I have just read Tom Peter’s new book called ‘The Little Big Things-163 ways to pursue excellence (John Wiley and Sons, 2010). As with all Tom’s books it is challenging and thought provoking.
One of his best ideas i thought was also one of the simplest. He calls it the 1% drill (pg. 407) and basically he asks each manager to try and cut 1% off their budgets. This simple, quick and relatively painless way to manage might be a good way to try and ensure that a business loses its fat and continue its pursuit of greater efficiency.
There is something about the idea of 1% that seems to generate buy-in from all leaders and managers–after-all no-one could really miss a 1% cut.
But why not take it further?
I suggest the following challenge for each manager, each week:
- How can i make this process 1% faster?
- How could we this week make our customer service 1% better?
- How could we make our advertising dollars work 1% harder?
- How can we make it easier for people to do business with us by 1%?
- How can we make our products 1% simpler?
You get the picture. It all sounds so easy to do. So why don’t you accept teh 1% challenge (every week) and let me know how it goes.
Dr Ken Hudson
I recently presented at an Innovation Conference and used this opportunity to demonstrate a different and I believe much better way to conduct a brainstorming session.
The scene: Approximately 45 audience participants spread evenly across nine tables.
The challenge: How to improve the innovation conference (they were attending).
The results: Using the usual way of brainstorming the total group came up with 75 ideas in two minutes.
Using a Speed Thinking approach (in the same time period), the group created 343 ideas (4.5 times increase). Even allowing for say a generous 30% duplication of ideas, it still means a three fold increase in the number of ideas using a Speed Thinking approach.
The Speed Thinking Approach:
Speed Thinking is not only a faster way to think but a faster way to work as a group. With this new approach I asked each participant to try and create nine initial ideas in two minutes working by themselves. Then each person works with a partner to share and build on each others ideas. After this each pairing presents their three best ideas to the table and eventually to the total group. In this way both the quantity and the quality of the ideas is enhanced.
Why is this new approach more productive?
There are a number of reasons why:
- Firstly the aim of Speed Thinking is to just start. It does not matter where. Using the Speed Thinking framework individuals can just start without waiting for anyone else. Nor do they need to reach a consensus on where to start–they just are off and running. This make the entire process more time efficient.
- Secondly under the old way, the session is dominated by the extroverts with the introverts rarely getting a say. Using Speed Thinking, everyone has an equal voice.
- Thirdly, the slowest part of a traditional brainstorming session is the person that captures the ideas. The entire group has to slow down to the pace at which the person can record the ideas. By everyone working by themselves initially the entire process speeds up.
- And lastly, under the usual way, the person with the pen cannot contribute their own ideas and frequently places their own spin on participants ideas. Speed Thinking by comparison means that everyone contributes and as a result their is a greater divergence of ideas and opinions.
In a world where more has to be achieved with less resources, Brainstorming @Speed is not only more productive but the ideas are more original.
Speed Thinking is UK Bound
Don’t forget that i am moving to the UK as of April the 8th for three months. If you have any contacts or people you know that might be interested in Speed Thinking then please drop me a note.
Yours @Speed.
Ken
The Power of Three is a tool that i invented a few years ago to help people to solve problems and create new ideas quickly.
When faced with a problem, try to develop three Business-as-Usual (BAU), three Different and three Radical ideas in two minutes or less (the accelerated time limit will ensure that you do not filter your responses).
This framework will encourage 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 those where you take the BAU ideas but add a something new. The radical solutions are
a departure from what has been suggested before (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.
The Power of Three is also a very powerful way of selling your ideas. It is a good way of providing the client or the decision-maker 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.
The Power of Three has become so successful that some organisations have adopted this language into their culture; ‘that idea is so Business as Usual, where is a Radical One?’
Ken Hudson
Yours in Speed
Dr Ken Hudson
What does it mean to be an original thinker and why is it important?
I believe these are wonderful questions. I have tried most of my adult life to be original for better or for worse. It has made me sometimes stand out, to be able to think of different and sometimes valuable new ideas and solutions and follow my own path.
It has also meant that I have become bored far too easily, it has made me unpopular at times and i have lacked a single-minded focus with my business (something i am trying to remedy with my Speed Thinking concept).
