Whole-brained is one of the seven building blocks of real growth, alongside evolving experiences, anticipative organization, multiple models, and abundant markets, all under the heading of humanized growth.
The session ran with a guest contributor, Mie-Leng Wong, senior vice president for global brands at Mondelez, and gave equal time to her and to a breakout and plenary exercise.
Key findings
- The central argument is that this is not a choice. The deck frames it as analytics and creativity, with left brain and right brain both in play.
- Data and analytics belong at the core of strategic decision making, and the paired figures shown for that measure are 66 percent and 36 percent.
- The ability to attract whole-brain talent is shown against a pair of figures, 65 percent and 25 percent.
- Diversity in strategic decision making shows the widest gap of the three measures, 70 percent against 45 percent.
- Creativity is presented as the second driver of advertising effectiveness, and described as the last unfair competitive advantage.
Two directions of travel between data and creativity
The relationship runs both ways in the deck. One direction is unlocking data with human insights. The other is unleashing human creativity with technology.
The scale of the data matters less than the use it is put to. Big data and insights inform creativity, while small insights serve tactical creativity. Spotify is cited as an example of using data for creativity, and empathy in artificial intelligence is raised alongside it.
What the leader is asked to do
The first move is inward: understanding your own whole-brain. From there the deck asks the leader to ensure diversity in strategic decision making, to represent diverse consumers, to expose themselves to diverse experiences, and to open their mind and listen differently.
The second move is outward: enable others to work at their best, make it important, build capability, use technology creatively, and get smarter every year. Capability is quantified in days of training per year, with bands running from no formal training to more than three days per year.
The breakout put two questions to participants: where they are leading and lagging in building whole-brained teams, and what the opportunities are for them as leaders.
Scope and limitations
The percentages appear on the slides as paired figures without a stated sample or definition of the groups being compared, so they should be read as session material rather than as a published statistical result.
Source
This page summarises Whole-Brained, by Institute for Real Growth, May 2024.