Slow brain-health and business
Aging Today, a bi-monthly newspaper from the American Society on Aging, has an article on brain-health. According to the articles’ author, Paul David Nussbaum, animals exposed to overly stressful environments show slower brain development, and recent research suggests the same is true for us humans.
Of course, slow is not a good thing when it comes to brain development.
Mr. Nussbaum wisely urges us to slow down. He suggests meditation, prayer, and relaxation are the sort of spiritual practices that promote health and help us slow down.
Businesses suffer from speed and overly ambitious projects too. In an article on falling quality standards at Toyota in this week’s Economist, problems may be addressed by slowing production plans. At some point there is a trade off between speed, resources, and quality. Toyota’s problem is that there are not enough qualified engineering inspectors. Slowing down to produce a higher-quality product is a remarkable concept. Who would have thought it possible!