1

Ive got a little problem

Sometimes the problem with problems is that we just dont know where to begin. It turns out that the big
challenge is defining what the problem really is.

Ask Why till you reach the root of the problem

The key to effective problem solving lies in stating the problem in words as clearly and as fundamentally as
you possibly can. Some people call this a Problem Definition Statement. It can
often help to write it down, particularly if solving the problem could take a while.
Depending on the nature of the problem, it can be useful to define the problem first in terms of a current
statehow things are right nowand then a desired statehow we would like things to be in the future

2
Solve it like Sherlock
Sometimes we know immediately what we have to do to tackle a problem. Heres a more structured
approach you can adopt when the answer isnt so obvious.
The Xerox approach isnt inherently better than most of the others, but it does provide a
structured basis for tackling the decent-sized problems youre like to come across at home
and at work. It consists of six steps, namely:
1. Identify and select the problem
2. Analyze the problem
3. Generate potential solutions
4. Select and plan the solution
5. Implement the solution
6. Evaluate the solution

3
Capture your thoughts

Ever come up with a great idea only to forget it moments later? Here are a few tips for ensuring that the
output of your inner genius doesnt disappear up the mental Swanee.
OK, so keeping a notebook and pencil by your bedside is not exactly rocket science, but very few of us do
it in my experience (one of my more interesting research projects). The gap between common sense and
common practice is as wide as ever.

4
Get to the point
When youre conveying information in writing or at a presentation, frontload your communications with the
key summarizing point.

To that end, there are two key things we can do to get our message across effectively:
Give the reader the big summarizing idea first; then present the supporting
arguments/ information

Present the above in crystal-clear plain English

In his 1946 essay Politics and the English Language, George Orwell came up with a set of six rules for
writing plainly and clearly. They hold up very well as a set of principles for anybody writing today:
1. Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech that you are used to seeing in print.
2. Never use a long word where a short one will do.
3. If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.
4. Never use the passive where you can use the active.
5. Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English
equivalent.
6. Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous.
The secret of success when it comes to being concise is quite simple: Think before you write. Work out
what your message is and then set about conveying it as clearly as possible. Alternatively, stick with the
stream-of-consciousness approach if you prefer, but use what you write as your first draft from which to
produce a more concise and coherent final version.

5
Buddy, can you spare a paradigm?
A few pointers on how to bring our beliefs and assumptions about ourselves and the world we live in to the
surface so that we can hold them up to scrutiny.
So how do we know which of our mental models are still to be valued and which are well past their sell-by
dates? The starting point is for us to turn the mirror on ourselves, and to bring our own assumptions to the
surface.
The value that comes from doing this is that the more aware we are of our mental models, the more we
can hold them up to rigorous scrutiny and get to a point where we can see beyond them. In doing so, we
give ourselves an opportunity to redefine our mental landscape.
Look, this is not just wishy-washy liberal nonsense about the merits of having a more enlightened outlook;
its about giving you and your brain the chance to get more out of your life experiences by challenging the
beliefsoften self-limiting that we currently hold about the way we are and the way the world is.

6
Watch out for discontinuities
Ever had a feeling in your gut that something just isnt quite right and that change is afoot? Chances are
your hunch is dead-on.
Just as water quickly becomes unremarkable to a fish, so we humans have a tendency to take things for
granted, never really questioning whether there are alternative and sometimes better ways of viewing and
dealing with the world.
Seeing the world through an outsiders eyes gives us fresh perspectives on the world. You
may have experienced something along these lines while on vacation overseas. What you
take for granted when at home isnt necessarily the way it is in other countries. Any of us used
to stores being open seven days a week can find it a shock to the system to shop abroad.
For example, try buying a loaf of bread in many parts of Germany between Saturday
lunchtime and Monday morning. And think for a moment about how challenging it is

initially to cross a road in a country where people drive on the other side.
Often, all we have to detect these changes with initially is our intuition. But we can train -ourselves to be
alert to a different set of signals. Here are a few sample questions that can help us break out of our mental
ruts:
How do I know this to be true?
Do things have to be this way?
Are there alternative approaches?
Whats the shelf life of this product/idea?
If I buy this today, will it be of any value in a few years time?
Somebody once saidI cant remember who, to be honestthat the enemy is mind-set. Its only by
challenging assumptions, both our own and those of others, that we can ensure that we give ourselves a
fighting chance of managing our personal and collective futures to best effect.