But to be an original thinker is still something to be cherished i believe. We all need people in our lives that help us see something in a different light or can open us to a new possibility. Original Thinkers are people with courage and imagination that do not want to follow the crowd nor accept the prevailing wisdom. Sometimes original thinkers are way ahead of everyone else and shine a light that others may follow and occasionally there are people that are original but are just plain wrong or mad or both.
But every now and then wouldn’t it be good to be more original at work (and your personal life).–to be the first person to think of a breakthrough solution and to jump ahead of the competition. To help others break out of the ‘me-too’ cycle?
How do you become an original thinker?
Here are some suggestions:
- Deliberately adopt an unpopular point of view and see the world fro this perspective e.g. is a good for the world that
- Open your mind to new stimulus e.g. I read psychology and science magazines even though i am neither a psychologist nor scientist.
- Think of the ‘rules of the game’ that everyone seems to follow e.g. why are mobile phones getting smaller and smaller when the population is becoming older?
- Value your own experiences. We have been brought up to believe that our own experiences are somehow not valid they are too subjective. My bet is that if you are frustrated with a product or service for example then others feel the same way.
- Be fast. Don’t hesitate or second guess yourself. The lesson from Speed Thinking is that it is a process that enables your authentic and original self to emerge.
- Have courage. Be brave and follow your own thoughts. Be sure that if you voice a point of view others will follow.
These suggestions can help you become more original. Being able to think for yourself is a priceless ability and asset–in a washed out, neutral, grey world, a splash of colour can really stand out.
Ken Hudson
According to the latest Business Week edition, Design Thinking is the next big thing in business, ‘Sure, it’s the latest trendy term to sweep the business world, but it’s a technique that designers and executives alike hope may help to provide a solution to some of the world’s serious challenges. ‘
But what is Design Thinking? According to Wikipedia, Design thinking is a process for practical, creative resolution of problems or issues that looks for an improved future result.
Another insight is offered by Edward De Bono when he suggests, ‘you can analyse the past, but you need to design the future". He defines Design Thinking as combining existing things in new ways to deliver value.
The common themes among people concerned with Design Thinking is that it is a way of thinking that is more concerned with the what could be rather than what exists today. It complements rather than replaces analytical thinking which is mainly used in business.
Speed Thinking is similar to design thinking with its emphasis on creating new possibilities, movement and not being stuck in the past. Also Speed Thinking is not concerned with being right or wrong in the early START stage.
But Speed Thinking has one key difference with Design Thinking. The emphasis is on thinking quickly. By varying the pace at which you think not just how you think you can obtain amazing results. This is because you do not filter or judge your responses as you are too busy just creating, solving or deciding in the moment.
The ideal for me? Design Thinking@Speed!
Coming up with a new, different idea is the start of the innovation process. But an underrated part of this process is to build a stronger, workable concept. I have found that by asking the following six questions you can transform your raw idea into something that can create more value for customers and your shareholders.
1. Can the idea better meet a customer or user need?
2. Can the idea be made simpler?
3. Can the idea generate more revenue?
4. Can the idea be made more original?
5. Can the idea save more money?
6. Can you test the idea quickly, simply & cheaply?
The father of Lateral Thinking Edward De Bono has made a wonderful contribution to our understanding of how our brain might work (no-one really knows for sure). His concept that the brain acts like a self-organising, information patterning system was way ahead of his time.
But is Lateral Thinking (i.e. deliberately moving across a pattern) enough in this fast-paced world?
My proposition is that both critical and creative thinking whilst necessary are not sufficient anymore. We need to be able to think and act faster. This will enable us to better thrive in an accelerating and time-poor world.
I have tried to build on De Bono’s work by adding an extra dimension. We can now control not only how we think but what pace we think at. And by doing so we can paradoxically become more creative, efficient, productive and feel more energised.
For a good summary of De-Bono’s work see below:
- Challenge the process: This doesn’t mean attack it. Go back to the first principles of the problem and review the direction of the process.
Example: a local authority in New Zealand wanted to free up parking spaces but the cost of monitoring parking was expensive. The solution was to allow free parking to anyone who kept their headlights on while parked. - Set up a provocative statement: This means looking at the solution to a problem in an impossible or contradictory way.
Example: a number of factories were ignoring anti-pollution regulations and polluting a river. The provocative statement was: “The factories have to be downstream of themselves”. The resulting solution was making every factory build their inlet pipes downstream of their outlet pipes — they are now the first to suffer from their own polution. - Use random words: Adding an element of chance will allow you to come at a problem from a different starting point, one you would not have ordinarily chosen. Picking random words out of a bag forces your mind to make random associations, effectively producing solutions you wouldn’t be able to arrive at using well-worn analytical processes.
