Right brain gets the big picture

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Welcome to the November 5, 2008 issue of The Total View

Published by Success Performance Solutions

Major Sponsor of
2008 Best Places to Work In Pennsylvania

Edited and Written by Ira S. Wolfe

NEW! Check out our new flash presentation at Success Performance Solutions

Visit our Human Resources Blog and Perfect Labor Storm Blog where we can post daily (and more often) human resource updates, news, and Perfect Labor Storm facts.

What's Inside this issue of The TotalView:

1. Right brain gets the big picture

2. Perfect Labor Storm Warnings

3. Innovation: The role of the Challengers

4. Quotes from the Hire Authorities

1. Right brain thinkers get the big picture

A seismic shift is now under way in much of the world. We have moved from the Industrial Age where physical strength and personal fortitude were the traits that built character to the Information Age where people who held the knowledge and logic held the keys to the kingdom. We've moved from an economy built on people's backs to economy built on left brains to an changing and emerging economy requiring people's right brains. While logical thinking remains indispensable, it's no longer enough. Left-brain thinking was linked to "smart" people. Right-directed thinkers were considered to be too touchy-feely, too artsy, and too emotional to play in the bottom-line world of business.

Today we are entering the Conceptual Age where the masters of innovation, change and synthesis will reign. People with the ability to synthesize logic and creativity are being sought out as businesses struggle to find their unique proposition.

But however tempting it is to talk about right and left brain as independently functioning organs, they are actually two half-brains, designed to work together as a single, integrated whole complete brain. The brain was once thought to be divided into two halves or hemispheres. Although connected, the left half was considered the superior member, providing the valued aptitudes of logic and analytical reasoning. But thanks to the1950s Nobel Prize research of Roger W. Sperry, he found that the right was not inferior to the left, it was just different. What he found was that the right brain was actually superior when it came to perform certain kinds of mental tasks.

People falsely believe that sufficient information subjected to competent analysis and followed by logical decision making is enough. Movements such as lean manufacturing, Six Sigma, and TQM relied heavily on analysis and logic. These worked like a charm during the Industrial Age. They even worked to some degree in the Information Age.

But in the Conceptual Age? There is a problem. They can be misleading. They seem to start with the assumption that what is being done is what should be done. Doing the same old things better may not lead to doing things better or differently. The chances of getting perfect information are low. We become obsessed with analysis and dismissive of our need for innovative thinking

Left brain capabilities are still necessary but no longer sufficient for individuals or organizations to differentiate and distinguish themselves in an ultra-competitive marketplace.

To understand the independent but interconnected functions the two brain halves, consider this: if the right hemisphere sees the big picture, the left hemisphere is the thousand words.

The left brain specializes in text. It handles what is said and then analyzes the details. The left hemisphere is the "fox" - it knows many things. It has a single answer focus, continually searching for the one right answer.

Unlike the left brain, the right brain doesn't view the world in a single file formation of A-B-C-D but see all the letters simultaneously. It sees things all at once. While the left brain focuses on text, the right brain specializes in context. It handles how it is said. The right brain is responsible for our ability to see and comprehend metaphors. It synthesizes the big picture. The right brain is "the hedgehog" - it knows one big thing.

Whether the focus is cutting expenses, improving productivity, or new idea generation, innovative thinking is a key organizational competency. Innovative thinking requires people to use both sides of their brains. What is the innovative capacity of your organization? What is the capability of you and your employees to think creatively and turn fresh ideas into innovative solutions?

Read more about right and left directed thinking in The Whole New Mind.

2. Perfect Labor Storm Warnings

Subscribe to the Perfect Labor Storm 2.0 blog and receive skilled worker shortage updates like this:

Public school teachers in the United States are absent between nine and 10 days per year, on average. In other words, between kindergarten and 12th grade, a typical student is taught by someone other than the regularly assigned teacher for the equivalent of two-thirds of a school year. Students experience teacher absence in bursts of time, ranging from a few hours to a few months, and this fractured exposure may help deflect policymakers' attention. Yet there are three good reasons to revisit policies around teacher absence - read more.

Learn more about workforce trends. Purchase the NEW Perfect Labor Storm 2.0 books (soft and hard cover versions) at PerfectLaborStorm.com.

New Perfect Labor Storm videos added. Watch now!

3. Innovation: The Role of the Challengers

Challengers are consistent risk takers. They expose sacred cows and are discontented with the status quo. When an area of an organization is ineffective, inefficient, or improper processes are being used, you can be sure the Challenger will ask, "What's going on here?"

But Challengers rarely create the new ideas. They are best at providing an excellent analysis of why something will not work. This makes the Challenger the person most likely to be avoided in the organization when a new idea surfaces. While Challengers thrive in the why-it-won't-work mode, deep down the Challengers truly wants success for the teams he or she plays on.

Can you identity the Challengers in your organization?

Creatrix Inventory is an extraordinary instrument that measures an individual's and a group's innovative capacity. We believe Creatrix may be the single most important tool in assessing an organization's ability to seize new opportunities and execute strategic plans flawlessly through innovation.

As today's business challenges become increasingly difficult to manage, organizations need innovative solutions to stay competitive. But it is not enough to want to be more innovative. Organizations need the right people on board; people who have the ability to be creative and the willingness to take risk, key elements of innovation.

Learn more about Creatrix or call/email today to schedule a consultation today.

Learn more about The Innovation Equation and Innovate like Edison.

4. Quotes from Hire Authorities

Leadership is lifting a person's vision to higher sights, the raising of a person's performance to a higher standard, the building of a personality beyond its normal limitations. ... [In short,] management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things.
Peter Drucker

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