Try thinking outside the box

The other day I came across the unusual sight of a a full grown tree being apparently lifted out of the ground by a mobile crane. On closer investigation it had actually been cut off at ground level in a very inaccessible area of garden before it was hauled over the roof of the house. A brilliant piece of imaginative thinking.

It got me wondering how many times business people really think out of the box when faced with a challenge or obstacle of some kind or whether they usually go into a regular routine, the risk free default that has been used many a time before.

I think the advent of AI makes human creativity more valuable than it’s ever been. The machine is producing solutions from information that already exists. The advantage we have is our brains can can come up with fresh ideas that have never seen the light of day.

Hence, when faced with an arduous and time consuming task of chopping down a tree in a very awkward spot, someone came up with the idea of lifting the whole thing out in one piece with a crane.

The other thing to bear in mind is that you never know who will suddenly have the brainwave that solves the problem. That’s why more and more companies are forming teams or workgroups which harness a variety of skills, experience and knowledge. And the best ones encourage everyone to chip in and have their say.

I saw a great example of this approach in the work of the boffins at IAAPS, the Institute of Advanced Automotive Propulsion Systems at the University of Bath. Its inspirational leader, Chris Brace, doesn’t just have a room full of mechanical engineers. Oh no, he brings together expertise from across the academic board.

For instance, he involves people who can explore the psychology of driving, which opens up a vastly wider approach to the question of emissions. They found the way you drive could have a huge impact, irrespective of how “clean” the engine itself was.

There will doubtless be lots of examples of this sort of cross fertilisation in the best and most creative businesses, but there’s nothing to stop companies of any size and sector from employing the same techniques.

Involve as many people as you can in problem solving, be open minded to fresh ideas and you may be surprised where the answer comes from.