We all know about left- and rightbrain activity. But what if you are using neither – being neither logical nor creative? This is what many leaders demand of us: “Don’t bother me with details, forget the big picture, just get on with it.”

Professor Barnaby Ashwell of the Succeeder Laboratories has characterised the kind of thinking that is neither Left (L-mode) nor Right (R-Mode) as In-Between (I-Mode).

Following Daniel Goleman’s Emotional Intelligence, I wrote Irrational Intelligence, a bestseller in parts of Saskatchewan.

The In-Between Brain comes up with such questions as ‘Did I leave the gas on?’ ‘Would all my socks fit into the salad compartment in my fridge?’ and ‘Whatever happened to Haysi Fantayzee (creators of the hit John Wayne is Big Leggy)?’

Natural ‘I-Moders’ are neither intuitive nor organised. They are ideally attracted to occupations needing neither empathy nor analysis – cashiers at local authority parking permit offices, door-to-door fish sellers, or staff at Royal Mail sorting offices (where you have to go and pick up post, take proof of ID and only-ring-the-bell-once, they can’t find your package and when eventually then they do, it turns out to be something deeply unimportant that a friend has put insufficient postage on).

These people are neither followers nor leaders. Most businesses have plenty of them and eventually slow to their pace. But could it be the organisation that makes them thus? Certainly, we all have ‘I-mode moments’. Do you ring someone up and, just as they answer, you forget who they are and why on earth you rang? Do you put the newspaper in the oven or a mug of coffee in the fridge (and find your socks with the lettuce)?

The I-Brain is ubiquitous. Can we harness it for individual and corporate success?

Most people go into I-Mode in meetings. Someone is giving a very interesting presentation on discounted cost analysis or next year’s health and safety budget projections, and you think: ‘What if cheese wasn’t called cheese but was called Arnold instead?’ or ‘How many vowels are there in the word karaoke?’ or ‘I want to stand up and shout “I’m an Atomic Kitten – MIAOW!” at the top of my voice.’

Professor Ashwell has called this ‘brain bifurcation’ – you should be thinking about one thing, but you can’t help thinking about something else. The ‘something else’ often leads to an illicit office romance – but that isn’t good for the company’s bottom line, usually.

Succeedership is about channelling all those seemingly unprofitable thoughts into a viable business model. Why not have a cheese called Arnold? It could do very well with a certain demographic (e.g. staff at Royal Mail sorting offices). Or create an online ‘Check the Number of Vowels In A Word’ service (‘Vowel-pedia’) – or a sock compartment in the fridge (who hasn’t hankered after chilled footwear)? And when I did once bellow ‘I’m an Atomic Kitten – MIAOW’, it certainly gave that business a jolt – exactly what that funeral parlour needed.

So train your I-Brain to give the default message ‘I am Succeedy, I am Succeedy’. Let this be your internal Voice – ‘The V’ or Succeeder’s Inner Voice (SIV). Try it now. Practise in front of the mirror at home, when you are driving, or communally at the Monday morning team meeting. Many of my most successful one-on-one coaching sessions are held in total silence, sometimes for hours on end, with occasional exchanges of the sign of the V.

Things will never be the same again. I guarantee your firm’s revenue will increase by 17 per cent in the next quarter (unless other factors interfere). Think ‘SIV’ and your mind will no longer be a sieve.

Agree? Disagree? Contact L-Vo with your personal or workrelated query via www.Succeedy.com

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