Think Better: An Innovator's Guide to Productive Thinking

312 Pages·2007·4.83 MB·English

by  Tim Hurson

Praise for Think Better
Excellent! A practical guide to the power of productive thinking
that should be read by everyone.
Glenn Bishop
Director, Engineering, Yahoo! Europe
A treasury of powerful ideas for anyone who wants to boost their brand equity
and contribute mightily to their company’s success.
Andy Boynton. Ph.D.
Dean, Carroll School of Management,
Boston College and author, Virtuoso Teams
A perfect balance of theory and practice. Read it, and don’t look back!
Roger J. Burns
Worldwide Partner, Mercer Human Resource Consulting
Not just a book to be read, but a manifesto for action.
Kevin Byron, Ph.D.
Senior Fellow, British Higher Education Academy
Possibly the most inspiring thinking process I have come across—
you’ll miss out if you don’t use it!
Rob Devine
Leadership Consultant, Singapore
The best book I’ve ever read on innovative thinking—accessible, interesting,
fascinating, with great examples and stories.
Gregg Fraley
author, Jack’s Notebook
If you want to create the future for your team, organization or the planet,
put down the crystal ball and pick up Think Better.
Colin Funk
Director, Leadership Learning Lab, The Banff Centre
An easy read that will train your brain without giving you a headache.
Paul Hoffert
Fellow, Harvard University and author, The New Client
I heartily recommend this lively, pragmatic and exceptionally insightful book
for anyone looking to think better in business and in life.
Timothy S. Mescon, Ph.D.
Dean, Coles College of Business, Kennesaw State University
Outlines a framework anyone can use to drive better business results.
There is relevance and magic in it.
Megan Mitchell
Director, Innovation and Leadership Development,
Johnson & Johnson Inc.
I rarely get so excited about a book. Think Better is pace-setting . . .
a primary sourcebook of exciting ideas on innovating productively.
Sid Parnes, Ph.D.
Emeritus Professor, International Center for Creative Studies
and author, The Magic of Your Mind
Get copies for everyone you work with, talk about it together,
then get on with inventing your future. This book will show you how.
Ian Percy
author, The Profitable Power of Purpose.
A must read for managers, leaders, entrepreneurs—
anyone who has to navigate a competitive environment.
Kanes K. Rajah, M.Sc., Ph.D.
Director, Centre for Entrepreneurship,
University of Greenwich Business School, London
This book is great! I can’t stop thinking about Think Better.
Stephen Shapiro
author, 24/7 Innovation
Brilliant, thought-provoking, easy-to-read, one of the best creativity books
I have read in 30 years. Buy it, read it, and change your life!
Arthur B. VanGundy, Ph.D.
Professor of Communication, University of Oklahoma
and author, Getting to Innovation
An effective system for stimulating innovative ideas.
More than worthwhile—this book is a must.
Roger von Oech
author, A Whack on the Side of the Head
Beautifully crafted, backed by thorough research, elegant in its simplicity,
amazingly rich in insight, powerful in application.
Ken Wall
Leadership Consultant, Australia
THINK
BETTER
This page intentionally left blank
A N I N N O V A T O R ’ S G U I D E T O
P R O D U C T I V E T H I N K I N G
THINK
BETTER
(your company’s future depends on i t . . .
and so does yours)
T IM HURSON
New York Chicago San Francisco
Lisbon London Madrid Mexico City
Milan New Delhi San Juan Seoul
Singapore Sydney Toronto
Copyright © 2008 by The McGraw-Hill Companies. All rights reserved. Except as permitted under
the United States Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed
in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written
permission of the publisher.
ISBN: 978-0-07-175475-0
MHID: 0-07-175475-X
The material in this eBook also appears in the print version of this title: ISBN: 978-0-07-149493-9,
MHID: 0-07-149493-6.
All trademarks are trademarks of their respective owners. Rather than put a trademark symbol after
every occurrence of a trademarked name, we use names in an editorial fashion only, and to the benefi t
of the trademark owner, with no intention of infringement of the trademark. Where such designations
appear in this book, they have been printed with initial caps.
McGraw-Hill eBooks are available at special quantity discounts to use as premiums and sales
promotions, or for use in corporate training programs. To contact a representative please e-mail us at
To my wife, my partner, my teacher,
my inspiration, and my best friend,
Franca Leeson
This page intentionally left blank
CONTENTS
Preface xi
Acknowledgments xv
PART 1: Productive Thinking in Context
Chapter 1 Why Think Better 3
Chapter 2 Monkey Mind, Gator Brain,
and the Elephant’s Tether 17
PART 2: Productive Thinking in Principle
Chapter 3 Kaizen vs. Tenkaizen 35
Chapter 4 Stay in the Question 53
Chapter 5 The Miracle of the Third Third 67
PART 3: Productive Thinking in Theory
Chapter 6 Productive Thinking by Design 85
Chapter 7 Step 1: What’s Going On? 101
Puzzles, Probes, Possibilities
Chapter 8 Step 2: What’s Success? 125
The Future Pull Principle
Chapter 9 Step 3: What’s the Question? 143
Great Answer (Wrong Question)
Chapter 10 Step 4: Generate Answers 159
Ten Thousand Failures
Chapter 11 Step 5: Forge the Solution 177
Masamune’s Katana
Chapter 12 Step 6: Align Resources 195
Here Be Lions