The Breakthrough Manifesto E-Book

Kim Christfort

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Fachliteratur
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 280

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2023

Beschreibung

Building a Better Path to Breakthrough, By Design Innovation is a process by which new ideas, services, and sources of value are brought to life. Yet approaches to the pursuit of innovation often rely on stale methodologies. Transformative innovation requires something else. Not just methodologies, but mindsets. Not just focusing on known challenges, but on unknown opportunities. Not just hoping for breakthrough by default, but realizing breakthrough by design. In The Breakthrough Manifesto, a renowned business innovation leader teams up with a social-personality psychologist to offer that something else--a collection of 10 visionary principles to obliterate barriers to change and ignite a whole new level of creative problem-solving. Drawing upon decades of experience working with the world's best-known organizations and their teams, the authors provide practical advice that goes beyond "business as usual" for successfully tackling intractable challenges. They'll show you how to: * Silence your inner cynic and strip away old, fallacious assumptions as you embrace problem-solving anew * Embrace experimentation, prototyping, and co-creation revealing new potential by making a mess together * Challenge yourself and each other to test your own limits and expand your comfort zone Bursting with behavioral science, stories from the field, and pragmatic strategies, The Breakthrough Manifesto explores why these principles are critical for the current times and how they can spark breakthrough and unlock potential for you and your teams. Whether you're an executive or manager, product or service designer, educator or student, this book is a must-read for anyone inspired to change the world or transform their own place in it.

Leseprobe

Table of Contents

Cover

Table of Contents

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

Welcome to Breakthrough

CHAPTER 01: SILENCE YOUR CYNIC

Toxic Effect 1: Death to Innovation

Toxic Effect 2: Bye, Bye Diverse Ideas

Toxic Effect 3: Shackles on the Mind

CHAPTER 02: STRIP AWAY EVERYTHING

Check Yourself

Question Orthodoxies

Don't Believe Everything You Hear

CHAPTER 03: LIVE WITH THE PROBLEM

Look Before You Leap

Try Passive Percolation

Spend Your Time Wisely

CHAPTER 04: CHECK YOUR EDGE

Expand Your Thinking

Pursue the Unexpected

Stretch Yourself

CHAPTER 05: ENLIST A MOTLEY CREW

Get Truly Motley

Enlist All Members

Row Like a Crew

CHAPTER 06: GET REAL

Find Your Equilibrium

Be Yourself but Keep Evolving

Get Real Together

CHAPTER 07: MAKE A MESS

Produce a Prototype

Cocreate

Build for Buy‐In

CHAPTER 08: DON'T PLAY “NICE.”

Strike the Right Note

Make It Worth It

Anticipate Differences

CHAPTER 09: DIAL UP THE DRAMA

Set the Stage

Immerse Yourself

Make ’Em Laugh

CHAPTER 10: MAKE CHANGE

Reframe “Change”

Iterate and Adapt

Make a Dent

Putting the Principles into Practice: Breakthrough Methods

Silence Your Cynic Methods

Silence Your Cynic Method 1: Interrogate Yourself

Silence Your Cynic Method 2: Ask What If …

Silence Your Cynic Method 3: Change Your Mind(set)

Silence Your Cynic Method 4: Get Physical

Silence Your Cynic Method 5: Buddy Up

Strip Away Everything Methods

Strip Away Everything Method 1: Flip Orthodoxies

Strip Away Everything Method 2: Defy Constraints

Strip Away Everything Method 3: Sleuth for Truth

Strip Away Everything Method 4: Search for UFOs (Unidentified Fact Options)

