Men Need to Think like Women to Succeed in this Economy

Men need to think like women if they’re to survive in the business world today.

So says Wayne Goodley, chief executive of Herrmann International New Zealand, on the eve of International Women’s Day.

Herrmann International, a global company that works with 93 percent of the top 100 Fortune 500 companies, advocates a Whole Brain® approach to thinking.  The company has compiled a statistical database containing thinking preference data on over two million men and women across the globe. 

“Business used to be in a state of constant change.  However, in the new economy it is a ‘chaos of change’.  This requires using different parts of the brain than previously – the parts women use daily.

“Our research found that men are not as responsive as women to change.  Women adapt and become creative, men just keep trying harder instead of changing tact,” says Goodley.

Many people are familiar with the terms ‘left brain’ and ‘right brain’ thinking, but Whole Brain® Thinking  takes this one step further by dividing the brain into four quadrants (see below for in-depth explanations of each quadrant).

Each quadrant is colour coded and represents different thinking styles.  Most people have a dominant preference for one or two favourite thinking styles.   Many women have preferences for three.  Only 2.3 percent of the population are “whole brained” i.e. access all four thinking styles with equal ease.  However, research shows people can be taught to consciously utilise all four thinking styles to achieve better outcomes.

“Women have stronger connections between the quadrants, giving them easier access to leverage their mental resources to enhance creative thinking and problem solving,” Goodley says.

ABOUT Herrmann International Whole Brain® Thinking

The originator of the Whole Brain® system and the Herrmann Brain Dominance Instrument® (HBDI®) thinking styles assessment, Herrmann International works with organisations around the world to help them put their full brainpower to work to outthink, outpace and outperform the competition. The company’s Whole Brain® Thinking framework, which includes a variety of learning solutions, facilitation resources, job aids and business tools, has helped nine out of ten of the Fortune 100 harness their collective intelligence to sell more, spend less, innovate faster, and develop and retain the best talent. 

The upper left ‘blue’ quadrant specialises in logical, analytical, quantitative, fact-based thinking. The lower left ‘green’ quadrant focuses on details and specialises in planning, organising, and sequencing information. The lower right ‘red’ quadrant places a priority on feelings and the interpersonal, emotional and kinaesthetic aspects of a situation. While the upper right ‘yellow’ quadrant synthesises and integrates information and is more intuitive and holistic in its thinking.