Leaders across all industries are struggling to stay ahead of the curve when it comes to innovation, and in the era of digital transformation where traditional business models are quickly becoming obsolete, it can be hard to know where to channel your energy. Through exhaustive research, we have identified the core principles that can help executives change their mindsets and foster positive innovation for themselves and their teams. 

The framework dubbed ALIEN Thinking illustrates the five key patterns of thinking that distinguish innovators. This framework can be applied in your quest to become more creative and innovative. 

The Core Principles of ALIEN Thinking 

Attention: Focusing on a particular context or population to understand its dynamics and latent needs. This requires the ability to look beyond your normal point of view and assess whether you are seeing the whole picture. You naturally gravitate toward ideas that fit with what you already believe to be important, but the ALIEN framework teaches you to expand the scope of our attention to see the larger reality. 

Levitation: Stepping back to reflect on the situation and make sense of it. This is often overlooked, but a relaxed brain can engage in more freewheeling thinking. 

Imagination: Envisioning that which does not yet exist and generating avant-garde ideas, often through playfulness. 

Experimentation: Turning a promising idea into a workable solution that addresses a real need. The aim of testing is to improve, not just to prove. 

Navigation: Adjusting to the forces that can make or break your solution. You must consider all stakeholders as you move our ideas forward by becoming a “diplomatic rebel” to ensure buy-in of people who might be skeptical. 

One of the key findings of our research is that people can successfully learn this type of thinking. Using the right tools, anyone can train themselves to think like an innovator. If you would like to know more, the book is out now: ALIEN Thinking: The Unconventional Path to Breakthrough Ideas,