In most B2B industries, business leaders tend to solve problems in similar ways. They examine data, brainstorm ideas, study competitors, and strive to enhance existing solutions. These approaches feel safe, rational, and businesslike.
But they also lead to the same predictable ideas.
True innovation — creating new revenue, categories, and advantages — demands more than logic. It requires breaking from established thinking and exploring ideas your competitors wouldn’t consider.
That’s why Edward de Bono created one of the most underrated creativity tools for business leaders: Provocation, also called “Po.” When used effectively, it becomes a strategic tool that helps you break free from industry norms and generate bold, valuable ideas.
Let’s look at what makes Provocation unique and how your organization can use it to gain an edge.
What Is Provocation (Po)?
Provocation is a lateral thinking tool. You make a statement that is illogical, impossible, or absurd on purpose to help your mind see new possibilities.
De Bono introduced the term “Po” to show that the statement should not be judged or dismissed. It permits you to set logic aside.
Some of de Bono’s classic provocations include:
- “Po: houses should be heated from the ceiling down.”
- “Po: Cars should have square wheels.
- “Po: A restaurant should serve dessert first.”
- “Po: a company should hire people with no qualifications.”
These statements are not meant to be true. Their purpose is to provoke new thinking.
When your brain tries to make sense of something absurd,
it can discover insights you would never find through normal reasoning.
Why CEOs Should Use Provocation
- It breaks your team out of “industry thinking.”
Every industry’s unspoken assumptions limit innovation:
- Customers expect this.”
- “You can’t do that in B2B”.
Provocation helps your organization break through these invisible barriers.
- It creates ideas your competitors cannot predict.
Most companies use the same strategy tools. Few business leaders use anything that challenges logic itself.
Just one provocation can lead to a solution that gives you a lasting competitive advantage.
- It accelerates breakthrough thinking.
Rather than just improving your current model, Provocation helps you imagine new models more quickly than traditional brainstorming.
- It helps teams escape the “gridlock” of expertise.
Even smart teams can get stuck quickly because their expertise makes them repeat old patterns.
Provocation breaks these patterns right away.
When to Use Provocation — Use it when you’re facing:
- stalled innovation
- slow growth
- declining differentiation
- strategic inflection points
- customer complaints that keep repeating
- complexity you can’t untangle through analysis
- an opportunity that requires fresh thinking
It’s especially effective when you know the root cause of a problem but don’t have a solution yet.
For more information, please visit the blog.
Jim Zitek
I turn complex product problems into successful solutions
with a competitive advantage.
