For those of you who have
navigated the corporate world
to senior management, you
are likely to have, along the
way, brushed up against, been
subjected to or been gently pressganged
into psychometric testing.
The ubiquitous nature of
measurement tools for both core
ability and personality preference to
think and behave, to my mind,
leads to problems for those on the
receiving end of such analysis. On many occasions in my work as
a business psychologist, clients have
often received an array of output
reports, prior to anything we may
work together on. These clients are
often swamped with unfiltered
information overload, which has
not been effectively contextualised
to their working environment. But the Herrmann Brain
Dominance Instrument (HBDI) is
one tool that offers clarity and
relevance to all business
professions, accounting and finance
being no exception. Its outputs can
be clearly assimilated and acted
upon in a developmental context.
It has ‘face validity’ – in other
words, what it seeks to measure is
of immediate surface relevance. The
test outputs are visually clear and
engaging. Questionnaire-based, it is
quick and easy to complete.
Individuals are asked to report
themselves through questions on
aspects of work and domestic life,
which then makes up their profile. LEFT AND RIGHT BRAINED THINKING The human brain is made up of two
distinct hemispheres and research
has shown a great deal of specific
functioning can be attributed to the
left and the right hemispheres.
Broadly speaking, the left
hemisphere deals predominantly
with rational, logical and structured
thinking and the right involved
with creativity and regulating our
emotions. The HBDI splits each
hemisphere into two and seeks to
measure behaviours relating to four
‘thinking quadrants’ (see the
illustration opposite). The two quadrants in the left
hemisphere are: - quadrant A – (blue, upper left) –
this handles intellectual
processing which is structured
and systematic. This area deals
with the evaluation of ideas,
often through analysis of
numbers. This is the
mathematical and technical area
of the brain, that works with
rational, logical problem-solving;
and
- quadrant B – (green, lower left) –
this deals predominantly with
practical and procedural
thinking. This area deals with
organisation, reliability, efficiency
order and discipline. In the
business context, this quadrant
relates to operational planning
and the implementation and
administration of schemes.
Then the right hemisphere is split
into two quadrants: - quadrant C – (red, lower right) –
this area of the brain deals with a
natural inclination towards
‘feelings’ and interpersonal
sensitivity and empathy – the
ability to relate to others with
ease; and
- quadrant D – (yellow, upper
right) – this deals predominantly
with creative, intuitive and
strategic thinking styles. High
preference in this area would
suggest an individual’s ability to
take a holistic, ‘big picture’ view
of events and to work
simultaneously on a range of
tasks.
The output of the questionnaire
offers the individual clear visual
representation of the relative
preferences for each of the four
quadrants. Points within each
quadrant are joined to form the
individual’s ‘Hermann Square’. It is not surprising that many
professionals in the finance
industry often have a strong
preference for the A quadrant where
numerical and mathematical
reasoning resides (see Figure 1). PREFERENCE Often a strong preference for this
‘left-brained’ thinking style may
dominate to the detriment of the
other quadrants. It is common for
finance professionals, particularly
more junior executives, to have this
strong preference. Senior finance
managers and directors, from my
experience, will need to have a
shared strength in the D quadrant
component (see Figure 2). At this level, there is more often
than not a need to be visionary in
the application of technical
financial knowledge to a broader
commercial context. As such, the
requirements for creative and
strategic thinking are greater. Once
individuals have a benchmark as to
their thinking style preferences,
they can choose to address greater
emphasis on those areas. Such skills
can be accessed through practical
steps such as: - prioritising thinking – not doing
time during the working day;
- instigating a group brainstorming
session, and;
- the use of metaphors in problem
solving.
When using this tool in the
assessment of general managers/
managing directors and CEOs, or
assessing the potential for someone
to achieve at a cross functional
discipline, the Herrmann can be
extremely useful. In organisations
where ultimate corporate leadership
is routed through finance,
important skill sets need to be
learnt. In essence, such a role
requires a balance between each of
the quadrants to a greater extent
(see Figure 3). Once again, the D
quadrant is a requirement to
envision future strategy and work
predominantly from an overview
perspective. Increasingly, successful
general managers rely heavily on
effective facilitation skills and
empowerment of others to perform
optimally. The Herrmann C
quadrant offers valuable
information on emotional intuition
that is the ‘raw material’ for success
in this area. Imagination Broadly speaking, where the
technical components of financial
practice reside in the ‘left brain’,
people management and core
components of leadership reside in
the ‘right brain’. For financial
professionals seeking to develop
their management skills, it is often
a case of realising their ‘right brain’
potential. The ‘right brain’ is not a
controlled, analytical place. It is a
place of imagination, fun, ‘play’,
artistry, emotion and expression. As Daniel Pink put it in his book A
Whole New Mind, ‘We’ve progressed
from a society of farmers to a
society of factory workers to a
society of knowledge workers. And
now, we’re progressing once again –
to a society of creators and
empathisers, of pattern recognisers
and meaning makers’. So although
the ‘keys to the kingdom’ do not, in
my opinion, reside wholly in ‘rightbrained
thinking’ a balanced set of
thinking skills is extremely
important, and for the technically
trained professions, that invariably
means a shift to the right. The Herrmann is also useful for
groups. The ‘Herrmann squares’ of
several individuals can be
superimposed and a group
aggregate calculated. Preferred
thinking styles at the group level
offers insight into corporate culture,
and the general style of work in any
given environment. This can work
developmentally, and in a
recruitment context, in terms of
‘person fit’ and also redressing the
balance of a predominantly left or
right brained organisation by
avoiding the pitfalls of overly
recruiting to type. Finally, some words of warning: the
outputs of the Herrmann should be
treated as a ‘guide’ for
development, rather than
diagnostic ‘gospel’. As a self
reported questionnaire the outputs
are the individuals’ perceptions of
themselves, and not a measure of
actual ability. Nevertheless, with a
thoughtful and honest approach,
this test can be very useful. With a
bit of luck it might just offer points
for executive development that will
be considered, reflected upon and
actioned.  | Phil Jefferis
+44 (0)20 7486 1199
phil.jefferis@thompsondunn.com |
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