Imagine for a moment what would happen if a pilot's  mind wandered while flying his plane. What if the pilot was thinking about a fight he had with his wife earlier that week, or was worried about his child who was ill? How about the astronauts--what would happen if they had trouble staying 'on task?' The answer is that pilots, astronauts and everyone, regardless of how well-trained or intelligent, will at times, engage in thinking that pulls them off task. The current buzzword is losing ones 'focus.' Of course, the consequences at NASA are severe. That's why a team at NASA, headed by an engineering psychologist, developed something called Cognitive Resource Management. It is what it says--learning to manage ones' cognitive capabilities better. Stated differently, one does not have to need psychological therapy to benefit from what it has to offer.

Others have coined the terms "optimal functioning" and "peak performance," but these terms are misleading. These terms imply that people can learn to execute certain tasks at which their entire brain is operating at 100%. That is not possible. CRM deals with two important aspects of the human experience:

1. the everyday error we all experience--when we are tired, upset, or even when things are going well, things just happen--problems occur; mistakes happen. Our society is extremely complex, and the nature of the thinking skills we ask our children to engage in are becoming more demanding all the time. Error is inevitable. It is how one deals with it that counts, and that is one important aspect of CRM.
2. the potential we all have to expand our current abilities. We all want to be at our best, but how does one do that? Our curriculum is built on helping every child achieve at near-peak levels¹in all aspects of executive functioning, verbal and nonverbal abilities, and nonverbal reasoning. We do it through music training, since music training offers one of the best places for children to increase their core capabilities. For example, one valid finding in neuroscience research is that participation in piano lessons does increase spatial abilities. Since we know that, and understand what brain areas execute spatial abilities, we have developed curricular interventions that grow these abilities. Stated differently, we know what part of piano lessons increases those abilities and we work with the children, and construct their homework, so they learn to better maximize their skills. We do the same with the other parts of cognition that are necessary for children to operate at their best, at least some of the time.
   

The idea of peak performance implies that people can always perform at their very best, fulfilling their entire genetic endowment. This position is fraught with reality issues, since it focuses us on the irrational belief that we can always perform at peak levels.  A quote from Jean Giradoux, a famous French diplomat: "Only the mediocre are always at their best"

How about you? Do you operate optimally, or are there slips? Do you exercise? Exercise is a good example because you have to learn to allow yourself to take the time, and you have to make a list of annoying things that happen in exercise OK--like the sore muscles, sweating, pushing through the fatigue when you just want to stop, worrying about the cost of the gym, etc., etc.

So, CRM is two things; it is teaching one how to increase ones capabilities within the genetic endowment one has (be at ones best), AND helping people deal with the adversity that is inevitable in everyday life. Don't forget--we work with parents AND children alike.

If you wish to hear our children play, see their website at www.pianokidsite.com.PianoKidSite is an award-winning site (Google award) and the chidren are very proud of it.