Review (5/5): ThinkCube turbocharges your combinatory play & random juxtaposition to the next level!
Wow! I am very impressed by Kes Sampanthar's latest invention, ThinkCube!
Having played with a wide variety of tools, like Pocket Innovator (precursor to the Knowbrainer, both from Gerard Haman), Thinkpak (from Michael Michalko), Whackpack & Innovative Whackpak (both from Roger von Oech), plus a host of minor others, for more than a decade in real world business settings, ThinkCube is a zesty, refreshing change.
I recently experimented with it in a small group business setting.
Despite the short orientation with it (luckily the author/inventor has an excellent corporate website, Metamemes, to equip me with valuable prior knowledge), the group has been truly amazed by the practical results.
In a nut shell, ThinkCube turbocharges my group's combinatory play & randomm juxtaposition to the next level. The permutation of forced associations from seemingly irrelevant connections has been really unbelievable.
In fact, after generating all the crazy ideas, the same thinking or brainstorming process has been repeated to produce the next steps in putting those wild ideas to work immediately. These steps eventually culminate into my group's SMART Game Plan. (SMART stands for Specific Objectives, Metrics, Accountability, Resources, Timing for Implementation & Completion).
As I am most familiar with the application of the famed Synectics process, especially in making the strange familiar & the familiar strange, the metaphorical connections arising from the ThinkCube process intervention add an extra punch to the whole thinking or brainstorming process.
At this juncture, I wish to share with readers a wonderful insight from Tom Peters, who in his wonderful book, `Liberation Management', drives home with this really great observation:
"The essence of creation - in all endeavours - is chance connections between ideas & facts that are previously segregated. Entrepreneurship is the direct by-product of chance, of convoluted connections among ideas, needs & people."
Likewise, Jay Abraham, a high-powered marketing whiz kid, once shares these very interesting observations in his book, 'Getting Everything You Can Out of All You've Got':
- ice cream was invented in 2000BC. Yet it was 3900 years later before someone figured out the ice cream cone;
- meat was on this planet before humans. Bread was baked in 2600 BC. Nevertheless it took another 4900 years for somebody to put together & create the sandwich;
- The modern flush toilet was invented in 1775, but it wasn't until 1857 that somebody thought up toilet paper;
According to him, "once these obvious connections have been made, they seem so obvious. So evident. We can't believe we didn't see them sooner. The endless number of these unmade connections exist to this day, especially in the business world."
He adds further:
"You are surrounded by simple, obvious solutions that can dramatically uncover your income, power, influence, & success, the problem is you just don't see them."
Leonardo da vinci, whom I had met - in the form of a marble statute in the Vatican Museums, Rome as well as in Milan - during my recent holidays in Italy, once said,
"Everything is connected to everything else".
Well, let me put it this way, ThinkCube definitely empowers you to see more connections &/or juxtapositions in your work, your business & your life!
My only complaint about ThinkCube is that it's quite bulky to carry around, but I must say, the packaging, with its bright colours, visually appealing design & clean-cut style, is eye catching.
Best of all, the whole product works very well together to make my day!
Many thanks to you, Kes, for coming up & for sharing your wonderful invention with the world!