The human brain is designed to recognise. I described in detail how the brain does this in my book “Mechanism of the Mind”.The leading physicist in the world liked my book and commissioned a team of computer experts to simulate what I had described. They reported that the system worked exactly as claimed.
So if the brain is a recognition machine, this means that most of our thinking is judgemental. This has serious consequences - especially in international affairs and Leadership.
Watching the Masters golf over the weekend, and putting aside the Tiger Woods controversy, I was fascinated with the precision of the player’s shots. When going for the hole, they are hitting the ball the length of a football pitch or further, AND getting within inches of their target. This is a very visual demonstration of the application of skill.
So what is skill? One excellent definition is: “the learned ability to consistently bring about a pre-determined result”
Implanting this definition into the business world and thinking about Indigo’s range of training workshops, I want to focus you on the key words in this sentence:
LEARNED – Yes there is natural talent at play, but you acquire new skills by breaking down the sets of behaviours that make up that skill and learning how to apply it for yourself. Have you seen a great communicator or creative person at work and thought – how can I learn to be like that?
CONSISTENTLY – At the heart of consistency is practice. Without it, you will never be able to re-produce your best on a regular basis. When you have your moments of brilliance are you ever left asking – why can’t I do that all of the time?
PRE-DETERMINED – Luck… there is only one type when it comes to skill – Labour Under Correct Knowledge. When was the last time you got asked a question and wish you were better prepared to respond with more precision and persuasion?
Indigo’s workshops are extremely practical and based on years of combined Business Leader experience. They help you master the skills of:
Creativity – have ideas “on demand” that solve your personal and business problems and help you generate new opportunities.
Communication – deliver precise, powerful and persuasive business communication that gets your message heard.
Project delivery – get things outside your normal day job done. The successful delivery of projects gets you noticed and is often a fast-track to career success.
Call a member of the Indigo team now to hear how you can master these skills for career progression and recognition.
Leaders in the public and private sector are being driven to do more with less. On the surface this does not seem to be rational. Surely the best we can hope for is doing the same with less?
Since its introduction in Japan, lean production has been proven to work time and time again. Lean principles are extremely valuable, and can help you do the same with less. But a more modern take on this approach is to adopt creative thinking and lean thinking at the same time.
Dr de Bono’s Simplicity methods allow you to capitalise on cost saving, and also apply the Lateral Thinking™ techniques for serious, well planned and expertly delivered creative thinking.
It is important for all organisations to revisit their core purpose – the reason for their existence. Using Simplicity™, you can then focus on how you add-value, where you add-value and when you add-value to your customers.
During the training workshop, the 10 Rules For Simplicity are drilled home. My two favourite Rules For Simplicity are:
1. Know for whose benefit simplicity is being designed
Is the simpler process going to benefit the system or the operator of the system? How are all the different parties going to benefit from the simplicity? Simplicity for one party may mean complexity and cost for another.
2. Design simplicity using alternatives and possibilities.
By itself analysis can help toward simplicity but is not enough. Analysis can help shed unnecessary features but cannot, by itself, generate new designs. Alternatives and possibilities need to be generated with creativity – and can then be assessed.
New Delhi: Sell them to Playboy,” said the amiable 77-year-old guru of lateral thinking, Edward de Bono, after posing for pictures against a colourful backdrop at a Gurgaon hotel recently. The veteran creative thinker (and qualified physician), who believes that “thinking” must be taught as a subject in schools, was in India and spoke about his big idea for India in this interview.
You don’t need to look at many company websites before you realise that most organisations claim to be creative. Their bold mission statements are very clear - being ‘creative’ and ‘innovative’ is what sets them apart from their competitors.
But how seriously do they take creativity?
The majority of organisations don’t have creative departments, teams or systems. But they are not going to mention their efficient accounts department in their mission statement (accountancy firms excluded!). Creativity and innovation not only drives the value you deliver to your customers, but inspires them to buy from you in the first place.
Can you actively manage innovation at your organisation? Can you be more deliberate and systematic? Emphatically – ‘YES’.
