OK, someone has to go first … so here’s my ‘4 Quadrant Brain Profile’.
And if you need a reminder about what the 4 Quadrants indicate, check the image below or the Introduction To Thinking Preferences article:
And if you’re not familiar with the terminology, a check of the above images will indicate the simple approach to identifying any particular quadrant and that is to indicate whether it is on the left or right side of the brain picture (L or R) or at the top (front = 1) or bottom (back = 2) of it:
- L1 = Left / Front
- L2 = Left / Back
- R1 = Right / Front
- R2 = Right / Back
What Do The Numbers Mean?
- A Brain Profile uses a total of 300 points that get split between the 4 quadrants. So if you had an equal preference for all 4 modes of thinking, you would see a number of 75 in each (i.e. 4 x 75 = 300).
- Scores greater than 75 in a quadrant indicates an increasing preference for that mode of thinking whilst,
- Scores lower than 75 indicate a decreasing preference for that mode.
The fact that everyone’s numbers all add up to 300 mean we are not trying to compare whether someone is better than another at a particular mode of thinking (like in an IQ test for instance). Instead, it is looking at the relative preference we ourselves have for the different modes of thinking. So don’t get all competitive OK!
First Cut Analysis Of My Brain Profile – Left Versus Right
The first thing I would notice about my profile is that there’s a higher preference for right-brained thinking processes (R1 & R2) than there is for those associated with the left hemisphere (L1 & L2). And the sum of the two right-hand scores at 167 (R1 = 87, R2 = 80) confirms a higher preference than that associated with the left side at 133 (a difference of 34 points).
So you might expect me to have a higher preference for thinking processes that are more holistic, big picture oriented, perhaps into risk taking, feeling a regular need for change, people oriented and cooperative in style … i.e. rather high in R1 / R2 thinking & behaviour.
Similarly, I may be expected to place less emphasis on being orderly, traditional, overly analytical or into digging into detail almost for the enjoyment of it … i.e. rather low on L1 / L2 thinking & behaviour.
By and large, I think most people who know me would say that to be true but they would also say that I definitely have a tendency to get into the detail around things, loving to understand something in detail and then explain it. So, tucked away here is some left-brained tendencies despite my overall right-brain dominance. And if you check my left hemisphere you will see I’m only slightly below average in the L1 quadrant which will explain it (6 points below the 75 average score). But, generally, you would expect the R1 / R2 processes to dominate my natural thinking patterns and resulting behaviour.
How About Front-Brain Versus Back-Brain?
Now this is where most people’s left-brain / right-brain model starts to get challenged, suddenly this guy is talking of front and back-brain thinking! Well, this is a natural consequence of having the thinking processes divided into 4 quadrants.
- People with a stronger preference for front-brain thinking processes (L1 & R1) tend to enjoy more conceptual thinking. This implies I’m somewhat lost in my brain working on new ways of seeing or dealing with the world.
- Whereas people with a stronger preference for back-brain thinking (L2 & R2) tend to be more vocational, hands-on types (e.g. think of a mechanic or a hairdresser).
In my case you will notice a small but discernible difference (of 12 points) exists between the front brain value of 156 and the back-brained value of 144, certainly closer than the 34 point difference between left and right-brained processes.
And again, I think anyone who knows me would say that I have a dominant preference for more conceptual thinking but that I am extremely hands-on in making things happen if the need arises.
So How Has My Brain Profile Played Out Over Time?
If I think about the things that occupy my life I can directly track them back to the preferences shown on my brain profile.
For example: I have always been someone keen on coming up with new ideas (R1) and working to get people together (R2).
- If I go to my varsity days, who was always looking for new ways to get people to socialise together? Umm, me.
- And who was always keen to find something to do that others hadn’t thought of doing on the next social?
- And who got a huge kick out of seeing it all happen? Umm, same person.
- And who started work and dived into running and growing the office sports teams?
- And who organised almost every social function in the building and loved coming up with increasingly diverse ideas?
And another example: Who places high value on the creation of new ideas (R1)? Yep, same guy.
- So if someone is likely to be looking to run a brain-storming session to look for new ideas, don’t be surprised if it’s me!
- Sometimes it’s almost as if the quest for new ideas is more important than the new ideas themselves. There’s a whole process there that you can run through with people and manage to get new outputs that give insight and new possibilities appear, wow, awesome 🙂
- So who attended an Edward de Bono course called ‘Serious Creativity’ and absolutely soaked it up whilst others criticised the approach as not having merit because it was not logical or perhaps because they felt it was too playful and required lots of people interaction to achieve?
- And who joined a super-charged new work colleague to help her start a company-wide creativity course?
- No surprises there.
And My Management Style?
- If I had to describe my management style I would say that I am very people oriented, always trying to understand the big picture view of things and that I spend a lot of time trying to get people to work better together.
- It’s just the filters that I have on without even being aware of it. These things seem important to me.
- And if I’m not careful I can think they are the ‘right way’ to do something when, in actual fact, they simply show my own, personal preference for how to do these things and represent ‘a way’ of doing things. Or to be more whole-brained about it, ‘part of the way’ to do something.
- With my lower preference for left-brain thinking people will certainly not experience me as a highly structured, control-freak kind of manager. Rather a flexible manager who is always looking for solutions that are creative. And boy do I enjoy those moments when a valuable idea surfaces!
And In Discussions?
- I can sometimes not seem very direct when answering questions and have to make a conscious effort to actually remember to answer the question sometimes!
- A characteristic of a strong right-brain thinker is that they can engage in what’s referred to as ‘zig-zag thinking’.
