Michael Wade

Jean-Louis Barsoux

Cyril Bouquet

From three top innovation experts at IMD Business School comes a smart new model for innovative thinking and problem solving. How do people come up with truly original ideas? For the past decade, the authors of this book have studied individuals who have made leaps of creativity-inventors, scientists, doctors, entrepreneurs and artists-and concluded that there are five patterns of thinking that distinguish them from the rest of us. These five patterns-Attention, Levitation, Imagination, Experimentation and Navigation-lead to a fresh and flexible approach to problem-solving. Alien thinkers know how to free the imagination so it can detect hard-to-observe patterns. They practice deliberate ways to retreat from the world in order to see the big picture underlying a problem. And, they have learned how to change their prototype ideas in systematic ways to reflect feedback and the constraints of reality. Through surprising and compelling stories, the authors show how readers can adopt their five patterns of thinking and use it to develop world-changing ideas. From the WHO's first major breakthrough in treating the Ebola virus, to the balloonist Betrand Piccard's first circumnavigation of the Earth without using fuel, and a British inventor's device that creates electrical power from human footsteps, ALIEN Thinking can help any of us find innovative solutions to the most difficult problems.

The Unconventional Path to Breakthrough Ideas

ALIEN Thinking

'Stuck in innovation stagnation? Read this brilliant book, and you'll break free from it' Rolf Dobelli, author of the million-copy bestseller The Art of Thinking Clearly How did a balloonist circumnavigate the earth without fuel? How did an inventor design a device that creates electrical power from human footsteps? How did the WHO figure out how to treat and reduce the transmission of Ebola? They all used ALIEN THINKING. ________________ For over a decade, innovation experts Cyril Bouquet, Jean-Louis Barsoux and Michael Wade have studied individuals around the world who have made leaps of creative genius. Their research shows that they are five patterns of thinking that distinguish true innovators from the rest of us. These five patterns are marked by a flexibility and a freshness of approach that transcends conventional problem-solving: - Attention - Levitation - Imagination - Experimentation - Navigation Alien thinkers know how to free their imagination and detect hard-to-observe patterns. They practice deliberate ways to retreat from the world in order to see the big picture underlying a problem. And they prototype ideas in systematic ways to reflect feedback and the constraints of reality. Alien Thinking will help you innovate better and develop world-changing ideas of your own. ________________ 'A sharp critique of the conventional wisdom around innovation with thought-provoking advice for how to do it better' Jake Knaap, New York Times-bestselling author of Sprint 'Compelling insights and powerful illustrations to enhance the innovation process' Alex Osterwalder, author of the two-million copy bestseller Business Model Generation

How to Bring Your Breakthrough Ideas to Life

Alien Thinking

How do people come up with truly original ideas? The answer is to think outside the box—way outside. For the past decade, Cyril Bouquet, Jean-Louis Barsoux, and Michael Wade, professors of innovation and strategy at IMD Business School, have studied inventors, scientists, doctors, entrepreneurs, and artists. These people, or “aliens,” as the authors call them, are able to make leaps of creativity, and use five patterns of thinking that distinguish them from the rest of us. These five patterns—Attention, Levitation, Imagination, Experimentation, and Navigation—lead to a fresh and flexible approach to problem-solving. Alien thinkers know how to free the imagination so it can detect hard-to-observe patterns. They practice deliberate ways to retreat from the world in order to see the big picture underlying a problem. And they approach ideas in systematic ways that reflect the constraints of reality. Through surprising and compelling stories, the authors show how readers can use this method to develop out-of-this-world ideas. ALIEN Thinking can help any of us find innovative solutions to the most difficult problems.

"Humour in the workplace is rarely neutral, trivial or random. It is deployed for the achievement of quite specific purposes, to do with self-preservation, getting things done or getting one's way. Managers use humour as a sword: to influence and persuade, to motivate and unite, to say the unspeakable and to facilitate change. They also use humour as a shield: to deflect criticism, to cope with failure, to defuse tension and to make their working lives more bearable. An awareness of how humour is used, by individuals and on them, is critical to managerial effectiveness." "Humour also plays a wider role in business, reinforcing shared values at every level: bonding teams in organizations, shaping and perpetuating corporate cultures, underpinning national management styles, and even helping advertisers to segment consumers by the humorous cues to which they respond." "In Funny Business Jean-Louis Barsoux explores the neglected area of humour in business. From first-hand observation and from interviews with a range of practising managers and top industrialists, including Sir John Harvey-Jones, Sir Peter Parker and Sir Allen Sheppard, he identifies the way humour is employed at all levels of organizations and in different sectors of the economy."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

Humour, Management and Business Culture

Funny Business

In Funny Business Jean-Louis Barsoux explores the neglected area of humour in business. From first-hand observation and from interviews with a range of practising managers and top industrialists, including Sir John Harvey-Jones, Sir Peter Parker and Sir Allen Sheppard, he identifies the way humour is employed at all levels of organizations and in different sectors of the economy.

Jean-Francois Manzoni

Do you have an employee whose performance keeps deteriorating—despite your close monitoring? Brace yourself: You may be at fault—by unknowingly triggering the set-up-to-fail syndrome. Perhaps things started off swimmingly. But then something--a missed deadline, a lost client—made you question the person's performance. You began micromanaging him. Suspecting your reduced confidence, he started doubting himself—and stopped giving his best. You viewed his new behavior as additional proof of mediocrity, and tightened the screws further. In The Set-Up-to-Fail Syndrome, Jean-Francois Manzoni and Jean-Louis Barsoux show how this insidious cycle hurts everyone: employees stop volunteering ideas, preventing your organization from getting the most from them; you lose energy to attend to other activities; and your reputation suffers as other employees deem you unfair. Team spirit wilts as targeted performers are alienated. But the set-up-to-fail syndrome doesn't have to happen. The authors provide preventive measures, such as loosening the reins as new employees master their jobs. If the syndrome has already erupted, Manzoni and Barsoux explain how to discuss the dynamic with your employee and reverse the cycle.

Overcoming the Undertow of Expectations

Set-up-to-Fail Syndrome

N. Anand

This book identifies and addresses the seven transformation journeys that are reshaping corporations today. It integrates and builds on the collective experience and learning of IMD’s professors, who work directly with many organizations around the world and observe their transformation struggles at close range. By taking a holistic and interdisciplinary view of how organizations are transforming themselves, IMD’s faculty accompany global executives - as individuals and as leaders of global corporations - on their transformation journeys.

Leading Global Transformations

Quest

"In March-April 1998 we published an article in the Harvard Business Review entitled "The Set-Up-to-Fail Syndrome: how bosses create their own poor performers."

Jean-Louis Barsoux

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