Creative thinkers rule the world. They’re responsible for all great breakthroughs, innovations, and progress in human history. They practice what Brian Tracy calls the CANEI principle in “Get Smart!” – Continuous And Never-Ending Improvement.
They know that sometimes one good idea is all it takes to change the course of a business or an individual life.
Mechanical thinkers, by contrast, are rigid and inflexible – “my way or the highway.” Rooted in fears of failure and criticism, they think in black and white, yes versus no, one way when there are usually many ways. They develop “psychosclerosis” – a hardening of the attitudes. They’re victims of homeostasis, striving for constancy, resenting and fearing anything new even if it improves their conditions.
The difference between these thinking styles determines who creates value and who gets left behind by the accelerating pace of change.
You Are a Potential Genius
“You have more creative potential than you could use in a hundred lifetimes,” Tracy writes. “The more of your creative ability you use, the more you can use. You actually become more creative each time you come up with something new.”
Every child is born a genius. Creativity is the single best indicator of success in life and work. The more creative you are, the more ideas you generate to improve your life, work, and everything around you. One good idea can change your entire direction.
How do you recognize creativity? Creative people are curious. They ask questions constantly and are never satisfied. “You can become more creative just by asking more questions about the things going on around you and not being content with superficial answers.”
The Qualities of Genius
Studies of geniuses throughout history reveal that intelligence isn’t about IQ or academic qualifications. Many so-called geniuses had average or slightly above-average intelligence. Genius is more about attitude and approach toward life’s inevitable challenges.
Geniuses develop three qualities:
They approach every problem with an open mind – almost childlike exploration and discovery. The more open your mind to completely new approaches, the more likely you’ll get insights that move you out of your comfort zone and enable you to think outside the box. They continually ask “Why?” “Why not?” and “What if?”
They carefully consider every aspect of a problem, refusing to jump to conclusions. They test and validate tentative conclusions at each stage. They avoid rushing to judgment. They’re always open to being wrong or their idea being no good.
They use systematic approaches to problem-solving and decision-making. Accomplished professionals don’t throw themselves at problems like dogs chasing cars. They follow carefully designed checklists, working through problems step by step toward conclusions.
The Systematic Problem-Solving Method
Tracy synthesizes the best problem-solving ideas into a single method you can use for your career:
Step One: Define the problem clearly, in writing. If working with a group, write and rewrite until everyone agrees: “Yes, this is the correct definition.”
“Accurate diagnosis is half the cure” in medicine. In business, developing the correct problem definition often makes the solution obvious.
Step Two: Ask, “What else is the problem?”
Beware any problem with only one definition. Define and redefine the problem several ways. The worst thing is coming up with a great solution to the wrong problem or a problem that doesn’t exist.
Eighty percent of new products fail within twelve months. The primary reason: companies develop products solving problems customers don’t have.
Like the dog food company that invested millions developing nutritionally perfect dog food. The product failed. When asked what happened, they replied: “The problem was that the dogs hated it.”
Whatever problem definition you settle on determines the solution direction. If your definition is incorrect, your solution won’t work.
Step Three: Ask, “What is the solution?” Then ask, “What else is the solution?”
Beware problems with only one solution. There’s a direct relationship between the number of possible solutions developed and the quality of the final solution. Often two unrealistic ideas combined create one brilliant idea changing your business direction.
Step Four: Narrow down solutions and make a decision. In most cases, any decision is better than no decision. If you can’t decide immediately, set a deadline.
Steve Jobs said, “Creative ideas come from connecting the dots in a different way.” If you’re struggling with a decision, collect more dots – get more information. One new or unconsidered idea can make or save you a fortune.
Step Five: Determine how you’ll measure success. Set clear measures and benchmarks. Quantify desired results. “If you want to succeed in business, set measures for everything. If you want to get rich, set financial measures for everything.”
If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it. What gets measured gets done.
Step Six: Assign responsibility to specific people. Every project needs a champion – someone completely in charge whose success, pay, and promotion depend on results.
Major mistake companies make: agreeing on a new idea then everyone returns to work. No one is assigned specific responsibility. It becomes an “orphan project” – belonging to everyone and no one. Don’t let this happen.
Step Seven: Set deadlines and sub-deadlines. The more important the result, the more often you must manage and measure progress. Inspect what you expect. What gets inspected gets done.
Step Eight: Develop Plan B – a fallback plan if your first solution doesn’t work. Fill out the “Disaster Report.” Ask: “What is the worst possible thing that could happen?”
The worst possible outcome: complete failure and all time and money lost.
How could you minimize failure possibilities? How could you maximize success possibilities? What will you do if your solution doesn’t work?
Great generals plan to win every battle but prepare for defeat. They set aside reserves. They develop contingency plans. They know orderly retreat beats complete rout.
Never “bet the ranch” on a new course of action. Only take calculated risks you can bounce back from if they fail.
Hope isn’t a strategy – it’s a formula for disaster. “Build it and they will come” is almost a recipe for failure.
Step Nine: Take action immediately. Move fast. Develop urgency. Do something. Do anything. Get on with it as quickly as possible.
General George Patton said, “A good plan violently executed now is better than a perfect plan next week.”
Solution-Focused Versus Problem-Focused Thinking
Your true intelligence and creativity is your ability to solve problems and make decisions. Whatever your business card says, your true job description is “problem solver.”
General Colin Powell said, “Leadership is the ability to solve problems.” Success is the ability to solve problems as well. A goal unachieved is merely a problem unsolved.
Successful people think about solutions most of the time. Unsuccessful people think about problems most of the time. Successful people think about how to solve the problem, what actions to take immediately to improve the situation.
