Seth Godin, well-known author of such books as Permission Marketing and Unleash The Idea Virus had this to say in a recent blog:

‘The best way to overcome your fear of creativity, brainstorming, intelligent risk taking or navigating a tricky situation might be to sprint.

When we sprint, all the internal dialogue falls away and we just go as fast as we possibly can. When you’re sprinting you don’t feel that sore knee and you don’t worry that the ground isn’t perfectly level. You just run.

You can’t sprint forever. That’s what makes it sprinting. The brevity of the event is a key part of why it works.’

His full blog is: http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2009/02/sprint.html

I could not agree more. When I describe Speed Thinking I often use the analogy of a run in the park, you warm up, walk, stretch and then sprint. The sprint aspect makes the overall work-out more productive. In a similar way, Speed Thinking complements your existing thinking–it accelerates your creativity, problem solving and decision making.

The important message is that you can vary not only how you think (e.g. creative vs critical) but how fast you think (e.g. traditional vs speed). It is up to you and depends on the situation and your requirements.

Ken Hudson