Kazoo While You Work: Transforming People Skills for the Conceptual Age

Kazoo While You Work: Transforming People Skills for the Conceptual Age

Written by

William Protzmann

Exclusively forHandbook of Business Strategy

April 2005

Reproduced with permission

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??????????? Programmers at a software company on a tight product deadline close their eyes and take a break to listen to Vivaldi. A high-level strategy meeting at a Manhattan bank begins with fifteen minutes of yogic breathing. A college professor drills his students in complex physics using silly song parodies such as “Frosty The Photon”. A roomful of sales executives play the theme song from “The Addams Family” on kazoos before brainstorming ways to increase market share. What is happening? Has the business world flipped its collective mind? In a sense, it has.

The information explosion that has transformed today’s global economy is rapidly setting the stage for the next seismic shift. Just as the Industrial Age matured when machines became so efficient and user-friendly that blue-collar jobs migrated to lower labor costs overseas, the white-collar workers of the Information Age will see that knowledge-based skills and jobs slip easily through fiber optics half a globe away. To remain competitive, knowledge workers and the companies they serve need to put greater value on creativity, artistry, innovation, and empathy – qualities our minds already possess but have mostly been undervalued by mainstream education and the business world, until now.

A Brain for Business

Half a century ago the “Organization Man” was the template for corporate success.? Prized qualities such as logic, reason, mastery of facts and figures and strict attention to the bottom line were nurtured and developed in the rising executive. The educational system that churned out MBAs, engineers, lawyers and programmers to fill this need also focused on the quantifiable, the testable, the score-able as leaps in computing technology ushered in the Information Age.??

The science of the human brain is by no means definitive or complete. After decades of research, however, neurologists and psychologists agree that certain traits are dominant in the activity of either the right or left hemisphere of the brain. It is easy to generalize and attribute logic, verbal skills, analytic and sequential thinking exclusively to the left hemisphere of the brain and artistic, visual, conceptual, and special thinking to the right. In truth, both hemispheres work simultaneously and in concert, though the predominant neural activity for each of these functions does favor one side or the other.??

In his recent book, A Whole New Mind, Daniel H. Pink uses the terms “L-Directed” and “R-Directed” thinking in lieu of left-brain and right-brain. He also observes that sequential and analytic thinking that breaks down data and focuses on detail, hallmarks of L-Directed thinking, have been ascendant in the Information Age. The ability to think non-sequentially, to see complex relationships, to synthesize new ideas, and look at the big picture – tools of creativity that have been in the undervalued realm of R-Directed thinking, are now poised to take prominence in what Pink describes as the coming of a Conceptual Age.

More for Less

In a wireless world, where just about everyone and everything can be accessed 24/7 and geographic limitations have become irrelevant, the Information Age has unleashed a tsunami of data. But the question is: what will we do with that data? The compiling, analysis, and interpretation of data (that has been a staple for MBAs, lawyers, technicians, engineers, and radiologists) can now be done overseas and usually for much less.??

With the Internet explosion and the mass availability and low cost of computers, the type of information that in the past would have cost a premium is now available online for next to nothing. Tax forms, legal documents, print design, help, and advise on any subject are all just a few keystrokes away from anyone in the world. Business payroll is handled largely offshore. Hi-tech corporate customers claim that even Level-2 tech support for their sophisticated systems is handled by an overseas call center, even though the systems themselves are manufactured and sold by North American companies. Cost-effective manipulation of incredible amounts of information has become part of the success formula for Late-Information-Age competitiveness.

The ‘Conceptual Age’: A Left-Brain Explanation of Cause and Effect.?

To understand what is driving this shift, it might be useful to view it in a very L-directed way and crunch a few numbers. Knowledge workers, those who use mental rather than physical skills to earn their keep such as doctors, lawyers, engineers, product designers, programmers, etc., were once primarily produced and educated in North America or Europe or Japan. The rest of the world was left to do the heavy lifting. Actually, the physical manufacturing jobs migrated overseas as India, Asia, and the Philippines pressed their greatest advantage: sheer numbers. More bodies, lower labor costs.??

Today the numbers tell the same story, but with a twist. Each year the U.S. educational system produces about 50,000 freshly minted engineers. The annual output from India’s engineering graduate programs approaches 350,000. That may not sound surprising in light of the fact that their population is larger, but that’s the whole point. More bodies, lower labor costs.?

