Einstein:

The intuitive mind is a sacred gift, and the rational mind is a faithful servant.

Renowned psychiatrist and writer Iain McGilchrist explains how our ‘divided brain’ has profoundly altered human behaviour, culture and society.

This is an absolutely beautiful package from RSA Animate – flip to full-screen view, and come back in 11mins 48 seconds.

Take-aways: 

Left hemisphere: Narrow, sharply focused attention to detail. Tools and machines coded here. Closed system, perfection, emptiness. Model consistence. Simplified version of reality.

Right hemisphere: Wide focus, making connections, on the look out for friends, predators, environmental change. Sustained, broad, open, vigilance. Devil’s advocate, emotional expression. Interconnected, incarnate, unknowns, alertness.

Frontal lobes: – inhibiting. Stand back in time and space. Outwitting the other party. Empathy, necessary distance from the world, abstraction, values, trust, patterns.

Corpus callosum  – inter-hemispheric communication.

Neural Architectural Patterns:

Split brain operations – the Business / IT Divide?

Corpus callosum – Enterprise Service Bus.

Left Hemisphere: ‘as is’, legacy, here and now, tactical, closed system, simplification.

Right Hemisphere: metaphor, patterns, abstraction, strategy, analytics, interconnected, organic, intangible.

Figure 1 – Conceptualisation – Pulling it all together

[Source: Steve Nimmons]

If you’ve not yet seen this video from Friends School in Lisburn (FSL), take 8 minutes or so and peruse now.

It could be argued that such ventures are highly indulgent, but I find this interesting, and depict above why this has real merit:

1. The concept / vision needs to be defined, articulated and agreed across multiple stakeholder groups (a great life lesson)
2. Selling the concept to over 1,000 students and staff is non-trivial (stakeholder communications and evangelism in action), as well as dealing with trust and reputation protection complexities (particularly at the governance levels of the school)
3. Planning, scripting, rehearsals, casting and dealing with associated tensions is challenging
4. Choreography and co-ordination – many businesses dream of collaboration at this level, few achieve it
5. Execution of the vision (direction, collaboration, mechanics of filming and arrangement), copyright restrictions etc.
6. Editing and post-production – skills learned in packaging and streamlining the end product
7. Viral marketing and exploitation of multiple distribution channels. Is this now an entirely ‘natural ability’ of the Web Native?
8. Analysis of the results of viral marketing and sentiment (positive, negative and neutral feedback) – exposure to the realities of tough and cynical audiences/markets

The video is only a few weeks old, but what is its ‘legacy’?

• Will the school repeat this exercise (periodically) to refresh the concept and participation?
• Has there been an increase in collaboration in other areas?
• Has there been an increase in ‘school pride’ / morale?
• Has there been any disaffection / fall-out?
• How will the management/governance functions of the school measure benefit, risk and ‘return on investment’?

My view: Kudos to Friends School. The greatest gift of education is teaching people to think. Cynics come and cynics go, “speaking of Michelangelo.”

The Official FSL LipDub Video

[source: YouTube]

Baloney Detector

I am by no means a devotee of Dawkins, but I did enjoy this video from the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Science and Reason.

It features Michael Shermer, Director of the Skeptic’s Society, describing his 10-point Baloney Detection Kit. Shermer publishes Skeptic Magazine, and is the author of Why People Believe Weird Things and The Mind of the Market. A Baloney Detection Kit is a useful tool in a world of biases, fallacious arguments, hype cycles and spin doctors, ideological argument and Confirmation Bias. It is a simple technique to have ‘front of mind’, when evaluating hypotheses and recommendations. There is a place for Baloney Detection in Pattern Based Strategy. I have concerns that without good controls, Confirmation Bias will blinker pattern seekers, causing them to ignore or discount contradictions.

Video: Michael Shermer talking about the Baloney Detection Kit

[source: YouTube]

Shermer at TED Talks gives an amusing speech on pseudoscience and odd beliefs.

Video: Michael Shermer at TED Talks “Why people believe strange things.”

[source: YouTube]

“Why People Believe Weird Things.”

[source: Amazon]

“The Mind of the Market.”

[source: Amazon]

Further reading on the ‘Boloney Detection Kit’:

[source: Scientific American]

• http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=baloney-detection&page=1
• http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=more-baloney-detection&page=1