Strip Away Everything Method 5: Reuse and Repurpose

Live with the Problem Methods

Live with the Problem Method 1: Act Like a Toddler

Live with the Problem Method 2: Change the Lens

Live with the Problem Method 3: Try Question Storming

Live with the Problem Method 4: Stretch Out Your Brainstorming

Live with the Problem Method 5: Sleep on It

Check Your Edge Methods

Check Your Edge Method 1: Plot Your Portfolio

Check Your Edge Method 2: Think Three Bears

Check Your Edge Method 3: Play Mad Libs

Check Your Edge Method 4: Mix It Up

Check Your Edge Method 5: Push Yourself

Enlist a Motley Crew Methods

Enlist a Motley Crew Method 1: Reveal Your Superpower

Enlist a Motley Crew Method 2: Assess Your Team's Diversity

Enlist a Motley Crew Method 3: Mind the Gap

Enlist a Motley Crew Method 4: Interrupt Cascades

Enlist a Motley Crew Method 5: Celebrate Slogans

Get Real Methods

Get Real Method 1: Start a Vulnerability Loop

Get Real Method 2: Flag Highs and Lows

Get Real Method 3: Explore Trust

Get Real Method 4: Ask Deeper Questions

Get Real Method 5: Listen

Make a Mess Methods

Make a Mess Method 1: Go Marshmallow!

Make a Mess Method 2: Make a Metaphor

Make a Mess Method 3: Immerse Yourself

Make a Mess Method 4: Stream Your Consciousness

Make a Mess Method 5: Draw It Out

Don't Play “Nice” Methods

Don't Play “Nice” Method 1: Save a Seat for the Elephant

Don't Play “Nice” Method 2: Go to Extremes

Don't Play “Nice” Method 3: Find Your Achilles Heel

Don't Play “Nice” Method 4: Like, Wish, and Wonder

Don't Play “Nice” Method 5: Frame Feedback

Dial Up the Drama Methods

Dial Up the Drama Method 1: Kick It Around

Dial Up the Drama Method 2: Color Me Breakthrough

Dial Up the Drama Method 3: Light It Up

Dial Up the Drama Method 4: Make a Playlist

Dial Up the Drama Method 5: Be a Character

Make Change Methods

Make Change Method 1: Navel Gaze

Make Change Method 2: Establish Rituals

Make Change Method 3: Motivate with Nudges

Make Change Method 4: Plan for Scenarios

Make Change Method 5: Find Your Why

References

Acknowledgments

About the Authors

Kim Christfort

Suzanne Vickberg

Index

End User License Agreement

Guide

Cover Page

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

Table of Contents

Begin Reading

References

Acknowledgments

About the Authors

Index

Wiley End User License Agreement

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THE BREAKTHROUGH MANIFESTO

10 PRINCIPLES TO SPARK TRANSFORMATIVE INNOVATION

KIM CHRISTFORTSUZANNE VICKBERG

Copyright © 2024 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey.

Published simultaneously in Canada.

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Library of Congress Cataloging‐in‐Publication Data

Names: Christfort, Kim, 1974‐ author. | Vickberg, Suzanne, 1971‐, author. | John Wiley & Sons, publisher.

Title: The breakthrough manifesto : 10 principles to spark transformative innovation / Kim Christfort, Suzanne Vickberg.

Description: Hoboken, New Jersey : Wiley, [2024] | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2023026401 (print) | LCCN 2023026402 (ebook) | ISBN 9781394207039 (cloth) | ISBN 9781394207053 (adobe pdf) | ISBN 9781394207046 (epub)

Subjects: LCSH: Organizational change—Management.

Classification: LCC HD58.8 .C487 2024 (print) | LCC HD58.8 (ebook) | DDC 658.4/06—dc23/eng/20230905

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2023026401

LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2023026402

Cover Design and Image: Emily Hung Wilson

To our motley Deloitte Greenhouse crew and alumni, who have been the inspiration and the engine behind this book

Welcome to Breakthrough

We believe in breakthrough. Not so much the random unicorn kind that might meander across your path (though we're all for that). But even more so the hard‐earned variety that comes when you open your mind, dig deep, and lean in. The type that requires you to embrace and to rise above your humanness.

But what is breakthrough, really?

Breakthrough is what enables people to create better versions of themselves and the world around them. It is the array of energizing injection points on the timeline of progress and the catalyst of step change transformations. Breakthrough is a way of thinking that opens eyes to new possibilities and a way of acting that converts that potential into impact.

History is replete with stories, perhaps exaggerated, about sudden moments of inspired breakthrough. Newton's insight into gravity after an apple fell on his head. Einstein's dream of a falling man inspiring the theory of relativity. Archimedes's naked run through the streets shouting “Eureka” after he made the connection between mass and water displacement while in his tub.

