Why should we break through the inertia of thinking?

Thinking sets can save thinkers from many groping and tentative thinking steps, avoid or take fewer detours, greatly shorten thinking time and improve thinking efficiency; it can also enable thinkers to I feel comfortable, relaxed and happy. But thinking stereotypes are not conducive to innovative thinking; to think innovatively, you must break through the thinking stereotypes.

Although a small tiger shark is not free in an artificial fish pond, it does not worry about hunting. Researchers will regularly deliver food to the pond, which is all fish food of large and small sizes.

One day, the researchers put a large and thick piece of glass into the pool to divide the pool into two halves, but the little tiger shark couldn't see it. The researchers put the live fish on the other side of the glass. When the researchers put the fish down, the little tiger shark immediately rushed over after discovering it. As a result, it hit the glass and was so painful that it hurt and it didn't eat anything. The little tiger shark was probably also wondering what was going on. After a while, it spotted a fish, and wow! It rushed towards it again, and the impact was even more painful. It almost fainted, and of course it didn't eat it. After resting for a while, the little tiger shark was starving. This time, he saw more accurately and stared at a bigger fish. Phew! He rushed over again, but the situation did not change. The little tiger shark was hit so hard that blood flowed from the corner of its mouth, and the little tiger shark was paralyzed. It stayed at the bottom of the pool without moving for a long time.

Finally, the little tiger shark gave its last breath, phew! Charged again! But it was still blocked by the glass, and this time it flipped over. Still haven't eaten the fish.

After experiencing many failures, the little tiger shark finally gave up.

The researchers came again and took away the glass. Then, he put in the small fish and swam around in the pond. The little tiger shark looked at the fish food within reach, but never dared to eat it.

In fact, people can easily be like the little tiger shark, limited by past experiences. For example, if you ask: What is the largest number that can be composed of two Arabic numerals "1"? Everyone can quickly answer: "11". Asked again: What is the largest number that can be composed of 3 "1"s? Everyone can quickly answer: "111". Ask again: What is the largest number that can be composed of 4 "1"s? I am afraid that many people will follow the previous thinking and quickly answer: "1111".

Please pause reading and think about it: is it correct to say that the largest number that can be composed of four "1"s is "1111"? If not, what prevents people from giving the correct answer? What? It is said that the largest number that can be composed of 4 '1's is 1111." Even people with a little knowledge of mathematics can see that this is wrong. The correct answer should be: composed of 4 "1"s The largest number that can be formed is 11", which is "11" raised to the power of "11". Why do many people quickly answer "1111"? This is because the maximum number composed of two "1"s is "11", and the maximum number composed of three "1"s is "111". This kind of " The "analogy-based" solution will be continuously strengthened in people's thinking process and form an inertial track for thinking about the same or similar problems.

The inertial track of thinking about the same or similar problems we are talking about here is called "thinking set" in the science of thinking. The so-called mindset means "past thinking affects current thinking".

Mindsets obviously have many benefits for people to think about problems. It can save the thinker from many groping and tentative thinking steps, avoid or take fewer detours, greatly shorten the thinking time and improve the efficiency of thinking; it can also make the thinker feel comfortable, relaxed and happy in the thinking process. But thinking stereotypes are not conducive to innovative thinking; to think innovatively, you must break through the thinking stereotypes.

Around 1952, Japan's Toshiba Electric Company once had a large backlog of electric fans that could not be sold, and more than 70,000 employees worked to open up sales. I tried my best to think of many ways, but after taking many methods, there was still no progress. One day, a clerk made a suggestion to Ishizaka, the then chairman, to change the color of the fan. At that time, electric fans all over the world were black, and the fans produced by Toshiba were no exception. This clerk suggested changing the fan from black to light color. This suggestion attracted the attention of Chairman Ishizaka. After research, the company adopted the suggestion.

The next summer, Toshiba launched a batch of light blue electric fans, which were very popular with customers. There was also a rush to buy in the market, and hundreds of thousands of units were sold within a few months. . From then on, in Japan, and around the world, electric fans no longer had a uniform black face.

This example is very inspiring. Just changing the color, there was a large backlog of unsalable fans, and hundreds of thousands of them were sold within a few months. This idea of ??changing the color actually produced such huge benefits. It does not require profound scientific and technological knowledge or rich business experience to propose it. Why did no one of the tens of thousands of other employees of Toshiba think of it or bring it up? Why did thousands of employees in Japan and other countries Wan's Electric Company, no one thought of it or brought it up before? This is obviously because fans have always been black since the beginning. Although no one has stipulated that electric fans must be black, they have followed each other's example from generation to generation, gradually forming a convention and a tradition. It seems that electric fans can only be black, and if they are not black, they cannot be used. Fan. Such routines, conventions, and traditions are reflected in people's minds and form a mental set and thinking set. The longer the time goes on, the stronger the binding force of this stereotype on people's innovative thinking, the more difficult it is to get rid of it, and the greater the effort required. From the perspective of thinking method, the valuable suggestion made by this young Toshiba employee is that he broke through the shackles of the stereotype that "fans can only be painted black."

