Practice Notes

What's new in the world?

Two techniques to help us all in these challenging times

Think creatively: use related worlds

One of the creative thinking techniques we promote is called related worlds. It starts from the premise that no matter what you're dealing with, someone has solved it before. So, rather than try to solve the problem in isolation, find someone who has solved the issue in a different context.

Here's a simple four-step process:

1.      First be clear what you want to do

2.      Ask: where in the world do people do this in a different context?

3.      Then ask: what do they do to do this?

4.      Finally ask: how can I apply this to me?

An example would be:

1.      I want my company to be more persuasive and 'stand out' than my bigger competitors

2.      Barack Obama's election campaign was an example of the less favoured candidate taking on the more established ones (Hillary Clinton and John McCain) and winning

3.      Find out what he did and what his main messages were

4.      Apply this to you

Get unstuck

With so much pessimism, uncertainty and fear of failure around, how do you keep going and move on from being stuck?

Ruth Gunther McGrath and Ian MacMillan put forward the following in the latest Harvard Business Review.

1.      Decrease uncertainty. Focus on the next bend, rather than the entire route to a distant goal. The distant goal may seem...well distant. The key thing is to focus on short term goals, take action, see what you learn and be ready to change tack if you have to.

2.      Reduce the fear of failure. People often fear failure if it's going to cost a fortune. So, doing nothing becomes the best option. To overcome this, shift the emphasis from cutting the rate of failure to cutting the cost of failure. If failures are cheap, you can learn from them and then move on. Fail fast, fail cheap and move on!

3.      Hedge your bets. Pursue several different ways to get to your goal, rather than just one. Or have several different routes you can try. Try A. If that fails, try B. If that fails, try C.

4.      Create momentum. Uncertainty can create a need for security. Some staff will want to stick with what they know. Leaders need to create momentum by insisting on change and all three techniques above. Encourage staff who are prepared to give things a go and neutralise those who are change resistant.