Blue Sky Thinking for Fun and Profit
In 1989, Gary Kasparov, the Soviet Union Grand Chess Master, played a two game match against "Deep Blue," the reigning supercomputer of the time. Kasparov won easily.
When asked by the media what his competitive advantage was, he cited two things: intuition and the ability to fantasize.
(And this from a master strategist!)
Few of us, in the workplace, are ever encouraged to fantasize -- a behavior most commonly associated with children, slackers, and flakes.
And yet, fantasizing is exactly how many breakthrough ideas get their start -- the act of some off-the-grid maverick entertaining the seemingly impossible...
HERE'S A SIMPLE WAY TO FIND SOME BLUE SKY
1. Make a wish for the successful resolution of your challenge (i.e. "I wish I had more time").
2. Extend your wish by making a wild wish (i.e. "I wish I didn"t have to work my regular job").
3. Extend your wild wish further by thinking of a fantasy solution -- a seemingly impossible way to get a result (i.e. "a fairy godmother shows up at midnight to do my work").
4. Distill your fantasy solution down to a core principle (i.e. "I get more help" or "I outsource my responsibilities").
5. Using this principle as a clue, brainstorm new ideas for the successful resolution of your challenge.
Photo
Excerpted from Awake at the Wheel
Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at May 26, 2009 11:43 PM
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