FROM DILIP MUKERJEA

"Genius is in-born, may it never be still-born."

"Oysters, irritated by grains of sand, give birth to pearls. Brains, irritated by curiosity, give birth to ideas."

"Brainpower is the bridge to the future; it is what transports you from wishful thinking to willful doing."

"Unless you keep learning & growing, the status quo has no status."

Thursday, August 5, 2010

BRAINDANCING INTERVIEW ON THE MAURITIUS COLLEGE OF THE AIR

Appended below, are two parts of an interview, conducted by Ms. Shakuntala Hawoldar, a noted educationist, accomplished poet & prolific author on the enchanting island of Mauritius, with braindancer Dilip Mukerjea, in July 2002, when he visited the beautiful island in conjunction with a training program for the Technology Development & Training Centre.

Because of the interviewer's penetrating & insightful questions, Dilip was able to give a very broad & yet enriching perspective about learning, creativity, management, leadership, organisational prosperity, systems thinking & sustainability, all within the time constraints (less than half an hour).

The interview was unscripted, unstructured & somewhat "open-ended", thus reflecting Dilip's spontaneous creativity in dealing with some "tight-corner" questions, so to speak.

As a matter of fact, Dilip had met the interviewer only 15 minutes earlier, after arriving in Mauritius.




To help listeners in following the interview, I would like to put forward my share-points & tips drawn from the interview:

1) Simplifying Complexity:

Looking at the Positive Qualities of a Child; The Magic Formula [please pay attention to the 7 critical elements identified by Dilip]; How Not to be a Bureau-Rat (or Moving from Bureau-Crazy to Bureau-Creative); The Status Quo Has No Status; Knowing vs. Not Knowing; Be Successful or Be a Success-Fool; The Power of Collective ‘ I’ ~ From ‘Ego’ to ‘We-Go’; All Life is Systems; Don’t Get Imprisoned by e-lectronica;

2) Understanding Management & Leadership:

Management from the Root; Everything is Connected [“If you find it, life is simpler!”]; Waste Quotient; Inspiring People with the 4 I’s [please pay attention to Dilip’s illustrations]; Understanding Leadership: Fish Rots From the Head; Oxymoron: There is NO such thing as a Bad Leader; Leaders are Leaders, You Don’t Need the “Good” In front; The 7 Characteristics of Strategic Leadership [please pay attention to Dilip’s enumeration];

3) Applicability of Creativity:

Applicable to Everyone with a Head & a Heart; Children vs. Adults: Just a Matter of Vocabulary; Legacy for Our Children;

4) Are You Busy Dying or Busy Living?:

Understanding the Fear Phenomenon; FEAR is “Forget Everything, and Run!”; Knowing the Gap between the Rut & The Grave; Wishful Thinking vs. Wilful Doing;

5) Braindancing as The Way of Getting New Ideas:

Understanding the Spirit of Learning; The True Meaning of Freedom; Embracing Paidia & Paideia; Having Fun, Laughter & Play are Disciplines; It’s Usage, Not Age, that Determines Your Brainpower;

6) Conditioning of The Mind:

Understanding the Conditioning Phenomenon; How can We Stamp it? How Can We Breakthrough?; Going Back to the Positive Qualities of the Child; Be Childlike;

7) The Power to Choose:

Making Strategic Choices in order to Effect Personal Change; Drawing from the Transformative Experiences of Mahatma Gandhi & Holocaust Victims; Our Permission to Mediocrity; Misery is also an Option; Pearls of Wisdom vs. “We are the Pearls” [Thanks to Michael Jackson for his inspiration. For the record, it didn't happen that way for Dilip. Maybe, synchronicity. I have just added it as a fun juxtaposition, as Michael Jackson's original lyrics were "We Are the World..."!]; Deep Dive to See What Pearls We Find;

Interested listeners can proceed to explore further by pursuing & reading Dilip’s latest books:

1) ‘Brain Symphony: Brain-blazing Practical Techniques in Creativity for Immediate Application’ (replaced ‘Braindancing’, mentioned in the interview, which is now out-of-print);

2) ‘Surfing the Intellect: Building Intellectual Capital for a Knowledge Economy’; (mentioned in the interview; more targeted at corporate executives);

3) ‘Unleashing Genius, with the World’s Most Powerful Learning Systems’ (more targeted at parents, teachers & students);

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