(ANALYSIS) To the left of my standing desk sits my treasured collection of drawings that our grandchildren have given me. Our grandkids are unabashedly excited about their drawings.

They should be. They remind us of how we’re made in God’s image and likeness.

But they also remind us of how the American educational system erodes much of God’s image and likeness in us. I stumbled upon this problem years ago when I was doing strategic planning for businesses and organizations.

One of my resources was Henry Mintzberg’s “The Rise and Fall of Strategic Planning.” Mintzberg claims most strategic plans aren’t strategic because they’re the product of “right-handed planners,” which means they’re left-brained.

The brain is contralateral (the left hemisphere controls the right side of the body, the right hemisphere controls the left side of the body), so right-handed planners bias their left hemisphere, which is the domain of words. They create plans that are chockful of words and charts and arrows, most of which Mintzberg claims are demonstrably not strategic.

The solution is not, however, left-handed planners. Neuroimaging reveals that 89% of left-handed people in the Western world also bias their left hemisphere.

How then do businesses and organizations develop genuinely strategic plans? By doing what the right brain does best: Draw pictures.

To read the rest of Michael Metzger’s post, please visit his Substack page.

Michael Metzger is the president and founder of The Clapham Institute, which consults ministries and nonprofits.