156 THE CREATIVE INVESTMENT TEAM
of Oklahoma. He studied groups that used typical meeting rooms
and groups that were treated to a setting like the Thinkubator. His
findings showed that the control group of executives churned out
29 ideas in 45 minutes, whereas the “stimulated” group cranked
out more than 300 ideas in the same time period! (See Weintraub,
The Hidden Intelligence, Butterworth Heinemann 1998.)
Clearly then, any influences that promote safety and playful-
ness will help groups to be more creative. It’s only natural that in
places like this we shine more brilliantly than we ever imagined
possible. That’s why I love the work I do toward creating those
places. Given safety and support, people come alive and surprise
themselves. To paraphrase Walt Disney, it’s fun watching people
do the impossible.The rest of this book discusses ways in which investors can
recover the power of their creative thinking. In the Myers-Briggs
framework, this means having full access to their intuitive prefer-
ence. In Gary Brinson’s language, it means displaying the talents of
the second analyst, the one who could take the data and play with
it most fruitfully. In Roger Sperry’s framework, it means allowing
the right brain to flourish. In Carl Jung’s language of archetypes,
it means accessing the energy of the magician or wizard. Ultimately,
it is the capacity to make something of nothing, to take the ordi-
nary and turn it into the extraordinary, to work everyday miracles.
For investors, it is the capacity to look at commonly available
information and see something different—something significant that
will give a competitive edge.
Seven different ideas are presented as guidelines for enhancing
your investment thinking. The approach in each case is to intro-
duce the general concept, explain its rationale, and then cite how
it has been used successfully in the investment arena. Another way
to state this fairly simple approach is: What? So What? Now What?
The most important part for the reader is the final one: Now
What? Readers are encouraged to wrestle with each concept and14-25 ware 156 1/19/01, 1:15 PM