- Use parallel thinking: Instead of going into teams to argue the relative merits of a number of solutions, everyone approach each solution together in every way. De Bono advocates the symbolic wearing of six coloured hats to adopt positive, negative, rational and emotional standpoints. Organisations such as Boeing, JP Morgan and IBM have used this device to reduce meeting times by up to tenfold.
So if you combine lateral and speed thinking you can create your own magic. My Speed Thinking formula–two minutes and nine possibilities.
Of course you would–big, new ideas are needed now more than ever. This is not the time to be faint-hearted, you can accelerate your work, career and life by developing new perpsectives, ideas and solutions.
But how do you create ideas on demand?
We have developed a program called IdeaRush. It is a new piece of software that is available to anyone that visits our website.
You can develop new product ideas, solve problems or create new growth opportunities quickly. IdeaRush is simple, practical and can be used with immediate impact.
I am giving you a free taste–my only request is that you let me know what you like about it, what you don’t and how you are using it.
Keep Speeding.
Ken Hudson
If there is a dominant theme among all the leaders, managers and small business owners that I meet it is this: Business-as-usual thinking will not be enough in these interesting times. You have to think differently to create new customers and to constantly add value for your existing customers, employees, partners and investors.
This begs the question: how do you think differently?
The starting point is to realize that being able to think in an innovative way is a skill and like any other ability it can be improved with the right tools, practice and encouragement.
So with this in mind, let me show you how you can think differently literally in minutes. How many different uses can you think of in the next 60 seconds for a mobile phone? In my workshops, most people can answer from 5-7 items e.g. text, phone, camera etc. These are the business-as-usual responses.
But what if I changed the challenge to, how many ‘unusual’ uses can you think of for a mobile phone? E.g. it can be used to hold open a door. Suddenly you can open up to a new range of possibilities.
Now what if I asked, how might an ant use a mobile phone? You might answer, as a dance floor, as shelter etc.
These might not be practical ideas but who would have thought a few years ago that you could use a mobile phone as a watch, camera or video?
My point is this. Being able to think differently is a question of choice. You can choose to think in a usual or a different way. If you choose to think in a different way you have two different strategies:
1. Try and redefine the challenge. In the example above when I inserted the word ‘unusual’ then most people’s mind opens up, and/or
2. Look at the challenge in a new way. In the mobile phone example, it is when I ask the question, how many different uses would an ‘ant’ have for a mobile phone?
The mobile phone example tries to show that most people are trapped into thinking in a particular way. Our mind is like a patterning system that organizes information into existing patterns (an Edward De Bono insight). This makes you quick and efficient in processing information but can lead to rigidity in your thinking and you can only create incremental ideas.
For example, let’s imagine that you were trying to improve your customer service. Another way of defining this challenge might be to; what can you do so that your customers love dealing with you? Now which problem excites and engages you? Which problem definition is more likely to open up new possibilities? Can you see that by simply using a different way to define the problem you can become unstuck? I have found simply by reframing the challenge in more emotional language you can open up new possibilities. The language of business is rational e.g. efficient, cost-benefit etc yet the language of customers is emotional. So restating your goal or challenge in emotional language will help you better understand your customers and will increase your probability of developing a new and different solution.
As mentioned, your second creative strategy is to look at the challenge with a new set of eyes. In the previous example, you can use a financial lens which might lead you to reduce your service to your unprofitable customers or if you used a different lens say as a hotel manager it might lead you to think about how to make every customer feel special. So if you feel stuck then ask yourself how might Richard Branson look at this situation? Or my competitor? Or a child? Or a supplier? Etc. There is no limit to the number of different perspectives you can have on a problem. All are equally valid yet only a partial view of a situation.
The lesson is this. The market-place today calls for you to think differently. This is a skill that you can learn and gain an edge on your competition. You can choose to win by learning to think differently or wonder what happened when your competitors run past you.
Dr. Ken Hudson,
Founder & Chief Starter,
The Speed Thinking Zone (www.thespeedthinkingzone.com).
Author, The Idea Generator and The Idea Accelerator—How to solve problems faster using Speed Thinking.
