It’s about the people

One of the biggest challenges for any organization is leveraging the related and critical components of communication and collaboration. When it comes to innovation these concepts become even more important. For innovation to occur, all of the different skills and personalities need to be leveraged and combined. When this is done properly the output of the whole organization is exponentially greater than the sum of its parts.

Not everyone thinks alike

A consistent challenge in any organization is the attempt to put their people in the best position for success. This includes specific job responsibilities as well as creating teams that reflect supportive and complementary skills. Many of the leading manufacturing organizations in the world employ various types of personality profiling to help in this process.

Where to begin

There are several respected models and tools that can assist in the determination and allocation of thinking styles. For many years the most common diagnostic tool in the corporate environment has been the Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI). While the MBTI is an excellent model and would be very helpful for most organizations, it uses a lot of jargon and definitions and comes with a bit of a learning curve.

HBDI for simplicity

For ease of use and quick implementation, my preference is the model created by Ned Herman and his company Herrmann International. The Hermann Brain Dominance Instrument (HBDI) provides a model (and assessment tool) that enables people to quickly and easily describe their degree of dominance in the different “thinking styles.” The HBDI uses four simple categories. They are color coded to make them easy to remember.

Just the facts

The first thinking style (associated with the color blue) is that of the logical or analytical person who likes to base decisions on facts. The work of this type is often more technical in nature. Common jobs associated with this style include lawyers and IT workers

Step by Step

The second thinking style (associated with the color green) refers to the highly organized, detailed person. Areas such as accounting and bookkeeping are where this type is often found.

Because you are a people person

The third thinking style (associated with the color red) describes those who enjoy interacting on a personal, and often emotional, level. These types are often very intuitive and can be excellent at bringing other people together. Common jobs for this type are sales and human resources.

The Big Picture

The final thinking style (associated with the color yellow) is used to describe the person who things big. This is the classic entrepreneurial type who is always coming up with a great new idea. This is the thinking style that is most often found in CEO’s and leaders of organizations. Because this thinking style is highly visual and metaphoric, it is also commonly found in creative individuals as well.

Putting it all together

Now that we understand that people have different dominant thinking styles, and have a basis for understanding what those styles are, how do we use this information to become more innovative. The key lies in creating teams and departments that have a diverse representation of all four thinking styles.

Each thinking style has its own strengths and challenges. You may have noticed that the Blue and Green types are classic left brain thinkers while the Red and Yellow are more right brain oriented. When the different personalities are strategically combined they form a unit that possesses the ability to leverage all of the best and most productive skills of the “whole brain.”

The concept of “whole brain thinking” fits perfectly within the framework of an innovative manufacturing organization. Every aspect of innovative behavior, from initial brainstorming, to customer interaction, to ultimate implementation, is provided for by the people who are best equipped with those skills.

Innovation is always about the people. There is no better way to maximize the use of your people than to start with the “whole brain.”

4-Quadrant Personality Models

The Quick Way To Improve Team Communications

Seventy-five percent of other people don't think like I do, but that does not mean they are wrong. It does mean that we will have a hard time communicating, which can lead to conflict within our work teams. The quick fix for this problem is to speak in terms that make sense to the other person. If you are speaking to a team of people, you need to make sense to several other groups. We cut through the confusion using one of the popular 4-quadrant personality models such as DISC, Whole Brain Business, or Analytical-Amiable-Driver-Expressive personality assessments.

The objective is to learn to see the other person's behavior from a different set of eyes. Too often we view other people from our own eyes and our own frame of reference. The key to success is to understand there are many ways to approach work and they are all effective. Each of us has a preference for an approach that works best for us individually without regard for what will work best for another person. We tend to invalidate the other person for doing something the wrong way, even when the end result is positive. There is no better way to destroy team performance than to invalidate the performer for doing it the wrong way and no better way to enhance team performance than to validate a positive contribution.

Left and Right Brain Dominance online testing. (Not a 4 Quadrant Personality Model)

http://www.web-us.com/brain/braindominance.htm