Fundamental to innovation and breakthrough is learning to balance the creative and the rational minds.  For example, inventing and selecting the outcomes for the innovation requires the ability to put aside the rational mind, such that new ideas can be created and envisaged.  If we cannot put aside the rational mind, the outcomes will be an extrapolation, a form, of what currrently exists, and there will be no innovation.  To be effective in the process of inventing, people need to see clearly the difference between rational thinking and "creative" thinking, and they need to see these difference beyond mere intellectual knowledge, they need to see the difference in a way that impacts their day-by-day actions.

Working with "creative" thinking has a set of practices, and the enabler of these practices is the mindset.  Putting aside the rational mind looks simple - until we do try to put it aside.  Most if not all of our processes and our decision-making models and criteria in organizations are derived from, and grounded in rational thinking: what makes sense, what there is a precedent for, what experts say, etc., that is to say, what already exists.  Dealing with something that does not exist, that we are inventing, and for which the pathways to realizing are not known, and to do that without stepping into the grip of the rational mind, requires a different way to think and requires rigorous pratices and discipline.

Focusing on, and committing to outcomes before the pathways to realize them are known, is essential to the creation of breakthroughs.  Often, at the start of a "project" the pathways we see will not get us the outcome we desire.  Having clear pathways be the determining factor in deciding to take a "project" on is likely to lead to "more of the same" outcomes. The "pathways first" thinking will  even have us abandoning a project simply because we do not have a pathway to complete it from the start. 

Having the outcomes - what we want by when - be the determining factor in taking on a "project", especially when there is no pathway, will spur the inventing pathways process until we find a solution.  Most organizations have a low tolerance for going outside of the pathways they can see - hence they build in to their culture a set of characteristics that thwart innovation.

"LPR has been a catalyst in helping our company define its future, and has helped us in so many ways capture the strengths from within ourselves to innovate and dare to be bold. I can’t think of any other instance where working with a consultant has had such a profound impact on myself or my team in changing the way we speak, act and behave. 

They have helped us understand intimately the importance of focusing on outcomes rather than on activities, and as a result overcome the inertia of opinions and old habits."

J.A., President, Johnson & Johnson