Design Thinking at P&G
July 31, 2008
Just read a wonderful story about what P&G are doing with a concept they are calling Design Thinking — http://business.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=132008SO98PC
The highlights of this new type of thinking are as follows:
1. It is transforming their culture. Design Thinking at its essence is about creating new possibilities (much like Speed Thinking) then working backwards and forwards in an iterative fashion. It is used in a visual, tactile way using half-formed prototypes to co-create new solutions with consumers.
2. Design Thinking is used in the product development process and also strategy sessions, building retail relationships and to address operational issues.
3. There are 100 internal facilitators with over 40 design workshops being held this year.
4. Like Speed Thinking, it must be experienced. It is not an academic, objective, detached process but a hands-one, playing around, fully immersed experience.
5. This new way of thinking encourages managers to bring their whole brain not just their analytical left one. The aim is to encourage managers to use the principles every day.
6. One design principle could be test faster, fail faster and learn faster (sounds like Speed Thinking).
Ken Hudson
Six tips for faster, better meetings
July 24, 2008
People are always complaining about meetings — either their too long or unproductive and when time is short this is very frustrating. So what to do about it?
These are my top tips using a Speed Thinking perspective:
1. Send the agenda out a few days before the meeting with one problem or decision highlighted. Then ask participants to bring along nine different possibilities (ask them to speed think it). If they do not have any thoughts then suggest that they do not come. Using this principle, in the first few minutes, if you have say ten people you will have 90 possibilities.
2. Decide which items on the agenda are strategic or day-to-day. Change the agenda to place all the day to day decisions up front. Then Speed Thinking these. In ten minutes the group will have made five decisions then move on to the strategic decisions. The group will have made some progress and participants will feel better as they tackle the bigger issues.
3. However long your meetings are at the moment –half the time. According to Parkinson’s Law –work expands to fill the time available. It is the same with meetings. Meetings expand to the time you have allocated. Therefore it is better to have half the time as participants will have to think faster, they become more focused, make better decisions and they remain more energized. It is better to have shorter, more regular meetings than the three-four hour marathon.
4. The extension of Parkinson’s Law is
5. Have formal gut-feel time in every meeting. This is a formal, dedicated time in every meeting to allow people to use their intuition — particularly after the group has made a decision. Participants are encouraged to express what their ‘gut-feel’ is telling them e.g. ‘i know the number don’t add up but it still feels like their is an opportunity here.’ Giving participants the freedom of using their intuition is valuable because nearly every decision is informed by our emotions and we know from research that our intuition works at a lightning speed –way ahead of our rational mind. This means that our intuition might just stumble on a breakthrough that is not obvious to the rational, logical mind.
6. Allow everyone to create ideas or solve a problem at once. One of the barriers to meetings is the idea that we must listen to everyone else. This is polite and civil but slows down every meeting which means that a ideas are lost because of this slowing down effect. Much better to give everyone a sticky note pad so that when they have an idea they can write it down immediately and put it on the wall regardless of who is speaking.
. Ideally this is when you need a facilitator that is trained in Speed Thinking Principles.
Give these suggestions a go and send me a note on how it went
Ken Hudson
Think in Threes
July 19, 2008
When faced with a problem, try to develop a range of business-as-usual, different and radical solutions as quickly as you can. This new way of thinking pushes you to develop a greater range of solutions and gives you permission to offer those really left-field ideas.
The business-as-usual solutions are a continuation of what has been done before. The different solutions are a departure from the usual and the radical are a real left-field option (think big!). Then select the best outcome (it could one of the options or a combination of these).
For example, consider the problem, ‘How do we retain our best managers?’ A business-as-usual solution might be; to pay the high performing managers more. A different approach could be to expand their responsibilities or move them to a completely new (perhaps struggling) department. A radical approach might be to provide them with a 12 months sabbatical or give them a small (Company owned) business to run.
This framework is also a very powerful way of selling your ideas. It is a good way of providing the client with real choice. Start by outlining the B.A.U. option, then the different, and finally the radical one. Clients are often more willing to entertain the thought of a radical idea if they have the more bankable tried and true option on the table.
Ken Hudson
The One Dollar A Minute Rule
July 18, 2008
An interesting way of making decisions in a time-poor world is to imagine that every working minute of your day is worth one dollar to you. If you work for say nine hours then you have $540 worth of potential time each day that you can utilize or 2700 dollars each working week!
Now i know that not everything can be equated to a dollar figure. For example if i spend 20 minutes helping my kids do their homework then that should not have a dollar value. But what this rule of thumb provides you is but one way of having a single measure of your time and to remind you that your time is valuable.
Thinking this way might just help you to make better, quicker decisions in your everyday life. For example, the other day i spent about ten minutes deciding which pen to buy — this was just a garden variety pen but i agonized over color, brand, ink width etc. Under the dollar a minute rule i would have spent at that most five minutes because that was the entire pen was worth.
Try it next time you are faced with a decision. For example if i had to decide whether to go to a meeting. Ask yourself is it worth more to me than the 60 minutes i will spend there (i.e. is it worth more than $60 to me). If the answer is yes than go for it. If not, politely say no.
The one dollar a minute rule might just help you make better, faster decisions.
Ken Hudson
What you can learn from Sports Psychology
July 13, 2008
I just found a very good site that i thought had a very good summary of the top ten rules of Sports Psychology to improve performance. The site is http://www.sportsmindskills.com/sports_psychology_rules.php.
Their top ten suggestions are:
1. Focus on the process rather than the outcome
2. Develop regular routines.
3. Associate with good people and learn from them.
4. Use imagery to pre-think possible strategies and actions.
5. Use imagery to practice skills.
6. Your self-belief will dictate your success (i.e. if you believe it can be done you are half-way there).
7. Set goals.
8. Whatever you do–do it well.
9. Practice makes perfect.
10. Have Fun.
These seem to be good, common sense guide to helping you improve your performance and results whether it is at work or in your private life.
