Open to Think: Slow Down, Think Creatively and Make Better Decisions

by Dan Pontefract

While it may not occur to us on a daily basis, there is a widespread cultural tendency toward quick decisions and quick action. This pattern has resulted in many of our society's greatest successes, but even more of its failures. Though the root cause is by no means malicious, we have begun to reward speed over quality, and the negative effects suffered in both our personal and professional lives are potentially catastrophic.

Best-selling author and Chief Envisioner Dan Pontefract offers the solution to this predicament with what he coins "Open Thinking", a cyclical process in which creativity is encouraged, critiquing leads to better decisions, and thoughtful action delivers positive, sustainable results. He proposes a return to balance between the three components of productive dreaming, deciding, and doing.

Based on organizational and societal data, academic research, historical studies, and a wide range of interviews, Open to Think is an appeal for a world of better thinking. Pontefract introduces tangible, actionable strategies to improve the way we think as organizations and individuals.

Audible Audio

Published October 17, 2018

About the author

Dan Pontefract is a leadership and corporate culture strategist and an award-winning author with over two decades of senior executive experience at SAP, TELUS, and Business Objects.

Since launching Pontefract Group in 2018, he has worked with organizations worldwide, including Salesforce, Amgen, Nestlé, Autodesk, Manulife, BMO, Nutrien, and Virgin Media O2.

He has presented at four TED events and delivered over 600 keynote talks in Australia, the Middle East, Europe, the US, and Canada.

He is the author of Work-Life Bloom (winner of the 2024 Thinkers50 Best New Management Book and the Axiom Business Book Awards Gold Medal), Lead. Care. Win., Open to Think, The Purpose Effect, and Flat Army.

He writes for Forbes and Harvard Business Review and is an adjunct professor at the University of Victoria’s Gustavson School of Business.

Named as one of the Thinkers50 Radar Class of 2018, HR Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in HR, and Inc. Magazine’s Top 100 Leadership Speakers,

Dan lives in Victoria, BC.