The Idea Accelerator book

introduction
Everywhere I go I hear the same lament—if only I had more
time. Time, not money, has become our most precious
resource. Not only is there less time in the day but there is
always more to do. And the pace of life seems to be increasing.
That weekend away at the beach always seems to beckon but
we never quite make it.
The premise of this book is that limited time is the new
reality for most people. It is the rule rather than the exception.
It is not a question of working harder—most people are
already stretched to the limit. Nor is it enough to be a better
time manager. We need a new approach and that is what this
book is all about.
Our new priority should be to improve the productivity of
our thinking—to generate greater results in a shorter period
of time. Until now, we have concentrated on improving the
return on physical assets (e.g. machinery). Increasingly, the
work of the future will be conceptual rather than physical.
We all must improve our thinking muscle. Immediate results
require faster, better thinking.
In a broadband-paced world the speed with which we process
information, create new solutions and make decisions has to
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the idea Accelerator
accelerate. To adapt to this new reality requires an entirely
new style that I have called Speed Thinking. This type of
thinking, however, does not negate the importance of the
more conscious, deliberate, and reflective approach. Rather,
it complements it, much like Speed Chess resembles the
original but has its own distinct rules and flavour.
Fortunately we are very good at what Malcolm Gladwell
(among others) calls rapid cognition.1 He calls it the ‘universal
ability of our unconscious to find patterns in situations and
behaviour based on very narrow slices of experiences’. As it
turns out we are also very adept at using our intuition to
make fast decisions under extreme pressure.2 So the idea of
Speed Thinking has been around for a while, but what we
have lacked is a tool kit to help us improve upon this ability.
That is what this book aims to give you.
In my workshops I have found that accelerated thinking allows
you to access, almost at will, your amazing, creative mental
ability. Timothy D. Wilson calls this our Adaptive Unconscious,
which plays a major executive role in gathering information,
interpreting and evaluating it. It also sets goals in motion
quickly and efficiently.3
I stumbled upon this universal ability almost by accident. To
create some urgency and drama in my creative workshops
I kept reducing the amount of time I gave participants to
solve a problem.
But a strange thing happened: the less time I gave people,
the more ideas they produced and, as importantly, the
originality of the ideas became more pronounced. In turn,
participants were amazed at what they could produce in such
a small period of time.
introduction
ix
Bypassing your two judges
In reflecting on why people can become more creative in a
shorter period of time I came to the conclusion that it is
because we all have what I call two judges—one internal,
the other external. It is these judges that suppress our natural
creative instincts.
The internal judge is our own (often) critical voice that warns
us our ideas may not be very good and that we are not creative.
This idea is reflected in the work of W. Timothy Gallwey,
who postulated that in sport and life we maintain a constant
dialogue between what he calls Self 1 (the commentator) and
Self 2 (the doer).4 Self 1 not only gives instructions to Self 2
but criticises past errors, warns of possible future ones and
harangues whenever there is a mistake. I found this also
resonated with my experience. We are often the greatest critic
of our own ideas. Paradoxically, if we are only given a limited
amount of time we are forced to ignore our Self 1 and just
get our big, beautiful ideas out.
The other judge is the external one. It relates to our friends,
peers, colleagues and bosses. We are often so worried by
what they might say or how critical they can be that we
suppress our unconscious imagination and intuition. This
often leads to safe, incremental ideas and solutions. Sports
people, for example, know that worrying how others might
judge their performance can create a negative spiral. As the
Yankees’ third baseman and baseball’s highest paid player,
Alex Rodriguez responded when trying to explain his amazing
form: ‘I’m just trying to have as much fun as I can and really
not care about what people are thinking or saying.’5 With
the Speed Thinking approach you literally have no time to
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the idea Accelerator
worry about what anyone else thinks. You are too busy
creating.
The benefits of Speed Thinking
In the many workshops I have run using the tools in this
book participants have mentioned the benefits listed below.
Their usual response after a period of intense creativity is
‘Where did that come from?’
People are more focused
When people are given only a short time to develop a new
range of ideas they become incredibly focused. There is a
short burst of creative energy, and people become absorbed
in the here and now, which can often lead to a circuitbreaking
solution.
The approach leads to greater action
Paradoxically, giving people too much time to think can lead
to paralysis by analysis. Providing a short window of time
sometimes short-circuits this and creates more energy and
action.
The big elephants are tackled
This is a surprising result. I have observed that giving people
less time to tackle an issue means they have to address the
large issues rather than dwell on the periphery. This means
that meetings are often more productive and effective in half
the time.
