The offer comes with colorful charts: fifteen minutes of brain games a day, and your leaders will think faster, focus longer and decide better. It sounds wonderful, and who would not want a sharper mind with so little effort? The research shows a more modest effect: we mostly get better at the games themselves.

Early lab studies looked promising. In 2016, psychologist Daniel Simons and six colleagues took a careful look at the studies behind these promises. People clearly got better at the games they practiced, and a little better at very similar tasks. For everyday performance at work, the evidence was thin.¹

The encouraging part: we already know what helps. Practice the real skill. If we want better decisions in meetings, we can rehearse real decisions, with real stakes, and talk about them afterward.

Talent Takeaway

It reminds us to ask two friendly questions whenever a tool promises sharper minds: What exactly was measured? And compared with whom? The answers make the next budget decision much easier.

¹ Simons, D. J., Boot, W. R., Charness, N., Gathercole, S. E., Chabris, C. F., Hambrick, D. Z., & Stine-Morrow, E. A. L. (2016). Do "brain-training" programs work? Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 17(3), 103–186. https://doi.org/10.1177/1529100616661983