“Many think that intelligence is fixed, and that whatever you are given, that is all you have to work with. I don’t worry about IQ – I choose to concern myself with people who want to expand their thinking,” says Dr. Morris Graham, BYU–Hawaii professor of Organizational Behavior and author of the new book Executive Thinking: From Brightness to Brilliance.
The book, written by Graham, and co-authored by Dr. Kevin Baize, focuses on “ developing the capacity to think higher, wider, and deeper … breaking away from the effects of years of flat thinking or educational backgrounds that stifle creative and innovative potential.”
Published in early 2011, the book is already making waves in business education with several business schools using it to add to their curriculum.
When asked who the intended audience is for the book, Graham explained that it is primarily for anyone who has the desire to build their capacity to think. “I would love to see it in business and MBA programs because I think that what is missing is the ability to think in multiple dimensions,” he said. “Many have great verbal skills, quantitative skills, even linear skills; but they lack the creativity, the innovation, and what I call the fourth dimension – execution.”
Graham began teaching at BYU–Hawaii straight out of graduate school. Although his degree was in clinical psychology, he was asked to teach a class on organizational behavior. His interest in that field grew quickly and he later did his post-doctoral work in organizational behavior at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland.
When he returned to BYU–Hawaii, he helped create a new organizational behavior major. Outside organizations began requesting assistance with their organizational challenges. Soon the work in the field consumed all of his time, and he left the university for a time and opened a consulting firm, servicing a variety of businesses around the island of Oahu.
After working with so many boardrooms, and with top management and leadership, the idea came to use his cognitive psychology skills from graduate school and apply it to executives. Combining leadership development and neuropsychology, he and Dr. Baize crafted their spatial intelligence approach that comes out in Executive Thinking: From Brightness to Brilliance.
One point Graham makes about the book is that it is very readable. “I wanted to minimize the research in the text, and try to make it more applicable and readable for a wider audience.” The research is there, and it is listed in the appendix, but he wanted something that anyone could read and benefit from.
"Anyone interested in enhancing their capacity, their potential – it is very gospel-based in that respect – could benefit from this approach as it will help them to build their capacity to make a greater contribution to their world,” said Graham.