Vatican Conference (a global healthcare initiative in partnership among the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Culture, the Cura Foundation and the Science and Faith (STOQ) Foundation). I am talking about Dr. Rudy Tanzi, brain health rock star (Joseph P. and Rose F. Kennedy Professor of Neurology, Harvard Medical School) and Joe Perry, a rock star's rock star, co-founder and lead guitarist of Aerosmith.
As I listened in the conference on the topic of Brain Health Rock Stars with the two greats talking about creativity through music, science and the brain, I realized they agreed over a noteworthy wisdom that can be applied at the workplace. A quick read below will give you some brain wisdom you may want to treasure in your work life.
Dr. Rudy Tanzi asked Joe Perry how he channels intuitive energy to do something different (in his music) and this was Joe's reply:
"When we talked about creativity in science and creativity in music, you told me in some studies that certain parts of the brain lit up in the same place when you're doing research because you're going to some place nobody's been or you hope; in the same way musicians go when they are creating new riffs. I found that really fascinating because it felt that creativity comes from a place that's farther down in your own psyche.You have to clear away a lot of dead wood whether it's ego, or you want to make something that's commercial - whatever, you just have to take the ego away at the door and just let it fly. Also, listen to the other guy who's playing. It's not about trying to be the only guy in the room who's making the music. You want to hear what the other guy is doing. Some of the best inspiration is listening to you play the keyboard for me when we jam."
To which, Dr. Tanzi replied: "What struck me when we jammed was how well you listened. I just did some riff that I just think nobody's hearing. Then all of a sudden you're like jamming on that same riff and doing the harmony on it. I think it says in science like in music, YOU HAVE TO LISTEN TO OTHERS. You have to appreciate others but then, you have to do your own thing with them so it's trying to make the other person become better as well. You're not just trying to impress them. And I think that works in science and music... the best science is done by people who just want to serve and make the world a better place; not worrying about being the best or trying to impress. That's where we found a lot of common ground."
