…and mugging is incarceration, visionary thought leader Dilip Mukerjea tells Nawaz Yasin Islam
WITH THE sole aim of revamping the system of education and making Shillong the epicentre of a learning revolution, visionary thought leader Dilip Mukerjea, owner and managing director of Braindancing International and Buzan Centre Singapore Pvt Ltd and bestselling author of books in ‘The Creative Brain Series’ recently held a three-day mentoring programme for students and teachers of St. Edmund’s School.
Speaking to Canvas, Mukerjea highlighted the compelling integration of his skills in thinking, learning and communicating which are vibrantly expressed in all his works: books, keynotes, seminars, coaching and consulting. His ‘learning at the speed of light’ approach conveys ‘brain skills for the 21st century’.
The unique nexus of Mukerjea’s multi- and inter-disciplinary cognitive expertise spans across omni-cultural imperatives. His panoramic range of perspectives is much acclaimed. Familiar with the cultures of East and West, Mukerjea is now based in Singapore but has imparted his skills in Europe, the USA, Middle East and across Asia.
A firm believer that the abdication of leadership has vandalised the education system of India and that what remains now is an ‘eradication system’, Mukerjea aims to incorporate his dynamic blueprints for success using ‘strategic imagination’ and ‘applied intelligence’ into the lives of students who are fighting the current generation competitive race.
“I have an array of visual mapping strategies that are designed to eradicate confusion; these maps are vivid and vibrant, clear and concise,” said Mukerjea who believes that he could deploy any such map to pave the way towards an executable concept plan.
Mukerjea has postulated his methods to be ‘world’s most powerful learning systems’ which in essence is top class systems from the past, together with his improvised present systems. The intention, as he explained, has been to break free from the Industrial Age paradigm of ‘cogs in the wheel’, in which we are at the mercy of industry, so to speak and the mandate is to transition to the more powerful position of being ‘nodes in the network’, with an ability to influence as well as be influenced by events.
“The spatially intelligent, dynamically informed person or organisation knows how to see, think about, and interpret connections, relationships, and patterns of interaction, locally and globally. This is the value of ‘mapping’ and not just ‘mind mapping’,” said Mukerjea who believes that his offering is far superior to other techniques.
On being questioned about his emphasis on developing self efficacy skills as a prelude to academic achievement, Mukerjea said, “Self-efficacy is the belief that one is capable of performing in a manner designed to attain stated goals. Goal setting alone is inadequate; it must lead to goal getting!”
Mukerjea’s consultancy competencies are singularly designed to perpetrate ‘creative destruction’ of the status quo that has become irrelevant. In a world of perilous, gyrating challenges, his point is that yesterday’s successes have never mattered less; today’s have never been more fragile and tomorrow’s remain uncertain. This spearheads his aim to catalyze powerful possibilities.
The strategic focus has been at creating and developing learning ecosystems and innovation landscapes for people, communities and organisations.
With school-going kids already inundated with reading and homework assignments, expecting them to pick up new tools and novel strategies does not seem plausible but Mukerjea, a pro-play person believes that his programmes and strategies will help kids learn faster and drastically slash the learning curve and allow them to have and enjoy their childhood.
“My superbrain learning system will equip them to beat every prevailing killer schedule and not only leave them with recreational time for pursuing their parallel interests but ensure that they excel in their exams.”
Mukherjea’s thought provoking methods readies kids for the future without creating stresses in the present. Hence they are ready to overcome challenges that come their way in the years ahead.
As he puts it, “My clear conviction is that we have a choice: education or extinction! We need to redesign the structure of education so that learning takes place instead of swotting, slogging and sweating… in terror! The vital characteristic of a learning experience must be its evocative quality; it must evoke the experiences or meanings from within the learner, rather than describe what is on the outside. It must have the power to catalyze passions.”
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