Innovative thinking, whether thinking about how to solve new problems or thinking about how to solve old problems in a new way, requires new thinking procedures and new thinking steps. , and the thinking stereotypes formed based on thinking about similar problems in the past will inevitably have a hindering and constraining effect on innovative thinking, making it difficult for people to break out of the invisible box of thinking stereotypes and make new attempts.

The German physiologist Bernard has a famous saying: "The biggest obstacle to our learning is the known things, not the unknown things." Known things often make people think in a fixed way, leading people to make Bad judgment.

Once, a neighbor stole Washington's horse. Washington and the police found the lost horse on his neighbor's farm, but the neighbor made excuses and insisted that the horse belonged to him and refused to hand it over. Washington thought for a moment, covered the horse's eyes with his hands and said, "Since this horse is yours, can you tell which eye it is blind?" "The right eye." The neighbor replied.

Washington took his hand away from the horse's right eye, only to find that the horse's right eye was shining brightly. "Ah, I made a mistake," the neighbor corrected, "it's the left eye!" Washington also removed his left hand, and the horse's left eye was also bright. "Oops! I was wrong again." The neighbor defended himself. "Enough! Enough!" the policeman said, "This is enough to prove that this horse does not belong to you! Mr. Washington, let's take the horse away!"

Why were the neighbors spotted? Because Washington cleverly used In order to control people's thinking patterns, they first make the neighbors psychologically believe that one of the horse's eyes is blind. This is called the "anchoring effect" in psychology. The neighbor was prompted by the sentence "Which of its eyes is blind?" and concluded that "one eye of the horse is blind." Therefore, after guessing the right eye and guessing the left eye, he did not expect that the horse's eye was not blind at all. Washington asked He discovered the truth on the spot.

It can be seen that "mindset" is a "double-edged sword". The key lies in how we grasp and utilize it.

In a European basketball championship, the Bulgarian team met the Czechoslovak team. When there were only 8 seconds left in the game, the Bulgarian team led by 2 points, and the Bulgarian team had the ball, so it could be said that it was a sure win.

However, that tournament used a round-robin system, and the Bulgarian team had to win by more than 5 points to advance to the next round. But the possibility of winning another 3 points with only 8 seconds left is very slim.

Our general thought is that the Bulgarian team will just have to try their luck. But what I didn't expect was that the team's head coach suddenly requested a timeout.

Many people laughed at this move and believed that the Bulgarian team was doomed and elimination was inevitable. Even if the coach had the power to turn things around, it would be difficult for him to turn the tide in just 8 seconds. After the timeout, the game continues.

At this time, something unexpected happened on the court: the member of the Bulgarian team who had the ball suddenly dribbled towards his own basket, quickly took off and shot, and the ball hit the net.

At this time, the entire audience was stunned and the game time was up. When the referee announced that the two sides were tied and needed overtime, everyone suddenly realized.

This unexpected and innovative move by the Bulgarian team created an opportunity for themselves to come back to life. The result of overtime was that the Bulgarian team won by 6 points and qualified as they wished.

To become an innovative employee, you must learn from this coach and break the inherent mindset.

If we want to improve our innovation capabilities, we must start by breaking the stereotypes and do the following:

(1) Overcome the herd mentality.

(2) Develop the habit of deliberately thinking of other ideas.

(3) Develop the habit of observing and evaluating things from multiple angles.

(4) Stick to the "flash of thought".

(5) Put innovative ideas into action.

The main product of a knitting factory is men's undershirts. With the changes in lifestyle, this old-fashioned undershirt became less and less popular. Later, only retired people wore it, so people called it "old man's shirt".

The warehouse of the factory has a serious backlog of "old man's shirts", so that workers cannot be paid. They wanted to switch production, but lacked funds and encountered many difficulties. The factory faced bankruptcy.

At this time. A young technician made a suggestion: print some aphorisms written in artistic calligraphy on the back and front chest of the backlog of white undershirts, such as "Friends, please respect yourself", "Be patient for one step, the sea and the sky will be brighter" and so on. Making such a small change might open up sales.

Her theoretical basis is that young people have a mentality of seeking novelty, and printing beautiful aphorisms on clothes is in line with their desire to pursue novelty. In doing so, the "old man's shirt" has the potential to become a fashion shirt.

But many people in the factory disagreed with her opinion. They thought it was a joke to just print a few words on the product and turn the backlog into a best-seller without changing the style. Only the factory director paid great attention to the young man's suggestion and decided to test print a small batch and put it on the market.

Soon, a batch of T-shirts with aphorisms printed on them were put on the market, euphemistically known as "cultural shirts." Surprisingly, sales were surprisingly good. After the first batch of cultural shirts went on the market, they were favored by young people and became a hot-seller. They were quickly sold out.

As a result, the second and third batches of T-shirts with aphorisms printed on them were continuously put on the market and dumped in large quantities. For a time, the old man's shirt turned into a fashionable shirt and became popular throughout the city, triggering a craze for cultural shirts across the country. All the overstocked products in the factory's warehouse were sold out, making a profit of one million yuan that year.