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By Sean Luechtefeld on 04/05/2010 @ 10:31 AM

Tags: Innovation

Article by Josh Mintz, Denise Cavanaugh and Jane Pierson highlights innovation research.

Earlier this year, our friends at Cavanaugh, Hagan, Pierson & Mintz published a newsletter exploring the relationship between innovation and the brain. Based on the research they collected over the past year and their conversations with neuroscientists, they sought to understand whether the functioning of the brain fostered or hindered the innovation process.

So often we think about innovation as a creative endeavor disconnected from cognition and neuroscience, yet Josh, Denise and Jane highlight many important links between how our brain functions and how we innovate. Several of us here at CFED found this information fascinating, so I wanted to share an excerpt from their article here.

In 2009, we focused our learning on “innovation and the brain.” We sought to better understand how the functioning of the brain fostered or hindered innovation, and to translate the tools and insights we learned from the field of neuroscience into the field of management.

We read books like The Brain That Changes Itself by Norman Doidge, watched videos on “brain fitness,” and met with colleagues including Dr. Angelo Bolea, a neuorpsychologist whose work focuses on leadership development and the brain, and Andrea Schara, who is using neuro-feedback to help executives achieve peak performance.

As a result of our readings and meetings, we expanded the scope of our inquiry and began thinking more broadly about how the functioning of the brain – the process of how we learn, develop and adapt – supports or impedes individual and organizational change.

A quick, but obvious, disclaimer: we are organizational consultants, not neuroscientists. That said, we immediately saw opportunities to apply the lessons of neuroscience to our work in organizations and in our interactions with our clients. Here are some highlights of what we learned:

• The brain can adapt, develop, and alter its neuro-pathways throughout life. Contrary to what most of us learned in school, recent science has demonstrated that the brain is “plastic,” that is changeable, rather than hardwired. You can teach an old dog new tricks, but it takes effort and regular reinforcement.
• We have all heard the expression that “a picture is worth a thousand words,” but few of us recognize the science behind it. The brain can process images much more quickly and efficiently than words and letters. In fact, the part of the “left brain” that processes verbal and numeric functions, can only hold four words at a time. Can you communicate your message in just four words? If not, start painting a picture.
• The inner brain (amygdala, hippocampus and basal ganglia) is the part of the brain that holds memory, controls movement, and triggers the fear response (flight or fight). Due to this response, our first neurological reaction to any new stimuli is negative – and this reaction can last from mere nanoseconds to as long as 90 seconds. The fear response is so powerful that it can produce physiological reactions – from a powerful endorphin rush to paralyzing fear. How the individual navigates this reaction has significant implications for the ultimate success or failure of a new concept. Our experience has shown that similar reactions occur at the organizational level as well.

So the question for us – and for organizational leaders – becomes: “How can we use this knowledge to more effectively support organizational change?” Again, brain science offers some suggestions:

• Create new images. It is hard to replace something with nothing, but that is often what we ask people to do during the change process. When introducing new ideas into the workplace, we ask staff to exchange the clarity and certainty of the mental images they have developed over time with . . . nothing. No wonder people are afraid of change. The brain needs a new image to replace the old one, so paint that picture for your staff.
• The brain knows no “nos.” Don’t Think of an Elephant by George Lakoff is a great book on the power of messaging. We mention this because, at this moment, most of you are thinking of an elephant. Negative statements like “don’t spill your milk” create images of the very outcomes we are trying to avoid. Change your language to create pictures of what you do want to happen (place your glass in the middle of the table), not what you don’t.
• Don’t breathe. When people are upset, we often tell them to “sit down and take a deep breath.” According to brain science, we are doing exactly the wrong thing. What we really want to tell them is to “sit down and stop breathing.” The primary function of our inner brain is to control breathing and circulation. When you stop breathing (or stated differently, when you hold your breath), you trigger the brain back to its primary purpose, thereby “short-circuiting” the fear reaction. Think of this as the neuroscience version of Ctrl-Alt-Delete.

The more we learn about brain science, the more we recognize the implications for leading and managing organizations. We see great opportunities for applying the emerging lessons of neuroscience to our work, and are excited that this knowledge is leaving the research lab – and entering the conference room.

Of course, Josh, Denise and Jane’s arguments in the article above speak to the ways innovation is facilitated by neuro-functioning as it applies to organizational leadership. Still, it seems there are some interesting parallels between this type of innovation and the innovation we seek to promote. Many of the challenges facing business leaders are also those that face individuals attempting to expand economic opportunity. It seems that the perspective described above – the notion that how change occurs depends on how well we innovate – is central to organizational leadership and to our mission.

What are your thoughts about Josh, Denise and Jane’s article? Has it proven true in your line of work? Use the comments section below to share your input!

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