Brain preferences-The work of Ned Hermann

For the last two decades, Ned Hermann dedicated his life to applying brain dominance theory to teaching, learning, increasing self-understanding and enhancing creative thinking capabilities on both an individual and corporate level.  Ned's contribution to the universal application of brain dominance brought him worldwide recognition.  In 1992, he received the Distinguished Contribution to Human Resource Development Award from ASTD - an honor symbolic of the significance of Ned's work.  He keynoted world conferences on Creativity, Gifted and Talented Children, Instructional Systems Design, Training & Development, Creative Management and Cerebral Dominance just in the last few years.  In 1993, he was elected President of The American Creativity Association.  Ned was inducted into the HRD Hall of Fame in February 1995 at the Training '95 Conference in Atlanta.  He received an Honorary Doctor of Science from the University of Alaska Fairbanks in May 1995. Hermann died in 2001.

Though known today as a master of human resource development, in college Ned studied the sciences and performing arts.  He majored in both physics and music.  This dual interest in both the arts and sciences seemed to pull him in two different directions but continued to intrigue him throughout his long career with General Electric. With this background, Ned was well prepared for what would eventually become his life's work:  to integrate the scientific study of the brain with the study of creative human development, in his search for the nature and sources of creativity.

 

Hermann became Manager of Management Education for GE in 1970.  With his primary responsibility of overseeing training program design, the issue of how to maintain or increase an individual’s productivity, motivation, and creativity were serious concerns.  A prolific painter and sculptor himself, personal experience was a valuable resource.  In fact, Ned's participation in an art association panel on creativity first opened his eyes to the burgeoning research on brain function, particularly with regard to the left and right hemispheres of the cerebral cortex.  He integrated his own concepts with Left Brain/Right Brain and Triune Brain theories into a new "brain dominance technology" which produced immediate and dramatic advances in an individual's self-understanding, productivity, motivation, and creativity.

 

In 1978, Ned created the Herrmann Participant Survey Form to profile workshop participant's thinking styles and learning preferences in accordance with brain dominance theory. Sponsored by GE, he developed and validated the Herrmann Brain Dominance Instrument (HBDI), the scored and analyzed Participant Survey, and designed the Applied Creative Thinking Workshop (ACT), which has been internationally recognized as a leading workshop on creative thinking. 

 

How can we use this thinking?

Hermann's thinking on brain preferences is helpful in getting us to thinking about the different ways in which people perceive the world. The Emotional Intelliegence Style Instrument on the www.ReadyToManage.com web site was inflcuenced by Hermann's work and is worth checking out as a practical tool to use in the workplace.

 

Dr Jon Warner, ReadyToManage Inc.