These scientific discoveries are certainly one type of breakthrough. But what about the stories of challenges overcome in defiance of the standard? For instance, the design school team who took on the challenge of infant survival rates in low resource environments by building a baby warmer that costs less than 1% that of a traditional incubator.1 Or any of the “miracle” athletic wins, when records are shattered and context overcome, like two‐time Olympic gold medalist Sydney McLaughlin, who broke her own world record in the 400‐meter hurdles four times in a 13‐month period. These, too, are types of breakthrough.

Over the past decade working with thousands of executives and their teams in immersive Deloitte Greenhouse® experiences, we've witnessed these kinds of breakthroughs with many moments of sudden inspiration and numerous challenges overcome. But we see another kind of breakthrough as well, unique in that it stems not from an obligation to address a specific existing problem but rather a desire to anticipate and act on emerging issues and needs. This is breakthrough that happens when people decide to step outside the comfort of the status quo to ask, “What if … ?,” enabling new opportunities to blink into existence and eventually take flight.

This sort of breakthrough is essential, particularly in this current moment. Around the world foundational beliefs and behaviors are shifting rapidly and simultaneously across societal, political, and economic arenas. Rapid advances in technology are driving entirely new worlds of opportunity with the potential for great benefit but also great harm.2 Traditional optimization and innovation approaches can fall short in this environment. Instead, organizations need a different way of thinking that helps to imagine and shape the future and effect transformational change.

At their core, each of these breakthrough definitions shares a dramatic shift from before to after. And although breakthrough with widespread implications might be the kind making news headlines, we've also seen that breakthrough can be highly personal. That fear you had that you overcame. That realization you had that transformed your thinking. Moments of accomplishment or insight that might not have changed the world, but that changed your world. Because breakthrough ultimately is about significant positive change—period.

We think of breakthrough in terms of its two central aspects, inherent in the name:

BREAK –

obliterating barriers and obstacles that stand between you and the place you're trying to get to on the other side

THROUGH –

not just leaving things broken, but rather creating momentum to successfully transition between the

from

and the

to

To achieve breakthrough, you must first realize that there's a problem or opportunity relative to your current state. Then, you must figure out what's getting in the way and how to deal with that, and you must build the impetus and drive to achieve the desired change. Breakthrough is process and product, and the journey to breakthrough can be as significant as the destination itself, because you rarely get the latter without the former.

In spite of its importance and impact, we've found that the process of getting to breakthrough isn't standard fare for most individuals and teams. It requires a certain type of mindset and thinking that spurs you to engage with the world differently. After years of research and working with executives in the field, we have found that there are specific principles and techniques that, when applied with intention and regularity, can enhance your chances of getting to breakthrough. And that is what this book is all about.

Based on more than a decade of work with individuals, teams, and organizations, the Breakthrough Manifesto codifies 10 principles that underpin everything we do in the Deloitte Greenhouse to help our clients and ourselves achieve breakthrough.

This two‐part book brings the Breakthrough Manifesto to life with research, behavioral science, stories from the field, and practical strategies. It addresses why these principles are needed and why they work, and it offers pragmatic, straightforward methods for implementing this way of thinking in day‐to‐day life to effect positive change.

Because these principles are core to what we do in the Deloitte Greenhouse, it's perhaps not surprising that this is a business book, based on years of business experience and research, written for business practitioners and their teams. That said, similar to many human‐centered insights, our findings and recommendations for breakthrough thinking can apply beyond the work domain. And similar to many such insights, the more you build your breakthrough thinking muscles in one domain, the more you might find those muscles flexing in other aspects of your life. So, in that spirit, although much of this book focuses on workplace examples, we will also call out specific personal applications in each chapter and hope you'll be inspired to think of others on your own.

After reading this list of principles you may think that you are already doing many of these things. Indeed, we asked 9,500 professionals from more than 1,000 companies around the world whether they're living these principles, and the majority said they are—different principles to differing degrees. And yet, those same professionals also shared that they don't believe their teams embrace the principles to the same extent. Because teams (who apparently aren't embracing the principles) are made up of individuals (who claim they are), someone must be over‐ or underestimating some behaviors somewhere.

