Narrator: Imagine you are Conrad Hilton, standing in a Chicago boardroom, about to bid on a hotel that could define your legacy. Your team of analysts has crunched the numbers, and the logical, data-driven bid is $165,000. But something feels wrong. A deep, unsettling feeling keeps you awake at night. The next morning, a new number surfaces in your mind, seemingly from nowhere: $180,000. It defies the spreadsheets and the rational analysis. Do you trust the data, or do you trust this inexplicable gut feeling? Hilton chose to trust his intuition, raising his bid. When the bids were opened, the next highest was $179,000. He won the hotel by a razor-thin margin, not because of his conscious calculations, but because he listened to a deeper part of his mind.

This tension between logic and intuition, between structured process and creative leaps, is at the heart of effective thinking. In his book, Decision Making and Problem Solving, leadership authority John Adair provides a comprehensive guide to mastering this essential skill. He argues that making great decisions isn't an innate talent reserved for a select few; it is a discipline that can be learned, practiced, and perfected.

Narrator: Adair introduces a foundational concept he calls the "Depth Mind." This is the unconscious, intuitive part of our thinking that works in the background, processing information, making connections, and solving problems even when our conscious mind is occupied elsewhere. It's the source of the "aha!" moment, the sudden insight, and the gut feeling that guides us. While the conscious mind is excellent at linear, analytical tasks, the Depth Mind excels at synthesis—seeing the bigger picture and connecting seemingly unrelated ideas.

The story of Conrad Hilton is a perfect example, but he wasn't alone in harnessing this power. Roy Thompson, another highly successful businessman, described his own method for problem-solving. When faced with a complex issue he couldn't immediately solve, he would deliberately set it aside. He trusted that his subconscious, or Depth Mind, would continue to work on it, sifting through his memories and experiences. More often than not, when he returned to the problem the next morning, the solution would present itself, clear and simple. Adair emphasizes that this isn't magic; it's a natural function of the mind. The key is to feed the Depth Mind with quality information—"Garbage in, garbage out"—and then create the space for it to work.

Narrator: While the Depth Mind is powerful, relying on it alone is risky. Adair presents a classic, five-step framework to bring structure to the decision-making process, ensuring that both analytical rigor and intuition play a role. The steps are: Define the objective, collect relevant information, generate feasible options, make the decision, and finally, implement and evaluate.

The third step, generating options, is where many leaders fail. They fall into the trap of "either-or" thinking. Alfred Sloan, the legendary president of General Motors, refused to accept this. Whenever his executives presented him with a decision that had only two alternatives, he would immediately adjourn the meeting. He would send them away with a simple instruction: "Go and generate more options." Sloan understood that limiting choices prematurely stifles creativity and increases the risk of a suboptimal outcome. By forcing his team to think more broadly, he ensured that decisions were made from a position of strength, not limitation. This structured approach also helps distinguish between a "wrong" decision—one that turns out badly due to unforeseen circumstances—and a "bad" decision. A bad decision, like the one that led to the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster, is one where a proven process is ignored and clear warnings are deliberately set aside.

Narrator: Decisions are rarely made in a vacuum. A leader’s effectiveness, Adair explains, depends on their ability to balance three overlapping areas of need: the Task, the Team, and the Individual. This is known as Action-Centred Leadership. The Task need is about achieving the goal. The Team need is about maintaining morale, cohesion, and collaboration. The Individual need is about recognizing the personal goals, motivations, and well-being of each person.

Consider a project leader named Sarah, tasked with launching a new marketing campaign. Her team includes a creative designer who craves freedom, a data analyst who needs numbers to drive decisions, and a strategist who prefers proven methods. If Sarah focuses only on the Task, she might push for a rigid, data-only approach, demotivating the designer. If she focuses only on the Individual, she might give everyone so much freedom that the project loses direction. An effective leader like Sarah navigates these tensions. She defines the project objectives collaboratively (Task), encourages open communication and feedback (Team), and works to understand each member’s personal goals, giving the designer creative freedom within the data-driven framework (Individual). By constantly balancing these three circles, a leader doesn't just make a decision; they create the conditions for that decision to be successfully and enthusiastically implemented.

Narrator: When a problem seems impossible, it's often because we are trapped by our own unconscious assumptions. Adair illustrates this with the classic "nine dots" puzzle, where one must connect nine dots with four straight lines without lifting the pen. Most people fail because they unconsciously assume the lines must stay within the square formed by the dots. The solution requires literally "thinking outside the box."

This is the essence of creative problem-solving. It’s not about being a creative genius; it’s about systematically challenging the invisible rules that constrain our thinking. Adair points to lateral thinking, a term for abandoning a step-by-step approach to explore unconventional solutions. Henry Ford did this when he revolutionized manufacturing. The traditional method was to have workers move around a stationary car frame. Ford reversed this. He put the car on a moving belt and had the workers stay still, each performing one specific task. This simple reversal—moving the work to the worker instead of the worker to the work—was a lateral leap that created the assembly line and changed the world. This kind of thinking requires questioning what "everybody knows" and looking for solutions in unexpected places.

Narrator: Mastering the art of thinking is not a passive activity. Reading a book is a start, but true skill comes from practice. Adair concludes by emphasizing the importance of self-development. He shares a powerful proverb from Papua New Guinea: "Knowledge is only a rumour until it is in the muscle." This means that theoretical knowledge is useless until it is applied and becomes an embodied skill through experience.

To develop these skills, Adair suggests designing a personal learning strategy. This involves identifying thinkers you admire and breaking down what makes them effective. It means choosing a field of work that aligns with your natural temperament, as it's far easier to develop skills you are genuinely interested in. Most importantly, it requires seeking out criticism. Just as an athlete needs a coach to point out flaws in their technique, a thinker needs honest feedback to identify blind spots and improve their decision-making process. The goal isn't to become the "perfect" thinker—an impossible ideal—but to commit to a lifelong process of learning, application, and refinement.

Narrator: The single most important takeaway from John Adair's Decision Making and Problem Solving is that clear, effective, and creative thinking is not an abstract gift but a practical, learnable skill. By understanding the functions of our own minds, applying structured frameworks to our choices, and consciously breaking free from mental ruts, we can dramatically improve the quality of our outcomes in both our professional and personal lives.

The book leaves us with a profound challenge: to stop treating our thinking as an automatic, invisible process. Instead, we are urged to view it as the most critical tool we possess—one that requires deliberate maintenance, sharpening, and skillful handling. The next time you face a complex problem or a critical decision, don't just react. Ask yourself: Am I defining my objective clearly? Have I challenged my assumptions? Have I given my Depth Mind the space to work? By doing so, you transform thinking from a passive state into a powerful, intentional act.