Unsuccessful people think about the problem and who’s to blame. They become angry and upset. This triggers negative thinking and the search for the guilty party – “Who did it?” But it does nothing to help find solutions.
The Three Keys: Clarity, Focus, Concentration
To unlock creative powers, you need clarity, focus, and concentration.
Clarity: Be clear about the goal but flexible about the process. Keep an open mind. Be willing to consider various ways to achieve the same result.
Focus: Bring all your brainpower to bear on a single problem like a laser beam, without diversion or distraction. Stay on one subject at a time.
Concentration: Put aside everything else and concentrate 100 percent until you’ve solved your biggest problem or achieved your most important goal.
Jim Collins in “Good to Great” tells the fox and hedgehog story. The fox is clever and knows many things. The hedgehog is more successful because he knows one big thing.
Clarity, focus, and concentration enable you to bring all mental powers to bear on solving one big problem or achieving one big goal.
The Attraction of Distraction
In our computer and email world, perhaps the greatest enemy is the “attraction of distraction” – chasing shiny objects of immediate stimulus like email, texts, phone calls, social media.
According to USA Today, continuously responding to electronic interruptions burns brain fuel (glucose) at rapid rates. The average adult checks email all day, constantly distracted like an attention deficit dog.
As a result, the average email-addicted employee loses ten full IQ points daily, becoming dumber by the hour. By day’s end, many are burned out, unable to concentrate or make simple decisions. They’re further behind on key tasks.
Multitasking Versus Task Switching
Constantly responding to emails, texts, and calls forces “multitasking” – more rightly defined as task switching. You’re not doing several tasks; you’re switching back and forth.
According to one study, it takes about seventeen minutes after breaking off a task to respond to a message to get back “on task” again.
Throughout the day, attention switches back and forth like a windshield wiper, seldom completing anything valuable. Add social media obsession – checking Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn – and you have career disaster formula.
“Social networking is social not working.”
The solution is simple: Leave things off. Check email twice daily at 11:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. Otherwise, turn everything off so you can dedicate yourself single-mindedly to the task at hand.
The Principle of Constraints
This is one of the best creative thinking tools. The Principle of Constraints says that between you and any goal is a constraint determining how fast you achieve it.
Sometimes called the bottleneck or choke point. Andrew Grove, former Intel CEO, called it the “limiting factor” in any production process.
What is your major goal, and what constraint sets the speed at which you achieve it?
Rephrase: “Why aren’t you already at your goal?”
If your goal is 50 percent higher sales and profitability, why aren’t they already 50 percent higher? If your goal is weight loss, why aren’t you already at ideal weight?
When you ask this question, the answer often is your favorite excuse – the reason you most commonly give for non-achievement.
Your first job: identify this limiting factor and focus single-mindedly on alleviating it. This can move you toward goals faster than almost anything else.
The 80/20 rule applies: 80 percent of constraints holding you back are within yourself or your business. Only 20 percent are external.
When identifying and removing constraints, always start with yourself. Ask: “What is it in me (or my business) that’s holding me back from achieving my goal?”
The natural tendency is blaming problems on external forces and other people. The hallmark of superior thinkers: they accept complete responsibility for any problem, then look into themselves for what’s setting achievement speed.
What-If Thinking
One of the most powerful questions triggering creativity: “What if?”
Each time you ask, you break limited thinking bonds keeping you in a narrow area and open your mind to more possibilities.
What-if thinking is considered the breakthrough concept making Federal Express one of the world’s most successful companies. It started by asking: “What if it was possible to deliver a letter overnight, anywhere in the country?”
When Fred Smith suggested this in an undergraduate Yale term paper, his professor gave him a C, saying the idea wasn’t realistic. At that time, first-class mail took three to five days or longer. Overnight delivery seemed highly improbable.
By continually asking “What if?” Fred Smith and FedEx executives developed creative ideas that achieved the goal and led to one of the largest, most successful companies worldwide.
“What if it was possible to put the keyboard on a cell phone screen?” (Apple, now the world’s largest company.)
“What if we could sell and deliver almost any book by email and direct home delivery?” (Amazon.com, now the biggest book vendor.)
“What if we could put a man on the moon and bring him safely back?” (John F. Kennedy – 1962.)
When President Kennedy asked scientist Wernher von Braun what it would take to put a man on the moon and bring him back safely, von Braun replied simply: “The will to do it.”
In many situations, what’s most required for success is simply “the will to do it.”
The Process of Innovation
The philosophy of every successful business and executive is CANEI – Continuous And Never-Ending Improvement.
Resolve to move boldly out of your comfort zone. Continually search for newer, better, faster, cheaper ways to achieve goals and move ahead. Be prepared to fail repeatedly when developing or introducing new products, services, methods, or strategies.
Nothing works out as you think. You’ll experience constant frustrations, difficulties, setbacks, temporary failures on the way to success.
Thomas J. Watson Sr., IBM founder, was once asked how to succeed faster. He replied: “If you want to succeed faster, you must double your rate of failure. Success lies on the far side of failure.”
In fact, there’s no such thing as failure. There’s only feedback. Difficulties come not to obstruct but to instruct. The formula has always been “Try, try again, and then try something else.”
The Takeaway
Creative thinking is systematic, not mystical. It follows proven frameworks for problem-solving, requires disciplined focus without distraction, and demands continuous improvement.
Your ability to solve problems, make decisions, and find creative, innovative ways to grow your business, increase sales, and boost profits is the ultimate key to success.
As Tracy emphasizes in “Get Smart!”, the CANEI principle – Continuous And Never-Ending Improvement – is the philosophy of every successful person and organization.
The question is whether you’ll move boldly out of your comfort zone, ask “What if?” repeatedly, and follow the systematic methods that transform creative thinking from occasional inspiration into consistent innovation.