ThinkInnovation - The Newsletter, Issue 3

When we talk about innovation, we usually think about an innovative product, service, process, or strategy. Rarely do we think about life; the way we lead our life. In the third edition of ThinkInnovation, we will explore the concept of facilitation and coaching in innovating our lives, and their implications on the types of lives we could create of ourselves and for the people around us……

'Think outside the box' is one of those management jargons that has been wildly circulated and widely used in many learning communities in the world.

But what does it really mean? What is the 'box' mentioned in the phrase? We have included an 'outside' in the maxim, how does the inside looks like? Since we know we need to 'think' to get out, then what kind of thinking should we use to do that?

After years of teaching others how to think creatively, I find the best way to answer these questions is through learning and using the creative tools to experience what thinking outside the box really means.

Assumption Reversal Method, which ideas are triggered from assumptions that are reversed from those currently ruling the situation, is an excellent ideation technique that enables us to obtain such enlightenment....... Read more >

The facilitation of learning is very different. In this instance, the source of wisdom is with you. You are recognised to have the capacity to enrich and enlarge the body of collective knowledge within your group. The role of the facilitator is to provide you his skills of unlocking this wealth of individual experience, knowledge and insights, and transforming them into a collective one. He does this by reading the interactions and motivating you into exchanging your thoughts with each other, and helping you reach a consensus over what you want to do with your collective learning and insights.

To effectively accomplish these, the facilitator needs to know how the brain creates insights, understand the science behind the enrichment and enlargement of collective wisdom, and be aware of the predictable behavioural responses in group interactions. I call this aspect of facilitation the ‘Psyche of Facilitation’............... Read more >




Quiet Leadership
Six Steps to Transforming Performance at Work
David Rock

ISBN 978-0-06-083591-0

You want your team to crack the challenge it is currently working on and you think you know what it should be doing. You had expected the team to come up with some breakthroughs after the meeting but a week later you found that the members are still not making any headway. You are beginning to feel very frustrated with each member of your team and wondering if you should be the one working around the problem instead.

Sound familiar?

One of the hardest challenges in managing performance is changing the way people think.

Supported by the latest research in the functions of the brain, Quiet Leadership provides a brain-based approach that helps you improve your own performance and those of your colleagues'.

Quiet leaders are masters in bringing out the best performance in others. They improve the quality of thinking amongst people without telling any of them what they should do. Quiet Leadership gives you the clarity that comes from using and mastering powerful insights that make us perform and succeed at the highest level......... Watch this Video >

Organisations may use a number of interventions to improve the performance of individuals. These may include teaching, training, facilitation, mentoring, and counselling. Coaching is one of such interventions but its principles, approaches and techniques are distinctively more self-directed. People are meaning making machines and tend to be derailed in their performance, In this 2-day programme, you will uncover the key elements of coaching for innovation...... Read more >

Our career may be progressing smoothly with our goals largely achieved and our future career prospects remain bright. However, it is not guaranteed that we are forever successful at our workplace and in our work life. We could be hit by a snag that slows us down or even halt our advancement entirely.

Sometimes, we are aware of these when we saw our peers progressing ahead of us but often we do not know the way out of the situation. At other times, we only know we are unhappy and stressed by events that we feel we have no control over but yet we are never able to pinpoint accurately the source behind these.

When you are afflicted by these experiences, it means your career may have been derailed and you need to know how to put it back on track............ Read more and post a comment >

The Career Derailment Wheel is an instrument that helps you uncover the status of your career in your organisation and suggests the parts in your life that may need further attention.

This profile highlights the drivers that may help explain the challenges you may be facing with the growth and development of your career. This could be used as a early warning device informing you of your propensity for derailment.

Each driver is coded to provide you with a colour indicator of the likelihood of you being derailed in your career and the drivers behind this propensity. It could also used to highlight the prevailing reasons for the slowing down or halting in your career progression.

So, what the health of your career?

Here is a self-assessment instrument which may help you uncover the health of your career…………… Download and complete this >

The third edition of ThinkInnovation is created and
produced by Anthony Mok on 14 Oct 2010.
Copyright 2010. Anthony Mok. All Rights Reserved.