The importance of thinking exponentially
Please be aware that this article was written way before COVID-19 and we’ve tried to keep this evergreen. That is, content that lives beyond our current climate of uncertainty and undoubted challenge.
As high performance leaders, we’re always striving to make things better. But what if better wasn’t what we should be aiming for? What if we should be aiming for different instead? Well, exponential thinking allows that to happen. So, what is it exactly? And how does it differ to the way we think now?
The human brain tends to think locally and linearly. It takes steps, one after the other, until it gets to where it wants to go. This type of thinking is predictable, safe and natural to the human condition. But when it comes to business, it’s the least effective approach. With the rapid changes that are being experienced across all industries, we have to change our mindset to better suit them. And how can we do that? By exploring the idea of exponential thinking.
Exponential thinking is most commonly seen in digitisation and technology. It’s recognised by rapid, steady growth and expansion, and the leveraging of technology in order to create positive impact not just in the present day, but years into the future as well. While exponential thinking might still be a relatively unexplored concept, there’s a very popular example used when discussing it in order to showcase the potential growth and effect. If you take 30 linear steps, you’d end up 30 steps away from where you began. But if you take 30 exponential steps, you’d end up a billion metres away. Another way of looking at it, especially for the mathematical fans, is this: if linear thinking uses addition, exponential thinking uses multiplication. This is what allows for rapid growth and change, and is why technology is able to make such enormous advancements.
The benefits of this style of thinking might seem vague, but when you consider the rapid rate of change that is already being experienced – at an exponential rate – it doesn’t seem so illogical. We have to accept that, even though our brains are programmed to think in a linear fashion, that is no longer the most effective thought process.
Encouraging exponential thinking requires accepting risk, especially at the boardroom level. While boards are there to ensure an organisation remains compliant, meet regulatory controls, and keep the company on course with its vision and purpose, they have a tendency to be rigid and safe in their thinking. But by equipping themselves with both exponential thinking and higher levels of diversity, they can start recognising current and future blind spots that could be of detriment to the organisation, and take steps to correct them.
Exponential thinking will allow us to better predict the future, think outside the box, outperform our competitors and stay ahead of the curve. It can enable us to stay on top of the global changes occurring across the world and cope with them effectively, rather than get left behind. The future is exponential. Undertaking this style of thinking is the only way we can keep up.