香港教育制度被稱為「填鴨式」，即是學習過程重於背誦「死記」，欠缺思考訓練。在長期單方向接受訊息情況下，當面對瞬息萬變的人和事，便不能以多角度去解決問題。特別在這個弱肉強食的辦公室內，只有你比其他對手(同事)想得愈早、愈多主意，便能早佔先機，取得優勢。
大眾思維未必正確
最佳例子是股市活動，當大市或者某股票不斷上升時，投資者的情緒會愈來愈樂觀，最後出現一面倒的情況，股市或者股價迅速向上，直至在某一刻突然崩潰。這個例子正好證明當大家思想一致的時候，方向未必會正確，而且更會出現瘋狂的情況。
逆向思維Reverse Thinking，簡稱RT成為近年來提倡的思考方法，就即是反向或求異思考。當一件事理所當然地發生的時候，就用相反方向或者不同角度去理解、思考，從而判斷結果是否正確。逆向思維另一個重點是打破傳統的框框，將傳統的觀念作否定。逆向思維最佳例子，莫如半杯水的比喻，看見杯子內的水只淨一半，你可以理解為杯內是半空，也可以理解為杯內是半滿。
有時候一直沿用的方法，有很多謬誤或者不是最聰明的做法，古代有一位名人叫司馬光，童年時跟朋友在後花園玩耍，其中一位朋友不小心跌在滿了水的大缸之內，正當時所有人用各種方法也拯救不了小孩之際，司馬光就用大石打破水缸救了朋友一命。故事正好說明傳統方法是救人離水，但反向手法卻是離水救人。
易地而處建立人際關係
在辦公室之內取得最多的人緣，有助事業的發展，廣東人有句歇後語：「泥水佬開門—過得人來過得自己」，意思是指要易地而處，了解做一件事前先要了解別人的感受，這也是逆向思維其中一種的做法。
當從別人的角度出發時，不但把關係處理得更好，也能改善自己的情緒。例如，老闆把大量工作給予你的時候，你可以想想因為自己有能力，才能獲如此重任。當同事妒忌你時候，可以理解為「不招人妒是庸才」。
逆向思維對要接觸客人的服務業，又或者客戶服務的職員至為重要，當面對來勢洶洶的投訴客人，如不了解他們最終的需要，不但不能令客人平息怒氣，也可能更加挑起對方一發不可收拾的情緒。同樣，老闆不滿自己的表現時，不是第一時間解釋，也不是尋找藉口推卸責任，而是站在老闆的角度想，假如你是老闆面對一位犯錯的員工時，會如何處理，重點在那裡？
逆向思維不是相反理論
別以誤會逆向思維是什麼都要站在相反的立場，也不是什麼都要對立，只要從不同角度思考，也算是逆向思維的一種。不懂靈活運用，以為凡事都用逆向思維，不但予人標奇立異之感，也會讓人覺得凡事變反的「破壞精」。
Reverse Thinking is a method you can apply to any idea, any statement, any situation, any problem, any solution, any explanation, or any method. It works particularly well on ideas that people take for granted, or 'received wisdom'.
Reverse Thinking assumes that the opposite way of understanding something - or the reverse idea, will be as interesting, if not more interesting than the first idea. It will certainly be more stimulating and likely to lead to more creative ways of thinking about things.
For example, we might be told that 'people get stressed because they work too hard'. The reverse idea is that they get stressed because they don't work hard enough. Which leads me (personally) to the insight that people get stressed because they don't work hard enough at doing the right things. And that gives us another way of helping people find a solution to stress.
Another good example comes out of Mark Earls' thinking about human beings as primarily social animals. So when we are told that someone is depressed the first assumption is that he has a personal problem. The reverse thought is that he has a social problem. Which leads us straight to the realisation that some people get depressed because they are living through social breakdown and are just very, very lonely. Which might encourage us to concentrate harder on helping people find a way back from exclusion.
Reverse Thinking is based on the insight that the conventional advice given to people who want to change their behaviour creates traps for them. The multi-million dollar dieting industry is a good example. The received wisdom is that the only way to lose weight is to diet. But in most cases dieting either doesn't work or it makes things worse. Because the more you think about dieting the more you are going to think about the food you are not eating. If we apply the reverse idea (now well supported by the evidence) that dieting doesn't work, we are in a position to help people create life-styles in which the over-consumption/dieting cycle becomes irrelevant.
Reverse Thinking created Reverse Therapy. Back in 2001 I was arguing that most forms of psychotherapy keep people stuck because they focus on getting rid of the symptom. Once we reverse that and look at why symptoms are necessary (unexpressed emotion, work-life imbalance, frustration, unresolved conflict, loss of meaning and purpose, etc) we can help people resolve the real source of the problem.
Reverse Thinking is pragmatic - it focuses on new ways of thinking that trigger creative, useful actions that take change in a new direction. It is not interested in whether ideas are right or wrong - only in whether they are useful.
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