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Management Tips:
Balanced utilisation of brain power
Dr. K. Kuhathasan CEO: Cenlead
The late sir Arthur C. Clarke claimed that he planned and worked with
his right brain. It is the power of the right brain which motivated and
stimulated him to present to the world his acclaimed work “Space
Odyssey”.
 In 1981 Roger Sperry was awarded the Nobel Prize for this proof of
the “split brain theory”. You may have heard or read it many times: Some
people are “left-brained,” others “right-brained”.
Leaping from the new research on spilt and intact brains, educators,
management advisers, and self-help writers urge us to harness our
undeveloped right brain.
Are you lacking in creativity, innovation or emotional empathy? Well,
get your brain in balance. Awaken your dormant right hemisphere. When
you are at work, you normally use the left side of the brain. You tap
around 70 per cent of the left brain and uses only 30 per cent of the
right side of the brain.
But creative people use the right side of the brain, about 60 per
cent and left side 40 per cent. If you can utilise the untapped right
side of the brain, you can also become more creative in your work.
Brain hemispheres
Early left/right brain research was mainly conducted by Roger Sperry
and his associates on spilt-brain humans. Briefly, split-brian humans
have their copus callosum surgically cut to control severe epilepsy.
It is through these experiments that psychologists began to
understand how the brain’s hemispheres work. In 1981 Roger Sperry
received the Nobel Prize in Physiology/Medicine for this research.
Specialisation
Based on this and other research, many psychologistics believe that
the brain’s hemispheres specialise in different areas. The left is the
logicside, dealing with language.
The right is the artistic side, dealing with creativity, imagination,
divergent thinking.
Creativity, developing business plans, report writing, presenting
proposals are right-brain functions. Advertising practitioners are well
aware, that they have to use the right side of the brain, more than the
left.
Visualisation
Visualisation is a right-brain function. Psychologists have found
that individuals who visualise a finished product or end result are most
successful in achieving their goals or solving problems.
Managers should, therefore visualise the end product or result as
vividly as possible. They should practice mindmapping as a tool to
discover their hidden talents.
The right hemisphere
The right side of the brain is the “Creative and innovative tool box
of your brain”. It is the seat of your intuitive power. Your discovery
channel is there.
The right hemisphere is a holistic. The right hemisphere is intuitive
and deals in thinking: It grasps the relations between the parts
directly rather than by a sequence of deductions. It is primarily
concerned with our simultaneous comprehension.
The right side of our brain is very good at perceiving and expressing
novel complex visual, patterns. It is able to synthesise all this
information into an understandable whole.
The left hemisphere
The left hemisphere is the logical mode. It controls analytic thought
and verbal responses.
The left side of the brain deals with information in linear, logical
way which operates in piecemeal, step-by-step progress. It is
specialised for spoken language, reading and writing. This
verbal-analytic style is extremely efficient for dealing with the object
world.
Because the left hemisphere proceeds in a logical, sequential mode,
it cannot skip over gaps. Spoken words are individually analysed in the
auditory region of this hemisphere.
Those who undertake routine functions perform their task with the
left side of the brain.
Intuition
Research into the functions of the two hemispheres of the brain
reveals that the left half in most people is the dominant, directive
part, and it controls analytical, logical, and rational thinking. It
draws specific conclusions from inputs based on a logical order of
things, such as yes/no, proceeds/stop, right/wrong, etc.
The right half is underdeveloped in comparison to the left, and in
addition to normal bodily functions is responsible for intuition,
creativity, and imagination. It is the non verbal part of our brain, and
deals in images and combinations of ideas.
The right hemisphere is underdeveloped simply because it is
underutilised. We have not trained ourselves to consciously and
purposely exploit its full potential.
Albert Einstein, who utilised the brain power fully said that people
use only about two-tenths of their intellectual capacities. This should
be no surprise when we realise people spend most of their time thinking
the way they did in the past. They continue to operate, day in and day
out, based on the habitual attitudes of mind they acquired over time,
which are engraved into their memory like music on tape.
