[SSG nudge Leadership] Yongbuyong (Use or Not Use) and Guessing Game

Brain Training, Guessing Training

“I think it’s about 170km from our house to the Pyeongchang hotel. Do you want to check it on the navigation?” “Wow! Dad, it’s close. It shows 171km.”

This was a conversation I had with my daughter a few days ago while preparing for a family trip to Pyeongchang. Then I guessed, “If we drive at that time, it would probably take about 2 hours and 40 minutes.” This is how I maintain a sense of distance and travel time. It’s a habit from driving all over the country for lectures for over 15 years.

After settling in at the accommodation in Pyeongchang and going to the market in Jumunjin, Gangneung, my ears felt noticeably muffled. The uphill slopes on the road stood out clearly. When I visited near the Pyeongchang Winter Olympic stadium, I felt like I was at a higher altitude. “I wonder how high we are now? What’s the elevation above sea level?” My daughter and wife showed little reaction, as if wondering why that would matter. I suggested we guess, saying it might be 780 meters, and opened the compass function on my smartphone. It showed 820 meters. When I go on business trips to Bandung, Indonesia, located in a highland area, to oversee trainees of the Global Young Entrepreneurs Program, I get a similar feeling. According to Wikipedia, Bandung is located at an elevation of 768 meters. Using that sense of altitude, I also check the temperature and weather as a small pleasure. It’s about maintaining a sense of location.

When preparing lectures, I become more interested in the brain’s structure and how to use it, and I tend to study these topics. I regularly read articles about preventing brain aging and maintaining brain health. The general conclusion is to use the brain moderately and stimulate it with curiosity about new things. Therefore, I make an effort to consistently maintain and activate my sense of my current position in time and space. This is a period when social activities decrease and sensory perception can dull. I often see friends who have just retired showing noticeably slower movements. As long as I still have work, I try to apply and train myself not to become dull. Since opportunities naturally decrease with age, I try to create chances to use my brain in various fun ways while I’m still relatively young. Frequent training involves spatial sense, distance sense, and time sense.

Recently, I have been practicing developing new sensory perception. I enjoy taking short naps of about 10 to 15 minutes. I set a timer on my watch and then sleep. Even during lunch breaks or while driving when I feel drowsy, I take short naps at rest areas or drowsiness shelters using this method to relieve fatigue. Since last year, I have been training myself to wake up before the timer alarm sounds. I am also working on reducing the time interval. Recently, I wake up with an error margin of almost 30 seconds. I find it fascinating and fun. Now, I also set the timer for 8 minutes, 13 minutes, and so on.

Thanks to this long-term training, I often hear that I have a good general sense of time and space when doing something.

Additionally, I sometimes add a game element and play “guessing games.” I try new challenges like guessing distances, times, and altitudes. Recently, I have been playing a guessing game about the cost of designated driver services.

“Right now, I’m finishing a schedule at the Yongin Training Center and heading to Seoul. I need to treat the person I’m with to a meal and maybe a beer. But it would be rude to let only the guest drink, right? How much would it cost to call a designated driver? From Baegam Bus Terminal in Yongin to the Songpa Legal Complex where my home is in Seoul?” We make guesses based on the cost shown by the mobility app ‘K’ for designated driver services. Three of us sit and guess. “100,000 won, 120,000 won, 85,000 won?” The person whose guess is the farthest from the correct answer pays for the beer.

It might seem a bit mischievous, but consistently using my senses and exercising my brain is useful. Isn’t there Lamarck’s theory of ‘use and disuse’ that organs used frequently develop, and those not used deteriorate?

Park Chang-wook, CEO of Korea Knowledge Leader Association (Secretary General of Daewoo World Management Research Association)

◆ What is ‘Nudge Leadership’?

- ‘Nudge Leadership’ is about leading change in organizations or individuals through small and gentle interventions or motivation rather than coercive or directive methods. It also involves improving human relationships through small personal changes and transforming oneself into someone others want to follow. Ultimately, it breathes creativity and passion into organizations or relationships, creating new value and happiness.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.