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Wired to Grow: Harness the Power of Brain Science to Learn and Master Any Skill
Fully revised and expanded second edition!
We are biologically wired to learn. It’s the key to our survival and the path to fulfilling our potential—to become or develop into something more. Wired to Grow helps unlock the fullest expression of who we are, giving you the keys to understand the neuroscience of learning and apply your natural wiring to positively transform lives, habits and organizations.
We are biologically wired to learn. It’s the key to our survival and the path to fulfilling our potential—to become or develop into something more. Wired to Grow helps unlock the fullest expression of who we are, giving you the keys to understand the neuroscience of learning and apply your natural wiring to positively transform lives, habits and organizations.
376 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 29, 2019
36 people are currently reading
282 people want to read
About the author
Britt Andreatta
15 books11 followers Dr. Britt Andreatta is an internationally recognized thought leader who uses her background in leadership, neuroscience, psychology, and education to create science-based solutions for today’s workplace challenges. Britt is the CEO of Brain Aware Training and former CLO for Lynda.com (LinkedIn Learning). She has over 10 million views worldwide of her online courses and she regularly consults with organizations on leadership development and learning strategy. Britt is the author of several best-selling books on the brain science of success including Wired to Grow, Wired to Resist, Wired to Connect, and Wired to Become. In 2022, she was named a Top 10 Influencer in Learning, and in 2021, she was a Top 20 Learning Influencer and a Top 20 HR Influencer for Leadership Development. To learn more visit:
Britt Andreatta Official Website
Connect with Britt Andreatta on LinkedIn
Follow Britt Andreatta on Twitter
Britt Andreatta Official Website
Connect with Britt Andreatta on LinkedIn
Follow Britt Andreatta on Twitter
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
July 18, 2017
This is one of those books that is hard to rate and review. It does a thing well, and if one is looking for a book of its strengths, it’ll serve one well. That thing it does well is to concisely and clearly summarize research in neuroscience relevant to learning new skills. If that is something one is interested in, and one hasn’t done much reading on the subject yet, this book will get one up to speed in just over 100 pages while offering insight into where to go to flesh out what one has learned.
That said, if one has read up on pop-sci neuroscience and /or self-help books applying said research, one is likely to find that this book offers little value-added while lacking the depth and narrative approach of competing works. The latter is particularly intriguing as this is a book about effective learning, and it seems clear that humans like learning through stories. However, Andreatta does little story telling beyond brief mentions of approaches she’s used in her seminars and occasional recaps of the stories of the researchers whose work she’s drawn upon. Some may find this isn’t so bad because it keeps the book compact. Story telling is page intensive. On the other hand, a lack of story-telling means that the material is a bit less prone to stick than it might otherwise be.
The author’s approach to making the material stick is to hang it on a three-phase model (learn-remember-do) and to keep it brief. Many of the chapters consist largely of bullet points, and in places the book feels like a PowerPoint handout. (I’ll let the reader decide whether that’s a good thing or not.)
The book is organized into twenty chapters arranged in five parts. (That tells one a lot about the brevity of chapters, given the book is 102pp.) The five parts consist of: I.) an overview of neuroscientific fundamentals; II.) a description of research related to the “learn” phase of Andreatta’s model; III.) the same for the “remember” phase; IV.) coverage of the “do” phase; and V.) a section called “design” that helps the reader to apply what they’ve learned in the earlier parts to build approaches to teaching and learning.
There is some useful ancillary material. First, there are many graphics of a variety of types (pictures, line drawings, tables, and graphs) that are nicely drawn and effective. Second, there are “Your Learning Journey” sections interspersed throughout the book. These are one page or less exercises that are designed to help one put one’s learning to use. Thirdly, there is a bibliography that includes crucial reference materials divided by type: i.e. journal / scholarly research, books, journalistic / media accounts, and cited scholars. Finally, there are apparently additional resources accessible online, e.g. downloadable pdfs, but I didn’t investigate these features.
I would recommend this book for those looking for a concise summary of recent developments in neuroscience as they apply to education and learning. If you’re well-read on the subject, however, you might not find that this book delivers much extra. It should be noted that the author is speaking from an educator’s perspective (i.e. not a scientist or psychologist) and readers may find that a plus or not.
That said, if one has read up on pop-sci neuroscience and /or self-help books applying said research, one is likely to find that this book offers little value-added while lacking the depth and narrative approach of competing works. The latter is particularly intriguing as this is a book about effective learning, and it seems clear that humans like learning through stories. However, Andreatta does little story telling beyond brief mentions of approaches she’s used in her seminars and occasional recaps of the stories of the researchers whose work she’s drawn upon. Some may find this isn’t so bad because it keeps the book compact. Story telling is page intensive. On the other hand, a lack of story-telling means that the material is a bit less prone to stick than it might otherwise be.
The author’s approach to making the material stick is to hang it on a three-phase model (learn-remember-do) and to keep it brief. Many of the chapters consist largely of bullet points, and in places the book feels like a PowerPoint handout. (I’ll let the reader decide whether that’s a good thing or not.)
The book is organized into twenty chapters arranged in five parts. (That tells one a lot about the brevity of chapters, given the book is 102pp.) The five parts consist of: I.) an overview of neuroscientific fundamentals; II.) a description of research related to the “learn” phase of Andreatta’s model; III.) the same for the “remember” phase; IV.) coverage of the “do” phase; and V.) a section called “design” that helps the reader to apply what they’ve learned in the earlier parts to build approaches to teaching and learning.
There is some useful ancillary material. First, there are many graphics of a variety of types (pictures, line drawings, tables, and graphs) that are nicely drawn and effective. Second, there are “Your Learning Journey” sections interspersed throughout the book. These are one page or less exercises that are designed to help one put one’s learning to use. Thirdly, there is a bibliography that includes crucial reference materials divided by type: i.e. journal / scholarly research, books, journalistic / media accounts, and cited scholars. Finally, there are apparently additional resources accessible online, e.g. downloadable pdfs, but I didn’t investigate these features.
I would recommend this book for those looking for a concise summary of recent developments in neuroscience as they apply to education and learning. If you’re well-read on the subject, however, you might not find that this book delivers much extra. It should be noted that the author is speaking from an educator’s perspective (i.e. not a scientist or psychologist) and readers may find that a plus or not.
August 9, 2022
For me, it feels like two books glued together.
The first part about brain science is fascinating. I had a lot of insights while reading this. For Huberman Lab podcast lover, this part was like a great meal - especially parts about various kinds of intelligence, creative process, and memory. I will come back to this part more than once.
The second part is about designing learning processes in companies. There was nothing new for someone that worked in that area, and some parts were even frustrating. The first part was science, and the second part was opinion. It’s a tricky mix.
So I would give it four starts, but a strong 5 for the first part and maybe 3 for the second part.
The first part about brain science is fascinating. I had a lot of insights while reading this. For Huberman Lab podcast lover, this part was like a great meal - especially parts about various kinds of intelligence, creative process, and memory. I will come back to this part more than once.
The second part is about designing learning processes in companies. There was nothing new for someone that worked in that area, and some parts were even frustrating. The first part was science, and the second part was opinion. It’s a tricky mix.
So I would give it four starts, but a strong 5 for the first part and maybe 3 for the second part.
June 25, 2016
A nice blend of learning theories and neuroscience of learning. Well researched with some tangible ideas about how to put some of the things we've learned into practice in the classroom.
March 4, 2019
How to use your head
Learn how to learn. Learn how to use your head! Your mom said, "Use your head." Now you can know how.
Learn how to learn. Learn how to use your head! Your mom said, "Use your head." Now you can know how.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews