Thinking Skills for Innovators

Building thinking skills allows for more capacity for innovation. These skills are broad, and each deserves several books themselves. Would-be innovators should focus on developing some of these.

Creative thinking. This one is obvious. One has to think outside of the box. One has to engage in lateral thinking. That is, as one’s mind wanders down railroad tracks, it needs to be derailed and set off in different directions. The mind needs to take a different perspective. Many “creativity” exercises are designed to take us off our current tracks and down some unique ones. A cook tries a different combination of spices. A parent puts together a surprising series of challenges for a birthday party. The author of the Aragon series of teen books takes his readers into an exciting new world. Disneyworld and Disneyland transport us to a creative fantasy with unexpected twists and turns.

Creative thinking is a complex topic. According to the Creative Problem Solving Institute, creativity encompasses six key characteristics:

•    Fluency: the ability to generate many ideas quickly

•    Flexibility: the ability to respond in a variety of ways to a variety of situations

•    Originality: the ability to develop new and unique ideas

•    Elaboration: the ability to build upon an existing idea

•    Sensitivity: the ability to formulate the right problem

•    Freedom: the ability to release oneself from internal biases

If you develop all of these abilities, you will be a very powerful person. Of course, many of these characteristics are ideals—good luck, for instance, freeing yourself from internal biases. That is a lifelong spiritual goal for some.

Creative people develop one of more of the abilities I outlined. For instance, I know a man who listed 120 uses of a brick in 10 minutes. Now that’s fluency. Barnes and Noble’s Bookstore has taken the old “we just sell books” and elaborated on it: music, gifts, high-end chocolate, coffee, comfortable chairs, French Club meeting place, author’s reading, child-friendly reading area, and so on. This is clearly not your grandfather’s bookstore.

Systems Thinking

“The world we have made as a result of the level of thinking we have done thus far creates problems that we cannot solve at the same level (of consciousness) at which we have created them.… We shall require a substantially new manner of thinking if humankind is to survive.” Albert Einstein

As Peter Senge describes in The Fifth Discipline, systems thinking is wide-angle vision rather than telephoto vision. It looks at the big picture and all of the interconnections rather than a narrow sliver of reality. Systems thinking is a way of looking at the world where relationships, patterns and interrelationships become primary. Several principles of system thinking are important for innovators.

Law of Unintended Consequences. Quick fix solutions for problem symptoms often lead into other problems. The best way out of a hangover is another beer, but that will lead back into the original problem. The unintentional consequences of overindulgence in greasy fast food can be gall bladder failure. An unintentional consequence of texting has been traffic accidents. The spraying of DDT for pest control almost annihilated the majestic bald eagle in the United States.

What are the unintended consequences of your innovation? Will it create problems elsewhere? Will it have deleterious effects on other parts of your product line and cannibalize other sales? We cannot always predict the unintentional consequences of innovations, yet we can look ahead and try to map them out. This discipline could help us foresee future impediments.

Lag Variables. One systems truth says that “cause and effect are not related in time or space.” Cause and effect are punctuated by time and space lags. Advertise now and maybe get sales results in six months. Investment into research and development might not pay off for years. A nuclear accident like Chernobyl killed reindeer thousands of miles away and created birth defects in children years later. My craving for sweets will create dental problems for me many years up the road. Policies made in Washington today will have implications for people in rural Afghanistan for years to come.

Innovators need to experiment with time. They must have patience, because their innovations may not be readily accepted. Many artists and inventors were unknown during their own times; only time and history bore out what they were trying to accomplish. Innovators in art and science, but also business, are often way ahead of their time. The world often needs time to catch up.

Innovators can learn from previous innovators about the spread or acceptance of an idea or new product. Often, that data is available. But more important, the innovator needs the mindset that the world does not always work in a linear cause-and-effect fashion. Instead, the effect to a cause might come years later or in an unexpected place. Thus, innovators must embrace mystery: we may never know how things will turn out.

Event/Pattern/Structure. Many go through life with an “event” orientation. Here an isolated event, there an isolated event. Innovators must look past the superficiality of events to the pattern beneath events and to the structure creating patterns. Isolated events in my life were a broken finger, a pulled muscle, and a black eye during consecutive soccer games. I looked at them as just events. Yet, the pattern was that these injuries happened every Sunday, as I played goalie. What was the underlying structure creating this pattern? I was a 47-year-old playing in a 22-year-old league; injury was a high likelihood.

Similarly, I had a boss whose wife would call in sick for him on Monday mornings. The pattern was that this event would occur mostly on Mondays. The structure? He would drink too much on weekends and would not have recovered by Monday.