Indigo apply Dr de Bono’s methods to help organisations:
• Focus their creative efforts in the right direction
• Come up with new, more interesting and inspiring ideas
• Select the best ideas and put them into action – innovate
Mission Possible. Call us to find out more…
James.
James Arnum-White
Senior Consultant
JamesAW@indigobusiness.co.uk
INDIGO – Training Your People; Liberating Your Potential
7-11 St. John’s Hill, London, SW11 1TR
+44 (0)20 7924 8760
+44 (0)20 7924 8761
+44 (0)7786 544 399
www.indigobusiness.co.uk
Complacent, adequate, sufficient all imply that something is not wrong or bad. Our normal language and thinking behaviour does not have a convenient way of saying: “That is excellent but not enough”. Or we might need to say “That is excellent but that is only part of the picture”.
When I talk about the need for better thinking people often assume that I am attacking existing thinking as being wrong. It is not wrong. It is only wrong when it assumes that it is sufficient. We need to add perceptual thinking, creative thinking, design thinking and exploratory thinking.
On a recent business trip to Humberside I travelled from London’s Kings Cross to Hull. A train journey I have happily completed on a number of occasions. Apart from this time: the carriages were sweltering for the entire 2 hours and 48 minute journey.
The train was busy, as usual. But there was something different and I am not just talking about the heat. No-one was chatting. Not even colleagues sitting opposite each other. The heat was stifling – a bad environment for communication.
This got me thinking about how organisational environment (culture) affects the application of creativity. So what turns up the ‘heat’ in an organisation and stifles creativity? From speaking with my clients, there are some common themes:
- “we don’t have the time or space to be creative”
- “there is a fire-fighting culture”
- “as individuals we cannot make a difference!”
These heat inducing cultural traits stop creativity in its tracks. Indigo specialises in creating environments for creative thinking to flourish: ice-cool, systematic innovation. The even better news is that taking a more creative approach will help you reduce procedural waste and make even more time for creativity. And ultimately business results.
Turn up the air-con and get your team thinking clearly and creatively.
Yesterday in Central London, 24 delegates at Indigo’s Simplicity™ workshop were finding out.
Dr Edward de Bono’s workshop follows the success of his globally-renowned Simplicity book, and helps people recognise the value and need for simplicity, teaching a range of innovative Lateral Thinking™ techniques to design new, more simple systems of doing things, into today’s ever complex world.
Words such as ‘lean thinking’, ‘reduction / cuttting’ and ‘re-design’ were hot topics at yesterday’s workshop.
To find out how taking the ‘simple’ approach can benefit you, your team or your company, call Indigo’s client team for further information.
Clients are telling us that Return On Investment (ROI) is the primary consideration when making any strategic decision. And rightly so in these turbulent times. Whether in the private, public or charitable sector competition is fierce. Each pound spent needs to deliver for the organisation and its customers.
The importance is magnified when looking at training your team. Indigo’s workshops are very practical, meaning measurable, tangible results that you can see. Here are just a few examples:
• Shorter meetings (by up to 75%).
• New ideas that reduce costs and increase value.
• Clearer written documents that are quicker to write and read.
Put simply, Indigo’s workshops create ROEye, so you can clearly see your ROI. Find out more by setting up a meeting with one of our experienced organisational consultants.
Many years ago at University, one of the most memorable lectures I attended was “failing to plan is planning to fail”.It has stuck with me and proven an extremely valuable ethos when approaching any kind of work.Overlay this with “two heads are better than one” and you find the birthplace of the ever-present in business: MEETINGS.
One of the major complaints that come from organisational executives is the overwhelming number of meetings that they have to attend – “stopping them from doing their real jobs”.But are meetings the perfect vehicle for procrastination?Do managers secretly enjoy attending meetings?And like it even more when they get the opportunity to complain about it?A very British trait.
OK, so this is a sceptical viewpoint, but we can all agree that if meetings are more effective then so is the organisation.
Let us know your opinion on our meeting theory.Procrastination or undesirable complication?
de Bono’s Six Thinking Hats® is a meeting management tool that can half meeting times and double their effectiveness.Interested?Call Indigo Consultant, James Arnum-White, on 020 7924 8760.
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