The Greatness Project

Can You See The Gorilla?

July 15, 2004

Howard Schultz took his love of coffee and turned it into a global business when he created Starbucks. How did he do that? It was “impossible thinking.”

Some people are able to see things differently than the rest of us. They look at the world, their work, and themselves with clear eyes, not clouded with preconceived notions or ideas. This clear sight lets them find new ways to address problems and identify possibilities. Without the encumbrance of mental models and limited awareness they think of things others believe are impossible. We all have mental models; they are the way we envision the world working. These mental models have a dramatic impact our business and personal lives. Most of the time what we see and act upon is more a product of what is inside our heads than in the world.

Neurologist Walter Freeman has discovered that whatever information our senses provide stops at the cortex. That sensory information stimulates an internal pattern the brain then uses to “represent” the external situation. So, we see what’s already present in our mind. Apparently, Native Americans did not see the first tall ships of European settlers because the image was outside of their mental model; they only saw the smaller boats coming ashore.

Our mental models provide a safe and organized way to categorize what goes on around us so we can understand and interact with our environment. But, mental models can also restrict our ability to process new ways of thinking. They create “tunnel vision” so we only see what we want while possibly missing new, creative ideas.

In a recent study on memory and perception, subjects were asked to watch a video and count the number of times players with white shirts passed around a basketball. Most of the subjects reported a fairly accurate number of passes, but only 42% saw something even more important: someone wearing a black gorilla costume walking right into the center of the action, beating his chest, and moving off camera. More than half the subjects were so engrossed in counting passes they couldn’t see the gorilla.

Gorillas, then, symbolize new ideas. Not seeing them signals a mind stuck in familiar patterns. Impossible thinking can be uncertain and risky, which is why most people avoid it. But it also provides new ways of thinking that allow us to go beyond familiar ideas.

In a new book, The Power of Impossible Thinking, Jerry Wind and Colin Crook identify steps we can take to achieve impossible thinking.

Become explicitly aware of why you see the world the way you do and what that implies.
Test the relevance of your current mental models against the changing environment.
Generate new models (if needed) and develop a portfolio of models.
Overcome inhibitors to change by reshaping the infrastructure (external or personal) that supports the old models.
Generate and act on new models by experimenting and continuing to assess and strengthen your models.

We invite you to reflect on these questions: Is there a gorilla in front of you that remains invisible? What prevents you from impossible thinking?