You’ve probably heard that creativity comes from the right side of your brain, and analytical thinking from the left. Well, scientists tell us it is way more complicated than that.

When you try to solve a problem, you start with the obvious and familiar. That is mostly a left-brain activity, trying to see if there is an immediate answer. If no answer comes quickly, both sides of the brain start working. The right side starts sorting through any relevant memories and serves them up to the left side, which looks for patterns and alternatives. Once a connection is made by the left side, the right side has to shift gears from random gathering in order to focus on that fleeting thought. These shreds of thought are pulled into a new single idea – that “aha!” moment.

Then the brain has to figure out if the idea is worth pursuing, and again starts blending divergent thinking (exploring as many possible solutions as possible) with convergent thinking in order to combine the new information with old ideas.

Highly creative people excel at this bilateral approach, and scientists have found that those who regularly practice creative activities are able to network their brains quicker and better. And, according to this Newsweek post, creative people are more engaged, motivated and open to the world. They do better in problem-finding and problem-solving, and have better relationships.

All of which leads me to believe that Marketers should be the ones running the world. At least they would use both sides of their brain.