Leaders need to help people challenge the sacred, challenge the typical ways of thinking. This is a slide show from a talk I gave at Tamarack's Poverty Reduction Summit in May 2015 in Ottawa.

1. Upside Down Thinking:
Disrupting the Status Quo
Mark Holmgren
May 2015

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When was the last time you had
an in-service or attended a
workshop that was about how
(not what) to think?

3. What is Thinking?
What is
thinking?
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4. What is thinking?
• Think carefully before you begin.
• I was thinking about you.
• I couldn’t think of her phone number.
• Think about what we should do next.
• I think you are right.
• Let’s think about the future.
• I need to think about what that means.
• Let’s think of a better way.
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ADVICE
CONSIDERATION
REMEMBERING
LINEAR
JUDGEMENTS
VISIONING
REFLECTION
INNOVATION

5. Thinking…
It is how we connect
“things” we experience
into knowledge, order,
patterns.
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6. Thinking…
It is the language of “self”
and not only is “of” the self
but continually constructs
and deconstructs the “self.”
Thinking is how we understand our differentiation from and
alignment with others.
It is how we engage from our own uniqueness. 6

7. Thinking…It’s simple, complicated, complex
and chaotic.
SIMPLE
Make a cake
Any one can do it
COMPLICATED
Build a Rocket
Those who know
how can get it
done.
COMPLEX
Raise a Child
No one really can
say with certainty
how to do it
consistently.
CHAOS
Forest
Forests are the
result of
unpredictable
natural order.
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Based on the work of Brenda Zimmerman

8. Thinking…
It engages
the
“unknown.”
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9. Thinking…
It has innumerable filters, often called “biases.”
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10. Biases
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Ambiguity Effect: ignoring what is not clear
Anchoring: Allowing one thing to anchor one’s position
Availability cascade: The latest shiny thing influences us.
Backfire Effect: Digging in despite evidence
Bandwagon Effect: All aboard but not sure to where
Bias Blind Spot: I am less biased than you.
Confirmation Bias: Seeking proof of what I want to hear.
Endowment Effect: I want more to give up what I would pay less to achieve
Information Bias: We just need more and more info.
Immediacy Bias: I just got robbed. We must have more police.

11. What it’s not
• You.
• Physical Reality.
• Objective.
• Static.
• Language.
• That which you are thinking about.
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12. Our Preference
Image from http://www.quora.com/
Rules.
Order.
Predictability.
Clarity.
Comfort.
Easy.
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13. However, often thinking is…
Now look
at what
we have
to
contend
with.
Image from https://cldeanrobles.wordpress.com
Associative.
Messy.
Chaotic.
Murky.
Uncomfortable.
Boggling.
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14. Some Types of Thinking
CRITICAL
THINKING
CREATIVE
THINKING
INTEGRATIVE
THINKING
LATERAL
THINKING
All involve divergent and convergent thinking.
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CRITICAL
Analytic
Convergent
Vertical
Probability
Judgement
Focused
Objective
The Answer
Left Brain
Verbal
Linear
Reasoning
Yeh, but…
CREATIVE
Generative
Divergent
Lateral
Possibility
Suspended Judgement
Diffuse
Subjective
An Answer
Right Brain
Visual
Associative
Intuition
Yeh, and…

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Achieving
Resolution
Conventional
Thinkers
Integrative
Thinkers
Focus on what
is obviously
relevant.
Seek less
obvious but
potentially
relevant
factors
Consider one-
way linear
relationships
between
variables…
Consider
multi-
directional
and non-
linear
relationships
among
variables
Break
problems into
pieces and
work on them
separately or
sequentially.
See problems
as whole,
examining
how the parts
fit together,
and how
decisions
affect one
another.
Make either-
or choices;
settle for the
“best” option.
Creatively
resolve
tensions
among
opposing
ideas;
generate
innovative
outcomes.
Based on the work of Roger Martin.
Chart from Harvard Business Review, 2007
Integrative thinking

17. Divergent/Convergent Group Thinking
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18. Wicked Questions
Wicked Questions
are a method of
provocative inquiry.
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19. Upside
Down
Thinking
is a heretical
proposal.
Image: https://zestpestdotcom.wordpress.com/
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20. This is what the goose did to land in tumultuous winds. In
other words, turning itself upside down served as an act of
“whiffling” which allowed the bird to overcome the wind
and land safely. 20

21. Upside Down Thinking
It is about setting a heretical
context more so than
crafting inquiry; it poses new
realities or potential realities
that run contrary to how we
think and act and how we
see our own identities
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22. Example
Right there in
front of us all
the time. 22

23. Heretical
Criteria
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24. Free Writing
More Examples
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25. Upside Down Proposal
Logic models
destroy
creativity and
block
innovation.
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26. More Proposals
• Anti-poverty activists sustain poverty.
• Hidden agendas are the real agenda.
• Funders should apply to agencies to fund them.
• Self-interest should drive collective impact.
• Collaborations create competition and divisiveness.
• Volunteer programs have destroyed citizenship.
• Agendas are why meetings are a waste of time. 26

27. The Upside Down Environment
• Welcome the outliers and the boat rockers.
• Seek divergence and invite “strangers”
• Be explicit about “safety” to think upside down.
• Deploy various methods to involve everyone.
• Be clear about the purpose of an upside down session.
• Record everything and share it with everyone.
• Have a facilitator who cannot only work with
disruption, but also be disruptive. 27

28. Upside Down Thinking About Poverty
Economic poverty
is the barrier to
addressing real
poverty: the
deprivation of
one’s humanity.
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29. Upside Down Thinking About Poverty
Economic policy should
be crafted by people
living below the
poverty line.
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30. Upside Down Thinking About Poverty
Give poor
people what
they ask for
and stop
supporting
gatekeeping.
Enough to pay their rent.
Enough good food to eat.
Clothing and winter gear.
Child Care.
Transportation.
Education.
Work.
Help.
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31. Construct Homes for $25,000
Give them away. It’s cheaper.
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32. Housing First
does not work
for those who
need…
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33. COMMUNITY FIRST!
DESIGN THAT!
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35. About Mark Holmgren
• CEO of Bissell Centre since 2011.
• Strategy and change consultant for more than 20 years.
• Former executive staff at two United Ways.
• Project Developer of numerous supportive housing ventures.
• Blogs often about strategy, innovation, collaboration, and upside down thinking.
• Researcher, Analyst, Advocate.
• Tamarack Institute “Thought Leader.”
• Instructor at two universities.
• Published poet and fiction writer with dozens of publication credits.
• Singer/Songwriter/Musician
• Partner, Father, Son
• Chicken soup maker.
www.BissellCentre.org www.markholmgren.com @mjholmgren on Twitter
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