Are extroverts better at Speed Thinking?
May 27, 2008
This is such an interesting question. Sometime the key to more original responses is simply to ask more original questions.
So do extroverts make better speed thinkers? It is too early to judge just yet because the concept of Speed Thinking is still so new. But in some of the workshops I have given I have gained a few tentative insights:
- The concept of Speed Thinking seems to be more easily embraced by extroverts than introverts (extroversion is based on a self-scoring scale from 1-10). They seem to enjoy the concept, it energizes and excites them.
- They also consider themselves to be better at Speed Thinking (on average) than introverts when they first start out.
- Introverts not surprisingly feel slightly uncomfortable with the concept of reacting quickly. They like to consider, internalize and deliberate on their responses. However I have found that for these people a little encouragement to stay with the process can pay dividends. One person yesterday for example came up to me after the workshop and said that she felt extremely uncomfortable with the concept but she was glad that she persevered because she felt empowered at the end of the Speed Thinking session.
- Interestingly based on a small sample of my graduate students it has to be admitted the improvement felt by introverts (51%) was higher than extroverts (39%).
- There is some support for this finding in the literature. For example David Rawlings and Debbie Carnie found that on measures of Intelligence, extroverts performed better than introverts under timed task conditions (Personality Individual Differences Volume 10, Number 4, pp453-458, 1989).
- It may well be in the future that I experiment with separating extroverts and introverts at the beginning of a speed thinking session so that each group can play to their strengths (e.g. extroverts might be louder, more impulsive, talkative etc).
Ken Hudson
‘Just Write. Write Fast.’
May 25, 2008
One of the most successful non-fiction books in recent times has been The Artists Way by Julia Cameron. It is a wonderful book primarily about unlocking your creativity and has sold over two million copies.
One of the tools Julia recommends is a tool she calls ‘Morning Pages’. This is a process in which you write three pages of a stream of consciousness every morning. After rereading one of her subsequent books The Artists Way at Work (Bryan, Cameron & Allen, 1998), I was struck by the many similarities it has with my notion of Speed Thinking. For example, both concepts suggest;
1. It should be done daily.
2. There is no right or wrong way. ‘Write down anything that comes to mind’ the authors suggest.
3. Both concepts are aimed at bypassing our own internal censor.
4. Out of the chaos, loose, messy sometimes ’silly’ thoughts a rich idea or insight might emerge.
5. The responses should not be filtered in any way.
6. The process should be done quickly. ‘We think the faster the better’ suggest Bryan, Cameron and Allen.
7. You will become faster at both processes with practice.
If you have not read any of Julia Cameron’s books then I recommend these or visit www.theartistsway.com
How fast is your business?
May 22, 2008
All managers and leaders constantly talk about how speed to market is one of their most important drivers of success. They typically lament the delays in important projects. Yet when i ask them what is causing thes delays and what they are doing about them so that they don’t happen again they seem to collectively shrug their shoulders.
Why do smart people accept the status quo? Why complain about these seemingly endless blockages but not really want to get to the bottom of them. Perhaps leaders in large companies simply accept that because of size that is the way it has to be.
At The Speed Thinking Zone we are trying a different approach. We are working with Tribe Research and are trying to develop a Speed-t- Market benchmark which employees and managers can complete which will highlight the speed bumps in any organisation. Ideally we can (in the future) compare and contrast similar size organisations and so that we can draw attention to potential problem areas and then develop a plan to address these.
If you would like to be part of this benchmark, please send me an email. We will bring you the initial results soon.
Ken Hudson
kenhudson [at] thespeedthinkingzone [dot] com
The Speed Ball
May 22, 2008
One of my favourite and most powerful speed team building exercises is called The Speed Ball. It is fun, energising and is surprisingly effective.
Firstly divide a bigger group up into a number of smaller groups. Then agree upon a problem that both teams must solve. Have each team stand opposite one another a few yards apart.
One person starts and throws the ball to another person on the opposite team. They must catch the ball and then add one new idea or possible solution to the problem at hand. They should do this quickly and then throw the ball back to another person on the other team. Each person must catch the ball and add a new idea. This goes back and forth until one team wins (if you drop the ball, cannot think of an idea immediately or throw a bad pass you are out).
Another team records the ideas.
People are amazed at their responses. Because you have to concentrate on the ball and think quickly you have no time to filter or censor your ideas. Your rational mind is distracted which seems to free up your imagination to create new ideas at will. I have seen literally fifty or so new ideas created in minutes at the same time as people are having fun and enjoying a friendly competitive environment.
Ken Hudson
Head & Heart Decisions
May 22, 2008
There are two key beliefs in decision making. One is that the more important the decision the longer that you take in making it. The second is the belief that by taking a longer time you make better decisions.
