People tend to think in categories that seem to be logical, reasonable, common practice, and familiar to them, often in accordance with their experiences. It’s the proverbial box.
In order to create new ideas, different solutions, or develop a completely new perspective, however, we have to leave that mental box. One way to do that is to define (supposedly) absurd goals that appear unrealistic, crazy, and impossible (at first).
Once we take that challenge we’ll realize that the goals cannot be achieved with the traditional thinking inside the box. We are forced to leave it, and think outside of it.
- Our revenue will increase by 50% in the next 12 months (instead of 10%)
- We will launch the new software in 18 months (instead of three years)
- We will enter the new market in three months (instead of the end of next year)
Try that with your teams. You’ll see that they will come up with new ways and solutions nobody thought of before. Those absurd goals might not appear so absurd after all.
