The phrase “think the unthinkable” has gained a rather bad reputation - and not just because it’s an oxymoron! It’s often used by politicians as an excuse for doing something very unpopular. Used properly though, thinking the unthinkable is an approach that can have great value.

We all have limits, things that we consider unacceptable or impossible. Sometimes we’re aware of these - for example I know that I consider stealing wrong and that I believe I can’t sing. However there are many other limits we’re probably not aware of (by definition I can’t give any examples of these!). These can either be self-imposed limitations or accepted beliefs that we just don’t question. They’re not just limits they’re blind spots.

Very often these limits make sense however some times they’re false and need challenging. At other times, even if the limit is valid it also blocks us from finding other solutions. We know that a whole area of thought - a whole section of the “solution space” - is unacceptable, so we simply don’t look in that direction. it’s possible that a very good answer to our question sits just beyond the “forbidden zone”.

This is the true value of thinking the unthinkable: finding thinkable solutions we might otherwise have missed. Rather than closing off a line of thought because we hit an unthinkable idea, what if we embraced that idea and then tried to find ways of building on it to make it thinkable? What if we said “What if?”?

In essence this is an application of the first rule of brainstorming - never reject an idea. However it’s one thing writing an unthinkable idea down on a flipchart, another actually examining it. In my experience many people pay lip service to the first rule of brainstorming but internally have already rejected the idea.

Try thinking the unthinakble - then thinking through it. There might be a breakthrough on the other side.

Photo Credit: *madalena-pestana* (Creative Commons)

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