Thinking about Thinking, Creativity, Innovation and Design
We pledge for a crook's certificate that all students must obtain before they leave high school. Thinkibility – the skills of agile thinking – include the ability of unethical thinking as well.
Providing people with more facts is not going to improve making sense of the world. Instead, we need to look of other solutions to break the hold of groupthink.
This is the third post in the series “21st Century Challenges” about Who Owns Your Medical Data?. In the first post, we discussed the following: In the future, Big Data algorithms and biometric sensors may detect and diagnose a disease before we have started to notice any discomfort or signs. But would you like your insurance …
In many books about innovation, it is stated that "You just have to be willing to challenge the assumptions of your industry, ask fresh questions, and --get this -- embrace your humanness." Daniel H. Pink Such calls are completely inadequate. Moreover, it suggests that the detection of assumptions is simple. On the contrary, the nature …
Focus defines the input of information that defines the thinking, and by that, the conclusions, solutions or opinions derived from it. In a schedule: information (A) is semi-processed in a funnel (A,B,C) of biases, assumptions and conditions to a logical solution, opinion or conclusion (C). Area A is the focus area, the area where the …
Continue reading "Focus and Group Dynamics Define the Thinking"
Earlier in the post The Charm of Imperfection we wrote about figure-ground reversal or negative space: in art it is the space around and between the subject(s) of an image. Negative space may be most evident when the space around a subject, not the subject itself, forms an interesting or artistically relevant shape, and such space occasionally …
Continue reading "The Brilliant Failure Award – Thinkibility Nibble"
Recently we were thinking about the news. What makes news? Then there is the discussion about fake news. At Wikipedia we found a page that is about Fake news websites: "Fake news websites (also referred to as hoax news, deliberately publish hoaxes, propaganda, and disinformation purporting to be real news — often using social media …
A new adage is blowing around in the world of innovation. According to Wikipedia, The term "big data" often refers simply to the use of predictive analytics, user behavior analytics, or certain other advanced data analytics methods that extract value from data, and seldom to a particular size of data set. Analysis of data sets can find …
Continue reading "What Big Data, what information dominance?"
What could we learn from solved cold cases? What has caused that the case is solved after years of investigations without results? What were the reasons that a solution was waiting for discovery, but never did? Solved cold cases are illustrative for how we think wrongly. In September 1961, 25-year-old Lucy Johnson, mother of one, …
In an earlier post about focus, we stressed the importance of paying attention to the focus of the thinking. Taking a problem or challenge unquestioned as it exposes itself may lead to brilliant solutions for the wrong problem. It is therefore required to pay substantial time and effort to (re)define the focus of the thinking. The problem …
What can innovators learn from art? Observation skills, questioning, and experimentation are vital parts of innovation. Observing everyday activities can lead to new insights where things can be improved on. It can also lead to break-through ideas. The innovation psychologist Leon Segal said: "Innovation begins with an eye." Innovators carefully watch the world around them …
In this blog post, as you can see in the upper left hand corner, we will focus on the quality of information, an essentially white hat thinking activity. Quality of information as a distinctive focus area or Area of Improvement (API) could be vital for many information intensive enterprises, but also for any other thinking …
Continue reading "More, More Information, Yes, Sure, But Relevant?"
Key Performance Indicators are meant to keep an organisation on track. By measuring the performance over time, you are able to look at deviations and to take measures. As Wikipedia defines it: A key performance indicator (KPI) is a type of performance measurement. An organization may use KPIs to evaluate its success, or to evaluate the …
There are some fascinating developments which call for some "What If Thinking". Four technological developments Nowadays more or less everyone is connected to someone via the Internet. It is assumed that any person can connect to another person via a friend of a friend, all it takes is six or fewer steps for anyone to …
Abundance of Information Headlines such as “Every two days we create as much information as we did up to 2003” suggest that we live in an age of information abundance. Admittedly, it depends on how you define what constitutes information; information can include all user-generated information that contains little new information. Nevertheless, regardless of how …
The introduction of computers and the web combined with an explosion in information have lead to an overabundance. Finding ways to use information in the best possible way is becoming a vital skill. Many people, when confronted with a problem, begin a broad search for information. They assume that enlarging the information space inevitable will lead to uncovering the information needed to solve …
Groupthink Consequences Groupthink is described historically by the myth of the Cassandra syndrome. This myth describes a prediction or warning that goes unheeded with serious consequences. The term comes from the story about Cassandra, who was raped by the senior adviser to her father at court. To defend against accusations, she was personally discredited. So Cassandra's special …
