Whole brain computing

摘要

In our consulting work, we've run across four different types of people in corporations. Perhaps you've seen them around too.

The first guy works in finance; we'll call him Walt. If Walt isn't in audit, he should be, since he displays a dazzling agility with figures. He reads balance sheets as a hobby, and he smells funny numbers three pages away. If you want to sell him, you better flood your presentation with data, because his thirst for facts is insatiable. And you don't bother offering Walt wine at a company party if you don't know its vintage.

The second person we see holds a position such as Director of Personnel. Kathleen, we'll call her, is one of the best organized people you've ever met. She carries off an impossibly busy schedule with aplomb, gliding effortlessly from appointment to appointment on a steady stream of neatly printed lists. And you should see Kathleen throw a dinner party. Each course magically appears at the table on time, piping hot, and the seating plan bears striking resemblance to the organization chart. A glance at her bookshelf reveals a first edition copy of The One Minute Manager, and a record collection indexed in alphabetical order.

Sandy holds a job such as marketing manager for one of the small, entrepreneurial business units. She's one of those people who's impossible to contact because no one knows where she is. In a meeting, plan on her being late, but also count on her having ten ideas to everyone else's two. Since she's rarely doing less than two things simultaneously, don't be upset if she's writing her management report during your dry-run sales presentation. Yet when you're through she'll be the only one who really understood the overall concept. If you root around her chaotic office, you will find a sign which says: "If you think my desk is cluttered, you should see my mind."

You will find the fourth guy out in field sales. Everyone loves Bob. He's the kind of person you'd trust with your most intimate secrets because you knowhe'd never do anything to hurt your feelings. A good listener, and a good laugher, people instantly feel comfortable talking to him. However, don't bother asking him if he's free to work late. He belongs to four clubs, and coaches in three leagues.

Do you recognize Walt, Kathleen, Sandy, and Bob? Do you have people like them in your group or business? They may also resemble customers or vendors. Who are you most like?

Each of our four characters is emblematic of the four quadrants of the human brain, and the kinds of thinking each quadrant specializes in. The upper left quadrant is home for analytical and logical thinking. People who prefer to process information there tend to be mathematical and technical. They tend to have strong verbal skills, and given a choice, they prefer to deal with facts. Thinking in the lower left quadrant is oriented to the procedural, the precise, the practical, and the thorough. For the lower-left thinker, organization is a way of life.

The upper right quadrantis the center for conceptual and imaginative thinking. It's where most of the artistic and holistic thinking takes place. And the lower right quadrant controls our emotional, responsive, empathetic, and interpersonal thinking.

In general, the left side of the brain thinks sequentially, preferring to do things in order, one at a time, like working down a list; while the right side thinks simultaneously, juggling any number of tasks at once. Left brainers prefer to do things by the book, in order, and according to instructions. Right brainers wing it. Left brainers read the documentation before running the program; right brainers don't touch the documentation until they're hopelessly lost.

Interestingly, just as people have dominate hands, feet, and eyes, they also tend to have one or two dominate thinking styles, like each of the people we described above. Yet even so, we actually have some of all four characters living within us. We all have a little bit of Walter the analyzer, Kathleen the implementor, Sandy the imaginator, and Bob the collaborator as part of the way we receive and process information. And all four styles are necessary for true, useful, creative work.

But what does this have to do with computers? Everything. Let's take a look at the computing world from a left-brain - right-brain perspective.