Generative Thinking: How Organisations Create New Possibility
In organisational life, we often talk about creativity, innovation, and problem‑solving as if they are separate skills. But beneath all of these sits something deeper and more fundamental — a capability that determines whether an organisation can adapt, evolve, and move into better futures.
That capability is generative thinking.
Generative thinking is not brainstorming. It’s not “blue sky” ideation. It’s not about imagining infinite possibilities or indulging in wishful thinking. In fact, it is almost the opposite.
Generative thinking is the disciplined ability to create new functional information — the kind of information that actually changes what a system can do.
It is the cognitive expression of readiness.
1. Generative Thinking Works Within a Structured Field of Possibility
Every organisation exists within a field of possibilities — a landscape of viable futures shaped by capability, culture, environment, and constraint. This field is not infinite. It is structured.
Generative thinking is the process by which a bounded system explores that structure without collapsing into:
fantasy (“anything is possible”)
fear (“nothing is possible”)
rigidity (“only one thing is possible”)
It is the mental behaviour that searches the Adjacent Possible — the set of futures that are viable from here.
2. Generative Thinking Produces New Functional Information
In my readiness framework, functional information is information that does work in a system. It changes behaviour, alters viability, and reshapes the Adjacent Possible.
Generative thinking is the mechanism that produces this kind of information.
It creates:
new interpretations
new distinctions
new ways of seeing constraints
new pathways for action
new viable options
This is why generative thinking is not the same as creativity. It is useful creativity — creativity that changes capability.
3. Generative Thinking Is Bounded, Not Infinite
Many creativity models celebrate unconstrained imagination. But in real organisations, unconstrained imagination often leads to:
unrealistic ideas
unviable strategies
magical thinking
avoidance of real constraints
Generative thinking is different.
It is creativity inside structure.
It works with:
real constraints
real capabilities
real limitations
real environmental pressures
This is why generative thinking produces viable futures, not fantasies.
4. Generative Thinking Is the Cognitive Expression of Readiness
Readiness is the capacity to choose well under limitation.
Generative thinking is the mental behaviour that makes this possible.
When readiness is high, generative thinking becomes:
expansive but grounded
creative but viable
adaptive but coherent
open but structured
When readiness is low, generative thinking collapses into:
rigidity
overwhelm
avoidance
pessimism
magical thinking
Generative thinking is both a signal of readiness and a mechanism that increases it.
5. Generative Thinking Expands the Adjacent Possible
This is the deepest connection.
When generative thinking produces new functional information, the organisation’s field of possibility changes. New futures become viable. Old constraints dissolve. New capabilities emerge.
This is how organisations grow into new futures — not by leaping into the unknown, but by expanding the Adjacent Possible through the creation of new functional information.
The Clean Synthesis
Here is the essence of the idea:
Generative thinking is the process by which a bounded system produces new functional information that expands or clarifies its Adjacent Possible. It is the cognitive expression of readiness and the precursor to agency.
This is why generative thinking is not optional. It is the engine of organisational evolution.
Why This Matters for Leaders
Leaders who understand generative thinking stop asking:
“What should we do?”
“What’s the right answer?”
“What’s the best strategy?”
Instead, they begin asking:
“What new information would change what we can do?”
“What constraints are real, and which are assumed?”
“What viable futures are adjacent to us right now?”
“How do we increase readiness so new possibilities can emerge?”
These are the questions that create movement.