Train.Brain.Daily opens with Morry Morgan and Dr Michael Hewitt-Gleeson reflecting on a friendship that began when Morry brought Michael to China in 2007 to speak about Wombat Selling, GBB, CVS-to-BVS and X10 thinking. Soon afterwards, the global financial crisis forced Morry to rethink a business with 80 staff and five offices. Despite staff cuts, he used the “current view of the situation to better view of the situation” framework to identify opportunity. This led to Spark09, an innovation conference in Shanghai’s World Financial Center, bringing together speakers from humanities, environment, business and science.

The conversation introduces “brain coaching” and the “brain game.” Michael argues that elite sport, business and education invest in equipment and specialist coaching but pay too little attention to contemporary neuroscience. He describes coaching elite athletes and Australian Olympic coaches, stressing that sports psychology is valuable but distinct from brain coaching. Basic knowledge of the brain—including four lobes and two hemispheres—should be widely taught, beginning in primary school.

Humour is presented as a significant brain function. Drawing on Edward de Bono’s ideas, Michael explains that humour connects patterns not previously connected. A joke provides temporary insight; a lasting shift in perception becomes permanent insight. This can help solve everyday and professional problems.

Michael contrasts older mind-body ideas with a neuroscience perspective: there is no separate self directing the brain; the brain generates perception, thought and action. He proposes replacing right-or-wrong thinking with CVS-to-BVS: accept its current view as valid but not final, then search for better alternatives. X10 thinking provokes people to multiply the current view by ten, generating possibilities beyond incremental improvement.

An example from General Electric illustrates the approach. Michael recounts working with Jack Welch, who adopted the language of BVS and sought to “multiply himself by ten.” Renaming divisional vice presidents as presidents enabled counterparts elsewhere to speak directly with them, reducing Welch’s overload and supporting organisational change.

Morry links this to small gains: modest improvements across departments compound over time. He recounts fitting a difficult car lightbulb after recognising “user error” and changing his angle, an everyday example of questioning a current view. The episode closes with AI: request ten solutions, then choose and test the strongest. The central lesson: treat every first interpretation as a starting point, not a final answer.

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