The whole brain model was developed by Ned Herrmann. Herrmann discovered four emerging patterns on how the brain functions and grasps concepts and information. Basically the brain has a preferred way of thinking and retrieving information based on the dominant quadrant of one’s brain. The four quadrants are: Blue (fact based), Green (organised), Yellow (imagination) and red (feeling based). You find that certain people will be more likely to ask other people’s opinion on certain facts or ideas, whereas others will research the information themselves. The first person has a red dominant quadrant that is feeling based, and the second person would most likely have a dominant blue quadrant which is fact based.

 

Blue Quadrant

The blue quadrant is usually analytical, likes facts and is logical. People who have dominant blue quadrants are usually comfortable with numbers;  they are critical and like clarification; they are usually good with money; and they tend to know how things work.

 

Green quadrant

The green quadrant dominant people are usually goal and task orientated; they like to plan ahead; they organise their daily lives and tasks in detail; they can establish rules and procedures; they are punctual and neat; and they are usually reliable.

 

Yellow quadrant

The yellow quadrant people are usually intuitive and imaginative; they conceptualise ideas; they tend to see the bigger picture; they are curious and can bend the rules if given the chance; they like to speculate; and they are very creative.

 

Red quadrant                    

The red quadrant is the feeling based quadrant. These people are usually good at socialising with other people; they know what they want and know themselves quite well; they are spontaneous and supportive; they enjoy teaching and helping others; they are expressive and emotionally involved in their tasks; and they usually work really well in groups.

 

Once the dominant quadrant of a person’s brain is identified, the other quadrants can be developed. A person may have more than one dominant quadrant, or in a few cases they may even be whole brain learners. The aim is to develop all four quadrants from a young age so that learners can become life-long learners. They will thus be able to cope in any situation at any given time.