- So you ask me about whether I managed to finish that report over the weekend and I say no, because I was out the whole of Saturday kayaking with the family. And by the way we found a new dam to paddle on, it’s got pure spring water bubbling out the ground, it’s so clear, we should tell person X about it because I saw people scuba diving there and I hear they have sunk a couple of old aeroplanes down there to form an artificial reef for the fish and that my son managed to catch three fish all on the one day. And then, oh yeh, the report, no, I’ll finish it today though as was promised (remember the GTD part of the website where I explain how I have over come any low tendency towards structure in my life!) …
- So what the heck happened in between? Well, other than likely frustrating whoever asked me the question, I found my brain making links between different pieces of information (very R1) and every time one idea came to mind I could see three others, one of which I chose to talk about, two of which I eventually forgot about completely and some of which I remembered later. In my earlier career, if you were lucky, I may even have remember to answer the question about the report! In my later career though, as I have learned to be more ‘whole brained’ this is less of an issue (but always a risk LOL!)
- Wow, right-brainers eh … as someone once described it, they have a habit of interrupting themselves!
So How Is All This Knowledge Useful?
Now, imagine that that was your experience dealing with me every time. You’d sure lose patience and assume that I am just trying to avoid answering the question about the report. But in fact, that’s not true, I did answer it … eventually! I just saw a whole bunch of different possibilities come to mind to talk about in between (very R1) and, being quite people oriented (very R2), was quite happy to share my life with you. And if you check the image above that describes the R1 and R2 quadrants, these things should come as no real surprise to you!
And this is one of the great things about brain profiling in that you can start to see the patterns in people’s behaviours and no longer see them in a judgemental manner. Instead, you can see my behaviour as part of a pattern and, once you’ve done the polite listening thing for a minute, would sometimes need to bring me back to the question. And as frustrating as that may be, who do you come to when you need to open up new directions of thinking or to help out with the inter-personal side of team dynamics?
And just when you’re starting to think ‘oh yeh, I know people like you!’, remember, I know people like you! And despite how ‘correct’ you may perceive yourself to be in your behaviours, you are also just filtering the world through your own set of thinking preferences and behaving in accordance. And I may find your perceived thoroughness in analysing the detail of everything (very L1) as an utter pain in the butt because the decision could have been made much quicker by understanding the big picture and making a quicker, gut instinct based decision. Or I may find the endless processes you put in place to control things (very L2) as stifling my creativity.
And so perhaps you will see how we are all different, in ways that seem to have patterns associated with them. In fact, if we don’t understand these patterns, we can very easily resort to judgemental behaviour that always places ourselves as being right and others as not.
And How Would You Practically Use It For Benefit?
The possibilities for misunderstanding one another in this life are enormous. And as we all experience increasing demands on us and come to expect so much more of others, we simply compound any misunderstandings that do exist.
But the beauty of brain profiling is that the possibilities for ‘understanding’ one another are also enormous … and just think of all the benefits hidden therein for all of your personal and work relationships?
And to go back to a comment I made about what initially interested me in brain profiling wouldn’t it be great if we could treat people like they themselves like to be treated? So I now know you are very L1 and like the details before making a decision. So I must stop taking you a couple of graphs without the details attached. And I should be certain in any conversation that we have about getting you to understand those details. And when dealing with me you need to know that I appreciate a personal touch (R2), that you ask about my weekend or family before launching into the spreadsheet and that you do your best to make decisions sooner than later because I lose momentum when subjected to too much analysis.
Together though, what a team!
But only if we appreciate each other’s special qualities … or should I say, brain profiles!
Am I The Victim Of My Brain Profile?
Far from it! My Brain profile simply describes statistically how much I prefer each mode of thinking. But I can access each quadrant if I put my mind to it. And a high preference doesn’t necessarily mean I have developed skills in that quadrant, so I still need to look to develop skills in all quadrants.
So, with a little effort, I find I can tone down my overtly R1 behaviours (as explained above in the example of the kayaking weekend) and give you the answer you are looking for straight away because I know you are dominant in other quadrants (hence treating you like you like to be treated). I may leave the discussion feeling like I wanted to tell you how much fun the weekend’s mountain bike ride was but, hey, you’ve got your answer and I will surely find someone else to chat to later about the trail I rode!
And, in this manner, by deliberately seeking to exercise our minds in other quadrants we become increasingly ‘whole-brained’. It can be done consciously … just check your next presentation and ask yourself how much it reflects where you have strong preferences in your profile. And then ask yourself how people with strong preferences in quadrants where you have a low preference will experience your presentation. The chances are you can get insights that immediately improve the slides and you inadvertently find yourself ‘speaking’ to more people.
And if you are wondering whether this is indeed true, check out the articles on this site on ‘Personal Productivity’ and see how someone (me) with their lowest preference for routine & structure (L2) learnt skills in an area they had otherwise neglected! And now, having done so, feels the desire to blog about it …
But whole-brained behaviours are the topic of another post or three … so we’ll get there another day!
OK, I hope you managed to get some insights here for how a brain profile can be used in practise?
And if you’ve not already done so, please check out the articles on the menu bar above under ‘Brain Profiling’? There’s even a link to get your own profile. And if you would like to be alerted to new Brain Profiling Blog Posts, add your name to the notification list.
And, as always, I’d love to hear your thoughts through the comments section below. Let’s make this a two-way discussion!
The NBI Brain Profiling assessment and associated literature / logos are copyright of Dr. Kobus Neethling and his company Solutions Finding and are used on the Chameleon Brain website with permission and much gratitude 🙂