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I've been reading a new book from a new publisher. The Wharton School (U Penn) is getting into the publishing business. Their first book co-authored by one of their faculty is a winner. The Power of Impossible Thinking, by Jerry Wind and Colin Crook, has as its premise, "If you can think impossible thoughts, you can do impossible things." Last week Chuck Frey did a quick book summary at the Innovation Weblog How to See Differently. Chuck did a great job. He captured eight practices for impossible thinking from the authors' text.

• Listen to the radicals
• Embark on journeys of discovery
• Look across disciplines
• Question the routine
• Recognize the barriers
• Practice flying upside down
• Destroy the old model
• Envision multiple futures

What we think is what we see

One of the more important parts of the book is the 18-page appendix The Neuroscience behind Mental Models. Bear with me. I know the title can be off-putting. The authors do a very good job explaining why they say it is possible for impossible thinking. In a nutshell, what we think is what we see. If we want to see something else or something new, then we must adopt a different mental model.

What does this have to do with lean project delivery? People tell me it is impossible to think we can do projects with strangers without waste, delivered on time and on budget. The authors would argue that those people are right. They will not deliver projects with strangers without waste, delivered on time and on budget. However, there are numerous companies and project teams who think the impossible. They think they can. And they are also right. A division of one company delivered 29 projects in a row on time or early AND at or below budget. Now that's impossibility thinking!

Two days ago I introduced you to one of the better papers from the 11th IGLC Annual Conference, Achieving Change in Construction. One of the conclusions in that paper was the mental models are getting in the way of change. Our approach has been to fix the problems we encounter through automation, motivation, and process improvement. It hasn't worked as evidenced by productivity and injury rates that are stagnant. Achieving change in construction must start with changing our own mental models. Learn how by reading The Power of Impossible Thinking.