7
Thinks aint what they used to be
Some tips on how to go about creating an environment in which you and others can think optimally.
So whats your optimal thinking environment?
You may know the answer to that question right away or this may be the first time youve ever thought
about it. If the latter is the case, then a useful starting point might be to reflect on the environments that
have worked best for you in the past. Where have you been at your thinking best? Was it indoors or out?
Many people think at their best when they are outdoors, perhaps walking in the county or by the sea, or
maybe just sitting in a garden or nearby park.

8
Think big
Sometimes its necessary to stop focusing on the parts in order to understand the whole. No, not a
discarded line from one of the Matrix movies but an entreaty to enter the world of big thinking.
Its as though we imagine that the decisions we make are hermetically sealed, with no implications beyond
the decision itself. To put it mildly, we dont always see the big picture.
At the heart of thinking big is a deceptively simple principle that any problem involving people can usefully
be examined on a number of levels, rather than simply as an individual phenomenon.
These levels are:
1. Individual
2. Interpersonal
3. Team/family
4. Intergroup
5. Organizational
6. Interorganizational
7. Societal
8. International
9. Global
Heres a suggestion. Any problem can usefully be analyzed at ever-higher levels of abstraction. By
considering a problem progressively at the level of the individual, group, intergroup, and so on, a deeper
understanding of its causes can be gained. As a result, the solutions we choose are more likely to work.
If you want to give yourself a fighting chance of getting to the real root of a problem, examine the
explanation that you have come up with and ask yourself the following question: Is that all there is, or is
there more to this problem than I am currently taking into account?

9
Its all news to me
How to sift fact from opinion when you read a newspaper (or listen to the radio or watch TV).
When were online, its easy to find supporting evidence for anything we care to believe. According to
the Internet, various rock stars, members of the nobility, and geriatric racehorses live on. I daresay that
somewhere out there in cyberspace, somebody has solid proof that the mystery shots from the grassy
knoll were fired by
John Wayne
Here are a few pointers that can help us read between the lines:

Watch out for bias

Search out credible sources
Check for representativeness
If the headline asks a question, proceed with caution
Newspapers thrive on bad news
Check out rival explanations

If an expert view is quoted, query the qualifications of the person in question. Do their views deserve to be
taken seriously? If they are not named but are generically described as an industry analyst or a senior
advisor, they might not even exist! Many a reporter has been known to dress personal theories and
prejudices as expert opinion.

10
Why use your own brain when you can
borrow other peoples?
Heres a brief introduction to the merits of networking as a route to increased brainpower.
Networking has been defined as all the different ways in which people make, and are helped to make,
connections with each other. It sometimes gets bad press from those who see networking as replicating
the exclusiveness of good-old-boy networks.
There are four main types of networks:

Personal, e.g., friends, relations, neighbors

Work, e.g., past and present bosses, colleagues, clients, and suppliers
Professionals, e.g., lawyers, accountants, shop owners, doctors
Organizations, e.g., professional associations, clubs, chamber of commerce

Here are a few tips on how to network to best effect:

Prepare the ground

Networks sometimes have short shelf lives
Know your goal
Hello, can I pick your brains?
I cant help you, but I know a person who can
Keep track of your contacts

By the way, if youre thinking that networking is a career skill, not a life skill, youre wrong. If you want a
good turnout at your next party, yard sale, or neighborhood watch meeting, networking skills are highly

relevant. If you need a couple of tickets for the next big event, then your network can play a big part in
helping you locate them.

11
What are the chances of that
happening?
If youve ever been amazed at bumping into somebody you havent seen for years, heres a look at why it
might not be so amazing after all.

12
Creatively swipe
Most new ideas involve mixing two or more existing elements. Heres how to improve your personal
creativity
by mixing and matching from other sources.

13
Learn to be an optimist
Believe that theres always a creative solution and youll find youre right.
Psychologists reckon that we all tend to be optimists until we reach the age of eight or so. In other words,
we have a natural tendency to seek out and expect good outcomes.
However, by the time we reach mid-adolescence, our thinking style and general outlook on the world is
either optimistic or pessimistic. Once formed, our disposition tends to stay that way for the rest of our
lives, unless we are persuaded or voluntarily decide to change.
As Abraham Lincoln once put it, most people are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.
That may be true, but the fact is that optimists enjoy themselves more, tend to be more successful in their
careers,
are
better
at
coming up with creative solutions to problems, and live longer and healthier lives on average. Certainly, in
the context of upgrading your brain, having a positive outlook on life reaps many rewards.
In his book Learned Optimism, Martin Seligmana professor of psychology at the University of
Pennsylvaniaoffers a way forward. He suggests that when we react to adversity, we are not reacting to
an
event
but
to
how
we
feel
about
that
event.
Although we cant control everything that happens to us, we do have some control over our emotions. So,
when adversity strikes, how we think and what we believe determines how we feel and what we do.
According to Seligman, there are three keys to learning a more optimistic outlook. We need to understand
that:

