Learning Nugget 19 - Clouds or Clocks
In an age when all the simple, and even complex problems either have been or can easily be solved, how can you be of the greatest value to your clients ?
The challenges and thus opportunities they are presented with are either wicked or super wicked.
Weve established through this learning series, that we think for a living. That our ability to learn, unlearn and relearn, and think then behave differently, creatively is the real value we offer clients. helping them see what they cannot see.
Below is a short 90 sec video on Emergent Thinking. While just one of 5 identified creative thinking mental models Emergent offers the greatest ability to break with the biased based status quo limiting conventional thinking we apply to most challenges.
Instead of trying to consider challenges as clocks and use deductive reasoning, we must think of them as clouds and use emergent thinking.
So what are some simple things you can do to apply emergent thinking to your clients engagements?
Helping them see that many of their challenges and opportunities are indeed clouds not clocks is a great place to start
Bring a diverse thinking group to co-create ideas to solve the challenge or capitalise on the opportunity. Noting that everyone tends to operate with one pirmary thinking mode. So help your clients with diversity of thining, as your team would most likley offer different thinking styles to your clients
Challenges like business model change, operating model change, disruptive innovations, culture and behavioural change are all clouds. Bring the meaningful outside in via a dynamic performance ecosystem
While there are many types of thinking, such as critical thinking, design thinking, convergent thinking etc, Creative thinking is a critical skill for future success as we transition from the knowledge economy to the creative economy and into the empathy economy.
Which of the 5 creative thinking skills below are you most familiar with and most competent and confident at executing with clients ?
5 Types of Creative Thinking
For more reading on Emergent or other Creative thinking models use the folliwng links;
Short 2 min read on Tanner Christensen's views on 5 types of creative thinking;
More from Tanner, 5 simple tips of things you can do every day in your work environment to be more creative
Wonderful short 2 min visual on the difference between a creative leader and an authorative leader
