Herrmann's Headlines July 2010

Highlights this month:

• Selecting an assessment tool to develop management muscle
• Thinking Talent – a new dimension
• 30 years of whole brain thinking – The Day I met Ned by Michael Morgan
• Celebrating our new state of the art Herrmann headquarters
• Recent News on Thinking and the Brain – sites to boost your thinking powers
• Synapse – download the Whole Brain Thinking Evaluation form for your next workshop
• Upcoming Events – Australia & NZ – Join us at the next Network Event in Melbourne

Selecting an Assessment Tool to Develop Management Muscle

In a recent article for Online Recruitment Magazine, Carolyn May of Stillmuchtooffer Ltd. explores the process of selecting an assessment tool when developing "management muscle." She explains how the Herrmann Brain Dominance Instrument® (HBDI®) serves as a valuable multi-purpose management development tool, aiding individual personal development in a way that leads directly to sustained company growth.

To get maximum value from management development training, Carolyn notes, it is essential to follow the 3 R’s (Rationale, Rigour, Results) in order to reach that all-important 4th R: Return on Investment. Access the full article, Developing Management Muscle.

For more support information download our article on Comparing Assessments which answers questions often asked about the HBDI: How is the HBDI compared with other assessments? Can the HBDI be used with other assessments and if you use an additional assessment will it confuse people?

"Thinking Talent" – a new dimension

talentnow! is a professional resourcing service focused on talent requirements throughout New Zealand. Principal Director, Kevin Chappell and his team of highly knowledgeable Associates, have between seven and thirty years individual recruitment sector experience. They all share the vision of creating a unique professional service throughout the country. www.talentnow.co.nz. Kevin shares some of his thoughts with us.

"How you think becomes how you operate within your company and ultimately how the organisation stands in the market in the eyes of your customers.  It is imperative that the combined thinking of your people be aligned with your company objectives, otherwise it simply won’t work.

The simplest example of this is that if you have a business that promotes a quality product, and your people think in terms of producing replicated quick outcomes, then you’ve immediately got conflict.  And another would be the failure of many a great idea because the “inventor” or “technical expert” has been unable to communicate to the market.

The underlying mismatch in company objectives and individual thinking is now a compounding problem. The catalyst for this is the quantum shift in the last two years in the environment in which we now operate. Many at the helm have never had to contend with this 'new economy'.

So we need new thinking and talent in our companies who think differently.  Air New Zealand is doing it and recognised now as real innovators in their sector.  Whilst Telecom have come under a lot of criticism recently for their new adverts of the 'CEO in the river', who could ever have imagined Teresa or Sir Rod taking the same approach.  I believe it heralds a new way of thinking for Telecom.  And I’m sure the likes of Pinnacle Life, KiwiBank, Whittakers, and Hell Pizza would not have got to where they are without some innovative thinking as well. 

There are some great tools out there that assess individual thinking and your companies 'collective thinking'.  Herrmann International has a tool called HBDI that assesses this and we recommend it. If different thinking is required going forward, then you need those recruiting for you to also think differently, otherwise it may be more of the same."

Opening the archives: 30 years of Whole Brain Thinking at work

The day I met Ned (by Michael Morgan)

It was 1979. I was off to a conference in Pittsburgh. This was before the days of non- stop flights to the US. I had to go from Sydney to Auckland, Honolulu, Los Angeles, Chicago, Cleveland and finally to Pittsburgh. I arrived at my hotel at 2am after 32 hours of travelling. Not feeling much like sleep I went to the bar. I exchanged greetings with the few that were there, downed a 'bud' and headed off to bed for the few hours that were left.

Getting up at 8am, not really awake, I stumbled into the conference room, determined to find a seat to fall into until morning tea. No sooner had I settled that I heard my name being called.

The key note speaker (Ned, but I did not know it at the time) was asking for certain people to come up the front. I was one of them. We were split into 2 groups and each given the same task - to go into a breakout room for 15 minutes and answer 2 questions: What type of work turned us on and what were the common elements of that work?

I found myself in a room with 4 strangers. I was wrong. It turned out that 4 out of the 5 of us had been in the bar the night before! Needless to say we got on well. 45 minutes went by before we were dragged back into the conference room. It took another 5 minutes for Ned to get us back up the front. We were far from organised!

