The Power of Impossible Thinking: Transform the Business of Your Life and the Life of Your Business

This book is about getting better at making sense of the world...so you can make decisions that respond to reality, not some obsolete model of reality.

Drawing on the latest neuroscientific research and their experience with corporate transformations, Jerry Wind and Colin Crook explain how your mental models stand between you and reality, distorting all your perceptions...and how they create both limits and opportunities.

You'll learn how to develop new ways of seeing...how to keep your mental models fresh and relevant...when to change to a new model...how to build a portfolio of models...and improving your models through constant experimentation.

Better mental models = smarter decisions

Understand what's real, so you can act on it

How people get "stuck," and what to do about it

How obsolete mental models keep you from making changes

The neuroscience of mental models

What scientists can teach us about perception–and reality

Creating new models

Practical ways to see things in new ways–fast

"Wind and Crook have written a marvelous book that can teach you how to think more effectively in personal and business settings. Read it and learn!"

Drea Zigarmi
Author of The Leader Inside: Learning Enough About Yourself To Lead Others and co-author of Leadership and the One Minute Manager

"We like to say, 'See it with your mind's eye.' Wind and Crook show us that our mind is our eye. What we think is what we see, and what we see directs how we act. Not only do the authors make this paradigm clear, but they offer concrete and practical ways to change our mind's eye and as a consequence change our actions and the results we get. The value of that is hard to top."

J. Stewart Black, Ph.D.
co-author of Leading Strategic Change
and Professor, University of Michigan Business School

"I have been trying to explain why Japan has fallen into a pitfall and cannot come out of even the simplest problems. One can call it an innovators dilemma, but that does not solve the problem. This book suggests we have to go back to the basics of reviewing our underlying 'mental models' now and then, and only then, have to construct a new model, perhaps plural, and move onto exploring the new terrain."

Kenichi Ohmae
Author of the international bestseller, The Borderless World

"While most of us may recognize that the world we respond to is more in our mind than in any physical reality, often we don't have a clue why this is so. This very important book clearly explains how our mental models work to construct these distinct inner worlds. And more importantly it offers empowering advice on how we can use this knowledge to work for us rather than against us in creating a better outer world for ourselves, our organizations, and our societies."

Charles C. Manz
Best-selling author of SuperLeadership, Fit to Lead, and Temporary Sanity

"This is an important book that 'makes sense of how we make sense.' The authors provide a thorough, fresh, and compelling exploration into the dimensions of mental models. All leaders who want to be more effective in their actions would be served well to leverage the principles in this book to learn about how they think and make sense of the world around them."

Nick Pudar
Director of Strategic Initiatives, General Motors

"This is an important book that 'makes sense of how we make sense.' The authors provide a thorough, fresh, and compelling exploration into the dimensions of mental models. All leaders who want to be more effective in their actions would be served well to leverage the principles in this book to learn about how they think and make sense of the world around them."

Nick Pudar
Director of Strategic Initiatives, General Motors

"This is a really great piece of work. It is 'immersion into the process of insight'. Truly a valuable addition to any forward-thinking person's library in light of the rapid change we face in today's world―business and personal."

J.Allen Kosowksy, CPA
Forensic Accountant and Director, 0N2 Technologies

"A masterfully written book that is sure to capture the attention of every thinking person who's willing to look at the world of business through new lenses. The Power of Impossible Thinking is both timely and intriguing."

Kathy Levinson, Ph.D.
Author of The 60-Second Commute

"Tough-minded managers like to think they see the world as it is. Wind and Crook, drawing on recent neuroscience research, demonstrate that none of us, tough-minded or not, do anything of the sort. What we perceive as 'the world' is as much inside our heads as outside. By realizing that and making choices about how we see things, we can become much more effective managers."

Rob Austin, Ph.D.
Harvard Business School and co-author of Artful Making

"While most of us may recognize that the world we respond to is more in our mind than in any physical reality, often we don't have a clue why this is so. This very important book clearly explains how our mental models work to construct these distinct inner worlds. And more importantly it offers empowering advice on how we can use this knowledge to work for us rather than against us in creating a better outer world for ourselves, our organizations, and our societies."