Although this difference in perception of one's own versus others' behaviors likely stems from a shared superiority illusion3 (whereby people tend to think they, individually, perform above average in a variety of different ways), our research does show differences in perceived “breakthrough mindedness” based on working style, industry, and even maturity of a team (e.g., short‐term project teams claim to use more of the principles, and more permanent teams representing a department or division use fewer). And there are also differences in degree of adoption for some principles compared to others, with the largest proportion of professionals claiming they're making change, and the smallest proportion claim they're getting real or checking their edge. Overall, however, we've seen that although many people and teams have good intentions, they often don't incorporate breakthrough thinking into their day to day lives. They lack daily habits and practices to build muscle memory for catalyzing and promoting innovation. And although that may not pose a challenge for some efforts, when it comes to promoting innovation that effects significant positive transformation—real breakthrough—ad hoc approaches fall short.

That's why this book doesn't just explain the different principles behind the Breakthrough Manifesto but also offers specific methods for how to create breakthrough‐friendly environments, prime your brain for breakthrough thinking, spark breakthrough ideas, and generate momentum to bring breakthroughs to life. Each chapter in Part 1 explores one of the 10 principles, and then the corresponding sections in Part 2 provide a field guide of related methods for you to try on your own or with your teams to boost your breakthrough thinking. It's designed to be a resource that you actively use in your daily life, versus browse and tuck away on a shelf. These methods can serve as a starting point for you to add to and annotate with your own breakthrough ideas as you experiment on your own. And experiment we hope you will.

It won't always be easy. Breakthrough isn't for the faint of heart. It requires bravery, authenticity, and sweat. Throughout the process you'll be asking yourself and others to think differently, share openly, and act boldly—practices that require cognitive agility, psychological safety, perceived value and impact, and healthy group dynamics, among other things. Throughout the book we'll share tips for how to overcome potential barriers and create environments that promote breakthrough thinking.

At the end of the day, we believe the effort is worth it. Improving your breakthrough thinking enables you to broaden horizons, unlock stale thinking, and seed fresh ideas, creating paths to meaningful impact at scale. And we suspect you'll find, as have we, that it's not just about reaching a specific destination; even the journey itself makes a difference.

In many ways, these are mistrusting times. Fake news, scams, and hoaxes have littered the past decade. So perhaps it's not only understandable, but even healthy, to maintain a general air of skepticism. To doubt. To question. To dismiss. Some might even view such behavior as a sign of intelligence; poking holes in things can seem insightful whereas postulating possibilities can come across as naive.6 Indeed, research suggests that people often perceive skeptics to be cognitively superior. This despite studies demonstrating precisely the opposite.7 It's no wonder then that the skeptic can have such a powerful voice in our world and in our workplace.

But although healthy skepticism plays an essential role in effective evaluation and decision‐making, cynicism, its negative cousin, can be toxic. Perhaps you've seen this less desirable orientation play out in your teams or organization. The blunt naysayer shutting down discussion with a dismissive, “That will never work.” The snide Goldilocks sidebar chats undermining an idea for being too much, or too little, but never just right. Or perhaps even that critical narrative in your own head whispering, “There's no way you can do this.” Unfortunately, this kind of negativity can be contagious and counterproductive, particularly for breakthrough thinking.

At this point you may be wondering (with, we might add, healthy skepticism), “Now wait a second, am I just supposed to stop thinking critically and not say anything, no matter how ridiculous the situation? The answer is no. Indeed, in order to get to breakthrough it is essential that you apply keen reasoning and judgment, speak up to question assumptions, and share your perspectives. It's just a question of when and how. Silence your cynic is about making room for ideas to take shape and germinate. It's about suspending disbelief and assuming anything's possible. Our other Breakthrough Principles get into how you can prune those ideas later.

As you will see throughout this guide, the 10 principles of our Breakthrough Manifesto are designed to work in combination, but they don't need to be used all together, or at the same time. This way of thinking requires agility to apply the principles in specific moments to increase your probability of getting to breakthrough. And it's hard to get to breakthrough if you don't at least start with an open mind. That's why straight out of the gate we clear the path for breakthrough by tackling the toxic effects of cynicism head on. If you look closely, you'll see cynicism can result in death to innovation, saying bye‐bye to diversity, and placing shackles on the mind.

