For too long we have been having these one sided discussions about thinking, problem solving or decision making.
For example:
People have been described as left brain vs right brain.
This might have been a useful metaphor to use in the past to describe different preferences (e.g. left brain for language) but the latest brain science suggests that thinking is much more networked that specialised.
In other-words thinking involves both sides of the brain.
It’s ‘and nor or’.
To be a higher performer you (and your team) need to be both left brain and right brain.
To use an analogy, successful soccer players today have to be able to kick with both right and left feet,
They need to be able to defend and attack.
In a similar way, leaders need to be able to think in a critical and creative way.
To think in an incremental and a disruptive fashion when the situation demands.
To be more complete, 360 degree thinkers leaders need both analysis and intuition.
They cannot be one-sided thinkers any more.
This means they need a new skill.
The skill is to be able to switch and connect different thinking styles.
- Linear and non-linear
- Rational and emotional
- Divergent and convergent
In short, they need to become switch thinkers.
The goal is to be able to call on whatever thinking mode you need at a particular time.
And to be be able to connect these different styles.
In short, so you can have the best of both worlds.
You can be a left brain and a right brain thinker.
Or (more accurately) a whole brain or multi-purpose thinker.
This requires greater creativity, flexibility but the rewards are bigger, better ideas and solutions.
You can create out of the box ideas – that work.
And you will never get stuck again!
This can be achieved via my Switch Thinking System.
Much like you can switch TV or music channels depending on your mood or need at the time.
For example:
What are some 1% ideas to improve the customer experience?
Switch
What are some ideas that might make a 100% difference to the customer experience?
Now you can try and connect the two because you have established two different types of ideas (i.e. 1% and 100%).
Switch Thinking is easy, fast and practical.
All you need is to be able to switch and connect different thinking styles.
I call these many different thinking modes – Box, Ball and Heart.
Being able to switch and connect these are your pathway to higher performance.