People often ask me why right-brain thinking is so important in today's IT organizations. Right-brain (or lateral) thinking stands for creativity, communication, empathy, artistic and musical capabilities so what is the added value of having these competences when working in an IT shop you might wonder.
Well, we all know that role of today's IT organization has to evolve from service provider to business enabler. If IT wants to become a strategic business enabler it needs to connect/mingle/mix/fuse with the business. Understanding business drivers, communicating about business technology, coming up with clever and creative solutions are typical right-brain capabilities that will help IT and business come together. That's why you need lateral thinkers in your organization - and your CIO should be the epitome of the right-brainer!
Lateral thinking is characterized by shifting thinking patterns, not taking the obvious or predictable for granted and looking for unexpected ideas and paradigm shifts.
Andrew McAfee wrote an excellent piece on the imperative of lateral thinking in IT but I believe that by quoting Scott. F. Fitzgerald, he has given a perfect synopsis of the overall concept: "The test of a first rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time, and still retain the ability to function."
For me, it is clear: if you do not have a critical mass of right-brainers in the IT ecosystem, you can never take up this role of business enabler. You will be stuck forever in a role of "just" being a service provider... hmmm, this does not really make the future look bright for IT, does it? Well, if it can console you, there are ways of awakening the right hemisphere of your brain... so if you are not born a right-brainer, don't panic. Wanna learn some tricks from this creative ninja? Let me know, the lateral thinking ape is at your disposal.
Well, we all know that role of today's IT organization has to evolve from service provider to business enabler. If IT wants to become a strategic business enabler it needs to connect/mingle/mix/fuse with the business. Understanding business drivers, communicating about business technology, coming up with clever and creative solutions are typical right-brain capabilities that will help IT and business come together. That's why you need lateral thinkers in your organization - and your CIO should be the epitome of the right-brainer!
Lateral thinking is characterized by shifting thinking patterns, not taking the obvious or predictable for granted and looking for unexpected ideas and paradigm shifts.
Andrew McAfee wrote an excellent piece on the imperative of lateral thinking in IT but I believe that by quoting Scott. F. Fitzgerald, he has given a perfect synopsis of the overall concept: "The test of a first rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time, and still retain the ability to function."
For me, it is clear: if you do not have a critical mass of right-brainers in the IT ecosystem, you can never take up this role of business enabler. You will be stuck forever in a role of "just" being a service provider... hmmm, this does not really make the future look bright for IT, does it? Well, if it can console you, there are ways of awakening the right hemisphere of your brain... so if you are not born a right-brainer, don't panic. Wanna learn some tricks from this creative ninja? Let me know, the lateral thinking ape is at your disposal.