Innovation opportunities can be found when looking at patterns and structures. Decades ago, General Motors noticed a pattern that farmers were tearing the backseats out of their cars in order to carry big things. An innovator thought: let’s build a pick-up. Some plastic manufacturers noticed a pattern that toddlers spill their milk. How about a cup with a top? The sippy cup was born.

Problems or Problem-Symptoms. Products and services on the market often solve symptoms rather than problems. Headaches, for example, are often symptoms of neck or shoulder stress. Aspirin helps the short-term pain, but what will treat the real problem that causes headaches? Many research dollars on health care over the past 50 years have been funneled into curing cancer. But some innovators are looking hard at social psychology principles in order to influence lifestyle changes that will prevent cancer.

Innovators look at major problems and see symptoms being treated. Addressing the real problems can reap large profits and help numerous people. It requires the brain of a detective and an inquiring mind. The first step, again, is a change of mindset. What is the problem and what is the problem-symptom?

Seeing the Connections. Systems-thinking is about seeing connections and interrelationships. Can there be a connection between coffee shops and bookstores? Is there a connection between driving an SUV and icebergs melting? How about a Romanian orphanage and a childless family in Chicago? I can guarantee there are connections between some of my great grandfather’s attitudes toward woman and my own, unfortunately.

According to Thomas Friedman, the world is flat. The flattened world makes for more possible connections and interrelationships. As Friedman writes, the components for your Dell Computer originate in 13 different countries. Seeing connections before others can yield large results and profits, and many multinational companies see just that.

Emotional Intelligence

Psychologist Daniel Goleman’s research suggests that that 85% of a person’s success in life is due to their emotional intelligence. Innovators are not immune from this research. Innovators need to work through other people to make their innovations marketable or usable. They also need to understand themselves better: their own moods, their own work cycles, and their own trigger points. Emotional intelligence encompasses many traits. Let’s examine several important ones.

Self-Understanding. The platform upon which much of emotional intelligence rests is self-awareness, or self-understanding. Here’s one question that I ask all of my clients: “How are you showing up in the world?” Sounds like an easy question, right? Not really. Many people do not know how they are showing up in the world. People come across as depressed, angry, sullen, aloof, and agitated, but often do not know it. I have had a colleague who was constantly angry, and others just did not want to be around him. I know another who is constantly sullen and unhappy, and people try to avoid her. These moods can be off-putting to others.

To innovators who have to sell their ideas to others, how they show up may well be the margin between success and failure. At the very least, an innovator needs to show up as self-confident, rather than tentative, doubting or just plain aloof.

The road to self-awareness can be tough, but is usually very rewarding. Obtaining feedback from trusted others is one method. “How did I show up in that meeting? Was I too aggressive?” Participating in twelve-step groups and therapy groups is another way to raise one’s self-awareness. Watching one’s moods and triggers, taking deep breaths, and taking moments of reflection can also reveal patterns of emotional states.

Many inventors and innovators are known for low emotional intelligence. Stories abound about innovative company presidents having temper tantrums and berating employees. Books about inventors create a myth that innovators folks are antisocial eccentrics who expect others to walk around on eggshells around them. Some brilliant innovators who make or save millions may get away with this type of behavior, but most of us mortals cannot. The world will walk away from difficult people.

Trigger Points. Most humans acquired pain in childhood, and those pools of pain remain with us, sometimes throughout our lives. Other people’s words and actions can trigger them. For instance, receiving a parking ticket might trigger “how can I waste money like that? I am bad.” I have a pool of pain around “no matter what I do, it is not enough.” So, when I make an elaborate meal and a child says “can I have a bagel, dad?”, that pool of pain is activated. A friend of mine, who never had children, could never sit behind small children at church without evoking her “no children” pool of sadness.

Trigger points can send us into sadness, depression, anger, or shame, or conversely, into joy, comfort or happiness. (When I hear the Grateful Dead, I fondly reminisce about trucking around in Montana as a teen.) An innovator needs to be self-aware enough to know when he or she is falling into a non-productive stage, and be able to reverse it. If certain people trigger thoughts or emotions that reduce productivity by taking one into a depression or sadness, then those situations must be avoided. It behooves innovators to know their trigger points.

Assumed Constraint. A circus elephant is put on a ten-foot chain on a stake for the first year of its life. After that, the chain is exchanged for twine. The elephant will still not go more than ten feet from the stake. The elephant is limited by an assumed constraint, believing that the chain is still holding it in place.

People are not much different—we assume constraints that may not be entirely accurate, such as:

•    I cannot garner enough resources to get this product on the market.

