CorkScrew Solutions: How Great Leaders Solve (Seemingly) Impossible Problems

What separates good leaders from great leaders? Their ability to think outside the box and find ingenious solutions to gnarly dilemmas. Great thinkers like Winston Churchill, Eli Goldratt and Roger L. Martin, aside from being hugely influential people, all had one thing in common. When faced with a perplexing professional dilemma, they used two simple techniques to make all their important decisions. Author Clarke Ching calls these techniques ‘Corkscrew Solutions.’ Winston Churchill employed Corkscrew Solutions just as WW1 was about to begin. He was faced with a huge professional dilemma; preparing the British Navy to win a war against Germany. He had to decide whether Britain’s navy should (a) stick with coal-powered ships or (b) switch to new, more powerful oil-fueled ships. From the outside, it looked like a lose/lose situation. Oil-powered ships would be more powerful, but at the time there wasn’t a reliable and secure fuel supply. Britain would almost certainly lose the coming war. On the other hand, coal was a reliable fuel source, but the German navy was almost certainly switching to oil. For Britain to stick with coal power, as the movie line goes, would be like ‘bringing a knife to a gunfight.’ If they went with coal, Britain would almost certainly lose the coming war. So what was Winston to do? By thinking outside of the box, and using the strategies outlined in this book, he came up with a Corkscrew Solution. An ingenious third option that combined the best of both oil and coal. Unresolved professional dilemmas are the #1 cause of work-related stress. This book will show you how to find clever solutions to (seemingly) impossible quandaries. You will solve problems that flummox other people. And your CorkScrew Solutions will turn problems into opportunities. Through Clarke Ching’s humorous personal stories and real-life examples you’ll learn:- The ‘Evaporating Cloud’ Formula for describing any dilemma and finding its solution- How to combine seemingly conflicting ideas and find the ‘third solution’ – What all highly successful leaders have in common – How to develop and use everyday integrative thinking- A simplified, easy to implement version of Eli Goldratt’s ‘Theory of constraints’- The right questions to ask yourself when mulling over any dilemma (Ching’s signature ‘Upthinking’ strategy) – An introduction to The Pattern Maker, The Editor and The Why Finder – and how to put them to work when you’re facing a dilemma. Corkscrew Solutions is for clever people who want to become more effective leaders, make better decisions and learn a proven process for thinking ‘outside the box.’