Kaihan Krippendorff believed his life’s calling was to be an engineer, mathematician and a financial “quant guy,” but soon discovered that his passion was writing. After publishing his first book, he decided to leave his job as a consultant at McKinsey & Company and set out to promote his work, not knowing where life would take him. To promote his book, Kaihan came up with an innovative thinking process that blends strategy with creativity and started to teach this process to his friends, or really anyone willing to listen.
“Later, I convinced people to pay me to deliver this process, helping groups of people come together and create inventive strategies for problem solving,” he said.
His journey has continued over the last 10 years, designing practical tools to help people find solutions and get “unstuck,” primarily in the business strategy and growth arena. Kaihan has published three more books and has worked with nearly 1/3 of the 100 largest companies in the world. He spreads his ideas through books, blogs, and bringing people together for workshops.
Kaihan will be a contributor for the 2015 TEDxNavesink conference on April 11, 2015 at Monmouth University. The theme of the event is Accelerators, or catalysts for change and innovation. This idea is what Kaihan has built his career on.
“The character you call “accelerator” I call “outthinker,” he said. “Great innovators share one thing: the practice of looking behind the obvious options to see the uncommon option. I believe all humans innately have this ability.”
Kaihan’s talk for the TEDxNavesink 2015 event is entitled “Finding the Fourth Option.” The talk will be centered around the idea that history’s greatest innovators share one trait: the practice of seeking “fourth options” where others have accepted three.
“I have spent over a decade researching how they do it and I believe it comes down to the stories—the strategic narratives—they tell,” he said. “I’ll share at TEDx five strategic narratives shaping our world.”
Throughout his career, Kaihan has interviewed people like Elon Musk, an inventor, entrepreneur and engineer; Muhammad Yunus, creator of the concept of “micro-financing,” which has transformed the lives of millions of poor people; and numerous CEOs , social leaders and big thinkers. Companies such as L’Oreal, Johnson & Johnson, General Electric and Microsoft have used his outthinker methodology to help their businesses grow.
“My gift is taking what seems to be abstract and unattainable and synthesizing it into something tangible people can apply in their lives and their businesses,” Kaihan said.
Spreading ideas is central to what Kaihan does. He studies the language patterns of innovative people and measures the way they speak differently. This, he says, gives insight into the different way they see the world. Kaihan believes any major change within society starts with the introduction of a new pattern of language or a fresh concept which then opens up a novel idea.
“That idea starts changing behaviors, and those behaviors shape the world,” he said. “Gandhi created the concept of the peaceful resistance; that concept freed India, ended apartheid, and moved us toward racial equality in the United States. Ideas are tools that open up possibilities.”
If participants of TEDxNavesink take one thing away from Kaihan’s talk on April 11, he would want it to be this: there is always another option, and there is always a solution to any problem. Kaihan also hopes to raise his game to the next level with the opportunity to speak to a large group of people.
“It represents opportunity and the demand I now bring to the speaking I love to do,” he said about the upcoming event.
Want to learn more about how you can become and outthinker? Join us for the TEDxNavesink 2015 conference! Click here to purchase tickets!
Stephanie Eichmeyer is a content production and marketing intern for the TEDxNavesink team. She is currently pursuing a master’s degree in communication from Monmouth University. Stephanie has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Missouri-Columbia and has worked in journalism and PR for many years.