32% Faster Thinking in 30 minutes
June 29, 2008
Recently I conducted a Speed Thinking Workshop with 30 people who work for a major non-profit organisation.
At the beginning of the 1.5 hour workshop i asked them to record how fast they were thinking at this very moment. Their average score was 4.88, on a ten point scale (self-scored).
After 30 minutes of various Speed Thinking tools and exercises i ask them again to score how fast they were thinking and on average they scored themselves at 6.44. This is anincrease of 32%.
At the end of the session they scored themselves at 6.96 which was a 43% increase from their original state.
This finding tends to validate my experience in other workshops that i have run that you can increase the speed at which you think, quickly. I know this is only one group and it needs to be replicated etc but it is indicative.
Some of the other possible reasons for this increase other than the effect of the Speed Thinking Tools might be:
- The people that attended the session (it was voluntary) were open to the concept of Speed Thinking as they has self-selected
- The physical exercises we do to sharpen up the reflexes at the beginning of any workshop can sharpen the mind.
- There is a ‘group effect’–as they were all trying to improve our Speed Thinking it might influence one another.
- Simply talking about Speed Thinking might raise people’s awareness of it so they are simply just focus on it (perhaps for the first time?).
- It might just be that suggesting to people that they can think faster helps them to break free of a self-imposed limit?
What do you think?
Ken Hudson
96% of Small Business Owners will implement Speed Thinking
June 13, 2008
I don’t like to boast but sometimes when you are launching a new concept and you are passionate about it then good feedback is wonderful.
I recently conducted a 1.5 hour Speed Thinking Workshop with over 50 small business owners at a Department of State and Regional Development sponsored event. The business owners ran an amazing array of businesses from florists, to fruit juice suppliers to coaches and trainers.
The two key results were:
96% of respondents indicated that they would implement what they had learnt (in the workshop) in their business
98% of respondents rated the presenter’s delivery of the workshop as good to excellent
Some of the reasons that owners found the workshop to be so beneficial (based on feedback):
- The originality of the Speed Thinking concept
- It was energizing
- Participations’ had an opportunity y to work and learn with others in two minute blocks
- Small business owners have no time so anything that can help them better adapt to this situation the better
- The speed thinking tools are simple and helpful
Ken Hudson, Inventor of Speed Thinking
The Two Minute Competitive Pitch
June 12, 2008
I have just finished a project working with a media company and in particular ways they might increase their chances of new business success.
One of the tools we used with great effect is what I call the Two Minute Competitive Pitch. In this case we nominate some people to become the client (these were people outside the business) and the remainder of the group are broken up into smaller groups each representing a particular competitor.
The challenge then is for each group to present their competitive pitch in two minutes to try and win an imaginary piece of business. This process is quick and powerful because it gives everyone an insight into what the competitors might say and where they are strong or weak relative to your business.
Competitive analysis done in this way is often more revealing and dynamic than the traditional longer, more formal review of the market-place.
It will often unlock new market-place growth opportunities.
When too much arousal is never enough
June 1, 2008
The primary aim of my Speed Thinking Workshops is to help people to think faster and better. This involves providing participants with new tools, stimulus material and challenges. In psychology speak (NB I have studied the area both formally and informally but am not a psychologist–my PhD was in Organizational Creativity) this might be referred to as increasing the level of arousal.
But can you give people too much arousal? Well according to Hebb (1955) the answer is yes. He postulates that there is an optimal arousal level which is at the mid range which is neither too high not too low–in either case this is unpleasant and aversive (I have borrowed from a lecture by Ken Haskin of Swinburne University, 21/5/97 for parts of this blog). If this is the case than the notion of Speed Thinking with its high arousal methodology would seem to be in trouble.
However, over time this concept that there is an ideal arousal state does not seem to fit what actually happens. Many people consistently see high arousal e.g. rock climbing; surfing big waves etc and find this activity incredibly enjoyable. It is also the case that any one event can (e.g. taking off in a plane) can be both scary and exciting from moment to moment. I have also found in my Speed Thinking Workshops that participants can be highly aroused and bounce between feeling uncomfortable at first and inspired at the end. We need (it seems to me) a better explanation of how people feel and what they do than Hebb’s optimal, equilibrium approach.
Enter British Psychologist, Michael Aptor and his Reversal Theory (I thank my colleague Graham Winter for this insight). Without explaining his entire theory Aptor suggests that we can have different experiential states that can vary from minute to minute, hour to hour and that we can move between these different states as we go through life. This means that we differ from each other but over time, from ourselves. These states also operate in pairs of opposites so that in effect we can change from one to another (i.e. reverse) even though we are experiencing the same thing. Hence, on a roller coaster we can experience danger and exhilaration in the same ride (see www.reversaltheory.org).
To make it more concrete for people interested in Speed Thinking, Aptor postulates that we can have a two hump model of equilibrium–meaning that we can experience high arousal as both pleasurable and unpleasant depending if we are in a Telic or Paratelic state.
The Telic state is one in which the goals are imposed, essential, it is a serious state, a sense of achievement (e.g. filling in a tax form).
The Paratelic state is a playful and one in which the activity is engaged for its own sake (e.g. go to the movies).
The implication is that The Speed Thinking process works best when it is one that is exploratory, open, safe, fun, where people can make mistakes and not to concerned with pressuring people to perform. A wonderful lesson to us all because it is in this environment that real learning takes place.