every
failure
is
an
opportunity
to
learn

we

can

change

success depends on effort

We also need to be prepared to challenge any self-defeating pessimistic thoughts by asking ourselves four
key questions:
1. Is it really true that we are helpless in this situation? What are the real chances of a catastrophe?
2. Is there another way to explain this event? Did they fire me because I really am awful at my job? Find as
many
possible
reasons
as
you
can.
3. So what, even if it is partly true? Must it last forever? Suppose I wasnt that good at my jobI wasnt
that happy working there anyway and Im sure I could work more productively if I moved.
4. What is the best possible outcome we can hope for in this situation? Maybe nows the time to retrain to
do something else Id really enjoy.
However Optimists see the advantages and opportunities but tend to underplay the risks and threats
involved in a course of action. This can lead to a tendency to stick with a bad strategy or course of action
longer than somebody with a more rational approach.
That said, the positive benefits of an optimistic outlook do seem to outweigh the drawbacksand, of
course, lets not forget that optimists are better at noticing and grabbing parking spaces.

14
Trust, but verify
No more need to take lying lying down. A quick guide to getting your weasel-word detector fully
operational.
Around 41 percent of our lies are intended to conceal misbehavior while another 20 percent are those little
white lies that make social life manageable.
A journalist I know once told me about his ex-bosss motto: Never believe anything until its been officially
denied.
Here are just a few pointers on how liars use language to lie:
Doublespeak:
George Orwells book 1984 inspired the concept of doublespeak, i.e., language that is deliberately
constructed to disguise or distort its actual meaning. And in financial doublespeak, credit is simply
another word for debt. When a credit card company increases your credit limit, what its really saying is
that you are considered to be a reliable payer of the extortionate rates of interest they charge.
Vague terminology:
Lack of quantification:
The smokescreen we:
Studies have shown:

Above all, you must learn to trust your own judgment. By all means, consider other peoples views, but
make up your own mind; dont rely absolutely on anybody elses views. Commit yourself to a personal
crusade to weed out the weasel words, and for once, spurn the words of Homer Simpson: Marge, it takes
two to lie; one to lie and one to listen.

15
Darwin rules
A fleet-footed guide to what evolutionary psychology can teach us about the way our brains work.
Nigel Nicholson, a professor at London Business School, has suggested that we are hard-wired for certain
attitudes and behaviors. In his book Managing the Human Animal, he gives some examples of the
implications of this:
Communication: Our Stone Age ancestors needed to exchange information in order to survive the
unpredictable conditions of the savannah plain. This led, over the centuries, to the use of informal
information exchange and gossip both as a social activity and as a highly practical tool for swapping
valuable information when we are at work. And so the grapevine performs a function that we humans
value at a deeply ingrained level. Any leader who takes it upon themselves to stamp out the grapevine or
to suppress gossip and general tittle-tattle will create a reaction that could stretch from social and
emotional discomfort to outright rebellion.
Team size: Our ancestors appear typically to have gone around in groups with no more than 150 members
maximum. It seems we are hard-wired to be at our most effective and comfortable in smaller units. Again,
there are significant implications for how we organize ourselves socially and at work in the twenty-first
century. Create a group that exceeds the 150-member limit by much and group cohesion is likely to suffer.
Hierarchy: When humans cluster together, we have an innate preference for structure and order, which
leads us to opt for clearly defined social and organizational hierarchies. In this context, both organizational
delayerin and expressing anti-government sentiments may be going against the Darwinian grain.
Evolutionary psychology also helps to explain why its not always easy to achieve cooperation between
groups. In organizational life, for example, you may well have

witnessed or experienced turf wars, in which case youll know some of the warning signs:
marking territory;
monopolizing resources;
withholding or giving false information;
intimidation and bullying;
shunning by excluding individuals or groups.

All of these tactics can be traced backed to their Darwinian roots. We are by instinct a territorial species,
and turf wars have become the organizationally accepted alternative to fisticuffs.
Traditionally this has been through face-to-face dealings, but increasingly we are using the internet and
cell phones as tools for maintaining relationships. Spending hours on the phone or sending hundreds of
text messages arent just social niceties, theyre a Darwinian necessity.
Rather, they suggest that we need to try to understand that human nature is not infinitely adaptable and
flexible, and that we need to recognize that this will inevitably have an impact on the way we personally
live and work in the twenty-first century and, just as importantly, on what we can and cant reasonably
expect from others.

