2.136 How Whole Brain Thinking Can Transform Your Team

Have you ever been in a meeting where one person dives straight into the data, another wants a plan, someone else checks how everyone feels, and another is already brainstorming new ideas? 

It’s not chaos — it’s different thinking styles at work. 

In this episode, Karen Kirton explores Whole Brain Thinking (HBDI), a model that helps you understand how people prefer to think, communicate, and make decisions. You’ll discover how this approach can transform your team’s collaboration, reduce frustration, and improve decision-making. 

Learn: 

• The four thinking styles that shape how we communicate and solve problems 
• Why knowing your team’s preferences makes meetings more productive 
• How to use Whole Brain Thinking to improve leadership, feedback, and teamwork 

When you understand how your team thinks, that’s when you can truly find, grow, and keep great people. 

Want to learn more?
Visit amplifyhr.com.au or to explore how Whole Brain Thinking can help your business. 

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Also Mentioned in This Episode: 

https://www.amplifyhr.com.au/whole-brain-thinking/

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Transcript

Welcome to episode 136. Have you ever been in a meeting where one person is deep in the details someone else wants to jump straight to action, someone else is saying, well, hang on, how does everyone feel about it? 
Someone else is saying, well, actually I think we need to look at other options. It can feel chaotic, but what's really happening is that everyone's brain is processing information differently and understanding why we think and communicate. 
It's one of the most powerful things that we can do in the workplace and that as a leader we can learn. So that's what I want to talk about today. It is called whole brain thinking and it is a model and it helps you understand your own thinking preferences and those of your teams that you can make better decisions, communicate more effectively and better understand and work through frustrations. So to illustrate this, let's start with a few stories. So let's take Isaac, a finance manager, never joins a meeting without his laptop and a problem to solve.  He wants to see the data before he can make a decision. He'll commonly say things like, well, it'll work because it just makes sense. Or Sarah, who's the operations lead. She doesn't work well with ambiguity, prefers processes, deadlines, steps mapped out before anything starts. 
And if someone skips over the how then she will pull that back. It's OK, But what's our plan? Well, Alex, the office manager, always considering how decisions will affect people in meetings. They're the ones who notices when someone hasn't spoken and will bring them into the conversation. 
Or with big decisions that everyone else is agreeing on, Alex will say, well, you know, how's the team feel about this? Or Tom? The marketing manager lives for ideas, loves the whiteboard, start sentences with what if? And he's already imagining next quarter's campaign while everyone else is still finalising this one. 
Because his strength is saying what could be not already, what already is. So you know, we have Isaac, the finance manager focused on facts and logic, Sarah, in operations all about structure and detail. Alex, the office manager attuned to people and relationships and Tom, the marketing manager, thinking about future and how to do things differently and all four of them are capable professionals, but they think in different ways. Now I want you to imagine them trying to solve a problem together because without understanding how they think differently, those differences can make those Meetings get tense or go in circles pretty easily. You could get Isaac saying the data doesn't support the idea that Tom has just come up with while Sarah gets frustrated because the meeting is going off track. Alex is advocating for Tom's idea because it'll have a positive impact on the team. You know, this is where Whole Brain thinking Comes in. It gives us a shared language. To understand how we think and how we can use those differences to get better results together. 
Now whole brain thinking comes from the Herman model or it's called HBDI and it shows that our brains have four different quadrants. So analytical thinking, which is the blue quadrant logic, facts data. 
Practical thinking, which is green. So planning structure process relational thinking which is red. So empathy, communication and connection and experimental thinking which is yellow. So creativity risk taking big picture ideas. 
And most of us have preferences for two of those areas, but we can access all four when needed. And here's the important bit. They are preferences for thinking. So yeah, I know I said I want you to think about it as a brain with four quadrants, but that is just a a metaphor because, you know, we used to. 
Do in the the olden days talk about left brain thinking and right brain thinking. We don't do that anymore. We think of the brain as a whole because it does work as a whole. We're constantly creating new connections, but think of it as a metaphor. And if we said that our thinking is in those four areas and we have preferences. 
For at least two of those, then, that preference isn't competence, and that's really important part of this model. Just because you prefer one way doesn't mean you can't use another. So just because Isaac is really excited about data and numbers and likes some facts and technical accuracy doesn't mean that Sarah can't also understand that data and get into those facts and technical components. It just may not be what gives her energy. It's like they're right or left handed. You know, we can use both. It's just that because. 
As we prefer one, we get much better at it and that one feels more natural. 
Now, if you're listening and you're thinking, oh gosh, HBDI, those four colours. I think I've done this you know is it disc what is that another personality test you know I totally get it, we've all done those assessments that tell you know the type that you are and you go in and you do the workshop and you get your type and then nothing changes. 
But the reason I have been using whole brain thinking for almost 25 years is because it's different. It's not just about who you are, it's about how you think. So it is not measuring personality traits or behaviour. It's measuring your thinking processes. 
