Book Review: Organizing for the Creative Person by Dorothy Lehmkuhl and Dolores Cotter Laming, C.S.W

Until I found this book in the library at Num-ti-Jah lodge, I had no idea I was right-brained. I have of course "heard" the term left brained and right brained, but I never really understood how that term applied to me. This book served as a "right brained for dummies" book for me. It made clear why I do the things I do.

How did they explain this to me? Seriously, with a clipart picture of a toothpaste tube. They showed the difference of how a left-brained toothpaste tube is rolled neatly from the base with each squeeze and it sits in a perfect tube-shaped form. The right brained toothpaste tube, much like my own, had a big paw print right in the middle, where we simply squeezed the tube to get the toothpaste out. That sums me up to a tee. Get the toothpaste out, because I have stuff to do. I'm on to the next thing.

What defines a right brained person? We are defined as people who are more artistic in nature. We are amazing multi-taskers, enviable brain-stormers and we process information subjectively and easy improvise and are adaptable. Further, we respond to things with emotion and we are very responsible to emotional appeals of others. We tend to be messy (you can always spot a right-brained person's desk in your office). When a right brained person responds to a task, they respond first with feeling, then action, then analysis.

FEELING > ACTION > ANALYSIS

For example, if someone invites me out for dinner, I "feel" excited at the thought of seeing my friend and not having to cook. I respond with "action" by getting in my car and meeting them at the restaurant. The analysis comes later... "maybe I should have done my homework for my night class tomorrow". The end result... "oh well, I guess I need to work on it on my lunch break tomorrow.

A left brained person is more structured, logical, detail-orientated, time orientated, disciplined and they do things sequentially.

When a left brained person responds to a task, they respond in the opposite manner of the right-brained person.

ANALYSIS > ACTION > FEELING

The left brained person starts off with the pros and cons of going for dinner instead of doing their homework. Often, this pros and cons list can result in inaction. In the above dinner example, the left-brained person will have the solution to do the homework tomorrow on lunch all worked out before they move to action. Once they are in the restaurant with their friend, then they will have the good feelings.

The advantage of this book, is that it is full of tips and tricks designed specifically for the right brained person. The right brained person can drive a left brained person insane with our lack of order in our workspace, as well as the way we tackle problems. Also, by nature, we are not usually planners, and our lack of planning can also affect our own goals and outcome. This book helps understand our strengths (since we are often under scrutiny for our right brained scrutiny) and also to understand how our left brained counterparts operate. Often in the corporate world, it is run by left-brained thinkers, so the right brained worker needs to learn to a "small" extend how to conform where it is important, and also, how to leverage our strengths, because let's face it - there are things we do really well, that is much to the envy of our left brained counterparts. This book definitely opened my eyes to these concepts.

The disadvantage of this book for me, is that it was written in 1993. The ideals in this book are solid, but as readers, we need to be forgiving of some of the time management suggestions, because I choose to use Outlook or a blackberry over a daytimer or a sticky note. However, technology aside, this book gave me many insights to understand my left-brained boss, and also to give me strategies to still be me, but how to build some of my left brained skills. Every human has both left brained and right brained strengths. It is just that we are often predominately one, or the other.

For all right-brainers, this book for me was a wealth of insight into myself and those around me.

Favorite quotes:

If you don't know where you are going, it doesn't matter which road you take. - Page 5

A me-first attitude at the expense of others will ultimately result in failure. You must take good care of yourself, but don't just walk away from current commitments. Remember that a truly successful life includes ethics, family and community. - Page 9

There's no point in doing well what you should not be doing at all -Tom Connellan, Page 46

Unless you are truly impaired, if other people can do it, you can, too, if you put your mind to it. Keep telling yourself "I can" instead of complaining that you can't. - Page 90.

Clutter expands to fill the areas allowed for its reception - Page 103

If its worth doing at all, it's worth doing poorly, which if course is the paradox; if we only did things that we could do perfectly, we wouldn't do much. - G.K. Chesterton - Page 191