Blue Sky Thinking |
| Credit: Harvard Business Review |
What does it mean?
• The phrase Blue Sky Thinking refers to brainstorming with no limits, that is, if there were absolutely no limits, no judgements and no consequences, where could a person's imagination take him? The sky's the limit.
• It is contemplating options or solutions without being confined by what a person has done or capable of doing or anything else that may constrain him in any possible manner in arriving at the best possible solution. With this approach, ideas don't need to be grounded in reality. Rather, blue sky thinking sessions are open to all creative ideas regardless of practical constraints.
Understanding the Term
• The phrase acts as metaphor. Consider, On a clear day, when there are no clouds in the sky, you can see for miles. You will be unhindered in your thinking and able to think many and diverse thoughts. On the other hand, if the sky is overcast, you cannot see very far at all, before your vision is impacted by clouds.
• In the early 20th century, "Blue Sky" was frequently applied to describe fraud-notably, financiers who would raise and over-capitalize securities based on nothing more tangible than "blue sky and hot air." That's why, today, "BLUE- SKY THINKING" is sometimes also described as thinking with no basis in reality.
Blue Sky Thinking in Real World Business Transformation
• In the 90s, Apple experienced a slump. The iPhone was actually three separate products that were path breaking on their own the iPod, the mobile phone, and the Internet communications device which is now combined into a new iconic device based on Steve Jobs' vision of an unknown need. This device literally took the market by a storm and the rest is history!
• Led by Job's visionary Blue-Sky thinking, Apple was reinvented as a technology company, mobile technology recognized by such products as the iPhone and the iPad, products that continue to fly off store shelves, even today.
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