To get fit for the future, you need new ideas. Other ideas. Better ideas. Ideas that have not yet been thought of. Lots of such ideas. Internal lateral thinkers are the first choice – if you actually let them do it.
More urgently than ever before, companies need unconventional idea generators with innovative ideas as well as courage, bite and zest for action. Such people are also known as internal lateral thinkers. Lateral thinkers are wake-ups, questioners, differentiators, advancers, future designers. They are bursting with ideas on how one could, should, and should do better than what is getting on in years.
They speak plainly when they identify practices that are out of date. They point to everything that is unreasonable for colleagues and customers. They even fight against windmills. And they do all of this because they really care about their company. If companies were to open up more to their internal free spirits and establish a constructive, lateral thinker culture, it would be incredibly easy for them to leap into the future.
Are lateral thinkers really welcome?
In most traditional companies, lateral thinkers are unfortunately not welcome. They have long been chased away, sidelined, and petty-minded. Or you don’t even let them get into the company. Even in the application process, lateral thinkers are sorted out because they show a lack of conformity. Conformism may seem practical at first, but in reality, it is extremely dangerous.
Because conformism is an attitude, according to Duden, “which is characterized by the alignment of one’s own attitude to the prevailing opinion.” The capacity for criticism silted up, uniformity and step in step set in. The result is mediocre – often the beginning of the end.
Only something special has a good future
Only the special, fascinating, remarkable have a future. Because with all-world solutions and arbitrariness the price alone decides. Then it should at least be cheap. This is devastating for the balance sheet. Thinking and acting against the rule is one of the most important success factors in order to stand out from the average and mediocre.
But where lateral thinkers are not allowed to be active, the tendency to persist – and with this threatens the fast path into oblivion. How do you protect yourself from it? Identify your lateral thinkers and quickly start a process with them as the vanguard with the aim of reinventing yourself from the inside out in order to remain competitive and future-proof.
Make yourself attractive to lateral thinkers
Ensure sustainability? Above all, the talented representatives of the young generation are predestined for this task. With high speed, digital core competence, and a nose for innovation, they drive new sales, marketing, organization, work, financing, communication, purchase, and business models.
An out-of-the-box thinker culture that is actually lived magically attracts the best of the young idea generators. Above all, they are concerned with exciting tasks, experimental freedom, an enriching experience, and opportunities to contribute effectively. Alpha hierarchical corporate landscapes with Command & Control, however, are not acceptable to them.
How to establish a culture of unconventional thinkers
Excellent lateral thinkers within the company are the first choice when it comes to equipping oneself better for our high-speed future on the one hand with an eye on the employees and on the other with an eye on the customers. You can, should, and must work across the entire company in order to examine the attractiveness of the provider and employer and to track down everything that is obstructive.
Above all, leaps in development, otherness, and the inventive recombining of possibilities bring success from now on. The advancing digital economy not only requires efficient innovation management, but also a distinct culture of lateral thinking. How to establish this step by step is shown in my new book “lateral thinkers desperately sought”.
Anne M. Schüller is a management thinker, keynote speaker, multi-award-winning bestselling author, and business coach. She is the owner of the der-business-tipp.de.The graduate in business administration is considered a leading expert in touchpoint management and customer-focused corporate management. She gives keynote speeches on these topics at events and specialist congresses.
In 2015 she was inducted into the Hall of Fame of the German Speakers Association for her life’s work. She was named Top Voice 2017/2018 by the business network LinkedIn and the top writer of 2018 by the business network Xing. Your Touchpoint Institute trains certified touchpoint managers and certified orbit organization developers.
