Interesting point!

Reminds me of an elegant quote from John Heider, author of The Tao of Leadership:

"Learn to see things backwards, inside out, and upside down."!

By the way, the late creativity maestro Dr Edward de Bono, often acknowledged as the Father of Lateral Thinking, who had asserted about the imperativeness and urgency of embracing multiple perceptions and the fluidity of perception, in order for a professional to stay relevant in today's VUCANT world.

WHAT DO YOU THINK, FOLKS?
 

I like to take this opportunity to show you an interesting viewpoint strategy to reinforce my ongoing proposition for developing an opportunity-sensitive mindset:

VIEWPOINT STRATEGY~ SEEING SIDEWAYS:

To paraphrase the late creativity maestro Dr Edward de Bono, this is seeing laterally, as he preferred to call it.

Only by moving sideways from looking at an issue or a problem or a challenge, then only we can get to a new viewpoint, which will give us a new perspective.

With a new perspective, we are able to see and take an alternative route to solving it.

Here's a Singapore success story to illustrate my point:

Back in the nineties, when Mr Philip Yeo, the former Chairman of Singapore's Economic Development Board went to the United States to sell Singapore as an offshore petrochemical hub, the American investors laughed at him.

They appreciated the attractive tax incentives offered but lamented that our offshore islands were too small - and they were right.

Upon his return, Mr Yeo rounded up all the top guns in the Economic Development Board, Jurong Town Corporation and other related government agencies to brainstorm the problem.

They thought seriously - and laterally - and eventually offered the American investors a proposition they could not refuse: a new Jurong Island, formed by the merging of seven small offshore islands!

Other real-world examples from history and the contemporary world:

• Admiral Nelson’s famous victory at the Battle of Trafalgar;
• the German army going around the Maginot line to cut off French defences in WWII;
• Jeff Bezos circumventing the way we buy and sell online;
• Uber subversively overturning the taxi industry; and
• Airbnb doing the same for hotels and lodging.

All of these are examples of solutions to problems that were done by 'seeing sideways', or ‘laterally‘.

'Seeing sideways' employs creative reasoning that is not immediately obvious. We are encouraged to take risks, use our intuition, access our imagination and conscious/subconscious processes.

In effect, it is simply creative problem solving, but in an unconventional way: the breaking out of established patterns, sequences, and analyses to achieve a result otherwise thought impossible or impractical.

In the meantime, just pause and soak in what John Heider, author of the Tao of Leadership and the Tao of Daily Living, had to say:

"Learn to see things backwards, inside out, and upside down!"

That's all, folks! Stay tuned for my next Viewpoint Strategy !

A WISE QUOTE FOR MONDAY MORNING

“Do you want to be a positive influence in the world? First, get your own life in order. Ground yourself in the single principle so that your behavior is wholesome and effective. If you do that, you will earn respect and be a powerful influence. Your behavior influences others through a ripple effect. A ripple effect works because everyone influences everyone else. Powerful people are powerful influences.”

- John Heider, 'The Tao of Leadership';