Issue #180: How the Baker/baker Paradox Can Improve Your Memory, One Question for a Better 2025, and More

NOTE: This is our last issue of 2024 – we’re off for the holidays. See you next year!

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INSIGHTS (on leadership/self-leadership)

Ever heard the saying, “Out with the old, in with the new?” Well, it’s not helpful for improving your memory. In fact, linking old information to new information is a very powerful memory technique. It’s known as association, and it’s taking advantage of your brain’s natural tendency to want to link new information with something you already know. In memory science, it’s known as the Baker/Baker Paradox. I’ll explain.

Say you’re introduced to someone with the last name Baker, a name you want to remember. You could try to file away this piece of information without any further context, hoping it sticks in the face of thousands of other pieces of random information you take in. Or, you can create an association with that name. Like, you imagine this Baker person, as a baker, with a white apron on, a big chef’s hat, with flour humorously spattered on their face and in their hair, an enormous pair of oven mitts tucked in the apron pocket, and the wonderful smell of bread and cookies wafting from them. Bam – you’re now far more likely to remember this person’s name is Baker.

What you’re doing is linking a new piece of information, the name, Baker, with something you already know – what a baker is.

Note the role of visualization and exaggeration in the Baker/baker Paradox. You visualized what a baker looks like – research shows our brain is better at recalling images than words (think about how many signs, symbols, and logos you can identify instantly). In fact, a study from the 3M company showed that visuals can improve learning by up to 400%! And the more vivid the images, the better. As for the oversized oven mitts and flour explosion you pictured? Those are exaggerations that will make the memory stand out even more. The stranger the exaggerations, the better.

Association doesn’t just work with names – it can help you remember anything. Trying to remember that the biggest planet is Jupiter? Think of that oversized Juniper tree in your backyard. Want to remember that you’re in parking spot number 22? Picture your 22-year old daughter standing in the spot.

You get the idea. Connect something you’re trying to remember with something you already know/are familiar with, and you’ll be far more likely to remember that new information.

IMPERFECTIONS (a mistake many make)

Got a new member of your team coming anytime soon? You’ll want to make sure you get their onboarding right.

Research shows that only half of all new hires feel their onboarding experience was satisfactory, and yet studies show that strong employee onboarding increases retention rates by a whopping 82 percent! How do you avoid this huge mistake and close the gap?

By using the Onboarding Star framework for an effective employee onboarding experience. Review it below, and then I’ll explain. 

There are five fundamental things you want a new hire to understand or feel as part of their onboarding process:

1. This is your home

2. This is your team

3. This is how we do things around here

4. This is what’s expected of you

5. This is how you’ll succeed

Given this, the scorecard provided helps you organize efforts to make sure anyone you onboard will indeed, understand and experience all five of these key factors. Imagine you were going to issue the scorecard to new hires to fill out (ones that haven’t started yet). Based on your current onboarding plans, what score do you think they would give each element? Engaging in this exercise will help you proactively identify potential issues to address and discern the help you’ll need to put together the best onboarding effort you can.

IMPLEMENTATION (one research-backed strategy, tip, or tool)

As we head into a new year, it’s a natural time for reflection, and looking ahead. When we look ahead, it’s often with the thought of, “How can I have a better year next year?” or, “How can I grow and improve in the new year?”

If I had to pick one, biggest-bang-for-the buck question to ask yourself to have a lighter, happier, more successful, 2025, what would it be? Ask yourself this:

What is the problem I’m not addressing that I can face head-on in the new year?

Be vulnerable in admitting it, intentional in addressing it, happier for having solved it.

And happiest of holidays!

• Share this publication with a friend, see the keynotes/workshops I give at scottmautz.com and check out my LinkedIn Learning courses, taken over 1.5 million times (and counting)!

• Order my new book, The Mentally Strong Leader: Build the Habits to Productively Regulate Your Emotions, Thoughts, and Behaviors, called an “indispensable resource” by Dan Pink, and hailed by Starbucks new CEO, Brian Niccol (among other top-execs)