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 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
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
The Two Minute Challenge
April 26, 2008
In 1982, Kenneth H Blanchard and Spencer Johnson wrote a book called The One Minute Manager. This became a classic and has sold millions of copies and is still widely read today. The accessible, practical style of the book invited readers as well as the potency of its three core practices for managers. These are
- The One Minute Goal
- The One Minute Praise
- The One Minute Reprimand
I would like to update these concepts for today’s manager in what I have called The Two Minute Challenge. The aim with this challenge is to select a problem, opportunity or issue and give yourself two minutes to create at least nine different responses. Do not attempt to filter your ideas—just let them flow. No idea is a silly one as it could provide a bridge to another more practical one.
The Two Minute Challenge can be used by anyone, everyday, on most sorts of problems. When time is short it is an ideal way to create some movement or new starting points. Because the time is so short it means that you will have to access the power of your unconscious. It is the essence of Speed Thinking.
The Two Minute Challenge can also be used to make better decisions. In two minutes write down at least nine rational factors involved in selecting an alternative e.g. does it make money. Then in the next two minutes capture at least nine emotional considerations e.g. do I feel passionate about it? Then use both of these lists to help you make a more considered decision.
The Two Minute Challenge is a new way for you to thrive in a time-poor world. If you have Two Minutes you can make a difference!
Dr. Ken Hudson, Founder
The Speed Thinking Zone
Think Quicker - Want to Feel Better? Then Think Quicker!
April 26, 2008
Think Quicker - Want to Feel Better? Then Think Quicker!
Some fascinating research was conducted by Emily Pronin and Daniel Wegner from Princeton and Harvard University (Psychological Science, Volume 17, Number 9, 2006) which suggested that simply thinking quicker can have a positive impact on your mood.
They conducted research with undergraduates at Princeton University and divide the total students (144) up into four groups.
- Fast thought—elation statements
- Fast thought—depression statements
- Slow thought—elation statements and
- Slow thought—depression statements
They found that regardless of the content of the statements (i.e. either elation or depression statements) the participants who thought quicker felt in a better mood, improved self-esteem, more creative, powerful and energetic.
The research suggests that just as people feel better after aerobic exercise, for example, rapid thinking may induce a similar effect.
‘The results of this experiment suggest the intriguing possibility that during moments when people feel stuck having depressed thoughts, interventions that accelerate the speed of such thoughts may serve to boost feelings of positive affect and energy.’
One of the implications of this research is that if you are feeling a bit down or feel stuck then accelerating your thinking in and of itself can have a positive impact. And further, this has the potential to create a positive expectation cycle: because you know you are thinking quicker and you can feel yourself thinking quicker you will feel better (because you believe feeling better is what happens)! Again it is similar to a work-out session—you know you will feel better after it and when this happens it confirms your expectation.
The message? The end benefits of Speed Thinking I have found are things like new and better ideas and solutions but the process itself can be just as rewarding.
Dr. Ken Hudson, Founder
The Speed Thinking Zone
think quicker , Speed Thinking , Fast Thinking , Speed to Market
Speed Thinking - Discovering Speed thinking
April 25, 2008
Speed thinking - Discovering Speed thinking
This is my first blog in what I hope will be a fruitful and productive adventure. It is exciting and scary letting go of a successful creative thinking and innovation business I have run for the past five years called IdeaSpace (www.ideaspace.com.au). But I believe that I have discovered a new way of thinking that is perfectly adapted to the internet paced world that we live in. I have called this Speed Thinking.
The insight for Speed Thinking came from my workshops with business people and my graduate students. In attempting to work through more material I kept giving participants in my workshops less and less time to complete a task. Paradoxically it seemed to have no detrimental effect on the quality and quantity of their performance. In fact, if anything the originality of their responses appeared to be enhanced. I was intrigued by this phenomenon and wondered what the natural limit might be.
Through trial and error, I have discovered that if you set participants an everyday challenge, with a two minute time-limit and you ask them to create at least nine different responses then often magic happens. People are often amazed at their responses—‘where did that come from they exclaim’.
As the clock ticks away people are totally focused on the task at hand and are immersed in the challenge. They are right in the moment with no sense of evaluating their responses. New ideas, solutions or decisions pour out in a stream of consciousness. It appears that they enter their own zone of high performance (hence the name The Speed Thinking Zone) much like sportspeople who for the briefest of moments can do anything they want seemingly at will.
This Speed Thinking experience also tends to create a natural high. Participants talk about having a as their creativity is unlocked. This is consistent with the findings of Pronin & Wagner (Psychological Science, Volume 17, Number 9, 2006), for example, who found what they called Manic Thinking had a positive effect on respondent’s mood.
My vision of The Speed Thinking Zone is that together we can create a better understanding of the theory and practice of Speed Thinking so that we can all achieve more in less time and as a result lead happier and more rewarding lives.
Dr. Ken Hudson.
Founder & Chief Starter
The Speed Thinking Zone (www.thespeedthinkingzone.com)
Speed thinking , Think Quicker , Fast Thinking, Speed to Market