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We live in a time of discontinuous change. We have to do things very differently. Breakthrough thinkers need to be on a personal journey of transformation so that they can see every criticism and every roadblock as an opportunity to grow and learn.
Step one, we have to be ready for whatever comes - that is - be psychologically, socially and strategically ready. Then we need to have the courage to be creative enough to imagine the future (based on research, data, experience and creative juices). When we have the psychological strength and imagination to envisage a different future, we become capable of breakthrough thinking.
Creativity research tells us that if we start from point A and move incrementally towards point B we simply end up with a high-performance A. Breakthrough thinking involves imagining a point C and working backwards. This is what transformational leaders, people like Henry Ford, Walt Disney, Gandhi and Marconi did. They had a breakthrough vision – something people at the time thought of as madness. They lived in the vision and worked backwards.
Psychologically, once we know that something is possible, the immovable obstacles between us and the vision aren't so hard to shift. However, when we start from point A, even small obstacles can stop us because we don't know where we are headed and probably don't believe it is possible anyway. So having the courage to envisage a breakthrough future is step one.
Step two is having the strength of character to work through the criticism, the undermining and the resistance of those who don't share the vision. These people are usually part of the 80% who have not yet developed the capacity for independent adult thought and are extremely fearful of anything new. Breakthrough thinkers need to be on a personal journey of transformation so that they can see every criticism and every roadblock as an opportunity to grow and learn.
Step three is building the relationships needed to bring the vision into reality. Outside help may be needed, credible and skilled experts who can help your stakeholders see that you are brilliant, not mad. You may need people who can inspire your stakeholders to go on their own journey of transformation so they too become breakthrough thinkers and stop thinking of reasons why you will fail, and instead start thinking of ways to break through even further. When you and your stakeholders are on a journey of transformation, breakthrough thinking and ongoing success will become the norm for you and your organisation.
Isn't breakthrough thinking and transformation risky? Sure it is but not as risky as staying the same. Ray Kurzweil, a leading scientist, tells us that all the progress made in the entire 20th century is equivalent to 20 years progress today. With exponential change being the norm in industries such as medicine, IT, communication, nanotechnology and genetic engineering we can expect 21st century change to be 1000 times faster than it was last century. Just keeping up will take breakthrough thinking. |
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1.Think of the last time when you tackled a strategic problem in your organisation that arose suddenly and unexpectedly.
- How did you go about defining the problem?
- How long did you take in coming up with your preferred outcome?
- What process did you go through to do this?
- How did you feel when you were engaged in the issue?
- What does this suggest to you about how you operate?
2. Imagine someone at work is criticising an idea of your
- Who did you imagine? Was this surprising?
- What reaction did you have to your imagining? What did you feel in your body when you imagined it (eg tension in your shoulders, a queasy feeling in your stomach, hot)?
- What do you normally do when you receive criticism? How do you behave (eg crossed arms, frown, look away)?
- What has been the impact of your behaviour on the support you receive from others?
3. How do you go about marshalling the support that you need?
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