Holistic-Personal-Development.com

“Every man I meet is in somehow my superior and in that I can learn from him.”
– Ralph Waldo Emerson

One of the most beneficial skills to be developed in the pursuit of holistic personal development is whole brain thinking, or whole brain learning. The theory of whole brain thinking is concerned with how people’s brains respond to information. This theory, developed by Ned Herrmann and known as the Hermann Brain Dominance Instrument (HBDI) states that there are four quadrants in the brain. Each person has a predominant quadrant that gets triggered or sparked when information of that type comes in.

Here are the four quadrants: A: Analytical (Upper Left); B: Organizational (Lower Left); C: Emotional (Lower Right); D: Conceptual (Upper Right).

Looking at this chart, you will see combinations of preferences, such as A and D together, which produces a Cognitive Pragmatic, or D and C together creating an Idealistic Intuitive. However, one quadrant is still primary and the secondary one is the intermediate preference.

To utilize whole brain thinking in yourself you first need awareness of what quadrant you are most comfortable with. That would be your default way of thinking. Consider Ned Herrmann’s viewpoint on this: “Our strongest preferences lead to our greatest competencies and our avoidances lead to our least competencies. In terms of learning strategy, we should affirm or extend our preferences. We should reinforce and develop our secondaries and be stimulated and challenged in our areas of avoidances.”

Because different people have different default ways of thinking, it’s also important for any communication process that your message be of relevance to all four brain quadrants, as they are found equally in the general population in all parts of the world.

To facilitate your understanding of these four quadrants, here are examples of how each quadrant would go about buying a computer. For instance, the person using the analytical Quadrant A would process the decision like this:

“I want this computer because for $2,000 I can get a 3 Ghz processor, 10/100 ethernet, 4 GB of ram, 80 GB hard drive, 2 GB of DDR2 memory, rewritable DVD drive and a Vista operating system.”

The organized quadrant B would approach it like this: “I want this computer because it was voted best value by Consumer Reports; it has a 3 year limited warranty; and it has lifetime technical support.”

The emotional quadrant C would look at it this way: “I want this computer because I like the color. I also want to buy this because the salesman who recommended it to me was so nice and said I could always call him if I had a problem.”

And finally, the conceptual quadrant D would come to his conclusion like this: “I want this computer because I love this new design and the fact that the speakers simulate holophonic sound which means I can meditate listening to my meditation CD’s without having to put on headphones. And I like the fact that I can access the data on my hard drive from my satellite cell phone even while I am hang gliding in the Grand Canyon.”

This concept of a brain having four quadrants is different than the Myers Briggs test. That test is used to assess personality. It is also different from DISC which assesses behavior. The HBDI relates to how the brain works. It has proven quite useful in corporate culture, fostering communication between people with different mental preferences. When these differences in workers are brought together, head butting is decreased and teamwork is enhanced. Bringing all these workers together with different primary brain quadrants can be thought of as a composite whole brain. A synergy takes place and a much fuller potential in the workplace is realized.

Whether you are a teacher, a writer, a speaker, a parent, a political candidate, or a basketball coach – it doesn’t matter. If you are trying to engage the attention of more than one person, you need to address all four brain quadrants. Ned Herrmann said he treats each learning point in as many modes as possible—frequently all four. “During the course of a few days or a week or even a few hours, I design the delivery so that every key learning point is addressed in ways appropriate for all four quadrants.”

This allows for the possibility to stimulate the thinking of everyone. If a lecture was comprised of nothing but quandrant A type of material, the quadrant B, C and D type brains would likely tune out. It would all seem irrelevant.

For example, let’s say you are a yoga instructor and you are most comfortable using the C quadrant, which is typified by emotions and feelings. If you were asked to give a lecture on yoga, you would naturally focus on how relaxed and happy it makes people feel.

But the quadrant A types in your audience would want to hear facts about yoga lowering blood pressure, increasing blood flow to the brain, and increasing bone density. An organized quadrant B would want to know how long you should stand on your head, and what thickness of a mat you recommend, and what your qualifications are to speak about yoga. The conceptual quadrant D might want to know if it could unlock his kundalini energy and usher him into cosmic consciousness.

Understanding this concept can also improve the image you might have of yourself. Just think about Albert Einstein. He was not a successful student growing up. He received terrible grades. He was using the D quadrant of his brain. He was conceptualizing ideas beyond the grasp of his teachers, but he was given feedback in the form of bad grades that he didn’t measure up. That can be depressing for a child. Can you imagine a frustrated teacher yelling, “Think Albert. Think.” Albert was thinking but most likely in a different way than the teacher understood.

I too am someone most comfortable in the D quadrant. I see the big picture easily. That would be my primary quadrant. Quadrants A and C would both be intermediate preferences for me. Quadrant B is my challenge and in the past, my area of avoidance. I hate paper work and forms. But I can do them if I have to. Being organized is not my strong suit.

It’s not that my brain can’t think in an organized way. It’s just not my preference. I once was promoted, when working at the Los Angeles Times, to a mid-management administrative position that had more paper work than my worst nightmares. The only reason I took it was that it was a 100% increase in my pay. The three previous people who held the job were not successful in it. I got a great job review and another promotion. And then the person who succeeded me got fired.

My experience with that is proof to me that when I move beyond my comfort zone in an effort to incorporate whole brain thinking in my life, a whole new experience opens up for me. New talents I never knew existed begin to emerge.

Take the technical proclivity brain type of the A quadrant. He can get all excited about the specs of a computer. He can even fall in love with the machine. But his life expands if he can incorporate some B quadrant characteristics like being organized and paying attention to details. For example, like sending the rebate coupon in (something I never seem to do) and making an emergency start-up disk (I do sometimes).

If this person continues to grow and develop skills in the C quadrant, he will be able to get in touch with his feelings and perhaps even experience love and joy. Looking back on his old life of thinking and learning from only the A and B quadrants seems so limiting. His expanded sense of being puts quadrants A and B in a balanced perspective. Now he is inspired and ready to learn the skills of the D quadrant, and in so doing, life becomes one big creative experience. Having learned the skills of all four quadrants, life becomes a creative learning experience.

Life becomes so much richer for the person who can move beyond thinking from a single quadrant. Life becomes unlimited. Operating out of the whole brain, a person can rise up to whatever the situation demands.

Once a person begins using his or her brain from all four quadrants, there is no return to a single brain quadrant existence.

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