The human brain is often divided in two different spheres: the left brain and the right brain. The left brain is said to be good at math and seeing the details; it is linear and sequential. The right brain is good at the arts and at seeing the big picture; it is creative and inventive.
We used to push the left brain skills on our kids and value them in the workplace. Become an engineer or a doctor; learn how to code or crunch numbers for a stable life. Right brain skills didn’t have a place in STEM careers. Artistic and creative types were seen as less serious, “out there”–not the type that would be hired into the corporate world.
The new economy is challenging those stereotypes. As more and more tasks are automated and outsourced, job seekers need to bring something unique. While left brain skills remain valuable, right brain skills are the ones that can survive in an automated economy. Creativity can’t be automated. Empathy is harder to build into computer code. Intuition is difficult to outsource. The right brain brings new ideas, it sees the bigger picture, and even the most traditionally left-brain of fields are realizing the power of the right brain. Tech companies hire art students. Corporations bring on intuitives. MFAs are becoming as valued if not more valued than MBAs in the corporate world.
For example, in my career, my Excel and analytical skills have been invaluable. These left brain skills have built my career, but they would have been nothing exceptional without the big picture thinking that compliments them and ties them into bigger business strategy. I’m able to, instead of just taking instructions and putting them into the right numerical formatting and formulas, take the ideas behind the instructions, and think of how to automate, cut out steps, and represent those numbers more clearly and strategically in a way that provides value to all stakeholders in the business. This big picture skill is fed by right brain thinking and improved by right brain activities. I hone my right brain through activities like dream interpretation and dance. Dream interpretation is a form of pattern recognition and association, and it helps with mindfulness; dance builds self-expression and confidence. Both help me be a better project manager that is able to think outside the box and bring new ideas for automation and process improvement. They hone my skills as a project manager by teaching me how to better tie strategy to conceptual business goals and in turn create detailed, efficient tasks and processes that align with those strategies.