With high-speed fiber-optic communications and English as the common language of business, it isn’t just consumer help-desk and boiler room telephone sales jobs that will travel the oceans. Financial analysis, computer programming, radiology, preparing legal filings, accounting… thanks to the very technology that fueled the Information Age, many of these jobs that rely on what Pink describes as standardized, routine, L-Directed work can be done anywhere else, for much less. For example, an individual may visit an HMO-approved doctor in Kalamazoo, MI, but the MRI could be read in Hong Kong. Similarly, a person’s living will could be written in Bombay, and, if necessary, malpractice briefs could be drawn up by a law clerk in New Delhi.

The exodus of white-collar jobs won’t happen all at once and it won’t happen tomorrow, but it is inevitable. Just as big steel, manufacturing, and textiles made a sea change when it became possible to get the same product for less overseas, knowledge-based work will shift as information becomes abundant and the cost becomes negligible. So how can businesses find a competitive advantage? The answer lies in re-focusing business skills to incorporate a more creative approach. Instead of simply processing information, competitive business requires the ability to see it in a greater context. Think ‘outside the L-Directed box’.?

A Case in Point

A case in point is American Express. In the world of consumer services, there is stiff competition. Customer loyalty is by no means a given, and it must continually be earned. But when everyone can offer the same general ‘rewards’, from hotel and rental car discounts to airline miles, even boxed gifts and appointment calendars, what does it take to stand out from the pack?? Amex took a very R-directed approach and redefined its message from ‘Here’s what we do for you’ to ‘What can we do for you?’ The company wanted to anticipate its customers’ particular needs, almost concierge-like, by extrapolating the data from past and current purchases. It is similar to the approach Amazon took for its revolutionary online book-selling service. With each purchase, the company adjusts and anticipates where the individual customer’s tastes and likes might lead. Instead of a great ocean of overwhelming choices, they can refine and customize the universe of offerings to bring a customer those they are most likely to find of interest.

The point hits home in a website banner provided by the Ad Council that proclaims “When kids think Puccini is a type of mushroom, it’s time to put art back in the schools”. Music, dance, painting, storytelling – the side of the curriculum that has long been considered irrelevant or ‘elective’ for those on the business or science track – will be a vital, even crucial part of business development in the Conceptual Age. This shift in values is embraced by even such a staid and stately corporate giant as General Motors. When Bob Lutz took over the helm of GM he re-focused their mission: “I see us being in the art business. Art, entertainment, and mobile sculpture, which, coincidentally, also happens to provide transportation.”

Music Holds the Key

One of the best tools available to unlock the riches of the right hemisphere is music.? While personal tastes may vary, human enjoyment of music is something that appears to be universal across time and cultures. Though linear through time, people experience music in a very non-linear R-Directed way. We don’t think, “I really liked that last note, now I’ll evaluate the next one”, but rather we take the experience as a whole.?

Music can bring about physical changes as well as stimulate parts of the brain connected with mood, emotion, and visualization. Research that began in the late 1950s when Dr. Alfred Tomatis explored using auditory stimulation to help children with speech disorders has branched into a multitude of studies examining the relationship between music and learning generally referred to as “The Mozart Effect”. To oversimplify, the Mozart Effect proposes that music at certain frequencies stimulates brain activity in different ways. In the old silent movie houses, when the villain appeared on screen or when the plot took a perilous turn, the organ would play in the lower registers, adding to the audience's experience of tension and unease. On the other hand, listening to Baroque music seems to be optimal for learning or stimulating imagination. (There is no one ‘silver bullet’ piece of music that is guaranteed to produce higher learning or boost I.Q., but in general JS Bach or Philip Glass do seem to provide better results than Snoop Doggy Dog or P Diddy.)?

A recent story in the Wall Street Journal highlighted college professors who use music to help students retain complex physics equations. Instead of organizing and retaining the information in a linear way, by rote, putting it in the form of lyrics to parodies of pop tunes seems to reach into a deeper, more permanent part of our memory much like the nursery rhymes we never seem to forget.

Activating the Right Brain

Another technique for firing up the creative furnace is as ubiquitous as the air that one breathes. As a matter of fact, it is exactly that: breathing. Taking some moments for focused deep breathing has a calming and centering effect. In addition to increasing oxygen supply to the brain, there is a sound the body makes in structured breath which yogis call “Ujjayi Pranayama”, similar to the low-frequency sound that chanting monks experience. At about 4 Hz, the brain’s production of catecholamines is stimulated, increasing the ability to learn and remember.

