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Jan 1, 20232 min read

Own Your Future

Take command and control of the thinking and doing that's core to your operation and drives your competitive advantage. Outsource the...

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Tools that support learning by doing!!!

Building a startup that scales is a strategic creative endeavor that requires thoughtful consideration and lots of smart thinking. Understanding how you think - literally the cognitive process you employ - is critical to building proficiency and driving effeciency into your planning process.

Our system intentionally deployes a variety of tools and techniques to leverage the benefits of different patterns in thinking. Recognizing your own patterns and preferences in thinking, and being equipped to expand your thought process in a structured way, can fuel greater success and avoid missteps.

With this in mind we've created a thought-provoking Cognition Tool to acclimate you to styles of thinking we use and that you can apply to what you do.

Cognition Tool

Become a more efficient, proficient and productive thinker.

Parallel Thinking

Parallel thinking is a practical method of constructive thinking where the goal is for everyone to think at the same time in the same direction. When there are multiple categories or dimensions to a topic, parallel thinking breaks these down into smaller nodes to attack with hyper-focus before moving on to the next. This ensures you are able to explore topics deeply without split focus that can amplify the potential for disagreement.

Moving beyond traditional definitions, we also define parallel thinking as replicating a thought process when trying to be generative within the context of a similar creative endeavor. If you are able to anchor in a definition and an illustrative example you can then apply this learning to reproduce similar results for similar topics. By lining up educational elements and application elements next to one another in a parallel fashion you can accelerate progress.

We’ve built both definitions of parallel thinking into our planning software.

Critical Thinking

Critical thinking is the cornerstone of problem solving. It is the ability to develop critical insight into a topic by analyzing and drawing reasonable conclusions from information to solve a problem or make an informed decision. It is a self-directed process the requires significant discipline.

Critical thinking skills are developed by learning and applying techniques for gathering, conceptualizing, analyzing and transferring data into information from which reasonable conclusions can be drawn. Critical thinkers acquire the ability to discriminate between inputs that are relevant to particular situations or problems, and excel at blocking out details that are immaterial or distracting. In terms of method or operation, critical thinkers monitor and modify their process and pressure-test or correct conclusions (when indicated) in order to deliver maximal results within a reasonable time frame.

There are multiple components to critical thinking that our system helps foster, including structuring and administering a repeatable process to develop insight that underpins foundational planning elements.

Systems Thinking

Systems thinking is a process of looking at an entire concept or all the components of an interrelated system or network, seeking to understand the relationship and impact one part of the network has on the other. Instead of isolating different components within the system (splitting it down into separate parts), this type of thinking focuses on understanding the complete network of connections, the range of potential interactions and universe of likely outcomes.

This process is particularly useful for identifying synergies between components or concepts, as well as establishing patterns of cause and effect. Thus, systems thinking is often employed with scenario planning.

We’ve pulled systems thinking into our planning software to help our users see the critical interrelation between brand building elements and the influence a strategic decision around one element can have on another. All of these decisions must be intentional because they’re connected!

Lateral Thinking

Lateral thinking is a way to use indirect and creative methods to come up with alternative solutions that may be non-obvious or disrupt current constructs. This type of thinking hinges on being adaptable and looking beyond conventional wisdom or traditional logic to shake things up. It leverages unconventional thinking to attack problems from different angles.

Lateral thinking requires making leaps, but it isn’t without structure. In fact, there are a range a tactics and techniques that can be employed to sharpen lateral thinking skills. Flipping the script on common narratives, introducing constraints that need to be worked around or requiring alternative solutions are all ways stimulate new thinking. Leveraging transitional objects (people or things that have specific, well-articulated characteristics) and determining how these characteristics could be applied to your situation or to develop a new solution is one of our favorites!

We deploy lateral thinking puzzles in our planning software to aid in expansive thinking and help our customers imagine or ideate new solutions that may not be possible to arrive at using only deductive or logical means.