Earlier this month, I interviewed Eric Sforza, a Connecticut-based Innovation Strategy and Branding Consultant, to gain his insights about business and strategy (Click here to see the interview video) and, afterward, he approached me with an offer to write a guest post to follow-up on his comments from the interview. Based on his personal blog, I knew that he’d deliver something good and I was excited to accept his offer. That guest article is below.

If you enjoy the guest article below, please check out Eric’s blog at http://esforza.wordpress.com. Thanks again to Eric for his contribution.

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Title: Future of Business: Left & Right Brain Thinking
Author: Eric Sforza

During the interview, one of the questions Marquis asked was how was I able to draw business insights from everyday life, and how well that translated to the business world. While I briefly answered the question, I felt that it could lead to great ‘food for thought’ article. So in this post I will briefly discuss left and right brain thinking, and more importantly, how to meld them together.As a quick overview, there are two common themes about the way we think: the left brain is mainly dominant in rational and analytical thought processes; while the right brain is mainly empathetic, artistic, and synthesizing thought processes. When we look at the business world (and a lot of professions in general), left brain processes are dominant while right brain processes are neglected or an after thought. The problem is that left brain processes alone are not enough in order for most companies to survive.

Things started to change with the Industrial Revolution, and then went full hilt with the “Quality” movement. Companies were figuring out ways on how to lean out processes, which resulted in streamlining businesses and getting rid of excess and defects. This is a great thing because we now have higher quality products that are cheap, but on the flip side companies focused too much on the bottom line – and it is not enough to compete on price alone.

In Daniel Pink’s ‘A Whole New Mind‘ the author identifies the 3 A’s on why left brain processes alone are no longer efficient, and they are: Automation, Asia, and Abundance.

- For Automation & Asia: Anything that is routine – broken down to a set of instructions or rules – has a high chance of getting outsourced or automated.

- For Abundance: Society in general consumes and owns so much, that function alone is not enough for a product. Consumers want a deeper connection – an aesthetic or emotional appeal, a story.

Ok, so what does this have to do about being able to draw insights out of every day life? By looking at our surroundings we can understand what consumers are looking for, or why a certain business/product/service excels over another one. We can also identify trends, and more importantly, understand what is missing – and these insights are the ones that will keep you competitive.

You can call it melding left & right brain thinking, integrative thinking, or whatever term you want. For me, it’s a return to the basics. Most entrepreneurs will tell you that they created their business by trying to fix a problem in their life. What do you observe other people doing? What problems do you currently face? Figure those out and you’ll be on your way to having a step up on most people in the business world.