Martin Roger L. - Creating Great Choices A Leaders Guide to Integrative Thinking

There is an invisible strength within us; when it recognizes two opposing objects of desire, it grows stronger.

RUMI

I n 2007, Roger wrote a book called The Opposable Mind . The title was a nod to that most useful of tools, the opposable thumb. Shared by humans and most primates, the opposable thumb is what we use to create tension against our fingers to grasp and manipulate objects. Similarly, the opposable mind is one that can create tension between ideas, using that tension to develop new answers to challenging problems. Roger called this practice integrative thinking and argued that mastery of it is what sets highly successful leaders apart from the masses.

In the book, Roger tells the stories of remarkable leaders like Isadore Sharp, founder of Four Seasons Hotels; Bob Young, former CEO of Red Hat, Inc.; and Victoria Hale, creator of the Institute for One World Health. Although these leaders shared little by way of context or background, Roger saw one powerful connection between them: each of these leaders used integrative thinking to solve their toughest problems. These most difficult choices came in the form of an unsatisfying either-or choice: a trade-off between existing answers that were not good enough to truly solve the problem. Rather than choose between the suboptimal options, these leaders used opposing ideas to help them build integrative answers. The result of their thinking processes were new choices that creatively resolved the original either-or problem and produced new value for the world.

The leaders that Roger studied share the predisposition and the capability to hold two diametrically opposing ideas in their heads. And then, without panicking or simply settling for one alternative or the other, theyre able to produce a synthesis that is superior to either opposing idea. In The Opposable Mind , Roger explored this discipline of consideration and synthesis, explaining what he believed these leaders had done to solve their toughest challenges. It was, he said, a way of thinking that contained within it four critical elements.

First, they expanded what was salient to a decision, taking more things into account when thinking about a problem. Second, they explored complex causal relationships, embracing the relationships between the salient variables. Third, they architected the problem so as to take the whole problem into account, structuring with discipline and purpose rather than focusing only on the piece-parts of the problem. Finally, they actively worked toward the creative resolution of unacceptable trade-offs rather than meekly accept them; before moving on, these leaders strove to gain new insight and a resolution of the tension between ideas.

Articulating this theory of integrative thinking was one thing. It was another to teach it. So Roger asked Jennifer to join him in his work, helping translate the theory to action and expanding from the (mainly corporate) executives profiled in The Opposable Mind to individuals in a wide range of organizations. Over the past decade, together with some wonderful colleagues, we have engaged with corporate executives in various industries but also with undergraduate students, graduate MBA and executive MBA students, business managers, nonprofit and government agency leaders, teachers, and even elementary-school students. From each group, we have learned a great deal about the theory and practice of integrative thinking.