When faced with unappealing ’either/or’ choices, use a four-step process: 1) Push both models to their extremes and analyze how each works for all stakeholders. 2) Identify the most loved features from both. 3) Recombine these features using ‘integrative moves’ to create a new solution. 4) Experiment with the new solution to test its effectiveness.
Instead of evaluating if your idea is better or worse than someone else’s, ask ‘What do they see that I don’t see?’ and ‘Is there a way I could integrate some of what they see into what I see to come up with a better idea?’ This fosters better ideas and prevents dismissing differing perspectives as ‘stupid or evil’.
For strategic thinking and understanding others’ actions, ask ‘What would have to be true?’ for a particular idea or behavior to be great or logical. This shifts focus from current reality to exploring underlying logic and possibilities, leading to deeper insights and better solutions.
Give yourself ample time to explore and roll ideas around, resisting the urge for premature closure. This allows for absorbing greater variety and logical pieces, leading to more creative and powerful solutions rather than rushing to a suboptimal choice.
Build and maintain margins of safety, buffers, and slack within your organization or personal life, even if it seems inefficient in the short term. This positions you for multiple possible futures, allowing you to pivot easily when the world changes unexpectedly and ensuring long-term resilience.
Actively choose the story you tell yourself about a situation to manage fear and enable bold action. Frame risks by focusing on whether you are doing the right thing and the actual impact of the worst-case scenario, rather than succumbing to fear of embarrassment or failure.
In education and mentorship, focus on teaching how to think rather than simply pouring in knowledge. Emulate the mother who responded to questions with questions, empowering individuals to think their way out of problems and develop self-reliance.
Avoid siloed thinking that decomposes problems into narrow domains (e.g., finance, marketing). Instead, approach challenges as ‘business problems’ that span across domains, recognizing that everything is connected to everything else for a more effective and comprehensive solution.
Apply scientific reasoning (data analysis, cause-effect) to predictable parts of the world where things ‘cannot be other than they are.’ For shaping the future and creating new possibilities, use imaginative reasoning to envision desired effects and make them come true, rather than relying solely on past data.
As a leader, react to disconfirming information from subordinates by saying ‘Hmm, say more.’ This encourages diverse thinking, prevents shutting down ideas, and provides more ‘raw materials’ for better solutions, fostering an open and innovative environment.
Formulate clear hypotheses about how things will play out (e.g., ‘if this happens, we’re screwed’ or ‘we’ll be in the kingpin’s seat’). This deterministic view provides the confidence needed to make bold decisions and commit assets irrevocably, rather than merely reacting to events.
In decision-making, especially under pressure, choose actions that are genuinely right for the long-term success and well-being, rather than merely choosing what is easily defendable or safe from criticism. Fear of failure often leads to choosing defendable options over correct ones.
When facing a decision, actively imagine and generate a wide variety of possibilities, not stopping until you have a truly diverse set. If you only have two unappealing options, recognize a lack of ‘raw materials’ and actively seek more diverse inputs from others.
When deliberating, make a provisional decision in your mind (‘This is what I would do if I had to choose now’) without communicating it. Then, observe the world through the lens of having made that choice, allowing you to ‘create data’ and gather feedback on its potential implications.
Recognize that constantly keeping all options open and merely reacting to evolving situations is a failure mode for strategic leadership. Instead, make definitive choices and commit to a direction to achieve meaningful outcomes.
To achieve unique and superior results, intentionally deviate from what everyone else is doing. This ‘advantageous divergence’ requires not only being different but also being correct in your chosen path, leading to unique success.
Understand that new ideas cannot be analytically proven in advance and that most innovation involves high failure rates. Avoid internal processes that demand proof before action, and instead tolerate ‘delusional’ optimism that drives experimentation and breakthrough successes.
When creating roles (e.g., board members), consider what would genuinely motivate and attract a person with the necessary psychographic traits and capabilities to fill that specific chair effectively, rather than just listing formal qualifications. This ensures better alignment and performance.
If a decision is not urgent, delay making it until the last possible moment. This allows you to gather more input, gain deeper insight into the problem, and observe how the environment changes, leading to a more informed and adaptive choice.
As a leader, genuinely love and appreciate other people, viewing them as sources of insight and potential, rather than annoying threats to your prevailing views. This fosters better relationships, a more open environment for learning, and ultimately, more effective leadership.