Why we are left brain oriented
In the schools, universities and professional programmes, we are used
to learn by step-by step process. We learn in a sequential mode and
prepare ourselves for examinations. Seldom do we think outside the box.
This way of approach has made us to use the left brain more and more.
But in an organisational environment. We have to plan, organise, develop
proposals, take informed decision, solve problems. For management
function, we have to tap the right side of the brain.
Management thinkers like Peter Drucker are of the view that managers
must learn to apply both sides of the brain equally. “Balanced
utilisation of the brain power is crucial for excellence in management.”
How to tap the right side of the brain
According to Daniel Goleman who introduced the concept of “Emotional
Intelligence” to the management world, “Those who have positive
emotional qualities” will be able to tap the right side of the brain.
Positive emotional qualities, according to him are, positive
thinking, positive orientation, energetic, persuasive, self confidence,
persevering, forward looking, dedicated, open-minded, enthusiastic,
energetic, resourceful, selfconfident, courageous etc.
Psychologists are of the opinion that people who are narrow-minded,
dogmatic, arrogant, opportunistic, moody, sadistic may find it difficult
to tap the right side of the brain.
They are also of opinion that “stress is right side brain killer”
Functions of the right side of the brain will be very minimal for those
who have developed stress. Managers should therefore not only perform
their task with positive emotional energy, but also minimise and manage
stress at work.
Check list for you
* Positive and practical imagination is my asset. I always act with
interest, enthusiasm and commitment and initiative. I enjoy my work, I
am very happy in my work.
* I am always bold, brave, active, alert, smart, happy and
imaginative. I am an allrounder. I have full job satisfaction.
* I enjoy setting goals, targets in my work and enjoy achieving my
targets. I am visionary. I know what I should achieve in the years to
come. I am a good planner. I plan everything before I act.
* I am always positive, productive, constructive, dynamic and
systematic. I always dream of victory, success and achievements. I am
success oriented.
* I know how to manage stress. Stress management is my first
priority.
* I am always very enthusiastic. Enthusiasm always lifts me up.
* I always think positively, speak positively, act positively and
work positively.
* I sometimes use humour as a means of avoiding negative emotions.
* I am a firm believer in visualisation. My favourite hobby is
mindmapping. I like to participate in brainstorming activities.
* I trust my feelings to guide me through experiences.
* I get a feeling of excitement when my ideas are accepted.
* I sometimes experience a flood of ideas - far more than I can
immediately capture or use.
* I believe that one should always “sleep on a problem.”
* I believe that indulging in positive day dreaming. Dreaming with a
plan is good.
* When thinking about a problem, I have an exceptional ability to
shift gears. I enjoy acting on a hunch just to see what will happen.
* I can think of more unusual, more unique solutions to problems than
other people.
* I enjoy the “aha” moments of sudden insight into things.
* A painstaking, disciplined effort is mandatory in creative problem
solving.
* There are times when I experience a heightened awareness, a
capacity to see more, hear more, sense more than is usual for me.
* I perform most of my activities with my left hand.
* I have mastered relaxation techniques.
* More than other people, I need to have things interesting and
exciting.
* A person needs to pat himself on the back a little now and then.
* I have more capacity to tolerate, understand others and appreciate
others.
* I am a thoroughly dependable and responsible.
If you have scored more than 20 “yes” responses to the above
checklist, congratulations! Well done. You are a great asset to your
organisation. You can have access to the right side of the brain and use
your brain power in a more balanced way. You will be more creative and
innovative in your work. You will be appreciated and admired by all in
your organisation.
Over utilised left brain
70% used
1. Logical
2. linear thinking
3. Recognises words
4. Orderly sequences of thoughts
5. Focus and parts
6. Analytical
7. Routine functions are performed by this side. (Reading, writing,
accounting, maintaining, stock levels, record keeping, book keeping)
Under utilised right brain
Only 30% used
1. Creativity
2. Innovation
3. New Ideas
4. Flash of Thoughts
5. Intuition
6. More memory power
Mind mapping
brainstorming,
visual thinking. |
