As entrepreneurs, we seem to be primed by business theory to focus on results – results based on financial forecasts, business growth and profit.
Yes, businesses need to profit, especially in these shifting economic tides. However, when it comes to productive problem-solving, focusing on results is the wrong way around, because this creates visual associations in your mind of the effect, not the cause, of your achievement.
If you cannot visualise the how, then you cannot achieve the effect. Idea Engineering has been conducting neurological studies into to why focusing on results is not productive, as well as what neurological functions are better for problem-solving.
Let’s start with an exercise.
A) Imagine a horse jumping over a fence.
B) Now, imagine how a horse would jump over a fence.
Which setting engaged your brain more, A or B?
The majority say B. The reason is that when you ask your brain to imagine A, it is within specific parameters. You have boxed your results into old neurological patterns.
In contrast, B asks a question that forces the brain to move away from the usual neurological patterns and create more associations, leading the brain to ask further questions that act as a catalyst for an innovative solution.
Recent research in Norman Doidge’s book The Brain That Changes Itself defies our usual perception of the brain being like a computer, which stores memory. It is more like interconnected patterns attached to a circuit board. For example, we understand what a tree is because of its neurological pattern in our brain. As we hear the word our brain generates the most immediate neurological pattern, allowing us to "see" the tree, which we then interpret and understand.
Relying on past neurological connections can be useful, such as when you are trying to find your way home at night. However, in business we are always looking to innovate better solutions, so we need new neurological patterns. Try the following to create better neurological patterns in order to generate fresh new solutions.
Control what is possible: Y=f(X) is a problem-solving formula used by industrial engineers.
Y is the desired uncontrolled variable or desired result and X is the controlled variable or input. For example, a venture capitalist trying to decide whether or not to invest in a company should focus on why the company is a good investment (X).
For example, what are the functions of the company, what is its economic ecology, what is the philosophy/psychology of its leaders, and what is its relevance to the market?
If the Xs begin to add up to a good picture then the investor will be able to impact his desired result Y, which is to make a wise investment. It is a simple formula – you generate good input (X) that impacts the result.
Ask questions: When you ask your brain a question it creates a feedback loop very much like a circuit.
Research conducted at Yale University has found the electrical field in the brain works like a circuit loop. So when posed with a question, your brain will continue to problem-solve until it finds the desired solution. Ask questions like "what are the qualities of a company?"
Immediately the brain will begin to fire new neurological connections leading to a better solution and allowing the investor to spot an opportunity that might otherwise have been missed. Here are a couple of tips to make this work.
Once a question is asked, sit back and observe the thoughts that come.
Relax – when the brain is relaxed it is able to observe openly and find the best solution. For example, the final piece of the printing press was generated when the inventor was invited to a winery and saw the grapes being pressed.
Now imagine if he was stressed or generating assumptions. He would have gone to the winery and come out none the wiser.