16
Little ideas mean a lot
Cultivate everyday ingenuitydont obsess over having to come up with one big idea. Theres value in
having lots of little ideas and insights. Youll see a real improvement in your life.

Ka izen is a Japanese term for a management philosophy that focuses on achieving continuous,
incremental improvement in all aspects of the work being carried out.
Its taken from the Japanese words kai, meaning continuous, and zen, meaning improvement (hmm, no
great stretch of the imagination needed there). Its a philosophy that has been at the heart of Japanese
working practices since the wide-scale adoption of total quality management methods in the years of
reconstruction following World War II.
The great thing about kaizen is that it recognizes the cumulative benefit of a lot of small improvements.
This means that workers feel no pressure to come up withhighly innovative, head-turning, share-pricedoubling ideas or else keep their thoughts to themselves; on the contrary, the spirit of kaizen is more likely
to befound in the worker who shares the idea for shaving a second or two off the time involved in
manufacturing a car by slightly repositioning where a particular tool is kept.
What this means for us in our day-to-day lives is that there is real value and benefit in being alert to those
opportunities to do things just slightly better. Of course, big ideas should not be sniffed at, but it is equally
valuableand a lot less dauntingto make lots of small improvements by implementing lots of small
ideas.
With ordinary talent and extraordinary perseverance, all things are attainable. THOMAS BOXWELL
BUXTON (17861845), English social reformer
You can apply the same principle of making lots of little changes to just about any aspect of life.
It isnt a matter of choosing to focus on either the small improvements or the big picture. We need to do
both. The great thing about making small improvements is that everybody can be involved; thats rarely
the case with the bigger, more strategic issues.

17
Festina lente
No, not the latest addition to the coffee menu at Starbucks, but a piece of paradoxical advice in Latin that
means Hurry slowly. Its time to extol the tortoise mind and shackle the hare brain.
We may live in the nanosecond twenty-first century, but sometimes taking instant action doesnt get the
best results.
It all, of course, comes down to the situation. If the microwave has just erupted into flames, then a period
of languid contemplation about what to do for the best may not be the optimal strategy. Equally, there can
be something about a rapidly looming deadline that concentrates the mind and really brings out the best
in us.
However, all too often, what we perceive to be quick thinking can mean glibness or superficiality.
According to Guy Claxton, Visiting Professor of Learning Science at the University of Bristol, England, the
human brain/mind can come up with any number of unusual, interesting, and important insights if it is
given the time. What Claxton terms the Tortoise Mind will often deliver a quiet, intuitive answer to
questions and problems while its opposite numberthe Hare Brainis dashing frenetically and fruitlessly
about.
The essence of tapping into our Tortoise Mind is to recognize and accept that answers to some problems
cannot be engineered, controlled, or rushed in any way. This in itself offers a huge and fundamental
challenge to the prevailing assumption nowadays that fast, purposeful thinking and more information are
going to deliver answers to all our problems.
I suspect that intuitively we know this is right. How often have you found that pacing around trying to solve
a problem by a concentrated force of intellectual willpower doesnt deliver the goods? Next time, try to
allow yourself to forget about the problem for a whilego for a walk, turn your attention to something else,

play the accordion, maybe even sleep on it (no, not on the accordionthat would be a little bizarre). You
may well find that the solution will pop fully formed into your head of its own accord.
We can also try to build more quiet reflection time into our busy livespop into a local church at
lunchtime, go for a stroll, listen to a calming piece of music, meditate, and so on.
Perhaps the key to success is for us to acknowledge and recognize that different problems require different
approaches. The more complex the problem, the more likely it is that rushing to a quick solution could
mean that we miss important details. Likewise, any questions that involve our emotional state are more
likely to need the Tortoise Mind to mull things over.

18
Kick-start your creativity
Are there times when your brain juices are not so much flowing as dribbling? Here are six suggestions for
getting them positively gushing.
Creativity is inventing, having fun, experimenting, taking risks, breaking rules, and making mistakes.
If you have ever wondered how to keep your creativity on tap so that a good idea is always there when
needed, here are six suggestions.

CAPTURE YOUR IDEAS

CHANGE THE SCENERY
FRAME THE QUESTION
o Sometimes we are content to simply be alert to whatever ideas and inspirations come our
way. Thats fine as far as it goes, but if you have a particular problem you want to address,
you need to have real clarity about what the problem actually is.
o You can then use this clarity to frame a positive and focused challenge for yourself. So, for
example, if the problem is that business is down 20 percent, then you ask yourself a
question along the lines of: What are all the ways in which we can increase the amount of
business that we bring in?
DEVELOP YOUR IDEAS WITH A BUDDY
BE POSITIVE
KEEP ALL CHANNELS OPEN
o Pay particular heed to your intuition.