Ken Hudson
The Brain as a Muscle
July 10, 2008
In the latest edition of the Harvard Business Review (May 2008 pg.51-54) there is a fascinating interview with a brain expert, John J. Medina. The highlights of his interview are set out below:
1. ‘The brain is like a muscle. The more activity you do, the more experience you have, the larger and more complex the brain becomes.’
2. The brain remains quite plastic until we die. We are lifelong learners. Hint you have to keep learning, improving amd acquiring new skills and knowledge (like the ability to Think quickly!).
3. Unlike a DVD player for example our brain is not like a recording device — this means that we have imperfect memories. But we can improve this ability through repetition, practice and remembering the context in which we remembered the information.
4. Aerobic exercise in particular is wonderful for body and brain health (50% less chance of having Alzheimer’s).
5. Long term stress can lead to a reduction in math’s, processing of language and poorer memories.
6. Research is uncovering new insights about the brain at an astonishing rate (hint–we do not need to hype it).
So business people beware the Brain Age is upon you.
Ken Hudson
The Stand-Up Meeting
July 8, 2008
I recently met with Brett Jackson, VP of a fast-growing, Software Development company called Allassian. They have been using a concept called The ‘Stand Up’ Meeting throughout their company and in particular the engineers. I found this a fascinating concept because meetings for too long have been the bane of everyone’s existence and have slowed down progress (or so it seems).
The features of the Stand Up meeting include:
- Typically it is held in the morning around 10.00am. The meeting starts on time there is no waiting for stragglers.
- The aim is usually to obtain an update on a project.
- People are asked at random (by throwing them a football) to comment on what they did yesterday, what they were planning to do today and what might hinder them from achieving this (in this way these barriers are articulated and perhaps someone can help). The ball keeps everyone focused, listening and alert because you never know when it may be your turn.
- The stand up approach ensures that people do not get too comfortable and the business spends less time in unproductive meetings and more time creating value for customers etc.
- Any substantial discussions are then taken off-line (outside the meeting)
- Anyone can attend or observe a meeting (usually the project meeting is 10-12 people).
- Music is played at the start of the session to signify that the meeting is about to commence (different people can choose which music to play).
- Only one person talks at a time (the person with the ball). Usually they have a minute or so to talk.
- There is no leader dominating the meeting.
The benefits of the ‘Stand Up’ Meeting are many. People see the value in meetings because they can find out what is going on and perhaps someone can help them if they need help. Also as the meeting is quick, tight and focused they do not mind going as it frees them up to get on with their work.
It does require (paradoxically) more discipline and preparation by all concerned. Faster meetings can be better ones only if people are ready to go.
Does anyone else have a stand up meeting?
Cheers ken
90 ideas in two minutes
July 5, 2008
I recently conducted a Speed Thinking workshop with a large multinational consulting company. Participants were amazed at this new way of brainstorming for example.
These are the differences with traditional brainstorming:
1. In Speed Thinking everyone plays. This means that all people are (usually) up on a wall and contributing their ideas. If you have ten people (like we did) and everyone creates nine possibilities. Then in the first two minutes you have 90 starting points or initial thoughts.
2. In Speed Thinking there is no leader. Everyone contributes their ideas, builds, evaluates and decides what the next steps are. The best ideas spontaneously emerge from the interactions of group members.
3. With Speed Thinking we start from the individual then work up to working with a partner then the bigger group. In this way introverts and extroverts are on an equal footing and the strongest ideas tend to surface rather than the strongest personalities.
4. Speed Thinking is built on movement. This means we are constant moving not stopping conceptually but also we use physical movement to facilitate the process. Our body is meant to move and our mind works best when we are moving around seeing different perspectives and keeping our bodies alert. Lying around on purple bean bags are a thing of the past.
5. The Speed Brainstorming sessions are high energy and much shorter. It can be a short as ten minutes!
6. In Speed Thinking we evaluate our ideas quickly using our intuition only.
What is your speed reaction to this?
Ken Hudson.
How to find a Mentor — Fast
July 5, 2008
A recent article caught my eye in the Australian Financial Review (by Caitlin O’Toole, 4/7/08) which highlighted the success Citibank among other organisations was having with a Speed Mentoring arrangement across their business. The aim is for people to find mentors across the business in an informal and quick way.
This process has many features of the Speed Thinking Experience:
- It is quick. You have three minutes to meet and discuss what you are both looking for (in Speed Thinking we work in two minute modules)
- It is fun. Speed Thinking although the problem can be serious works best when people are enjoying themselves.
- People do not overanalyze. The Citibank leaders cite this as one of the key reasons for the success of this program. In a similar way we talk about not bypassing your internal filter so you do not second guess or overanalyze a situation.
- Because it is quick you have to rely on your intuition. Again with Speed Thinking we talk about accessing the power of your unconscious.
What other applications of Speed can you think of?
Eight Tips for a Healthy Brain
July 1, 2008
Brain Fitness is one of the new trends impacting on
A very good site that i have found is Brain
They have suggested eight ways to keep your brain healthy. These are:
Exercise and challenge your brain – don’t be a couch potato
Nourish your brain with a healthy diet, drink alcohol in moderation
Make “safety first” a priority – wear a helmet, drive safely, take any head injury seriously
Learn to manage stress and depression
Have regular checks for blood pressure, diabetes, heart rate, cholesterol
Do not smoke or use illegal drugs
We believe that Speed Thinking is also an ideal way also to keep your brain fresh, active and alert. How are you keeping your brain in shape?
Ken Hudson