Any other fans of the WSJ's Weekend Journal out there? If so, you may have seen Dr. Iain McGilchrist's excellent article "The Battle of the Brain." Dr. McGilchrist traces the evolution of Western culture's overreliance on left hemisphere thought processes -- and points out the problems with this overreliance.
This overreliance is extremely common in facilitated sessions, and leads to suboptimal outcomes. There is often strong pressure to rely on left hemisphere processes, because they are comfortable and familiar. They are comfortable because they reduce the world to clearly defined and predictable patterns, lists, and details. This is important, but only after the larger context is understood.
That's where right hemisphere processes are needed. Often messy, contradictory, and paradoxical, information gleaned through right hemisphere thinking will establish context, free intuition, and allow connections and relationships to be defined that are ignored when left hemisphere processes alone prevail. This messy, organic information is a far more "real" reflection of organizational life than neatly constructed, reductionist realities.
What to do? Make sure your session provides opportunities for each hemisphere to do what it does best. For planning sessions, this may mean constructing a trend map in addition to (or even instead of) a more traditional SWOT analysis. For focus groups, storyboards, card sorts, and/or cartoon "thought bubbles" can allow the right hemisphere to function -- you get the idea. A valuable tool for most organizations is Edward de Bono's parallel thinking, which encourages participants to understand the various types of thinking and encourages facility in each.
Finally, make sure your facilitator is well-versed in processes catering to each hemisphere, knows how to design a session to make the best use of these processes to achieve your desired outcomes, and will challenge you and your organization constructively to move beyond what is familiar into what is most effective.
Happy New Year to all and may your next meeting be your best meeting!
This overreliance is extremely common in facilitated sessions, and leads to suboptimal outcomes. There is often strong pressure to rely on left hemisphere processes, because they are comfortable and familiar. They are comfortable because they reduce the world to clearly defined and predictable patterns, lists, and details. This is important, but only after the larger context is understood.
That's where right hemisphere processes are needed. Often messy, contradictory, and paradoxical, information gleaned through right hemisphere thinking will establish context, free intuition, and allow connections and relationships to be defined that are ignored when left hemisphere processes alone prevail. This messy, organic information is a far more "real" reflection of organizational life than neatly constructed, reductionist realities.
What to do? Make sure your session provides opportunities for each hemisphere to do what it does best. For planning sessions, this may mean constructing a trend map in addition to (or even instead of) a more traditional SWOT analysis. For focus groups, storyboards, card sorts, and/or cartoon "thought bubbles" can allow the right hemisphere to function -- you get the idea. A valuable tool for most organizations is Edward de Bono's parallel thinking, which encourages participants to understand the various types of thinking and encourages facility in each.
Finally, make sure your facilitator is well-versed in processes catering to each hemisphere, knows how to design a session to make the best use of these processes to achieve your desired outcomes, and will challenge you and your organization constructively to move beyond what is familiar into what is most effective.
Happy New Year to all and may your next meeting be your best meeting!
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