Speed Thinking is for time-poor individuals, groups & teams that want to become more productive, innovative and energised. Stop procrastinating & just start!
I recently finished reading Imagine by Jonah Leherer (Text Publishing, 2012). It is a fascinating book on the science of creativity. In a recent interview about his book he drew a comparison between business and cities (http://smrt.io/KfOMgV). I thought the comparison was so instructive I thought I would repeat Jonah’s views below: ‘One of the…
One of the hardest aspects of introducing a completely new concept is how to position it in the mind of your consumer. In my efforts to do this I heard Hugh McKay’s voice (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugh_Mackay_(social_researcher) in my ear reminding me that the best way to position a new product is to locate it next to something that…
We have all run or participated in brainstorming sessions. Most unfortunately don’t work (but that is another story). I have been facilitating them for the past 15 years and here are my guidelines: 1. Make the challenge a compelling one. You want people to be engaged right from the start so set out clearly what…
I have spent the last ten years working with managers and leaders and one of their favourite challenges is how do we create an ‘out of the box’ idea? The starting point is to actually make explicit what the ‘box’ is. If you can do this then you can stretch or overturn it. In my…
Employees suggestion schemes are a good idea — in theory. What self-respecting leader would be against the idea of providing a platform for all employees to suggest new ideas? But in practice these never seem to work. Why? – Leaders run out of energy to champion the project. – It becomes a slow, cumbersome way…
I find this such an interesting question. You have a number of choices. You can: 1. Create some ideas by yourself. This is an underrated way of generating solutions to problems. In fact, research suggests that an individual working by themselves can develop more original ideas than a group working together. But most people still…
Our first full scale pilot program has now been launched of Blitz with an international service brand. Blitz is the practical application of Speed Thinking and a breakthrough way to embed greater collaboration, creativity and speed in any business. I have written the 5 ‘W’s and H’ of this new process and tool so you…
I believe that innovation is a skill. And like any skill can be learn’t and improved with practice. But like any skill there are some people that have a greater capacity than others (given the same level of practice). But do you know who these people are in your business or organisation? If you do…
According to a recent IBM study with 1500 Chief Executives from around the world entitled Capitalizing on Complexity: (http://www-935.ibm.com/services/us/ceo/ceostudy2010/index.html “Creativity is the most important leadership quality.” And further, “to succeed, they (creative leaders) take more calculated risks, find new ideas, and keep innovating in how they lead and communicate” (Extract from the Executive Summary). This begs…
This Speed Thinking Weekly Work-Out is written by Dr. Paul Leinberger, Senior Vice President, The Future Company. http://www.thefuturescompany.com/ I had a guy come to me in an airport recently who said: “You don’t know me, but I know you. You spoke at my company five years ago and you told the product development team that…