Toxic Effect 1: Death to Innovation

Did you ever hear that story about the amazing idea that was dismissed too quickly and thus never changed the world? Right. Breakthroughs are more likely to arise in open environments where ideation produces a high volume and diversity of ideas.8 Especially in the initial stages of idea development, it's essential to create a positive, unconstrained environment that encourages imaginative meanderings, random associations, and outlandish what‐ifs so you can move beyond the obvious ideas to the truly creative ones. Being overly critical too early in the process isn't just a buzzkill, it can be a barrier to discovering and unlocking new opportunity spaces.

Some organizations send their executives to improvisation classes, and there's a good reason for that. The classic “Yes, and …” technique encourages people to build off one another's ideas, however ridiculous, rather than shutting them down with a “No” or “That doesn't make sense” or “What the heck are you thinking?” It may seem like fun and games but following a seemingly bizarre thought can lead down a path to a related idea that works.

Part of the power of a new idea is that, by definition, it hasn't been done before. Yet innovation can be nipped in the bud because it challenges the status quo or seems at first glance inferior to it. The internet is bursting with stories about inventions that experts said would never be a thing: lightbulbs, alternating current, telephones, cars, planes, personal computers, online shopping, books about boy wizards, and so on! These examples illustrate how an unwavering belief in their own idea can enable creators to ignore the cynics who doubt them. It can be inspiring to read these believe in yourself stories, but you shouldn't let them fool you about the potentially destructive effects of judgment and cynicism. In that moment of a possible breakthrough's birth, and without the benefit of hindsight, the cynical voice can drown out future potential with vociferous defense of the present. And thus is the status quo calcified and opportunity lost.

Toxic Effect 2: Bye, Bye Diverse Ideas

As we've shared, innovation thrives on quantity and diversity of ideas. This comes not only through promoting free‐ranging discussions that push beyond the status quo but also through establishing psychologically safe environments that encourage broad participation. As we'll explore further in the enlist a motley crew chapter, there is often enormous benefit to accessing and engaging multiple perspectives. Diversity of all sorts can be a key factor in generating more creative solutions.10 Yet this diversity often isn't tapped, even when it exists on a team or in an organization. Why not? Because according to our research, many people feel they can't share their ideas freely at work due to fear of judgment and rejection.11

Not surprisingly, leaders have an outsized influence on their team's willingness to voice their thoughts. Sometimes teams withhold critical information, or stop sharing fresh perspectives, because their leaders respond with whiplash cynicism and negativity. These teams may share a common set of sentiments, feel attacked, ridiculed, undermined, and mistrusted by the way their leaders respond. But leaders aren't the only source of such problems. If any team member voices cynicism, it can catalyze a cascade of naysaying that only exacerbates the issue.

In many instances, what the cynics say isn't the problem. Asking difficult questions and exercising good judgment are essential to effective leadership and management. Often the issue is with the when, the why, and the how.

Take for example two leaders soliciting input from their teams. One asks for opinions, and then the moment an individual shares a point of view, jumps on it and starts picking it apart, saying things like, “That's not at all what that means” and “I don't see any evidence to support that.” We call this a gotcha leader. The other leader requests opinions and then asks clarifying questions, saying things like, “What do you mean when you say x?” and “Interesting; what led you to make that connection?” We call this a Socratic leader.

Both types of leaders have questions about the information being provided. In the gotcha leader example, the team member who spoke up likely feels interrogated and might be reluctant to share anything more for fear of further criticism. That person's teammates are probably happy that they aren't the ones in the line of fire and might be scrupulously avoiding eye contact with the leader in the hopes of not being attacked themselves. In the Socratic leader example, the team member who spoke up likely feels heard. The neutral questions enable the person to share more of their thoughts and underlying assumptions, yielding better information. And their teammates are able to listen and react to their ideas and are more likely to be willing to share their own. Using inquiry as a thoughtful tool to create a safe environment for diverse contributions is a critical component of breakthrough thinking.

