Upside Down Thinking: Disrupting the Status Quo

Mark Holmgren

May 2015

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When was the last time you had an in-service or attended a workshop that was about how (not what) to think?

What is Thinking?

What is thinking?

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What is thinking?

• Think carefully before you begin.

• I was thinking about you.

• I couldn’t think of her phone number.

• Think about what we should do next.

• I think you are right.

• Let’s think about the future.

• I need to think about what that means.

• Let’s think of a better way.4

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ADVICE

CONSIDERATION

REMEMBERING

LINEAR

JUDGEMENTS

VISIONING

REFLECTION

INNOVATION

Thinking…

It is how we connect

“things” we experience

into knowledge, order,

patterns.

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Thinking…

It is the language of “self”

and not only is “of” the self

but continually constructs

and deconstructs the “self.”

Thinking is how we understand our differentiation from and alignment with others.

It is how we engage from our own uniqueness. 6

Thinking…It’s simple, complicated, complex and chaotic.

SIMPLEMake a cake

Any one can do itCOMPLICATEDBuild a Rocket

Those who know how can get it

done.

COMPLEXRaise a Child

No one really can say with certainty

how to do it consistently.

CHAOSForest

Forests are the result of

unpredictablenatural order.

7Based on the work of Brenda Zimmerman

Thinking…

It engages

the

“unknown.”

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Thinking…

It has innumerable filters, often called “biases.”

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Biases

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Ambiguity Effect: ignoring what is not clear

Anchoring: Allowing one thing to anchor one’s position

Availability cascade: The latest shiny thing influences us.

Backfire Effect: Digging in despite evidenceBandwagon Effect: All aboard but not sure to where

Bias Blind Spot: I am less biased than you.

Confirmation Bias: Seeking proof of what I want to hear.

Endowment Effect: I want more to give up what I would pay less to achieveInformation Bias: We just need more and more info.

Immediacy Bias: I just got robbed. We must have more police.

What it’s not

• You.

• Physical Reality.

• Objective.

• Static.

• Language.

• That which you are thinking about.11

Our Preference

Image from http://www.quora.com/

Rules.Order.Predictability.Clarity.Comfort.Easy.

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However, often thinking is…

Now look at what we have

to contend

with.

Image from https://cldeanrobles.wordpress.com

Associative.Messy.Chaotic.Murky.Uncomfortable.Boggling.

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Some Types of Thinking

CRITICAL THINKING

CREATIVE THINKING

INTEGRATIVE THINKING

LATERAL THINKING

All involve divergent and convergent thinking.

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CRITICALAnalytic

Convergent

Vertical

Probability

Judgement

Focused

Objective

The Answer

Left Brain

Verbal

Linear

Reasoning

Yeh, but…

CREATIVEGenerative

Divergent

Lateral

Possibility

Suspended Judgement

Diffuse

Subjective

An Answer

Right Brain

Visual

Associative

Intuition

Yeh, and…

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AchievingResolution

Conventional Thinkers

Integrative Thinkers

Focus on what is obviously relevant.

Seek less obvious but potentially relevant factors

Consider one-way linear relationships between variables…

Consider multi-directional and non-linear relationships among variables

Break problems into pieces and work on them separately or sequentially.

See problems as whole, examining how the parts fit together, and how decisions affect one another.

Make either-or choices; settle for the “best” option.

Creatively resolve tensions among opposing ideas; generate innovative outcomes.

Based on the work of Roger Martin.Chart from Harvard Business Review, 2007

Integrative thinking

Divergent/Convergent Group Thinking

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Wicked Questions

Wicked Questions

are a method of

provocative inquiry.

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UpsideDownThinkingis a hereticalproposal.

Image: https://zestpestdotcom.wordpress.com/19

This is what the goose did to land in tumultuous winds. In other words, turning itself upside down served as an act of “whiffling” which allowed the bird to overcome the wind and land safely. 20

Upside Down Thinking

It is about setting a heretical context more so than crafting inquiry; it poses new realities or potential realities that run contrary to how we think and act and how we see our own identities

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Example

Right there in front of us all the time.

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HereticalCriteria

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Free Writing

More Examples

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Upside Down Proposal

Logic models destroycreativity and block innovation.

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More Proposals

• Anti-poverty activists sustain poverty.

• Hidden agendas are the real agenda.

• Funders should apply to agencies to fund them.

• Self-interest should drive collective impact.

• Collaborations create competition and divisiveness.

• Volunteer programs have destroyed citizenship.

• Agendas are why meetings are a waste of time. 26

The Upside Down Environment

• Welcome the outliers and the boat rockers.

• Seek divergence and invite “strangers”

• Be explicit about “safety” to think upside down.

• Deploy various methods to involve everyone.

• Be clear about the purpose of an upside down session.

• Record everything and share it with everyone.

• Have a facilitator who cannot only work with

disruption, but also be disruptive.27

Upside Down Thinking About Poverty

Economic poverty

is the barrier to

addressing real

poverty: the

deprivation of

one’s humanity.

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Upside Down Thinking About Poverty

Economic policy should

be crafted by people

living below the

poverty line.

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Upside Down Thinking About Poverty

Give poor

people what

they ask for

and stop

supporting

gatekeeping.

Enough to pay their rent.Enough good food to eat.Clothing and winter gear.Child Care.Transportation.Education.Work.Help.

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Construct Homes for $25,000

Give them away. It’s cheaper.

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Housing First does not work for those who need…

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COMMUNITY FIRST!

DESIGN THAT!

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About Mark Holmgren

• CEO of Bissell Centre since 2011.• Strategy and change consultant for more than 20 years.• Former executive staff at two United Ways.• Project Developer of numerous supportive housing ventures.• Blogs often about strategy, innovation, collaboration, and upside down thinking.• Researcher, Analyst, Advocate.• Tamarack Institute “Thought Leader.”• Instructor at two universities.• Published poet and fiction writer with dozens of publication credits.• Singer/Songwriter/Musician• Partner, Father, Son• Chicken soup maker.

www.BissellCentre.org www.markholmgren.com @mjholmgren on Twitter35