The Little Blue Reasoning Book - Brandon Royal [10]
Consider that you are an analyst working at a leading market research firm. Your objective is to write a report on the market economics for product A. You have a strong idea that the market for product A is becoming more price-sensitive, and that the greater variations in price observed in the market are due to widening differences in product quality and branding (or perceptions of that product’s quality or brand strength). You need to confirm your suspicion, and you’re off to an interview with the marketing director of a major company who is responsible for marketing product A. But wait! If you and other analysts hold a similar view then you risk simply confirming something you already believe. Play the devil’s advocate. Go into the meeting and ask questions designed to “disconfirm” what you think is true. You might ask, “So, is it true that the market for product A is becoming less price-sensitive?” The responses elicited may be essential to gaining a more complete understanding of the situation.
IDEA KILLERS AND IDEA GROWERS
Tip #6: Not challenging the obvious, evaluating ideas too quickly, and fear of looking the fool — these are the three greatest creativity inhibitors.
Not challenging the obvious
Creativity may suffer whenever we as individuals accept the status quo. We have to challenge the obvious. “Does one plus one really equal two”? It could indeed equal two. But it might equal eleven, as in “1 + 1 = 11.” Or it could equate to “T,” the result of placing one bar on top of the other.
Management consultants are constantly faced with the need to challenge the obvious. For instance, a client calls the consultant in and says, “Profitability is down because product costs are too high. Can you help me find a way to reduce them?” The consultant will instinctively challenge the obvious, asking whether it is the case that costs are too high. Perhaps it is another factor in the profitability mix (i.e., price or volume) that is really to blame.
Evaluating ideas too quickly
One way of confronting this barrier is to look at your hands. Think of your right hand as representing “idea production” and your right hand as representing “idea evaluation.” Often an idea produced is immediately evaluated and possibly killed, e.g. by the phrase, “That won’t work.” Success in creative thinking demands that the two hands should be separated, and that the left hand (idea evaluator) should be put to one side for the moment.
All ideas are acceptable in a creative situation, regardless of the quality. They may be good, bad, useful, useless, legal, illegal — it doesn’t matter. Subsequently, the evaluation hand is brought back, and at that stage, a strange thing happens. Some of the ideas which originally would have been dismissed are looked at afresh, possibly with the comment: “Wait a minute, there may be something in that idea after all.”
Fear of looking the fool
Failing to challenge the obvious and evaluating ideas too quickly may well be the by-products of being afraid to look like a fool. We learn to fear ridicule from an early age, and it follows us into later life. Many excellent examples are found in the world of management. In a hierarchical organization, junior team members are less likely to put forth wild, wacky ideas for fear that more senior team members will see them as silly. The junior does not want to destroy his or her chances of promotion, and therefore sticks to well-tried, analytical routines. At the other end of the scale, the most senior manager seeks to protect his image — one that been built up over many years. That senior manager doesn’t want to confirm to his or her underlings that he or she is a silly old fool. As a consequence, he or she does not propose any wild ideas either.
In short, we must fight apathy, hastiness, and insecurity. History abounds with instances of people who haven’t been proactive enough in evaluating new ideas or who have been overly dismissive of new inventions or artistic