The other group was organised. They had come back after 15 minutes, had been waiting patiently for us to return and had a flip chart with bullets points and a nominated speaker. We had to be sent for, had not nominated anyone and had a hand drawn picture of a seagull on a crumpled bit of flip paper.

When asked for our answers to the 2 questions, 'What type of work turned us on and what were the common elements of that work', we replied that we had a problem with the concept of work. The nearest we could get to describing it was that we liked to 'fly' and we liked to help others 'fly. Hence the seagull after the then famous 'Jonathon Livingston Seagull'.

The other group had responded in a much more grown up and professional way about work and what it meant to have a clearly defined job.

By now my head was clearing as I realised something special was happening. I realised that Ned had cheated! As pre-work he had got 300 people to complete the HBDI. He had then picked the 5 people with the strongest scores in the B (green) quadrant and the 5 people with the highest score in the D (Yellow) quadrant. With a score of 155 in the yellow quadrant, I was in the D quadrant group.

No wonder we had a problem with the concept of work! No wonder 4 of us had been in the bar the night before.

What did sober me up and completely attract my attention, was what Ned had done during the 15 minutes that the (Green quadrant) group was out of the room. Ned told 300 people exactly what was going to happen. He told them one group would come back on time, the other would not. He told them the words we would use, the way we would behave and the things we would laugh at (or not!) It was the predictability of it all that blew me away.

My D quadrant score is 155. Needless to say, I have a short attention span. Thirty years ago this Whole Brain stuff caught my attention - and it will have in another 30 years!

What are some of your favorite stories and memories of Whole Brain® Thinking over the years? Please post them to our blog.

Herrmann's Stunning New Headquarters

Recent News on Thinking and the Brain – sites to boost your thinking powers

Find out how brain structure corresponds with personality. New research has found that the size of different parts of people’s brains correspond to their personalities. For example, conscientious people tend to have a bigger lateral prefrontal cortex, a region of the brain involved in planning and controlling behavior. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/06/100622142601.htm

Sir Ken Robinson is author of Out of Our Minds: Learning to Be Creative, and a leading expert on innovation and human resources. In this talk, he makes an entertaining (and profoundly moving) case for creating an education system that nurtures creativity, rather than undermining it. http://blog.ted.com/2006/06/sir_ken_robinso.php

What would economic theory look like if we took human behaviour as our starting point? Neoclassical economists have long assumed that human beings make rational choices in their own interest. Behavioural economics undercuts these assumptions to reveal how we really are. http://www.neweconomics.org/publications/behavioural-economics

Certified Practitioner Resource

Download this must have Evaluation Form to gather feedback for your workshops in a Whole Brain way.

NOTE: You must be a Herrmann Certified Practitioner and will be required to sign in or register for Synapse to access this resource.

Introducing Rosemi Fitchett – Herrmann’s new Education Project Manager

Rosemi is a School Counsellor and Education Consultant, assisting with program development and instrument validation in the school context. She recently joined the Herrmann team as Education Project Manager. Rosemi is working to combine the best developments of Ned Herrmann’s Whole Brain Model and Dr Julia Atkin’s Integral Learning Model to apply in the education field.  To find out more email This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Upcoming Events - Australia

Visit Herrmann at the Education Show in Melbourne – 7-8 August 2010

www.theeducationshow.com.au

Dr Julia Atkin, leading Education Consultant and Herrmann International Asia have joined forces to provide programs for schools which target principals, teachers, students and parents. They are based on the principles of Whole Brain Thinking and Integral Learning and incorporate the latest research in teaching, learning and neuroscience. For more information contact This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Melbourne Certified Practitioner Network Event

Please join us for a night of networking and find out all the latest news from Herrmann. Andrew Brown, Manager Learning & Organisational Development, AXA will be presenting a high level overview of the different diagnostics and in particular how he uses the HBDI.

When: Wed 28 July
Where: 80 Jolimont Terrace, East Melbourne
Time: 5.30pm – 7.30pm
RSVP: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Upcoming Events - NZ

Whole Brain Manager Workshops
Dates: Wednesdays - 18 & 25 August and 1st and 8th September
Venue:Herrmann International NZ Head Office

Herrmann Certification Workshop - August
Date:    Tuesday–Friday August 10-13
Venue:  Herrmann International NZ Head Office

Please view the website for more information. 

Register your interest for any of the workshops by emailing: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

For the full list of Herrmann Certification dates please visit the Events Calendar on our website.