Toxic Effect 3: Shackles on the Mind

Perhaps the most insidious type of cynicism is the type aimed not at others, but at oneself. The inner voice saying, “I can't,” “That's impossible,” “I'm not [insert positive adjective] enough.” Ironically, that voice is likely even louder when there's another cynic around, perhaps someone like the gotcha leader criticizing ideas, or even a colleague snarkily judging other individuals on the team. An inner cynic may see that kind of behavior and sow even more self‐doubt.

Even without external cynicism to strengthen it, the inner cynic can be quite chatty—especially when it comes to breakthrough thinking. It can feel personally risky to explore half‐baked, potentially unpopular, ambitious thoughts. That process reveals a bit of yourself in how you think and what you think about and may even require bold things of you.

But a negative inner monologue can become a self‐fulfilling prophesy. It's difficult to get to breakthrough if you doubt you're capable of reaching it. Indeed, belief in oneself has been demonstrated to make people see more opportunities and be more open to risks.14 Like the Little Engine Who Could, Rocky, Ted Lasso, and countless other popular references, you have to believe it to achieve it.

When you believe, you are “seeing” something that is not yet in sight, that has no “real” evidence for its existence. You are putting your eye on a daring horizon point, even if you don't know precisely how you'll get there, versus fixing your gaze on the obstacles of your current reality. Belief is the feather that gives you the confidence to fly. Just ask Dumbo. Or Henry Ford who famously said, “Whether you believe you can, or believe you can't, you're right.”15

Silencing your own cynic to believe—in an idea, in others, in yourself—can also open your mind to making new connections because your brain wants things to make sense. If you are cynical about something but you force yourself to not be cynical, then you start a different kind of cognitive processing. What could this mean? How might this make sense? What would it take to make this work? Channel the powers of your inner voice toward breakthrough, not barrier making.

Looking for practical ways to boost your breakthrough thinking by silencing your cynic? Jump ahead to our silence your cynic methods. We'll guide you through the steps to interrogate yourself, ask what if …?, change your mind(set), get physical, and buddy up.

When Einstein proposed his theory of special relativity in 1905, he ended a decades‐long search for luminiferous ether, which was believed to fill all unoccupied space and to serve as the medium through which electromagnetic waves are transmitted. Physicists of the day were laboring under the Newtonian assumption that all waves require a medium to propagate, just as sound waves require air. Although they spent an untold number of hours searching for the mysterious medium, no one ever found it. (Because it didn't exist!) Just think what progress might have been made on other scientific discoveries if that erroneous assumption had been challenged earlier, and the energy of those scientists was directed elsewhere.

Although it's perhaps easy to look back and think the physicists of the 1800s should have known better, they were far from unique in accepting faulty assumptions as truth. Einstein himself accepted the false assumption that the universe is static rather than expanding, and he created the cosmological constant to force his data to fit that assumption (rather than challenging the assumption itself when he discovered his data didn't fit).22 Modern day science continues to discover previously accepted assumptions that are false. And regular people—us non‐scientists—are always making false assumptions as well. For example, people tend to assume having children will make them happy, but later report they are less happy when interacting with their actual children than when doing almost any other activity.23 Human lives are built on assumptions, and that can wreak havoc on the choices people make.

Just like other parts of life, the workplace is full of assumptions that, unchallenged, can get in the way of breakthrough. When there's a really tough problem to solve, people often focus on what they don't know, without realizing that what they do know (or think they know) is equally important. Sometimes they get stuck on a single idea they think will define the future or they accept explanations that may not be accurate. People limit their solution generation by starting with certain assumptions that lead them down one path and close off other paths. They fall victim to their usual patterns of thinking and fail to consider different directions. What you think you know can blind you to new possibilities. Instead, we recommend you strip away everything—set aside what you think you know, question your assumptions, and adopt a beginner's mindset. Doing so can help to mitigate the limitations imposed by individual biases, organizational orthodoxies, and societal beliefs alike. So check yourself, question orthodoxies, and don't believe everything you hear.

Check Yourself

At the individual level, everyone has beliefs and assumptions about how the world works. And people's brains have any number of ways to keep those beliefs and assumptions in place. We hate to tell you this, but your brain can be a bit lazy. It doesn't want to go to the effort of looking at things in a