Thinkibility

The word thinkibility emerged in a search for a title for this eBook. It then became a way a focusing our search for a part of thinking that we believe is a necessary and more importantly a vital component in a thinking session.

The quality of the thinking is vital to ensure that we use our thinking skills to the best possible ends. Allowing ideas to emerge to a conscious level and develop the skill to listen to the inner voice, whether the voice uses sounds, images, or words to express the thoughts, is the ultimate aim with what we choose to call thinkibility. A constant feedback, in the form of conscious reflections is necessary to achieve a bold search for possibilities. In addition, we need to determine when to stop the search for new ideas and alternatives.

Thinkibility is part of thinking but it is not a complete description of thinking. It is in some ways a form of metacognition – a thinking about thinking – and offers high level executive control over the thinking process. Yet there is a difference in that monitoring and control are focused and directed towards the search for possibilities. Moreover, thinkibility is different from using the Blue Hat according to the Six Hat Thinking framework as designed by Edward de Bono where we organise the thinking session and discuss the progress with other team members. Blue Hat thinking encourages reflection and monitoring of the direction of the thinking process. It ensures that the ideas of the thinking framework are followed in a way that maximises benefits. Thinkibility is a way of consciously directing the focus on opening up the thinking and on consciously closing the thinking process.

The idea is that by choosing to direct our attention to various aspects and by monitoring the thinking, the result may be robust and agile thinking. We are not only the conductor of the thinking session but we also choose the instruments and tune them to explore different sounds. We may end up listening to several voices but our inner voice helps us to explore different possible combinations. Next time we think, the medium may have changed and we need to tune in and listen to other sounds. Thus, there is no ultimate solution. Rather, by developing our thinkibility our thinking session may improve. It may also be more fulfilling since exploring possibilities is an engaging activity in a constantly evolving and changing environment.

Photo: “Diver” by healingdream