thinking techniques

At school youngsters are given sums to work out. When you have reached the answer, you stop thinking. What is the point of further thinking? If you are asked the date of the battle of Waterloo you may have to do some thinking to work it out, but once you have the answer you stop thinking. ‘Does this train go to Liverpool?’ You get the answer and stop thinking.

There are situations with definite answers. When you have got the ‘right’ answer, or when you believe you have got the ‘right’ answer, you stop thinking. The purpose of thinking is to get you to the ‘right’ answer. When thinking has done its job, you stop thinking.

You use a knife to cut a piece of steak. When you have the piece, you lay the knife aside. The tool has done its work. So when thinking has done its work you lay aside the process.

‘Which is the best way up this mountain?’ If the mountain has been climbed frequently, then the ‘right’ route will be indicated to you. Many other routes may have been tried and found to be more dangerous or harder work. If the mountain has not been climbed so frequently, the ‘right’ route may not be the only one or the best one. You may want to try out a new route for yourself.

How can you tell whether you are in a situation where there is only one ‘right’ answer, and when you have that answer there is no point in further thinking? Some situations are obvious. If you need technical information, then once you have that information you have the right answer.

In many situations, if not most, you settle for a ‘satisfactory’ answer or an ‘adequate’ answer. If the answer appears to satisfy your needs, then you accept it as ‘right’. There might be a much better answer but you see no need to look for it.

Our habit of stopping thinking when we reach a ‘right’ answer is so ingrained that we are reluctant to do any further thinking. It is not unlike spending money. If you have spent ‘enough’ money, why should you spend more?

Yet there are many situations where the first ‘right answer’ is far from the best. Indeed, there might be a special opportunity in such situations, because everyone else may have stopped at the first ‘right answer’. So if you think further, you may open up anew opportunity which others have missed.

ADDITIONAL THINKING

Why should additional thinking be of use? Perception is a very important part of thinking. In fact, research (at Harvard) shows that 90% of the errors of thinking are errors of perception. It does not matter how logical your thinking, it can never be better than your starting perceptions. So if someone has a different perception of the situation then additional thinking might provide a different answer.

History and culture within an organisation will largely determine the sort of thinking that takes place on an issue. Someone who has not been subjected to this history and culture may come up with different thinking.

The starting point of our thinking will strongly affect the outcome. Someone who starts at a different point may follow an entirely different path with an entirely different outcome. It is very difficult for any individual to vary the starting point for himself or herself.

The purpose of thinking is to deliver value: to the customer, to the voter, to the organisation, to the investors, etc. etc. There is a whole range of values in any situation. The emphasis is usually put on some of these values. Someone who puts a different emphasis on the values may come up with a different answer. That is always a possibility with additional thinking.

In medicine, it is quite common to seek out a ‘second opinion’. In serious matters you want to be sure that the diagnosis or treatment regime is one that is generally held and not the result of one individual’s thinking. It is not a matter of doubt or dissatisfaction. There is simply a need for confirmation through
seeking another opinion.

THE VALUE OF ADDITIONAL THINKING

If the additional thinking turns up nothing new or different, is that not a waste of time, effort and even money? On the contrary, the reassurance value of such additional thinking confirms that the original thinking is good. This is similar to the case in medicine for a second opinion.

If the additional thinking is slightly different, this may suggest a new insight or a new consideration. Such a new consideration may be thought about and may be rejected or may modify, even if slightly, the original thinking. If the additional thinking is very different, it may be rejected. This rejection will demand further thinking on the matter which will reinforce the first thinking. There may also be a need to go back and rethink the whole matter if the additional thinking seems reasonable.

CONFIDENCE AND TIME

To seek additional thinking may imply a lack of confidence in the original thinking. This may be true, but is hardly a reason for not seeking additional thinking. It is easy to make a decision if you never consider any alternatives. But a decision made in this way may not be a very good decision.

If you dare not consider additional thinking, that does not show much confidence in your original thinking. You suspect that the original thinking may not be all that good.

There are a few emergency situations where there is not much time for thinking. In such situations there is hardly time to seek additional thinking. In practice, such situations are rare.

Usually there is ample thinking time for strategies, decisions, choices and problem-solving. So the time complaint is rarely justified and is used as a surrogate for other reasons.

Additional thinking does not imply inadequacy in the original thinking. It simply implies that from a different perspective a different view may be obtained. A parent cannot think as a child any more than a child can think as a parent.

DIFAT

This is a virtual institute - the De Bono Institute For Additional Thinking. DIFAT can be used metaphorically. ‘We should bring in DIFAT here.’

That implies that an effort should be made to generate some additional or alternative thinking on the matter. The same people who did the original thinking may now operate under the DIFAT label. Or another team may be given this task.

It is also possible that DIFAT can be used in a real sense. The Institute may be formally asked to provide some additional thinking around a defined issue.

Additional thinking implies confidence in the original thinking - not the opposite.

You cannot really choose the best if you have no choice. If you only have one answer, how can you choose the best answer?