While many people are writing about the need to execute, to implement, to do what matters, few are writing about not only the need to think better, but how to do it. Roger Martin is one of these.
Roger is Dean of the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto. He is particularly interested in the mental processes employed by successful leaders, and is best know for his theory of “integrative thinking” – the ability to hold two opposable ideas in one’s mind at the same time and generate a composite or a third idea. He wrote about this in The Opposable Mind.
Roger was in Sydney last week talking about his latest work on Design Thinking – a method for moving from mystery (eg how do people want to eat in today’s world?) – to heuristic (a fast food restaurant in a high traffic environment) to algorithm (a process that can be replicated and deployed with speed). He spoke about this (and more) in a public forum organized by the University of Technology in Sydney, who are taken by Martin’s research and will be implementing that in their courses and offering. Hence we may see him more often in Australia.
UTS very generously arranged for me to have some time with Roger, during which I asked him what question was occupying his thinking. After pondering this for a moment he observed that fundamentally he is about developing people, and hence his constant question revolves how he can help people get better, do better, think better. It seems (for him) that helping us think better is foundational to that task. He is also very interested in the social purpose of business (an emerging trend which I am keeping an eye on, and is the subject of an article I wrote that will bepublished in June).
Roger has been called one of the top 25 designers of this time, and one of the leading thinkers. I found a deep thinker, a warm personality, a ready laugh, and an inquiring mind. He writes regularly on the HBR blog and on is own site.
In an article I read some time back I recall Roger saying “you cannot analyse your way into the future.” This is one of the major challenges confronting business today. We want data, benchmarks, studies, evidence, etc to bolster the decision we want to make. We try and predict the future based on historical events.
But how do we operate on the edge? How do we create a future for which there is no real present? How do we make decisions about something for which there is little evidence? How do we make a logical leap to solve a mystery? These are the sorts of questions that occupy the minds of people like Roger Martin, and of Matt Taylor, of whom I wrote recently.
What are the questions that occupy your mind? What is the mystery you are trying to solve?
Hi Anthony,
When I climbed the greasy pole that is corporate life I was very successful and satisfied with my analytical methods of thinking. These methods were cherished and rewarded by my employers. Since retiring ungracefully from that life, I have learned to become more fluid in my thinking, more flexible in things I design, more lateral in approaching problems and having more fun doing so. I think the traditional business world we know demands historical analysis, that every risk is rated, that every decision is categorised. However, thankfully the entrepreneurs I help now will be far more creative and less conventional. For fun I run a thinking club based on concepts put forward by De Bono for young adults. All members are highly educated, have no work experience, have never waited for anything they want and none want to work in corporations. It’ll be an interesting experiment.
Warm Regards,
Simon
Hi Simon,
Good insight about ‘fluid thinking’. When you have a moment you may wish to post a summary of how you foster that in yourself and others. I am convinced poor thinking is the root cause of many of our problems.
Anthony