Financial professionals are often
considered the guardians of traditional
practices and methods.
But many of us are now called on to
drive breakthrough ideas and results for
our companies or clients. How can we
break free of our traditional thought patterns
and consider new ideas and patterns?
In his book, Think Better, Tim
Hurson encourages us to do just that by
following his Creative Problem Solving
(CPS) thinking model, a consistent,
repeatable process that spurs creative
ideas.
CPS encourages its users to separate
thinking about a particular problem into
two distinct sections: divergent and convergent
thinking. Divergent thinking
requires the user to think of many different
and creative ideas about the problem.
Convergent thinking then forces the
user to determine the few key ideas or
connections between ideas that solve
the problem best. While this idea seems
simple in theory, Hurson provides several
enlightening stories to illustrate his
point, demonstrating why a framework
for thinking is crucial. One example is
the story called “Elephant Tether,” which
shows how NASA engineers were tethered
by their own models for technological
superiority when working to design a
pen that could write properly in zero
gravity. Russian space engineers solved
the same problem without a tether by
giving their cosmonauts pencils.
The CPS model can lead to breakthrough
ideas through creative thought.
Hurson skillfully outlines how today’s
focus on incremental improvement, or
“kaizen,” can create strong patterns that
prohibit creative thought. Many finance
professionals will undoubtedly see their
own organizations reflected in Hurson’s
kaizen discussion and identify with the
extra focus on kaizen instead of breakthrough
ideas. Hurson then introduces
the concept of “tenkaizen,” or reproductive
revolution, to drive the concept of
breakthrough thought home to the reader.
He devotes a chapter to the power of
remaining in the question or problem at
hand. By demonstrating how many people
are satisfied with the first answer
that appears “good enough” and stop
thinking about alternatives, Hurson
shows how such thinking can limit the
quality of ideas and solutions. Hurson
goes on to outline how the use of the
simple word “else” can stimulate ideas
and connections beyond the initial
thoughts. Such ideas, called “third third”
ideas, can produce such ideas as a supply
company hiring blind workers to
solve the problem of lost productivity
from reading the newsprint used to
cushion glass shipments. For many readers,
these concepts and discussions will
demonstrate how the focus on decisionmaking
speed hinders our ability to find
the truly innovative or creative ideas.
Hurson goes into detail about the
individual steps of the CPS model. He
first takes readers through the divergent
thinking process to focus on generating
many unique ideas. Then convergent
thinking takes over to evaluate the ideas
critically and determine which are the
best. Hurson liberally sprinkles examples
to illustrate the power behind his ideas.
While the stories do become somewhat
repetitive, they provide ample opportunity
to connect his concepts to individual
circumstances.
The CPS model provides a systematic
method to generate many new ideas
and focus on those generating the highest
value. In an age where professionals
are required to “think better,” Hurson’s
CPS model and the insight developed
through his consulting work provide an
intuitive, repeatable process to generate