Charles C. Manz
Best-selling author of SuperLeadership, Fit to Lead, and Temporary Sanity

"Today, life moves at hyperspeed. Hence, the age-old human skill of pattern recognition is more essential to our health and happiness than ever before in history. The Power of Impossible Thinking is a wonderful guide to help you understand the patterns you recognize and―critically―when those patterns serve you well, when they don't, and what you can do about it."

Douglas K. Smith
Co-author of The Wisdom of Teams and author of On Value and Values

"I have been trying to explain why Japan has fallen into a pitfall and cannot come out of even the simplest problems. One can call it an innovators dilemma, but that does not solve the problem. This book suggests we have to go back to the basics of reviewing our underlying 'mental models' now and then, and only then, have to construct a new model, perhaps plural, and move onto exploring the new terrain."

Kenichi Ohmae
Author of the international bestseller, The Borderless World

"Jerry Wind and Colin Crook have one of the most powerful messages there is about dealing with the present changing world. Perspectives are prisons, they say. The only way to thrive in the coming environment is to cultivate the ability to sense the new patterns and relationships as (and before) they emerge―otherwise you'll be locked in the past. This book can get you out of that jail."

John L. Petersen
President and founder of The Arlington Institute and author of
Out of the Blue: How to Anticipate Wild Cards and Other Big Surprises

"The Power of Impossible Thinking is a health spa for the executive brain. Poor mental models can do more than ruin your reputation, your organization, or your team. How many times do we ignore market changes because of personal bias? Thanks to Wind and Crook we have a new vast insight into 'making sense' to help global leaders master the models needed for successful leadership behavior."

Cathy L. Greenberg, Ph.D
Executive Director, Institute for Strategic Leadership,
LeBow College of Business, Drexel University

"Everyone is familiar with exhortations for mindset change, attitudinal change and paradigm shift. But slogans are not solutions and words are not deeds. What is missing is a "how to" book. Wind and Cook have brilliantly filled this chasm of need with an extraordinary book that revolutionizes businesses, individual lives and society."

Dr. Y Y Wong
Chairman and Founder, The Wywy Group of Companies

"Wind and Crook have written a marvelous book that can teach you how to think more effectively in personal and business settings. Read it and learn!"

Drea Zigarmi
Author of The Leader Inside: Learning Enough About Yourself To Lead Others and co-author of Leadership and the One Minute Manager

"We like to say, 'See it with your mind's eye.' Wind and Crook show us that our mind is our eye. What we think is what we see, and what we see directs how we act. Not only do the authors make this paradigm clear, but they offer concrete and practical ways to change our mind's eye and as a consequence change our actions and the results we get. The value of that is hard to top."

J. Stewart Black, Ph.D.
co-author of Leading Strategic Change
and Professor, University of Michigan Business School

"This is a very important book. It deals with truly fundamental issues―both for practitioners as well as academicians―relating to making sense out of a variety of complex events in the real world, and how to keep an open mind regarding all of this. We often become 'prisoners' of set routines and behaviors, and thus gradually grow less and less effective. This book points the way out of this dilemma--in a most convincing sense. Models, properly focused around the best in human minds, are key here. These can help us understand paradigm shifts, maintain relevance, and keep momentum. To see things differently becomes central. The book makes seminal contributions here. It provides a strong, rigorous―and practical―conceptual base for this! I am equally impressed with the book's focus on implementation, both in terms of setting out an agenda for transforming one's world, as well as in terms of pointing out how action can be achieved―quickly and naturally―following the prescriptions of the book. All in all, I find the book to be a true seminal contribution, with a strong conceptual underpinning, convincing empirical verification, and realistic implementational focus. This book will become a must, for practitioners and academicians alike."

Dr. Dr. h.c. Peter Lorange
President IMD, The Nestle Professor

"The authors have done a masterful job examining the power and limits of our mental models and how to better accomplish change in the complex world ahead.... This book offers a road map with a real set of attributes that can help us make the tough choices in a time of transition.... I would put this book at the top of my 'keeper' list for those on the front lines of change management and mission accomplishment."

Ken Minihan
Lt. General, U.S. Air Force, Retired