But is this the case? Recent research by A Dijksterhuis & L Nordgren from the
However, what is the most important financial decision many people make in their life? To buy a house you might say. But how many people have carefully drawn up a list of house attributes with some form of rating (e.g. it must be close to a school) and when they walk into a house simply say this is it. I must have it even if many of the attributes are missing!
This behaviour reminds us that we are human and that we when we make decisions it is a rational and emotional conversation. That is why we have designed the ‘head and heart’ tool. In two minutes we ask participants to list all the rational factors (e.g. price) they might consider then in the next two minutes what are the emotional features of a decision (e.g. pride). By having these ‘out on the table’, these can be discussed and people can often make better and faster decisions.
Ken Hudson
Nine New Questions
May 22, 2008
One of the key principles of Speed Thinking is the idea that you do not filter any of your responses. By doing so you can unlock the creative power of your unconscious and you bypass your internal critic. One person’s silly idea might just be the spark that another person needs to solve a problem.
Hence one Speed Thinking Tool to solve a problem is what I call ‘Nine New Questions’. With this tool your aim is to ask nine new questions about the problem at hand. The aim is not to solve these questions but simply to try and create a range of new questions. If we can ask new questions we can dramatically increase our chances of developing an original solution.
For example, let’s assume that the problem was to better manage our work life balance. One new question might be what will you do with this free time or should married managers with kids have first preference with work-life options. These are all good questions that might lead to a more original response.
It is important in this process of asking the questions quickly. Try and ask nine new questions in two minutes. Then if you are working with a partner, select the most unexpected question then spend another two minutes trying to answer this question.
Asking new questions is a wonderful way to start and become unblocked. Nine New Questions is a practical, effective tool to help you think faster. Try it!
Ken Hudson
Big Ideas in minutes
May 22, 2008
Brainstorming is the most popular and widespread way of generating ideas. Yet for most people it is an exercise in frustration. It takes too long, rarely produces breakthrough ideas and often people are left with a sense of not knowing how to move forward.
To overcome these blockages I recommend a Speed Brainstorming Session. The features of this approach are:
1. Run it in half the time. This will ensure that you save time and everyone is focused.
2. Ask people to come along with nine usual ideas (in two minutes) and nine radical ideas. If you have ten people this preparation can lead to up to 180 ideas in the first few minutes.
3. Have two people recording the ideas. One of the big bottle necks is the practice of having only one person writing down ideas. This slows down the creative flow while you wait for the person to capture the ideas. With two people you can move twice as fast.
4. Give everyone a packet of say 50 post-it notes and ask them to create 50 ideas (build on existing ideas) in five minutes.
5. Evaluate the ideas in two minutes. Ask people what ideas they think are the most original (mark out of ten) and those that they are the most passionate about (out of ten) but they must evaluate all the ideas in two minutes. This process will ensure that participants will not over analyze the ideas and go with their first intuitive reaction.
6. Throw a ball to one another and when you send it across you must suggest an idea. The next person must catch the ball and add another idea (hint: capture the ideas). This playful exercise will unlock often amazing ideas as participants conscious mind is distracted enabling their unconscious mind to flourish.
These simple suggestions will ensure that your next brainstorming session is more productive and faster.
Dr. Ken Hudson
Improve how fast you think by 44%
May 22, 2008
Recently I surveyed my Graduate students at the
I asked each of my students in an elective subject called Marketing Creativity to rate how fast they were as a thinker at the beginning of the course on a ten point scale (1 being very slow, 10 extremely fast). Their average score was 4.61. This was a surprising low result in itself but perhaps they have not been encouraged to think quickly in a post graduate education experience. By comparison a group of small business owners self-scored themselves at 6.2. Which is expected (I believe) given the fast-paced world a small business competes in. In another comparison a group of facilitators scored themselves 6.5 on average. These scores also suggest that people reconise that there is room for improvement!
After approximately five hours (i.e. ten sessions of 30 minutes) of rather haphazard training by me in speed thinking I asked the students again and their score on average increased to 6.63–an increase of 44%!
I put the increase down to three main factors. Simply by talking about Speed Thinking raised student’s consciousness of it. Secondly they became more confident in it because they would practice it week in, week out. And thirdly I gave them a range of tools that seemed to increase their speed and confidence.
I also asked the students whether they considered themselves to be an extrovert or an introvert (again on a ten point scale) and found that the extroverts improved by 39% and the introverts by a whopping 51%. My proposition is that extroverts find speed thing easier than introverts because they tend to react quickly to external events rather than the introverts more internal deliberate style. Hence although introverts found the going slightly more uncomfortable they gained the most benefit. This finding will be explored more in the future.
Being able to think quickly in a time-poor world would seem to be an advantage that these students seem to appreciate and enjoy. These results tend to suggest that the pace at which we think can be improved and is not fixed.
I will bring you more results when these come to hand.
Dr. Ken