Discover the full collection of #ThinkfullyHabits
Do you think in a binary fashion? Yes or no? To make sense of the world, evaluate data and interpret information, we simplify and summarise. Often that’s helpful, necessary and much needed. However, the amazing thing is the extent to which we do this. Researchers have found that we have a tendency to reduce this down, often to two alternatives. Good or bad? True or false? All or nothing? We over-simplify complex ideas and problems. Psychologists call this our ‘binary bias’.
Read MoreThe more information you have, the better, right? Well not always. There’s a fundamental fact that we need to get to grips with. More information doesn’t necessarily lead to better decisions.
Read MoreMost of us have no problem imagining things happening. However, it's often in a free-flowing, unconstrained, escapism way. We may be less likely to apply the same imagination in a more deliberate and constructive way. Yet, applying imagination in order to work through a decision and watch the implications and consequences unfold in our mind’s eye, can be incredibly revealing. Even better, it’s something we can do with very little time and resource. It’s about creating a new habit of consciously thinking through a sequence of events and imagining how a situation may unfold.
Read MoreWhen tackling a problem, you may find yourself struggling to find the solution. This may be the case particularly when you are facing a wicked, fuzzy or ambiguous problem where you don’t have enough information or data about it, or it’s an unknown future. In these instances, looking for the single solution may be the wrong focus. Instead, these might be the times that it will help to think of multiple solutions.
Read MoreSometimes it’s hard to think beyond the familiar, even if the desire to do so is there. Going to the extremes can be a way to get beyond typical, obvious and predictable ideas. Going to extremes not only allows you to see ideas more clearly, it can help expose assumptions that are holding your ideas back and can rapidly open up the window of possibility in your mind. It’s not that all the final ideas themselves need to be extreme solutions, but the way to get to the best ones may be.
Read MoreIn 1492, Italian explorer Christopher Columbus sailed west from Spain across the Atlantic Ocean to East Asia. From the books and maps available to him at the time he calculated where he thought Japan should be located to the west of Spain. Several weeks later he found land. He sighted Cuba, which he thought was mainland China, and in December the expedition landed on Hispaniola, which Columbus thought might be Japan. He called the land he discovered the Indies.
Read MoreHow often do you consider the opposite of what you want to know? If you’re like most people, the answer is likely to be not very often.
The 19th century German mathematician Carl Jacobi was known for his ability to solve difficult problems by following a strategy of ‘man muss immer umkehren’ which means, “Invert, always invert.” If you haven’t yet heard of Carl Jacobi, it's worth taking a moment to acquaint with his ideas since he is widely considered to be one of the most inspiring teachers of his time and one of the greatest mathematicians in history.
Read MoreHow often do you find yourself torn between options, caught in a dilemma or pulled by competing ideas? If so, it may be that you are in what Jim Collins and Jerry Porras call the ‘tyranny of the OR’, where you find yourself choosing between two apparently contradictory strategies. They contrast this to the ‘genius of the AND’ which is recognising that ways forward may come from a combination of ideas.
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