I am reading a Dave Barry (an exceptional comedic writer) book that my wife gave me for my birthday. In that book he discusses insight – where does it come from?
A great question that has drawn an enormous amount of research and speculation. How did Einstein come up with the Theory of Relativity or Jane Goodall develop her understanding of animal behavior? Where does Steven Spielberg get his ideas and where does Dave Barry get his insights into the humor of daily life?
One aspect of insight that has been observed is that an insight is usually preceded by burst (30 milli-seconds) of gamma waves in the brain. Other types of brain activity have their own types of brain waves.
| Brain wave | Frequency | Brain activity |
| Gamma | 30-100 Hz | Insight
Problem Solving |
| Beta | 12-30 Hz | Active thinking
Alertness |
| Alpha | 8-12 Hz | Relaxation
Meditation |
| Theta | 4-8 Hz | Day dreaming
Creative thinking |
| Delta | .5-4 Hz | Deep sleep
Unconsciousness |
I wish I had known this when I was a manager. During a meeting people would say things and often you were not sure whether that was a real insight, a good but not too exciting idea or mundane drivel. Most of the time you could tell the difference but not always.
Had I known this I would have outfitted the meeting attendees with an EEG (lady on the left). You can get a portable, home-use EEG for about $800 (device on the right) – which is worth it.
When someone said something, you could look at the EEG tracing and say, “Whoa! That was an insight!” or “Ignore her. She was just being alert.”
And, instead of saying something trite such as “We need to think outside the box” you could say “Let’s do some creative thinking. Everyone! Generate some Theta Waves!”
My days as a manager are over and hence my ability to put this technology into practice is over. But there is a new generation of managers/leaders who should be able to capitalize on the value of providing everyone on their team with a portable EEG.
One of my great professional satisfactions is passing my management wisdom on to the next generation of leadership. I am sure that today’s up and coming leadership, reading this post, is thinking, “Once again, John is dazzling us with his insight and brilliance.”