How can we use our hands and hearts as well as our brain in our work?

Our October 5 meeting on “Leaderful Practice,” led by Donna Denio and Robert Rasmussen, dealt with the connections between several topics: gender, diversity, teams, decision-making, and hand/brain connections. By playing with LEGO toys – oops, by studious investigation of devices made by LEGO Serious Play, we learned how thought takes place but also in the hand and in the heart and the role of both emotions and rational thought in solving problems.

Our exercises showed that the hand can describe a situation that we may not be able to put into words. We also considered how these lessons can be utilized to make organizations more “leaderful,” i.e., to develop a work culture in which leadership is mutual and shared in which all elements of the organization support individual development and teamwork.

This was a very stimulating session, going somewhat the usual boundaries of OD practice and management science to illustrate the relevance of research in a variety of disciplines. In addition to the Question of the Month, other issues identified for further consideration were as follows:

· How can we help people open up to new possibilities?
· How could these ideas be applied to mediation and conflict resolution?
· How can we create collaboration among differing viewpoints?
· How can we overcome hierarchical barriers to utilizing new ways of thinking?

In terms of further learning sources, Robert also cited Mihaily Csikszentmihaly’s seminal work, Flow, and Daniel Pink’s new book A Whole New Mind . Can others suggest some additional references? And perhaps some examples of how brain/hand, heart/mind, emotions/rationality connections have been utilized in OD work?