The New Economy Requires More of an “Einsteinian” Approach

Einstein would feel at home in today’s world.  His creative genius in solving problems would be of great demand in today’s world. Gone are the industrial days where following simple instructions from start to finish guaranteed success in life. Today’s employment opportunities have a greater need for creative thinking, STEM, and unique approaches to solving problems.  The world is changing and society will need to catch up. 

A great many things in our society are still built off of the Industrial Era mentality. Our educational system, government offices, law enforcement, etc. continue to use a sequential pattern to process people and information in an inefficient and often ineffective manner. Contrary to institutional sluggishness, most businesses have already moved into the Information Era where they focus on competitive advantages to solve problems and reduce costs. 

According to the U.S. Bureau of Statistics between 1998-2004 30% of new jobs created were algorithmic while 70% involved complex heuristic work (Bradford, Manyika, & Yee, 2005). In other words, most jobs today don’t involve simple A to Z processing and require thinking at a higher level to effectively process information in a way the can generate new ideas. The use of creativity and intuition are not foreign in this environment. 

A paper in Educational Leadership highlights how creative thinking is more rewarded in today’s society than sequential thinking (Goodwin & Miller, 2013). The global economy requires new ways of educating people to use those skills and abilities that were second nature to geniuses. Education has the responsibility to meet the needs of preparing people for more complex work environments.

Einstein was considered “dim witted”, Thomas Edison had a “confused mind”, and Darwin was a “little slow”. They were characterized by “experts” in this manner because a healthy human mind was one that could easily follow instructions. Line up and take your number was the main criteria for success-not a whole lot of creative thinking needed. People were stuck where they were born regardless of their abilities.

Luckily things have changed for the better in most sectors of society. According to the paper divergent thinking, heuristic problem solving, and right brain thinking are needed in today’s world and should be taught, not thwarted, in education. There will be an increasing need for graduates to think beyond what is front of them and move into more complex thought patterns to overcome market challenges.  

When a person can think about problems from multiple vantage points they can be more creative. Likewise, it is necessary to try and understand problems as much as possible and make an intellectual leap when all of the information isn’t available. The right brain will need to be employed to tackle issues emotionally, intuitively, creatively, globally and analytically.

For those developing new products and solving complex problems they will need to come up with answers to very complex problems. They cannot solve problems simply by following pre-made steps but must move forward, upward, backwards, sideways and downwards to understand problems. The use of multidirectional perception is needed to tackle problems effectively. 

We can see this process occur in software creation, product development, consulting, science, and other fields that require heavy intellectual labor. As the economic output speeds up and relies less on physical attributes mental faculty will help in developing businesses to push the envelope of their industries. The educational process will need to adjust their processes to ensure that the brightest minds, not only the ones that can follow instructions, can move forward to meet the intellectual needs of employers. I’m sure that Einstein will find his employment options today much more to his liking than sitting on an assembly line.  

Bradford, C., Manyika, J., & Yee,L. (2005). The next revolution in interactions. McKinsey Quarterly, 4,25–26.

Goodwin, B. & Miller, K. (2013). Creativity requires a mix of skills. Educational Leadership, 70 (5).

The Importance of Hiring Managers with Divergent Thinking

Divergent thinking allows managers to find new solutions to existing organizational problems. Those that can see a problem from multiple perspectives are more likely to come to comprehensive solutions with greater impact. Tunnel Vision among managers leads to lower results and less innovative problem solving. Companies that do not consider adding divergent thinking skills to their intellectual and labor capital may find themselves with sluggish future performance. 

Divergent thinking is a process of developing multiple vantage points and ways of seeing a problem. Those with higher cognitive abilities often use multiple and simultaneous pathways to understand, analyse, solve, and implement solutions from different vantage points. Switching perspectives is important for well-rounded solutions that meet multiple stakeholder solutions. 

Divergent thinking is associated with genius and artistic ability. Neuroscientific studies have found that divergent thinking uses both hemispheres and causes higher levels of neural activation (Yoruk & Runco, 2014). Divergent thinking activates the central, temporal, and parietal regions of the brain to develop semantic processing. Semantic processing is a deeper processing than most people are capable and allows for the encoding of meaning. 

A high percentage of managers have tunnel vision and know all the answers without exploring any of the premises. Their level of mental processing is low and relies on snap judgments, hueristics and bias. This tunnel vision becomes obvious when a person cannot find multiple explanations of a problem or accept the possibilities of other alternative solutions. It is often manifested in “know it all”, close-minded, and rigid explanations. 

Most of us have probably met at one time a manager who knew all the answers, used their power to force their opinion, and ultimately was gravely mistaken in their conclusions. When executives are stuck in tunnel vision they can cost companies a lot of money as their erroneous assumptions make their way throughout their department. Strong executives explore all the possibilities to find that which is most likely to work. 

Tunnel vision is dangerous for organizations because managers who cannot see alternative possibilities run the same poor processes until they collapse. They are also likely to use the same mental tool to solve every problem. Each major problem needs its own tool from the tool shed. Tunnel vision won't even allow them to see where the tool shed is let alone what other tools it contains.

Based upon an in-depth study of 221 managers within the workplace it was found that  divergent thinking and openness come together (Scratchley & Hakstian, 2001). Managers who are open to new experiences and abilities are better at finding new ways of thinking about things. Hence, narrow minded individuals who are convinced of their “rightness” should be avoided at all costs. 

A few tips for improving divergent thinking in your company may be beneficial.

Switch Up the Executive Team: If your organization is suffering from stuffy thoughts and rehashed ideas then consider switching up your executive team. Hire some new talent, throw out a few of the old talent, and get a different way of evaluating problems. 

Rearrange Team Membership: In some organizations the same people are asked to join problem solving teams. Ensuring you are using different types of people with various backgrounds and collaborative departments will help create new ways of thinking about issues. 

Hire Creative and Open Minded People: Without having people with the cognitive ability to solve problems and create organizational innovation, the company will eventually move into the decline stage. Develop stronger selection tools that look for creativeness and open mindedness. 

Adjust Performance Metrics: What and how we reward people impacts what type of behavior they are going to exhibit. If you want them to be creative and solve problems then ensure it is reflective as a performance evaluation.

Develop an Inclusive Culture: Creative people don't come forward with ideas in hostile environments. To propose solutions requires a level of risk and a receptive environment that doesn't chastise new ideas.

Train Managers to be Critical Thinkers: Even though much is determined by personality it is still possible to train managers on to use critical thinking and make decisions is beneficial; whether or not they use them is another story.

Scratchley, L. & Hakstiane, R. (2001). The measurement and prediction of managerial creativity. Creativity Research Journal, 13 (3/4). 

 Yoruk, S. & Runco, M. (2014). The neuroscience of divergent thinking. Actitas Nervosa Superior, 56 (1/2).