Thinking in New Boxes: A New Paradigm for Business Creativity

This book starts with the observation that our actions and decisions are conditioned by a thinking framework forged over time. This includes our assumptions about what is or is not important, our vision of the links between cause and effect, etc. This thinking framework enables us to filter the huge volumes of information that bombard us constantly, in order to retain only the most essential. The problem, underline the authors, is that these thinking patterns also shut us into a certain vision of the world, thus blinding us to ongoing shifts and necessary changes. To recover our ability to see situations from new angles, we would greatly benefit from becoming aware of these thinking frameworks and deliberately choosing to challenge them. Luc de Brabandere and Alan Iny explain how to identify these mental frameworks. They use many examples to underline the need for business leaders to cultivate the practice of reasonable doubt to learn to be more open to change. But then they must also learn how to generate new ideas and select the “right” one from the pile. These Boston Consulting Group experts invite readers to profit from their experience. They base their creativity process on five essential steps: doubt, exploration, divergence, convergence, reassessment. Each step is described in a well-supported and illustrated chapter. This is a book that will help the reader to design more innovative strategies for the future.