Question: What is one of the fastest growing packaged categories in the world?
Answer: According to Mintel Market Research, ‘the popular beverage market of energy drinks continues to grow with sales increasing over 240% from 2004 to 2009. In the same timeframe, there has been a flood of new energy drinks to the market with new product launches up by over 110%.
http://www.mintel.com/press-release/Energy-drink-ingredients-continue-down-unhealthy-path?id=386
The problem with this amazing increase is the growing awareness that energy drinks have a downside. As Lynn Dornblaster from Mintel notes, “There is a significant market right now for drinks offering a boost of energy. “Although consumers say they try to eat and drink better, it appears that energy drinks is not a category in which that happens, as they continue to choose options that contain sugar, caffeine and taurine, all of which can have negative effects if consumed in excess.”
But is there a better way of boosting your energy levels but not resorting to energy drinks? Doing some exercise for example or perhaps meditating?
What about thinking quickly?
According to
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/09/060926171045.htm
The authors note that: "The results of our experiment suggest the intriguing possibility that even 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."
So if you are feeling low in energy rather than reaching for an energy drink or your 5th cup of coffee try Speed Thinking. You can now re-energize yourself-naturally without any potential damaging side-effects.
I recently conducted a number of Speed Thinking workshops with a major, international Public Relations firm. As a demonstration of the power of Speed Thinking we selected the task of writing a press release for their clients.
This activity would normally take this group of managers 2-3 hours but i suggested we could do it in 10 minutes with no drop in quality using a new way of thinking. I used my company as the client and the brief was to write a press release announcing the launch of a powerful new thinking system called Speed Thinking. The target audience was business leaders but in particular HR managers.
This is the process we went through:
Step 1. The 2 Minute Brief
I gave the group 2 minutes to ask me any question about me, my business, the benefits of speed thinking, client list, about me etc.
Step 2. Nine Headings in Two minutes
Working by themselves each team member had to write nine possible headlines in 2 minutes. The important point was to start and not to filter. I suggested to them that they should include a mixture of usual and radical headlines.
Step 3: Evaluate the best rational and emotional headlines
Working with a partner, the group then discussed each other’s headlines and agreed the best rational and emotional headline in a 2 minute period (I wanted the group to escape the left-brain, linear style of communication).
Step 4: Nine bullet points
Each pairing then selected their preferred emotional headline and were then asked to write the nine key support, bullet points under this heading (in 2 minutes).
Step 5: A workable draft
Each pairing were then given two minutes to convert these bullet points into a workable press release and then we read these out to the rest of the group. People were amazed at what they could do in such a short period of time.
An example of a press release from this process is given below:
‘A world first officially launches down under today, as Australian thought-leader, Dr Ken Hudson, introduces a brand new way of thinking to organisations across Australia, large and small.
The new home-grown speed thinking model has been endorsed by major leading global organisations whose productivity has noticeably increased since working with this thinking guru.
This will come as good news for Australian business as we enter a downturn, with clear business benefits which will come from a faster thinking workforce being very apparent.
Tipped as the new Malcolm Gladwell, next year Dr Ken also has plans to introduce his model to schools to embed this smart way of managing thinking time from the earliest age.’
Sun Learning Services in ANZ
Sun Learning Services in ANZ recently conducted a pilot 90 minute ‘Speed Thinking’ workshop. This was a complimentary ‘one-off’ program offered by Dr Ken Hudson, founder of The Speed Thinking Zone. Many were intrigued by the program name and within day of the course being advertised, a record-breaking, 26 registrations were received. A good cross-section of staff attended. Most were looking for new and innovative strategies to help them manage their challenging workload and find simple solutions to make them more productive.
Evidenced by participant feedback, their goals were certainly achieved. Moreover, attendees were surprised by the energising effect that thinking quickly could generate. Read More >
A Press Release in 10 minutes (not 2-3 hours)
I recently conducted a number of Speed Thinking workshops with a major, international Public Relations firm. As a demonstration of the power of Speed Thinking we selected the task of writing a press release for their clients.
This activity would normally take this group of managers 2-3 hours but I suggested we could do it in 10 minutes with no drop in quality using a new way of thinking. Read More >
How to serve your customers 20% faster
I have been running a series of Speed Thinking sessions for a major airline as part of their emphasis on customer service. Why Speed Thinking? Well if you are stuck in a line you hope that the person behind the counter can look after you quickly and efficiently. Speed is the new expectation of customers world-wide. They are comparing the broadband speed they achieve over the internet with the slow response times of business to their complaints. Not surprisingly, customers are not happy.
So what to do about it? Teaching front line staff to think quicker might be one option. Read More >
32% Faster Thinking in 30 minutes
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… Read More >>
96% of Small Business Owners will implement Speed Thinking
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
Read More >>
Improve how fast you think by 44%
Recently I surveyed my Graduate students at the University of Technology, Sydney on the effects of my work with them on my new concept of Speed Thinking. Yes, the sample size is small and the results tentative but none the less the results are quite amazing. Read More >>
One of the most common reactions among people who have tried Speed Thinking is that they can surprise themselves with their responses — where did that come from and further, what does that mean?
My theory is that because people are operating at speed they have no time to monitor or control what emerges. I call this operating at the edge of our unconscious.
Now for the first time we may have some evidence that might support this theory. In an ingenuous study with six highly trained jazz musicians, they were asked to play a keyboard while in the confines of a MRI scanner (a MRI scanner is an imaging tool that measures the amount of blood travelling to various regions of the brain as a means of assessing the amount of neural activity in those areas).
The researchers (Charles Limb & Allen Braun) were interested in finding out what were the differences when the musicians were playing a simple melody as opposed to improvising. Research Article: Neutral substrates of Spontaneous Musical Performance: An fMRI stufy of Jazz Improvisation.
http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/02_26_08.html
What they found was that there were changes in the prefrontal cortex, the region of the frontal lobe of the brain that helps us think and solve problems and that provides a sense of self. The large proportion responsible for monitoring one’s performance (dorsolateral prefrontal cortex) shuts down completely during improvisation while the much smaller region at the foremost part of the brain (medial prefrontal cortex) increases in activity. This is the region that is involved in self-initiated thoughts and behaviours such as making up a story. The researchers explain that the suppression of inhibitory, self-monitoring brain mechanisms helps to promote the free flow of novel ideas and impulses. This pattern also resembles the situation when people are dreaming.
The systems that regulate emotion were also engaged and there was increased neural activity in each of the sensory areas including those responsible for touch, hearing and vision. The researchers conclude that there is no single creative area of the brain — you see a strong and consistent pattern of activity throughout the brain that enables creativity.
Whilst this is a single study and the sample size is small it does suggest that the evidence tends to support our theory of what could happen during Speed Thinking. So the message? Try and let go of your own internal filters and monitors and you will be amazed at the results!
Ken Hudson
