Think Wrong: How to Conquer the Status Quo and Do Work That Matters

Author: John Bielenberg, Mike Burn, Greg Galle, Elizabeth Evitts Dickinson
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About This Book

Over the years, we have partnered with some of the most radical, outrageous, experimental people in the world, and we've witnessed first hand the power of thinking wrong.

We've seen seemingly crazy ideas yield incredible results, and we have endeavored to study and understand the secrets and actions of those who successfully operate outside the predictable expectations of business and of culture. We began to see a connection in how these people behave and make decisions, in how they communicate their work, and in whom they deflect from the status quo.

Our gut told us something was going on here. Wrong Thinkers were able to overcome obstacles both in themselves and in the culture at large to achieve exceptional results. We have since identified important moments when, for the rest of us, the flame of possibility gets extinguished.

We have developed six Think Wrong Practices that simultaneously advance compelling solutions while defending them from attacks by well-meaning Right Thinkers.We also see tha conviction, determination, and persistence alone are not enough to escape the status quo, or those hell-bent to protect it. Thinking right already has its language and its tools; it's already got its best practices, defenses, and case studies. In the think-right world of brainstorming, focus groups, marketing surveys, number crunching, bottom -lines, and ROI-focused agendas, it's hard to defend something nebulous and new. Wrong thinkers need their own language, frameworks, tools, and techniques to counter the existing norms. This book is our attempt to arm you--and people everywhere--so you may conceive the inconceivable and bring along others to help implement your status-quo-busting solutions.

In the coming chapters, you'll learn about the six Think Wrong Practices that we have developed over the past two decades. These practices are particularly effective at key moments when right thinking tries to stop you.