When people are discussing future strategic directions, there is a tendency to default to what has been done in the past. The conversation goes something like this: "What should we do?" "Let's brainstorm some alternatives" "Well, what did we do last time?" "What are other people doing?" "What is best practice in this arena?"
Why does this happen? The people may want to think more innovatively, but something is preventing them. That thing is the human brain. Throughout your life, your brain takes in pieces of information and arranges them in patterns in your memory. As new information comes in, your brain does a search to see how it might fit with other information already stored in your memory. When you look for an idea, your brain goes straight to its store of similar ideas and retrieves those. The "shelves" of your brain are stocked with examples of things you've seen or done or heard of before.*
Your brain offers you a selection of "templates" (or "precedents" in lawyer-language).
This explains why many people find it difficult to think laterally, and why a brainstorm often produces little in the way of novel suggestions.
To make the most of the brain's liking for precedents, search for examples that are "broadly similar" rather than "narrowly similar". You can do this by stating the challenge from a variety of different perspectives, and by experimenting with different levels of abstraction (by expressing the question in a more general or a more specific way).
New ideas often come from unconsciously combining elements of existing ideas. To maximize the likelihood of such a brainwave, you need plenty of examples to work with. Don't just go with the first idea that seems to be workable - map out a whole range of options, and examine the best aspects of each.
Have patience with the process, because new ideas take time to develop.
When creating your business strategy, don't simply default to precedent. But if you are going to use precedent, use it purposefully.
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