So how you prefer to process information, make decisions and solve problems. So the real value isn't in the report that you get, it's how you use that to understand your day to day and the applications are across so many parts of the workplace. 
You can apply it to how you lead meetings, how you communicate across the organisation, how you build balanced project teams, how you make strategic business decisions, how you engage with leads when you're doing your sales processes. 
It is not about putting people in boxes, it's about giving you a framework that you can understand better how to engage a lot of different people and how to make Better Business decisions. 
And as you listen to this, I'm going to go through and give you a bit of a quick self reflection so you can start thinking about what your thinking styles may be. And so as I go through them, just take a moment and say, OK, which sounds most like you, particularly when you're at work. 
So let's start with the blue. The analytical thinker. Do you love diving into data, solving problems, getting to the root of the issue? Do you like to talk about things being logical? Do you like clarity? 
You like to ask really good questions to challenge assumptions. You want to make sure decisions are backed by evidence. Your strength is helping your team stay objective. You know, you make sure emotions and hunches don't lead you off track. So have a think about that and say is that. 
Mostly me. A little bit like me or not at all like me. 
And now let's think about green thinking. The practical thinker. So are you the one who loves structure and process? You like to know the steps that deadline, the plan. You're the person who makes sure that this great idea actually happens because you turn it into actions. 
So your strength is helping your team to stay grounded, organised, focused on delivery. So again, is it mostly like you a little bit like you or not at all like you? 
Let's move to red the relational thinker. So are you the one that reads the room you care deeply about how people are feeling, how decisions affect others? Are you the glue that holds the team together, the one that checks in with everyone listens, makes sure that everyone's included. 
Your strength is building trust, connection and collaboration. 
Very much like you a little bit like you or not at all. And finally the yellow thinker. So the experimental thinker, does your brain light up when you think about brainstorming, you see possibilities, patterns, future opportunities that others might miss. 
Are you drawn to innovation? Creativity, big ideas? Is your strength helping your team imagine what could be and not just what already is. Now, most of us don't sit neatly into one quadrant. Yeah, we do move between them depending on the situation. 
But the data tells us that one or two of those will feel more familiar to you, and for some people, all three, and for a very small amount of the population, all four. And that's your natural thinking preference. It's where your energy is. It's where your comfort zone is. 
And that's the real value in understanding Whole Brain thinking, because it's about where you naturally sit. And importantly, that not everyone thinks the same as you. And the more that we can understand the different quadrants and where our preferences are, the more effective and impactful we can be. 
Because if we understand our own preferences and recognise others, we can communicate in a way that just lands better, but it also helps us to make faster decisions because we're reducing frustration and misunderstandings. So think about your team meetings. Maybe your finance lead wants to see the data. 
Your operation lead meets the plan your general manager is caring about how people will respond. Your marketing lead wants to talk about creative ideas. If you don't understand those preferences, it can feel like everyone is pulling in different directions. 
But once you know the thinking styles you get that aha moment. You know, suddenly everyone is on the same page and you get a common language to talk about it. So the HBDI assessment that then gives you that information on what your thinking preferences are is a personal profile. 
Maps your thinking preferences, and of course it gives you some fantastic insights and information, but it is just a starting point where it really makes the impact is when you layer it in with your business processes. So for example in communication, making sure your message appeals to all four quadrants you want it to appeal to people. 
From a logic process, people and visions perspective in project teams, balancing analytical and creative thinkers for better problem solving in performance conversations, tailoring feedback to how someone prefers to receive information. 
And in leadership development, helping managers to flex their communication to reach everyone and not just people that think like them. So whole brain thinking isn't just an assessment, it is a strategic framework that strengthens how your business will think, Communicate and perform. 
So as you think about yourself in your own role, ask yourself where do you naturally sit in those quadrants? Are you more task focused or people focused? Are you more big picture or detail oriented and how may that shape the way that you communicate, make decisions or solve problems? 
And if you'd like to go deeper and understand your personal thinking preferences and how to use that insight across your business, a whole brain thinking workshop is a great place to start. It is practical, engaging and gives you the tools that you can apply immediately to improve communication, teamwork, and decision making. 
Find the link in the show notes, because when you understand how your team thinks, that's when you can really find go and keep great people. So thanks for joining me. If you receive value from this episode, I'd love it if you could leave a rating or review of Apple Podcasts or Spotify so someone else could also find the episodes to help. 
With their business, episodes are released on Mondays, so click subscribe and you'll be notified of when it's available. Thank you so much for joining me if you have any feedback, questions or ideas for future episodes, head on over to amplifyhr.com.au or connect with me on LinkedIn and we can start a conversation.