It’s not all about thinking.
In the end, there has to be DOING involved.
To become better at finding integrative solutions you need to seek out situations where you can put your thinking tools and points of view into action. Then you need to evaluate what you have done and learn from it, modifying your outlook and use of tools for the next time. The intriguing part is that when you believe there are better mental models out there, then the experiences that you seek out and the things you try will change. Your approach will shift.
The most effective integrative solutions are based on a combination of mastery and originality, both of which grow from experience.
Mastery is usually the result of many hours of deliberate practice. Originality often shows up most strongly after a series of attempts that come closer to the fnal result. In other words, it incorporates things you could have called failures instead of iterations.
The best part about Roger Martin’s path of using beliefs, tools, and experiences to develop your opposable mind is that they can create a positive spiral. One small step in one area ties back into the others and enables you to take another step closer to finding innovative integrative solutions for the problems that trouble you and resolution for the dichotomies that seem to stand in your way.
In the book, experience is presented in chapter 8, which includes a detailed story regarding its impact in the career of A.G. Lafley with Proctor and Gamble. Martin ends the book here with a few wrap-up comments about a personal knowledge system.
This post is the fifth in a series that covers the major topics of The Opposable Mind
