Is Your Most Difficult Team Member Actually Your Greatest Asset?

When discussing the concept of whole brain thinking with a client just recently, he replied “yes, my 12 year old daughter keeps reminding me we only utilise part of our brain”.

Using our Whole Brain

This took me slightly by surprise. Contrary to popular belief, this has actually been proven otherwise. Psychology and medical researchers have studied people whose brain function has been impaired, either through accident, head injury or illness. They found that while these people had impaired brain function, this was a result of damaged areas of the brain and not from lack of using specific parts of the brain. The researchers concluded that we do, in fact, use 100% of our brain, just not 100% of the time.The concept of whole brain thinking then is about awareness and strategy.

Awareness and Strategy Impact Business Performance

Awareness and strategy have a major impact on business and organisational performance.

Awareness provides the tools to analyse and communicate with people who don’t think like you do, or who you find frustrating or challenging to work with. Instead of banging your head against a brick wall trying to get your point across to your co-worker who talks too loudly, rabbits on and on and generally drives you crazy, whole brain thinking allows you to consider the person from another perspective. They may not actually be deliberately trying to rile you. It may simply be their thinking preference which drives their behaviour. Whole brain thinking can mean no more conversations being lost in translation – what a relief!

Strategy enables you to have an holistic understanding of the business and the business environment, instead of looking at it from one point of view. Having people with different thinking styles and preferences on your team means that you can assess and analyse the business from different perspectives. These skills can promote understanding and greater cohesion among staff . That ‘difficult’ person may even become your greatest asset.

Your Whole Brain Thinking Team

Imagine having a team who utilise the whole brain thinking model. What could this mean for your business success? “In life you are either a passenger or a pilot, it’s your choice”. If you would like to try out your wings and learn more about whole brain thinking, particularly how it applies to you and your business, then let us know.

To learn more about whole brain thinking used in business, by Telecom and Fonterra, see page 4 and 5 in EMA Business.

CLICK HERE to view courses offered at BDC using the whole brain thinking model.