The number of ideas is increased
The Speed Thinking approach emphasises working from the
individual up to the group. This means, for example, that if
introduction
xi
ten people can create nine ideas each in 120 seconds then
you have 90 ideas in the time taken to eat a chocolate bar.
It can have a positive effect on your mood
Recent research by Emily Pronin and Daniel Wegner suggests
that the very process of thinking faster almost regardless of
the content could improve the way you feel.6
Speed Thinking can be used by an individual or a group
The Speed Thinking tool kit can be used with great effect
by individuals, people working together and/or in a group.
The learning experience is profound
Just like the One Minute Manager technique, people can
undergo an important learning experience because the tools
are so practical and the effect is immediate.7
The structure of Speed Thinking
This book outlines 60 Speed Thinking tools. There are six
chapters with ten tools in each chapter. Each tool is described
on one page and on the opposite page is an application or
example of the tool. There are chapters on how you can use
the tools when working alone, when working with a partner
or group and how to enhance, evaluate and action ideas
working at speed. The Conclusion then addresses some of the
most commonly asked questions about this type of
thinking.
The Speed Thinking tools can be learned by anyone, at any
level, regardless of their role or industry. You do not need a
university education to use this book. The tools are practical
and have been tested over a number of years. I have found,
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the idea Accelerator
for example, that the optimum time to solve a problem using
this approach is 120 seconds with an ideal target of nine
responses. You may not reach this initially but with practice
and by using the tools in this book you can reach this goal.
Who this book is written for
This book will be of tremendous value to leaders, managers,
small business owners, consultants, coaches and university
students. Most of the examples are more business oriented
but the tools can be used for any application.
ACCELERATOR
‘Speed will help you bypass your
Censor.’
Mark Bryan, Julia Cameron and Catherine Allen,
The Artist’s Way at Work
Tool 1 The 120-second challenge 4
Tool 2 The two-hourly re-challenge 6
Tool 3 Breathe in—breathe out 8
Tool 4 The Richard Branson boost 10
Tool 5 A letter a day 12
Tool 6 The 60-second challenge 14
Tool 7 The five senses 16
Tool 8 ‘Thank you’ 18
Tool 9 Rapid drawing 20
Tool 10 Express emotions 22
Ten Speed Thinking
Tools you can use
with dramatic results
Ten Speed Thinking Tools ...
4
1
The 120-second challenge
Whatever problem you are working on, try to crystallise
it into one sentence or at most a paragraph.
Say the problem out loud to yourself. Then say ‘start’ or
‘go’ and give yourself 120 seconds to come up with as
many different solutions or new ideas as you can. You
should aim for at least nine. Just use a key word or an
image to capture the idea.
The emphasis is on producing as many different solutions
to the problem as you can. You will fi nd you will not
have time to evaluate if you want to get nine ideas down
on paper.
The simple process of concentrating on increasing the
number of ideas will decrease your rational, judging mind
and enable you to access your intuition and imagination.
An extension of this tool is to think of nine radical ideas
in 120 seconds. Do not be safe or incremental in your
responses.
you can use with dramatic results
5
Application
The challenge: How can I ensure I arrive on time to all my
appointments?
As quickly as you can in the next 120 seconds try to write
down at least nine ways of meeting the above challenge—below
is an example.
Now select and test the best ones.
􀀑 􀀒 􀀓
􀀔 􀀕 􀀖
􀀗 􀀘 􀀙
Put watch
forward
Leave earlier
Only schedule
morning
meetings
Use a stop
watch
Have a watch
on each hand
Keep a clock in
every room
Send warnings
to myself
Have friends
warn me
Change other
people’s
watches
Ten Speed Thinking Tools ...
6
The two-hourly re-challenge
The aim with this tool is to concentrate on one problem
for the entire day.
Clarify the problem at the start of the day and take up
the 120-second challenge, aiming to develop at least
nine responses. Be sure to record the results.
Then move on to your other work. In two hours return
to the original problem.
Allow yourself another 120 seconds to develop a new
set of solutions.
There is only one rule: you must not repeat an idea.
This cycle should be repeated every two hours until
you have at least 40 different ideas.
Then select the best ideas and try to test these quickly,
easily and simply.
2
you can use with dramatic results
7
Application
Focus on one problem for the entire day. Develop fi ve possible
solutions every two hours. At the end of the day select the
most original response and test it.
The problem:
Date:
First two hours
1
2
3
4
5
Second two hours
1
2
3
4
5
Thir