A common issue many leaders face is plenty of problems and not enough new thinking. This is such a long-standing common refrain, there is even a management-speak saying about it, “Don’t just bring me problems, bring me solutions.” Unfortunately, there is a small “catch” built into the thinking behind that saying.

There are two predominant ways of solving problems: linearly and non-linearly.

The linear approach is the heavily favored approach from the brain’s perspective. It is our default approach. It is the PFC-dominated approach to solving problems. It’s very effective for a wide range of problems: things we’ve seen before, things we have experience with, things with a few (as opposed to many) factors, simple (as opposed to complex) issues. There are many business practices based on this approach: lean, six sigma, trial-and-error, feedback. But it doesn’t solve EVERY problem. And what is happening in today’s business environment is exposing the limits of this approach. There are also times where we exhaust this approach and still have no solution.

What then?

Help build an awareness of and improve the ability for people to tap into a non-linear approach for solving problems. We all do this naturally. Most of us just haven’t learned how to speed up the process.

What process?

The process of facilitating insight.

You have insights all the time. They are seemingly random, come from out of the blue and often in the most unusual places at the most unusual times. They often come when you are not prepared to do anything with them.

Fortunately, it turns out there may be some science as to how the brain creates insights. If we work with this phenomenon, we can speed it up–rather than wait on and hope for it.

The leader’s role is to create the space for people to tap into their own insights. And there is the gap in the saying. People are not often bringing you answers because they’ve run the linear well dry. And no one is priming the pump for insight.

I created a model that reflects some of the current state of neuroscience research on insight. I called it PRIME™.* It represents five ingredients that help facilitate the kind of brain state necessary for insight to occur. It is hard to do on your own. It is much easier when someone helps facilitate this space for you.

I would argue it’s the primary role of brain-based coaches–AND leaders and managers.

You’re probably tired of hearing another common saying from the renowned Albert Einstein, “We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”

Put another way, we need to think new thoughts. We need insight.

Contact me if you want to learn more about facilitating insight as a leader, manager, teacher, or executive coach.

*PRIME is informed by the following research (as we are seeking more):

• “The Aha! Moment: The Cognitive Neuroscience of Insight,” John Kounios and Mark Beeman (c) 2009 Association for Psychological Science, Volume 18 – Number 4, pp. 210-216
• “A Brain Mechanism for Facilitation of Insight by Positive Affect,” Karuna Subramaniam, John Kounios, Todd B. Parrish, and Mark Jung-Beeman (c) 2008 Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience 21:3, pp. 415–432
• “New approaches to demystifying insight,” Bowden, Jung-Beeman, Fleck and Kounios (c) July 2005, TRENDS in Cognitive Sciences, Vol.9 No.7
• “Neural Activity When People Solve Verbal Problems with Insight,” Jung-Beeman et al, (c) April 2004, PLoS Biology, Volume 2, Issue  4, pp. 500-510

Two brains talking

History seems to indicate that (nearly) every time something new comes along, it is feared, fought or outright rejected dating back even to the first notion that the earth was round (See 1, 2, 3 for a few industry-specific examples). So it now seems for neuroscience and brain-based anything. I’ve been doing work in this area for nearly 10 years and I still hear how neuroscience is a fad and “brain-based” is simply the new hype.

I don’t know about you, but I don’t think the human brain is going away anytime soon. So exploring and understanding how it functions (which, it turns out, is often counter-intuitive and contradictory to what we THINK) and how to leverage that understanding can be critical to our success in the classroom, the conference room and the board room.

What do we mean by brain-based?

Brain-based, as we use the term, refers to applying neuroscience research to our ideas, our programs, essentially most of what we do. It is driven by the primary organizing principle of the brain as put forth by Evian Gordon–minimize danger and maximize reward, with minimize danger being the MUCH STRONGER default.

Being brain-based means paying attention to everything you think, say and do in terms of whether you are creating dangers or rewards for the brain. The challenge is that so much of what we think, say and do can be rather “thoughtless” (researchers estimate between 50% and 95% of our brain activity is non-conscious; see 4 and 5 for related research). There are good evolutionary reasons for this. It takes energy to think and we humans like to conserve energy to respond to threats (there’s that dang primary organizing principle again). So finding ways to “automate” processes allows us to minimize energy consumption. It also means we can say and do things that create a trigger to others’ brains that we are a danger.

“Ridiculous,” you say.

When was the last time someone cut you off in traffic, or jumped ahead of you in a line, or lightly challenged your idea, or left you off of a meeting invite or … ? How did it feel to you? What did it cause you to think or say or do? Chances are, it elicited a slight (or possibly greater) negative chain reaction. This negative reaction, often referred to as a “fight or flight” response, further diminishes our cognitive functioning and can result in even more non-conscious reactions.

What does “coaching” have to do with this?

It turns out, taking a coaching or coach-like approach can be VERY brain-friendly IF the coaching approach is a brain-based coaching approach. Just as there are many people questioning the value of neuroscience, there are MANY people calling themselves coaches. Unfortunately, many of these folks are actually providing a service that is closer to mentoring, consulting or training–and there are significant differences. A coach is supposed to let the client “do the heavy lifting” and it is supposed to be a client-driven relationship, meaning the client is in charge. The coach provides the “space” to approach goals, topics, issues, situations, whatever in a different way. It is less about what the coach knows and more about tapping into the client’s ability.

Many coaches take a directive approach, offering suggestions, hints, ideas, thoughts … to the client. While this can be helpful in some (and I’d say the minority of) situations, it tends not to be very brain-friendly. Giving people advice or telling them what to do (even if done in a “helpful” way) can still trigger danger to the hyper-sensitive brain. Even the questions a coach asks can trigger danger depending on the nature, focus and type of question asked.

What does brain-based coaching look like?

First, it demands a more-than-surface understanding of the brain, how it functions, its various networks, and the relationships of those networks.

Second, it involves applying that understanding to our core communication skills: listening and talking. For instance, if we know the prefrontal cortex has a limited capacity for storing things short-term, we should be VERY judicious in our use of language.

Third, it means using a brain-friendly framework for connecting with others that works with–rather than against–the brain. You might be surprised at how easy it is to get it wrong (or you might just be non-conscious, wink).

And finally, it takes LOTS of attention and practice. The human brain has been evolving for centuries; I’ve only got a decade of brain-based practice. How about you?

Notes:

1. Science
2. Communications
3. Publishing
4. “The Unconscious Mind”
5. “The Neural Basis of the Dynamic Unconscious”

Image: (c) Jorgenmac | Dreamstime.com