Think Like a Rocket Scientist

People are biased against the way things could be and find comfort in the way things are.

The keyboard layout most of us use was designed to be inefficient. Before the current arrangement, typewriters would jam if you typed too quickly. The QWERTY layout (named after the first six letters on the keyboard) was created specifically to slow down typing speed to prevent mechanical key blockage. In addition, for marketing purposes, the letters that make up the word typewriter were placed on the top line to allow a salesperson to demonstrate how the machine operates by quickly typing the brand name (try it out!). Of course, mechanical key blockage is no longer a problem. Nor is there a need to type typewriter as quickly as possible. Yet despite the availability of far more efficient and far more ergonomic layouts, the QWERTY arrangement still dominates.

Research shows that we become increasingly rule bound as we grow older.

Research shows that we become increasingly rule bound as we grow older.4 Events begin to rhyme. Days begin to repeat. We regurgitate the same overworn sound bites, stick to the same job, talk to the same people, watch the same shows, and maintain the same product lines.

Research shows that we become increasingly rule bound as we grow older.4 Events begin to rhyme. Days begin to repeat. We regurgitate the same overworn sound bites, stick to the same job, talk to the same people, watch the same shows, and maintain the same product lines. It’s a choose-your-own-adventure book that always has the same ending.

Process, by definition, is backward looking. It was developed in response to yesterday’s troubles. If we treat it like a sacred pact—if we don’t question it—process can impede forward movement.

Knowledge is good. But knowledge should inform, not constrain. Knowledge should enlighten, not obscure

“The five most dangerous words in business are ‘Everybody else is doing it.’”

argue for your limitations, and you get to keep them.

What do you assume you’re supposed to do simply because everyone around you is doing it? Can you question this assumption and replace it with something better?

To mop the mist collected on your mental windshield in those areas and expose the invisible rules governing your life, spend a day questioning your assumptions. With each commitment, each presumption, each budget item, ask yourself, What if this weren’t true? Why am I doing it this way? Can I get rid of this or replace it with something better?

The best way to expose invisible rules is to violate them. Go for a seeming moonshot you don’t think you’ll achieve. Ask for a raise you don’t think you deserve. Apply for a job you don’t think you’ll get.

“The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life,”

If you’re trying to transform an industry, it makes sense to look outside the industry for talent.

If you’re trying to transform an industry, it makes sense to look outside the industry for talent. That’s where you’ll find people who aren’t blinded by the invisible rules—the white tablecloths—that constrain their thinking.

When things are going well, we settle into the comfort of the status quo, rather than upending it.

Frazier asked them to do something they had never done before: destroy Merck. Frazier had the company executives play the role of Merck’s top competitors and generate ideas to put Merck out of business. They then reversed their roles, went back to being Merck employees, and devised strategies to avert these threats.

Lisa Bodell, the mastermind behind the exercise, explains, “To create the company of tomorrow, you must break down the bad habits, silos, and inhibitors that exist today.”

“To create the company of tomorrow, you must break down the bad habits, silos, and inhibitors that exist today.”

It’s one thing to say “let’s think outside the box.” It’s another to actually step outside the box and examine your company or product from the viewpoint of a competitor seeking to destroy it.