Everyone in a large office setting – at least those who can’t hit the Escape key on the keyboard fast enough - is probably familiar with the twinge of shame and guilt at getting caught playing games on their computer screen instead of doing real ‘work’. In fact, there are certain games that directly stimulate and strengthen R-Directed thought processes. One of the earliest computer games, and still perhaps the most popular worldwide, is ‘Tetris’. There are many incarnations, but they all center around manipulating falling shapes to be able to continually ‘clear’ the bottom rows and prevent the shapes from sticking to the top of the screen. At first, the action is slow, and players have time to think and plan where each shape should go – even strategize about how it might affect the following rows. But as the game speed increases, something takes over in our brains, and we start to simply react. The eyes stop following the shapes and stay at the center, taking in the picture as a whole, and the hand controlling the keyboard or mouse starts to act almost instinctively. The left side of our brains is completely shutting down and the right is taking over. There is something of a Zen state one can reach where a player finds he or she is not really thinking about the game at all (yet doing surprisingly well at it). Then all of a sudden other thoughts float in; perhaps a new solution to a business problem you’d been working on. This is not to suggest that playing games should be done instead of solving real problems, but integrating L-Directed and R-Directed thinking can work together to uncover new solutions, a process otherwise known as 'inspiration'.

“High-Concept, High-Touch”

In his book, Daniel Pink suggests that to survive in business, individuals and organizations alike must ask themselves three basic questions: “Can someone overseas do it cheaper? Can a computer do it faster? Is what I’m offering in demand in an age of abundance?” If the answer to the first two questions is “yes”, and the last “no”, then it’s time for some serious R-Directed re-evaluation.??

In the Conceptual Age, high tech is no longer enough. Pink coins two new phrases: high-concept and high-touch. In this context, high-concept covers the ability to think creatively, see new relationships, to spot patterns and opportunities. High-touch includes human empathy and emotion and looking beyond facts and figures. In American medical schools today, a new part of the curriculum includes something called ‘narrative medicine’. They recognize that in spite of the power of computer diagnostics, much of a patient’s diagnosis is contained in his or her story. There are emotional and physical cues a patient gives, and the physician who can feel empathy has the advantage.

The Search for Meaning

In the 1960s, the late psychologist Abraham Maslow organized his famous ‘hierarchy of needs’ (see fig.).

His theory was that when the most basic needs are met, i.e. food, water, shelter, and survival, they are replaced by other, higher needs. He classified them generally into physical or body needs, safety needs, the need for love and social acceptance, ego and the need for esteem, and finally self-actualization. As the 21st century begins, the affluent countries, those that have benefited the most from the Information Age, have certainly met most of the lower needs. Now, there is a growing search for something more, for meaning in our lives. Religion and spirituality are on the upswing around the globe. Companies that can embrace the change in mindset and value the qualities needed in the Conceptual Age, will be able to offer something beyond money and status, and draw the top talent. Perhaps the ultimate job ‘perk’ of all is happiness.

There is another reason for companies to begin looking at the world beyond the L-Directed straight and narrow. To stay competitive companies know they must focus on the consumer, the client, or whoever is the end user for their product or service. But they must also sell themselves in the workforce to attract the most talented and promising employees available.? In both cases, there is a growing want for ‘something more’. The consumer may be looking for the best quality at the lowest price, but when there are many choices of equal quality and value, they will be drawn to any qualities they feel speak to their lifestyle and make the best ‘fit’. Consistent with Maslow’s model, there is awareness in the workforce that it’s not ‘all about money’ and that there are other needs to consider in finding work that is fulfilling.??

Make no mistake. It is the dawning of a new, Conceptual Age, where the big picture requires the ability to see, perceive, evaluate, and consider in a more R-Directed way. In this Age, measurement of future success will include components of empathy and emotion, attributes, by the way, of many Eastern spiritual practices. Businesses in North America and Western Europe will need to find new and sustainable ways to reinvigorate the “neglected” hemisphere of the brain in order to remain competitive or become high-touch/high-concept leaders. In other words, those who fail to embrace thinking ‘outside the box’ may well see that box and their jobs shipped overseas.

About the Author:?

William L (Bill) Protzmann is a life-long pianist, composer and entertainer. He holds degrees in writing and piano performance with an emphasis on theater. In addition, he is the founder and president of Music Care Inc, dba Musimorphic, based in San Diego, CA, and has received national recognition for his work in this field from the National Council on Behavioral Health.