Give time to creative thinking

Paul Olley said:\r\n\r\n“I made an international reputation by thinking twice each week,”\r\n\r\nHe outlined the components of successful generative (creative) thinking as these\r\n

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  1. Time – give time to think
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  3. Think – once or twice a week or month – not once a year
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  5. Space – find space to think: go to a hotel for 2 hours each week
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  7. Relax – it helps
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  9. Topic – don’t pick a low grade or minor issue. Pick a big one. “if we had to do ‘X’ how would we do it?”
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  11. Be focused – but not on anything. Be focused on opportunities and solutions. The object is not just to think but to decide
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  13. Tools – find tools that work for you , well known ones perhaps, such as from Tony Buzan or Edward de Bono.
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  15. Strategrams – draw strategic diagrams to summarise your thinking
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  17. Intuition – use intuition rather than hard data
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\r\nPS if you didn’t link to the Edward de Bono video above … do it here! Edward de Bono

Parables of Leadership: Visionary Jane

Jane was all about ideas. The team around her marvelled at how many ideas she could have between one week’s meeting and the next. “I want what she’s having!” Jane was always out in front of the team – in vision, in effort, in energy, in inspiration (after all, a rolling stone gathers no moss). The team admired Jane. They only talked behind her back because she was so far ahead of them that she couldn’t hear them.