Manage Your Team - What MBA School Doesn t Teach You

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1 Manage Your Team - What MBA School Doesn t Teach You Having been an investor for over 5 years, I have come across many entrepreneurs and start-ups looking for investment. Apart from closely observing the founder of the business, we also interact with the top management since they play a pivotal role in how well the company does. While degrees and experience are important, we have come to Learn more about Roger Sperry and the Split Brain Experiments realise that it is the mental makeup of the top team which is equally, if not far more, crucial, for the management team will either take the company to its peak or let it stagnate. So what do I mean by mental makeup? In a sense I mean the how the person is hardwired; how a person thinks and the sort of things that attract them. In common parlance it is often known as being right-brained or left-brained, also known as brain dominance. This theory of left-brain or rightbrain dominance was propounded by Roger Sperry in the 1960s and he went on to win the Nobel Prize in 1981, for his work on split-brain research. Sperry s research showed that individuals are said to prefer one side of the brain to the other and each side of the brain is associated with certain specific types of thinking. For example, a person who is leftbrained is often more logical, analytical and objective, while a person who is right-brained is more intuitive, thoughtful and subjective. Both the left and right hemispheres of the brain

2 have been found to have their own specialised forms of intellect. Right brained thinking The right brained person is daring and intuitive and such individuals see the world in their unique way. Such a person is fuelled by creative energy and is constantly looking to find outlets for his/her imagination. They are the wheels of innovation in organizations and in society as well. Their ability to see new products and services where no need has been articulated, to go beyond the current boundaries of thought and knowledge, is what makes business so exciting. Such people are driven by fame; not in the sense of becoming celebrities perhaps, but more as harbingers of change and progress. They thirst for new ideas and their currency is knowledge and wisdom. The right side of the brain is best at expressive and creative tasks. The right half of the brain controls the intuitive, spontaneous, emotional, visual, artistic, playful, non-verbal side of your nature. They are more aware of their emotions, as well as the emotions of those around them. They relate to others more easily, understanding their point of view and experiences. Simply put, they re more intuitive and spontaneous. Left brained thinking The left brained person is highly verbal and mathematical, performing with analysis and logic. The left-side of the brain is considered to be adept at tasks that involve logic, language and analytical thinking and goal-orientedness. Left-brained people are always asking questions and wanting answers to everything. They tend to be list makers and planners. They prefer writing and outlining to spontaneous outbursts of

3 activity. They re also more connected to time and schedules, and love to plan everything down to the last detail. They re more analytical and like to break problems down into the component parts. Left brained people on the other hand are driven by the idea of business and enterprises. They have an inborn desire for monetary wealth and are more focussed than most on luxury and everything that money can buy. Such people are driven by money and the ability to create wealth. This is both their personal driver as well as what drives them in business. Integrators There is another category of people who are neither completely right nor left brained; instead they are middle brained, i.e. use both sides with equal ease and efficiency. I call such people Integrators. This is the type of person who is often the real energy behind an enterprise. These men of action are indefatigable and inexhaustible and it is their ability to continue to operate in the face of odds that helps keeps the business going through thick and thin. Individuals who are Integrators generally desire power and control; they like to be at the helm of affairs and direct how the business grows and shapes up. Integrators are propelled by power and like action above all else. While all of this makes sense, the question does arise: Are people completely left-brained or right-brained? There is some amount of distortion and exaggeration surrounding this theory. Latest research indicates that while these types of personas may be real, they may or may not be rooted in anyone side of the brain. Most humans are born with one tendency or the other, with influence coming from genetic

4 traits, type of family life, and childhood training. However, change is possible and either side of the brain can be trained and strengthened. No matter whether one is more logical or creative, people are capable of both kinds of thinking, depending on the demand of the moment. And to take it further, it is important to utilise both ones creative and logical side in order to have a balanced and fruitful life. While right brained people are storehouses of creativity, without logic and rationality they are often consumed by their own creativity as in the cases of music artists such as Michael Jackson and Whitney Houston. On the other hand, an entrepreneur like the late Steve Jobs was able to channel his creativity and significantly change three industries in his lifetime computers, animation and gaming through his companies Apple and Pixar. Succeeding in Business The reason I feel it is important to share these three different kinds of capabilities/traits is that to succeed in business today and to be effective entrepreneurs and business leaders, we need to think with our whole brain, not just part of it. Alternately one needs to create a team that can complement and supplement one s ability. Knowing an individual s inherent trait can help you understand his/her ways of thinking, behaving, speaking, and functioning. Business has become too focused and mechanical, and not enough time and space is spent to think broad and holistic. Of course we need both analysis and imagination but it is the connections between the two that make the difference. The successful business is firstly an imaginative business. It then intelligently focuses on the best opportunities. While most of today s businesses are dominated by logic and

5 caution, it is the creativity and innovation that opens up new dimensions and makes a leap forward possible. Small businesses must choose their teams with care. The founder in such businesses is typically creative, daring and intuitive. Intuitive thinking, divergent, and holistic thinking enables them to see things differently, and thereby to imagine and do different things to challenge conventions, to explore new possibilities and set up a path breaking business. They start off as Lifestyle Entrepreneurs and are driven by a desire to make a mark in the world. However, in order for them to move to the next level of Trader Entrepreneurs, they need Integrators who are able to balance creativity with logical and rationale. For the next leap to happen, i.e. to move from Trader Entrepreneur to Scale Entrepreneurs, the business requires people who are logical, rational and goal-oriented. More logical, more convergent,

6 more focused thinking then enables the business to choose the best markets, products, customers and approaches to focus resources to optimise and help the business succeed at a never before experienced level. But the circle gets completed when large businesses begin to stagnate and look for newer pastures and here they need a mix of people creative, logical and integrators to fuel their innovation and transformation. Takeaway Most humans are born with one tendency or the other, with influence coming from genetic traits, type of family life, and childhood training. However, change is possible and either side of the brain can and should be trained and strengthened. While right brained people are storehouses of creativity, without logic and rationality they may not get far. Similarly, without a spark of creativity and some bit of genius, it is not possible to make a mark on this world.