Dare to Think Differently: How Open-Mindedness Creates Exceptional Decision-Making

Harvard Business School Marketing Professor Gerald Zaltman pioneered research on the unconscious desires of customers in his classic book, How Customers Think. Dare to Think Differently uses the same groundbreaking methods to describe the deep and innovative thinking used by highly successful executives. It explains the 'thinker toys' they use to draw on the creative power of their unconscious mind, make smarter decisions, and solve tough problems. Consistent with emerging viewpoints in the behavioral sciences, Zaltman contends that multiple forces, not just a brain, collaborate to produce a mind. He explains why all thought is capable of being unconscious, while only a small portion of unconscious thought ever becomes conscious. Highly effective decision-makers are those who are able and willing to go beyond their conscious thinking and surface normally hidden or unconscious thoughts and feelings. They candidly ask whether what they feel they "know" is actually warranted, to open their minds to new alternatives.

The book's insights emerge from a large number of one-on-one depth interviews with senior leaders around the globe, reinforced with research findings from scientific literatures. Zaltman presents six techniques he developed to help his students at Harvard, and his blue chip consulting clients, tap into the creative power of the unconscious, including: "befriending your ignorance," "serious play," "chasing your curiosity," asking the right "discovery questions," "panoramic thinking," and using the "voyager outlook." Collectively, these techniques provide a robust set of ideas for improving decision making that go beyond any existing book.

Mirroring Zaltman's Harvard Business School classroom practice, each chapter opens with a practical thinking exercise that helps readers surface the mental processes and biases that unconsciously close minds and constrict thinking. While the lessons in each chapter are illustrated with cases from business leaders, the case of greatest interest throughout is opening the reader's own mind. Dare to Think Differently helps leaders make smarter, decisions, and creatively solve their most challenging problems.