Is your team brain-dead ?

It is commonly said that we use only 10% of our brain. Although the biological facts are a bit different, it remains pretty much accepted that there is much more potential for using this phenomenal tool to its full capability. Consultants and trainers will explain that they will unlock the remaining 90% of your team's brain power, and your performance will go through the roof.

Back to reality.

Working with a team on an organizational challenge, we arrived at the team debrief after the third working session. The three sessions had been intense but rich in discovery and learning. During this third session, the team had agreed on a shared understanding of the root cause of the challenge. The team was making good progress and had started to identify very interesting solutions to this problem (of which the sponsor had said "it exists since the company was founded 43 years ago !"). Towards the end of the session, I asked each member around the table to share "how they were feeling ?". Replies were varied. One member said ...

"I feel tired. I have never been doing so much thinking. In my normal working days, I get by doing this and that, some routine stuff, pretty much switching my brain off ... I feel tired from thinking." 

There was no stunned silence or gasps of shock around the table. It was more like mumbles and smiles ... Everyone recognized themselves in this description. This was not a group of assembly-line operators or laborers. These were so-called knowledge workers, supervisors and support staff whose job it is to solve problems, come up with solutions on a daily basis and who lead themselves teams. 

I don't think they are lazy. Or enjoy "switching their brains off". In fact, they had simply never been asked to switch their brains on !

Before attempting to tap into the 'unused' part of your team's brains with a fancy training session, ask yourself what you do to encourage your team to use their brain. For real. Giving them a problem and telling them it is their task to solve it. And then stick with this when they tell you they are stuck. 10% of brain power is in fact more than enough. If it is switched on at least once in a while.