An invasion of armies can be resisted, but not an idea whose time has come. VICTOR HUGO

19
De-junk your life
Overcrowding your work and home space can leave you feeling mentally overcrowded. Get rid of your
physical clutter and your mental mess will sort itself out. Now wheres that trash bag?
Clutter steals our attention, our time, and our space. Clutter pushes many of us toward or deeper into
debt. It makes us less efficient, as we forever misplace house keys, bills, and slips of paper bearing
important telephone numbers. The visual distraction caused by clutter can make it more difficult to
concentrate.
Most psychologists agree that a messy home environment can exert a negative, though not immediately
obvious, influence on a childs cognitive and emotional development. Young children learn and develop
best in environments that are ordered, consistent, and understandable. Put simply, its more difficult to
learn in chaotic and cluttered surroundings.

20
What did the Greeks ever do for us?
How to entice other people to your point of view. Aristotle offered three methods of convincing others:
through logic, through character or reputation, and through emotions.
Aristotle proposed that there were three elements that could be deployed in constructing and presenting
an argument to an audience, namely logos (focused on logic), ethos (focused on the character or
reputation of the speaker), and pathos (focused on appeal to and through the emotions).
LOGOS
Logos is the study of the principles and methods involved in constructing valid and logical arguments.
Here is an example of a valid argument:

A All politicians are shifty.

B George W. Bush is a politician.
C (Therefore) George W. Bush is shifty.

This form of argument is called a syllogism, and is an example of deductive logic. Its worth noting that we
can only draw the logical conclusion that George W. Bush is shifty because statement A talks about all
politicians. Likewise, if statement A had stated that no politicians are shifty, then we could logically
conclude that George W. Bush is not shifty. If the statement was that most politicians are shifty, then we
could not logically conclude that C is definitely the case. That said, if we applied inductive logic, we could
conclude that because most politicians are shifty, it is possible, perhaps even probable, that George W.
Bush is shifty
ETHOS
Ethos is concerned with the degree of credibility or trustworthiness that speakers or writers have in the
eyes of their audience. Where the speakers character is viewed favorably by the audience, this is seen as
giving value to the ideas in the argument, whereas the same speech delivered by somebody of
disreputable character might well be viewed unfavorably. Think Nelson Mandela, then think Martha Stewart
and youll probably get the hang of this.
PATHOS
Pathos is concerned with persuading an audience by arousing their emotions.
Although Aristotle believed that logos was the most important element in any argument, and that ethos
and pathos were subsidiary elements, theres some evidence to suggest that nowadays its logos in bronze
position, with pathos taking the silver and ethos the gold.

21
Its

good

to

talk

Read on for chapter and verse on how you can talk and write yourself into lucidity.
Its a fact that many of us think better -when we talk aloud in an unedited and uninterrupted stream of
consciousness.
Its as though were all battling away in a little-known subset of Darwinian Theory called the survival of
the chattiest.

The problem is that sometimes we need a bit of thinking time in order to nurture our thoughts. We cant
always rattle off our thoughts and opinions on every subject as though our brain is a library of fully formed
sound bites.
So heres a suggestiongive yourself time to think by giving yourself time to talk. To that end, when there
is something that you want to talk your way through, invite somebody suitable to be your thinking buddy.
He doesnt have to say anything when youre talking; on the contrary, his role is to stay silent while you
are speaking. He just has to listen and look interested.
That said, these thinking sessions may not be everybodys cup of tea. My advice would be to find an hour
in your schedule, give it a try, and see how you do. Then at least youll know.