•    Management will never support launching this new product.

•    I am not smart enough to write a book.

•    I am not experienced enough to make a contribution in that industry.

•    There is not enough time to innovate effectively.

These constraints have been shattered by a variety of people and organizations. Innovators are the ones shattering these constraints.

Resilience. One of the key traits of an emotionally intelligent person is resilience. The human condition is one of failure and adversity. It is not about getting knocked down; it is about how fast you are able to get back up. What do these numbers mean: 6, 7, 22, 47, 128, 903, 1,330? Give up?

•    6 = number of times Walt Disney went bankrupt before he made it.

•    7 = number of times George Macy went out of business before he was successful.

•    22 = number of publishers who rejected Dr. Seuss’s first book.

•    47 = number of times the Wright brothers did not get off the ground.

•    128 = number of short stories Ernest Hemingway wrote before one was published.

•    903 = number of light bulbs designed by Edison’s team that did not work.

•    1,330 = number of times that Babe Ruth struck out in his career.

Inventors and innovators have to be resilient, because first efforts rarely succeed, nor do second efforts. So, do you fold up after a failure, or do you get up and move on? In some ways, this might be the most important emotional intelligence trait for an innovator.

Like all of the emotional intelligence skills, resilience IS a thinking skill. While some people separate thinking and emotions into separate realms, they are intertwined and often one and the same. Our thoughts determine our level of resilience. What we tell ourselves about adversities and failures determine our future actions. If we fail a math test and tell ourselves that we are bad in math, that experience will probably set our destiny in the world of numbers.

Self-Motivation. Individuals who are unmotivated are not are not likely to be innovators. Because innovation requires change and shaking up the apple cart, people with a status quo orientation are not typically innovators. Innovators tend to be self-starting and self-motivated. They also must embrace delayed gratification. The fruits of their labors do not come readily; usually a time lag occurs. Many, if not most, innovations require patience and many renditions (e.g., Edison and light bulbs). Remember that Earl Bakken worked out of his garage for seven years before seeing some of the fruits of his labors.

Beyond delayed gratification, innovators need to be optimists. Optimists see setbacks as little bumps; pessimists see obstacles as permanent or long term. Innovators are optimists in that they need to believe in their own talents and in their abilities to have an impact on the world. They wake up with the self-motivation that they can succeed in a world that will allow for successful innovation.

Relationship Management. The myth of the Lone Ranger innovator does not work in our complex world. Yes, a crotchety, annoying inventor or innovator might be able to be successful, but only if she or he has someone to run interference and navigate relationships for him or her. After an idea is hatched, product designers, accountants, manufacturing engineers, marketers, and salespeople have to push it into the marketplace. These people need to be sold, nurtured, brought along, communicated with, and kept in the loop. The innovator needs to consciously build relationships with these individuals. They are as much of success factors as the “great idea.” Some innovators, like Picasso, could work almost in a vacuum. But many musicians and other artists employ handlers who take care of relationship management for them. Most innovators need to work within the bounds of organizations, with all of their constraints, departments and personalities. Innovators need to play nice in the sandbox in order to be effective.

Critical Thinking

Critical thinking is having a critical eye for information and knowledge, and knowing how to use those precious commodities, not about being critical of others. “What do we know and what do we not know?” is a central question for critical thinkers. What are the gaps in our knowledge? Critical thinking entrepreneurs are always looking for gaps—gaps in product offerings, gaps in service needs, and gaps in information available. “There might be a market there” is not good enough for putting years and millions of dollars into a product. A corollary of this principle is differentiating between observation and inference. How are our minds filling in the gaps of what we do not directly observe? For instance, there was not an observation that millions of people would frequent coffee shops with high-quality coffee. But the founder of Starbucks thought that there might be one. And he was right.

Although one might consider critical thinking to be something we do as freshmen in college, I find it sadly lacking at all ages. Individuals fall into a variety of thinking traps, many which are conditioned at childhood. The first step in improving one’s critical thinking is to recognize our flaws, our gaps, our dysfunctional thinking. Then, we can consciously observe when our thinking goes awry and we fall into non-optimal patterns of thinking. We can only correct ourselves when we are self-conscious. This process requires feedback from others.

Most importantly, innovators need to engage constantly in evaluative thinking. Innovators need to take a critical look at their innovations on a continuing basis. The innovator who developed the concept of combining a bowling alley and a movie theatre was not critically assessing the function of sound in each. The founders of a nationwide donut chain were not critically assessing the forces against obesity. Does this work? Is this really marketable? Can manufacturing really build these rapidly? If not, innovators will waste much valuable time.