ALIEN Thinking audiobook cover - The Unconventional Path to Breakthrough Ideas

ALIEN Thinking

The Unconventional Path to Breakthrough Ideas

Cyril Bouquet, Jean-Louis Barsoux and Michael Wade

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CreativityCareer & Success

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Mind Map

ALIEN Thinking
The ALIEN Framework+
A - Attention+
L - Levitation+
I - Imagination+
E - Experimentation+
N - Navigation+
Overcoming Biases+

Quiz — Test Your Understanding

Question 1 of 7
How did Narayana Peesapaty approach India's groundwater shortage caused by excessive rice farming?
  • A. By lobbying the government to remove electricity subsidies for water pumps.
  • B. By creating a marketable new product out of millet to financially incentivize farmers to switch crops.
  • C. By inventing a more efficient water pump that automatically limits groundwater extraction.
  • D. By organizing protests against the use of water-intensive crops in drought-prone regions.
Question 2 of 7
What strategy did Axel Springer's CEO, Dr. Mathias Döpfner, use to get his skeptical senior management to embrace a digital future?
  • A. He tied their annual bonuses directly to newly established digital revenue targets.
  • B. He hired a completely new executive team from leading tech companies to replace them.
  • C. He sent them on a trip to Silicon Valley to step away from their routines and gain a new perspective.
  • D. He mandated weekly digital innovation workshops led by external consultants.
Question 3 of 7
What is the 'Medici Effect' as applied by the paper company Stora Enso?
  • A. The proliferation of ideas that occurs when diverse and brilliant minds are brought together.
  • B. The financial backing of high-risk, high-reward projects by wealthy corporate sponsors.
  • C. A strategy of acquiring smaller, innovative startups to absorb their creative talent.
  • D. The practice of isolating a team of top performers in a secret lab to develop breakthrough products.
Question 4 of 7
When the French railway company SNCF brought together 650 executives for a two-day event, what was the primary goal?
  • A. To finalize the launch of their new TGV Max subscription service.
  • B. To identify and lay off the managers responsible for the company's recent financial losses.
  • C. To generate hundreds of guaranteed, market-ready business plans.
  • D. To foster a spirit of experimentation in a company that had become slow and bloated.
Question 5 of 7
According to Bracken Darrell of Logitech, what is 'organizational gravity'?
  • A. The tendency for a company's core products to naturally attract a loyal customer base.
  • B. The force within an established company that maintains the status quo and keeps new ideas from taking flight.
  • C. The hierarchical structure that ensures all decisions are made by top-level executives.
  • D. The inevitable decline in a company's market share as it grows too large to manage effectively.
Question 6 of 7
If you work in an environment that is resistant to change, what is a recommended trick to help your innovative idea gain acceptance?
  • A. Present the idea anonymously so it is judged solely on its merits.
  • B. Threaten to leave the company and take the idea to a competitor if it isn't implemented.
  • C. Disguise the radical idea by highlighting how it links to the organization's past and current identity.
  • D. Bypass middle management and pitch the idea directly to the company's investors.
Question 7 of 7
What do the letters in the ALIEN innovation framework stand for?
  • A. Awareness, Logic, Innovation, Execution, Networking
  • B. Attention, Levitation, Imagination, Experimentation, Navigation
  • C. Analysis, Leadership, Ideation, Evaluation, Negotiation
  • D. Adaptation, Learning, Intuition, Engagement, Nurturing

ALIEN Thinking — Full Chapter Overview

ALIEN Thinking Summary & Overview

Alien Thinking (2021) is a simple guide to having great ideas. Rather than simply waiting for inspiration to strike, it lays out five key skills that enable anyone to innovate on demand.

Who Should Listen to ALIEN Thinking?

  • Disruptors hungry for new ideas
  • Business leaders eager to cultivate innovation
  • Anyone who wants more eureka moments in their lives

About the Author: Cyril Bouquet, Jean-Louis Barsoux and Michael Wade

Cyril Bouquet, Jean-Louis Barsoux, and Michael Wade are professors of innovation and strategy at the Institute of Management Development in Switzerland. Together, they have collaborated with dozens of corporations, start-ups, and state agencies, helping them to generate and implement the ideas they need to succeed.

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