22
Make

the

best

decision

you

can

People can spend months debating the best decision without actually deciding anything. Here are some
pointers to good decision making. Turns out its often a teams-and timing thing.
Like good comedy, the key to good decision making is (pause) timing. Give yourself time to think, but dont
procrastinate.
Unnecessary procrastination often leads to results every bit as bad as those gained by the obsessively
decisive. Think of all the appeasers in history who were just that little bit too inclined to do nothing,
arguing instead the merits of giving the benefit of the doubt to the wrong people. When you have to make
a choice and you back off from making it, that itself is a choice (ah, those years spent in philosophy class
werent entirely wasted).
Decision making can be defined as the ability to decide on a course of action after due reflection. Good
decision makers seem to have three key abilities, namely to:
1. Gather the appropriate evidence (and, equally, to ignore the irrelevant or immaterial evidence)
2. Weigh the evidence correctly
3. Make the decision at just the right time, i.e., neither too early nor too late
Sometimes decision making is a solo pastimeperhaps nobody else is around, or maybe its just
inappropriate to involve others because the decision isnt that complex or important, or possibly you are
the only person with all the necessary information to be able to make that decision.
Of course, its not always appropriate to resolve decisions by committee, but there is evidence to show
that, when presented with almost any problem, a group will consistently outperform an individual in terms
of identifying the relevant factors to consider, gaining the knowledge possessed about those factors, and
accurately weighing up the evidence.
Intrinsically, being decisive is neither a bad quality nor a good one. If we look at the origins of the verb to
decide, it turns out that it stems from the Latin meaning to kill off. When we make a decision, we are
killing off other choices. So its important that we make the decision at the right time with as much
evidence as we can muster. Good decision makers are decisive when the time comes to be decisive. Bad
decision makers are often guilty of premature decisiveness.
When it comes to making the decision at the right time, there is obviously no one-size-fitsall point at
which this optimal moment presents itself. Every decision has to be assessed in its own context. Generally
speaking, youll find its more important to make the right decision than the best decision. Every decision
involves a level of risk, and some decisions are more critical than others to get absolutely right.
But if there are a number of ways to do something, and it looks like most of them would work well enough,
theres little value to be gainedand much time to be lostin agonizing over finding the best possible
solution. On those occasions, just be pragmatic. Implement a perfectly satisfactory solutioneven if its
not absolutely optimaland then rapidly move on to the next problem.

23
Take

walk

on

the

Wilde

side

If youve ever thought of the perfect riposte but found that the moment for delivering it has long gone, this
one
is
for
you.
Ever had the experience of coming up with the ideal witty retort to a remark but, alas, coming up with it
too late to deliver it?
Im not trying to argue that spontaneous wit doesnt exist, just that
1).

its not as common as we might think; and

2).

it is possible to fake it.

How we do that is by building up our stockpile of pre-honed witticisms so that, like Wilde, we can use them
as the opportunity arises. That stockpile might be our own homemade efforts or it might just as effectively
be culled from others. In the heat of a conversation, very few people will spot that your witty remark was
lifted from an old Bob Hope movie.
As you become more accomplished and confident, you might want to try engineering conversations in the
direction of your ready-and-waiting bon mot (A clever remark).

24
Innovate
In an ever more unpredictable world, success goes inevitably to people who have a natural curiosity and
who are willing to experiment. Assuming that what works today will still work tomorrow is a recipe for the
scrap
heap.
Michael Eisner, former head of the Disney Corporation and a big fan of innovative
thinking, once said: To me, the pursuit of ideas is the only thing that matters. You can always find capable
people to do almost anything else.
Successful innovationwhether for a company or for us in our private lives requires a conscious and
explicit commitment and inevitably involves risk. It is best achieved in a no blame culture, which
recognizes that mistakes and failures are the natural and inevitable bedfellows of successful ideas. An
innovative organization is typically characterized by informality, the free flow of information, and little
hierarchy or bureaucracy.
Here are a few tips that will help to hone your capability in this area:
Continually challenge conventional wisdom
Question all the time. Dont be impressed by precedent. Regularly ask yourself how else you could do this,
or what you would do differently if you could start again from scratch.
Listen to other peoples views
Learn from the experience of others. Draw on their intuition and common sense. Encourage ideas from
others. Benchmark other departments, other organizations.
Disagree constructively
Innovation depends on relentless self-questioning and the pursuit of continual improvement through
constructive argument.
Seek out new experiences

Travel to a new country. Go to a newsstand, buy a handful of magazines outside of your area of expertise,
read whats going on in other fields, and see if you can make any connections back to your working
environment. Try a reassignment to another part of the business.
Join cross-functional teams whenever you get the chance
Many problems are best solved by interdisciplinary thinking. Perhaps its time to meet up with those people
from production, finance, marketing, and human resources (ah, the sacrifices we must make . . . ).
Network voraciously
Share your ideas, and see what reaction you get. Meet up with people who share your interestsfellow
professionals, local clubs, etc.on a regular basis.
Capture accidents
Remember that, sometimes, getting the wrong answer is as enlightening as getting the right answer. Many
of the greatest inventions were accidentalthe Post-it note, for example.
Fail often
Its supposed to have taken Thomas Edison ten thousand attempts to perfect the invention of the lightbulb.
Getting things wrong from time to time shows that youre entrepreneurial and willing to take risks. Its not
evidence of moral turpitude.
GSOH
Show others that you have a good sense of humor. Encourage it in others. Remember that many of the
best ideas from brainstorming sessions start off as funny remarks.
Wait until the last minute
Delay making judgments. Postpone criticism. Keep an open mind. Its uncanny how many good ideas turn
up in the nick of time.
Be willing to change your mind
Holding stubbornly to a point of view is not a sign of strength. The best innovators are prepared to admit
that they are wrong sometimes.
. . . and relax
Take advantage of coffee breaks, cab rides, and other opportunities for a few minutes downtime.
Innovative ideas often come in places and at times that can surprise us. If you can, sleep on a problem
solutions regularly pop up after a few hours nap.

