Published: July 14, 2004 in Knowledge@Wharton Impossible thinking. It is what put men on the moon, allowed Starbucks to turn a commodity product into a powerful global business and permitted Roger Bannister to run the four-minute mile. While not every “impossible thought” can become a reality, very often the greatest obstacle to transforming our organizations, society and personal lives is our own thinking. This may seem to be a simple idea in theory – that what we see and act upon is more a product of what is inside our heads than out in the world – but it has far-reaching implications for how we approach life and decision making. In a new book entitled, The Power of Impossible Thinking: Transform the Business of Your Life and the Life of Your Business, Wharton marketing professor Jerry Wind and Colin Crook, former chief technology officer at Citibank, present a process for “impossible thinking.”  

 

This process starts with the recognition of the power of “mental models” but then offers practical approaches to challenges such as: How do you know when to jump to a new model? What do you do with the old models after the revolution? Where do you discover new models? How do you make sense of the world in an environment of overwhelming data? How do you transform your organization and the thinking of others? How do you harness the power of intuition? In a Q&A with Knowledge@Wharton, the authors offer their insights into these questions.  

 

Knowledge@Wharton: What are some examples of the ways mental models create or limit opportunities?

 

Wind: We discuss a number of examples in the book. Howard Schultz’s creation of Starbucks, Oprah Winfrey’s transformation of the talk show, the “strategic inflection points” that Andy Grove used to dramatically change Intel, all depended on challenging and transforming the current mental model.
[continue]

Page 1 of 10 > >>