In life, we often witness the power of repetition and practice leading to significant growth. Just as muscles grow stronger with frequent workouts, and wealth accumulates with consistent savings, the human brain too undergoes a fascinating development process, but with a small twist.
As we immerse ourselves in learning the number of connections between neurons increases, allowing us to absorb a vast amount of information effectively. Or so we would think. Interestingly, the most robust and active brain connections are actually found in the minds of three-year-old toddlers. The sheer volume of knowledge they must acquire, including language acquisition, necessitates an abundance of neural connections. Variety is key, and nature ensures toddlers’ brains are packed with connections, ready to embrace the learning journey.
However, here’s the surprising part – as we grow older, the number of synaptic connections begins to decline. Adult brains have approximately half as many connections as those of children. Nature has its reasons – excess, even of something beneficial, can be detrimental.
This natural phenomenon is known as synaptic pruning, where unused connections, though energy-consuming, are pruned away. The result is an efficient neural network that optimizes brain performance.
Interestingly, the method of creating a surplus of options and then sharply reducing them is very suitable in business too, but used infrequently.
There is a relatively well know story of a real estate developer, inspired by the concept of synaptic pruning who sowed grass across the entire area developed, letting people walk wherever they pleased. After observing the paths people naturally chose, he constructed permanent walkways exactly along those routes.
In both our brains and business strategies, pruning away the unnecessary allows for optimal efficiency and growth, but we shouldn’t forget the first step of sowing more opportunities before seeking to optimize them.