25
Maneuver like Machiavelli
You may find yourself pitting your wits against the Machiavellian mind-set from time to time, so it might
help
to know what youre up against. Alternatively, if youre a closet admirer, you might pick up a few tips.
If Nicolo Machiavelli inhabited the twenty-first century rather than sixteenth century Italy, he would surely
recognize a political world often driven more by resolute pragmatism than morality.
That his book The Prince is still in print more than 500 years after it was written reflects the timelessness
of its content. Its main theme, that princes should retain absolute control of their territories and should use
any means of expediency to accomplish this end, as well as many of his insights into the nature of
leadership and strategy would get a hearty nod of approval from many of todays politicians and senior
managers.

Over the years, Machiavellis extremely pragmatic view of the relationship between ethics and politics has
been widely misinterpreted. His surname, of course, has generated an adjective that is a byword for
people who prefer expediency to morality, and who manipulate others in an opportunistic and deceptive
way.
This isnt altogether fair to Machiavelli. Yes, he advocated deploying the darker side of human nature to
achieve the desired goals, but only when, as he put it, "necessity commands.
Machiavelli describes how some virtues will lead to a princes destruction, whereas some vices allow
him to survive. Indeed, the virtues that we commonly praise in people might lead to a princes downfall.
Although we might think that it is best for a prince to have a reputation of being generous, Machiavelli
writes that liberality exercised in a way that does not bring you the reputation for it, injures you. It is
wiser, according to Machiavelli, to have a reputation for meanness than generosity because that brings
reproach without hatred.

It is better for a prince to be severe when punishing people rather than merciful. Severity through death
sentences affects only a few, but it deters crimes that affect many. Further, he argues, it is better to be
feared than to be loved.
In perhaps the most controversial section of The Prince, Machiavelli argues that the prince should know
how to be deceitful when it suits his purpose. When the prince needs to be deceitful, though, he must not
appear that way. Indeed, he must always exhibit five particular virtues: mercy, honesty, humaneness,
uprightness, and religiousness.
Machiavelli argues that the prince must avoid doing things that will cause him to be hated. This is
accomplished by not confiscating property and not appearing greedy or wishywashy. In fact, the best way
to avoid being overthrown is to avoid being hated.
Its important for the smart thinker to understand the Machiavellian mind-set because its alive and
kicking. You only have to look at the behavior of many governments and organizations to see that
realpolitik is still around. We might criticize people like George W. Bush for their stances but the fact is they
are berpragmatists driven by self-interestnot unlike Machiavellis prince. And like all pragmatists, they
just dont get arguments that are presented from a theoretical or ethical base.
If theory or ethics is where you naturally come from, then you need to change your game plan to convince
a pragmatic opponent that your suggestions can satisfy their self-interest.
Equally, if you are a pragmatist by nature when dealing with a values-driven opponent, you may also need
to adjust your tone so that you can appeal to moral sensibilities. But then again, if you are a pragmatist,
that shouldnt cause you too many problems, should it?

26
Feed your head
It turns out that the fast track to boosting your brainpower is sex and drugs and rock n roll. Not to
mention sleep and food.
How many parents have ever told their errant offspring that people get what they deserve in life?
It turns out that there are five key ways we can boost the performance of our gray matter without having
to slave away at it too much. They are:

1. Physical exercise
Researchers have found that simply walking at a reasonably relaxed pace three times a week for half an
hour can boost abilities such as learning, concentration, and abstract reasoning by around 15 percent.
Having sex can achieve similar benefits. There are two reasons why aerobic exercise is good for our mental

performance: Exercise gets extra oxygen into our brains, and it also promotes the growth of new brain
cells.
2. Smart drugs
There are a number of drugs on the marketknown as cognitive enhancers with more on the way.
Modafinil, for example, is licensed to treat narcolepsy, but it also has notable effects on healthy people as
well. Modafinil can keep you awake and alert for up to 90 hours straight, with none of the side effects like
jitteriness and bad concentration that amphetamines or coffee can produce. Whats more, sleep-deprived
people taking modafinil can outperform their unmedicated peers who have had a good nights sleep.
3. Music on the brain
Listening to musicand Mozart in particular, it seemscan improve peoples mathematical and spatial
reasoning. Listening to music can relax and stimulate us simultaneously, and its this combination that
enables us to perform some activities more effectively.
Theres also evidence that taking music lessons can make us smarter. A study of young children found that
those taking music lessons benefited from a 23 percent hike in their IQ scores relative to their peer group.
4. Sleep on it
Sleep helps the brain consolidate memories and hone skills so that they are readily available during
waking hours. Theres also plenty of evidence to show that sleep provides an opportunity for the brain to
work through problems that we havent managed to solve during our waking hours. A good nights sleep
improves our ability to concentrate the next day.
5. Food for thought
Eating breakfast makes a very sensible first fuel-stop of the day. Even having a piece of toast has been
shown to boost childrens scores in a range of cognitive tests, more so if accompanied by something with
high protein and decent fiberwere talking apple slices with peanut butter, yogurt with granola and
berries, or scrambled eggs with ham and cheese.
Paying attention to each of these five key areas will help you achieve a better performance in your work
and home life. And lets be honest, theres no great hardship involved.
So come on then, lets look to boost our performance the twenty-first-century way: no need for hours of
studyjust walk or jog home, rustle up a piece of toast, pop a few pills, put in a little practice on the
electric guitar, and then grab a few hours sleep.

27
Lets hear it for the poise
Its not enough to be intelligent these days; you need to be emotionally intelligent as well. For a look at
what that entails, please read on.
Heres a favorite quote of mineit was made by a supermarket cashier: Management says that we dont
have to say thank you anymore because the computer prints it on the receipt.
WHAT EXACTLY IS EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE?
the main popularizer of the concept, it is the capacity for recognizing our own feelings and those of others,
for motivating ourselves, and for managing emotions well in ourselves and in our relationships with other
people.

Goleman believes that emotional intelligence embraces five emotional and social competencies:
Self-awareness: Knowing what we are feeling at the moment and using those preferences to guide our
decision making.

Self-management: Handling our emotions so that they facilitate rather than interfere with the task at hand.
This enables us to respond thoughtfully and intelligently to situations rather than merely to react.
Motivation: Through self-awareness, using our deepest preferences to move and guide us toward our goals.
This involves understanding what makes us tickwhat we respond positively to and what doesnt work
for us.
Empathy: Sensing what others are feeling, being able to take their perspective, and being able to cultivate
good, positive rapport with a broad range of people.
Relationship management: Handling emotions in relationships well and accurately reading social situations
and networks; interacting smoothly; using these skills to persuade, lead, negotiate, and settle disputes,
etc. True emotional intelligence is about dealing with peoples behavior, not labeling the person behind
that behavior.
Our ability or inability to manage relationships effectively drives much of our lives. In an organizational
context, for example, leaders need the ability in order to inspire organizations to greatness, and
salespeople need it to build strong and profitable customer relationships. In our personal lives, it shapes
how we deal with friends and family. This can be particularly challenging. Many of us find it relatively easy
to be emotionally intelligent when were at work, but lose our tempers all too easily with those who are
close to usparents, spouses, and children.
WHAT DOES THIS ALL MEAN IN PRACTICE?
Well, what is doesnt mean is merely being nice. In fact, often being emotionally intelligent can demand
confronting othersand sometimes even ourselveswith an uncomfortable but consequential truth
theyve been avoiding. Likewise, emotional intelligence does not mean giving free rein to feelings
letting it all hang out. Rather, it means managing feelings so that they are expressed appropriately and
effectively, enabling people to work together smoothly toward their common goals.
By the way, contrary to what many people assume, women are not smarter than men when it comes to
emotional intelligence, nor are men superior to women. Each of us has a personal profile of strengths and
weaknesses.
SO CAN WE IMPROVE OUR LEVEL OF EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE?
Yes, but we need to be prepared to confront problems constructively as they arise. Running away from or
just ignoring problems is not emotionally intelligent; neither is losing your temper and ranting. We can only
improve our emotional intelligence by practice and by being prepared to accept feedback from others
about how we are doing.
In some ways, yesemotional intelligence is just another word for maturity.

28
Caught in a decision trap
How do you know whether youre making a good decision or not? Heres a checklist for ensuring that you
dont sell yourself a mental lemon.

Negotiating the best path through lifes challenges often involves

a mixture of those things we should positively aim to do and those
things that we should definitely avoid.