Thinking is Different for Everyone

Do we all think in the same way? The short answer is no.

We use the terms brainstorming and Creative Thinking as though everyone who is in the room is on the same page and has the same thought process.

But having studied and worked with thinking and the various groups of people for many years, it is obvious that there are many different ways that people initiate thought. Sure, we may all get to the same or a similar destination, but the origin and processes are different. The lack of understanding of this often leads to frustration for those who may think differently from the facilitator of a think session, and then just withdraw and not contribute to the process.

So, what are some common thinking starting blocks?

When a new concept is tabled to a group of people in a room. Let’s use the example of a team in accounting who has been told that a new software package has been purchased and will be implemented into he company over the next 6 months.

There will be two groups of people in the room: those who engage with this and those who don’t. Those who do will have two responses: positive or negative.

The Negative thoughts will fall into two categories: Those who flatly reject new ideas and those who build up lists of reasons why this is a bad idea.

The positive thoughts will also fall into two categories: Those who are ready to jump right in and start, and those who are building up lists of what steps are needed to make it successful.

Then others will be looking at financial costs, others at human costs and others trying to understand how this will affect their future jobs. Some may already be trying to remember where they stored their latest copy of their CV and what other places may be hiring.

The manager who initially proposed the change was not necessarily looking for feedback, but they had already isolated a majority of the group and lost track of the rest.

Sound familiar?

Change management is thinking, and thinking is change management. Each time you have a new idea, things need to change for that idea to take effect. Learning how to manage this change is what makes a good Ideation Practitioner worth their fee.

Using a Thunk Sheet _tm and Thunk Sessions that help people compartmentalise their ideas based on their origin of thought but lead to the desired destination, goes a long way to solidify teams and changes around innovation and migration from old to different.

If you are looking to think in a new, unified and collaborative manner. Give me a call to chat about your next Thunk Session.