This book is a field-guide for innovators, a hand-book for thinking different, for doing different, and for guiding others in thinking different to get different results. There are tools and mind maps for the visual learner to make positive change happen. It is about effecting continuous improvement and innovation both in your personal and business life. The book frees you from linear thinking and opens a world of possibilities. It has been used for some of the world’s largest corporations, for instance, Texaco, Royal Bank of Canada, IBM, Exxon, General Mills both for corporate thinking expeditions and individual study. The reader will experience new energy, commitment, and self-confidence at any level. While the concept is presented in seven different levels, the reader can wade in at Level 1, move immediately to Level 3 or jump to Level 7 as they will.
"Diffferent Thinking: 1. Thinking which is unlike in style, type, form, process, quality, amount or nature; dissimilar. 2. Differing in thinking from all others, unusual. 3. Thinking which reverses basic assumptions and accepted logic or reasoning. 4. Weird thinking." - Rolf Smith
Many want to change the world, few know where to start. It starts with yourself. It starts with what "The 7 Levels of Change" sets out to do, which is help you think different so that you can get different results.
Think different by doing things different. You can start small, doing one thing different every day. Still stuck in a rut? Practice Feng-Shui and move 27 items around in your home. If you think different, and you do different, this means you will be a new person every day - no longer thinking, acting, or reacting as you once did. This is uncharted territory, an expedition of sorts. By pursuing even minor or gradual changes day by day, you will eventually produce a radical change.
The 7th level (Doing the Impossible) is the holy grail of change and innovation. It will likely involve full personal transformation, with an outer manifestation of that change in the real world. This will involve thinking the thoughts you never thought you could. This will involve pursuing those things that any "sane" person would discount as ludicrous and impossible. Listen to the negative voice inside your head that tells you "No", and that will become your reality. Allow yourself to be naive and optimistic, and suddenly the impossible becomes merely improbable. (Imagine if you didn't know that something was "impossible", and you went for it?) Add persistence to the equation and you nudge the needle from improbable, and closer and closer to probable.
A few activities to try: - Do one thing different every day - Make a To-Don't List of things not worth doing because they are inefficient - Invent categories from which to see the world, rather than always seeing it the same way you always have - Make a list of your top 3 lifetime goals, top 3 goals for the next 3 years, and top 3 goals if you had 6 months to live - List 7 CSF's (Critical Success Factors) needed to succeed, moving up the levels of change as you list them - Maintain a "Different" list - every time something seems different, or you have a different thought, write it down
A very powerful book... an essential read for the serious student of the mind and thinking... if you're not sure whether to get the book... get the book...
I. C. Robledo, Author in "Mind & Brain Improvement" To learn more, search my name in your Goodreads search bar.
I don't often recommend self-help / step-by-step type books, but I find Rolf's "7 Levels of Change" to be a practical and helpful read. This book was used as a required text during my "Creativity and Innovation" course through the Disney education program, and unlike many other books of a similar nature, it isn't dependent on any particular mental health trend or lifestyle choice.
The book addresses the different ways different people think, and proposes a number of activities to promote neuroplasticity.
Fascinating book taking you through the 7 levels of change. Between this book and "Edgeware" it will change the way I do things at work for the next 5 years.
I read this book before I knew of the term Neuroplaticity. There is a direct and very military feeling to the book - at least that is what I got. The author is ex-Air Force so that might explain things. I liked reading this and then going back to read Col John Boyds paper entitled "Destruction and Creation". Change is all about synthesis, analysis, synthesis, analysis, etc.
My guess is that if you are looking for a framework to bring change to your organization, this book might be what you are looking for.