Unconventional: Out of the Box Thinking in Life and Business
Unconventional thinking. Unconventional acts. Unconventional results.
In today’s world the challenges we face are everywhere. They are many and constantly changing, but they all share a common denominator—the need to come up with solutions from a zero base, solutions that bring Unconventional results.
Unconventional thinking is the right approach to solving uncommon management problems and winning vital business competitions.
This book presents practical methods and shows examples of thinking outside the box and making decisions that are out of the ordinary amidst the chaos of managing an organization.
The book includes:
- Stories about conducting business in unfamiliar situations under unwritten laws and customs inside the political systems of monopolistic dictatorial regimes
- How one can fight corruption and distortions in the management of industrial companies by using the known managerial toolbox and by creating new, non-standard management tools
- The innovative approach behind the development of the Lavi fighter plane, which changed the way combat aircraft design engineers around the world think
Leonid Tokarsky is a senior engineering manager with broad and extensive experience as the Director of Business Development for CIS Countries at the Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), Chairman of the Board of a government owned corporation and board member in various companies. In his book he shares insights and tools that will help readers leave their comfort zones and develop a different way of thinking that will lead to a variety of new, Unconventional solutions.
“In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.” – Erasmus of Rotterdam
Reviewed by Piaras on April 2, 2020 for Emerald Book Reviews
If you feel like you are running around on the treadmill of life, maybe now is the time to think outside the box. I think it was Henry Ford who said, “If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got.”
Thinking outside the box is to think differently, unconventionally or from a new perspective. This phrase often refers to novel, creative and smart thinking. This is sometimes called a process of lateral thought. The catchphrase, or cliché, has become widely used in business environments, especially by management consultants and executive coaches.
The box means accepting current theory. Thinking outside the box will be wrong 99% of the time but the 1% that do think outside of the box may have a great revelation that quashes the standard model. People who think this way have literally changed the world or transformed their own lives.
UNCONVENTIONAL – OUT OF THE BOX THINKING IN LIFE AND BUSINESS by Leonid Tokarsky contains a lot of technical, business, and legal terminology. However, it’s a fascinating read that will help you to expand your thought process, teach you how not to be told how to “think” about something or someone, and to be creative in your search for alternative answers.
The authors life alone is worth a book in itself. Highly recommended reading.
Leonid Tokarsky was born in Leningrad in 1945. His father was a well-known shipbuilding engineer, and his mother a professional piano accompanist.
Between 1964 and 1968 he served in the Soviet Northern fleet, as part of a special technical navy rescue team for nuclear submarine reactor emergency repairs. In 1967, because of his refusal to condemn Israel, he was sentenced to a year of forced labor at a military penal colony. After his release he studied and graduated with distinction from the St. Petersburg State Marine Technical University. In parallel, he worked at the ALMAZ design bureau, which was heavily engaged in the development of ships based on the so-called new principles of movement.
From 1974 to 1976, being a refusenik and prohibited from leaving the USSR, he worked at the Mariinsky Theater as a laborer. In 1976 after he was stripped of his Soviet citizenship, he repatriated to Israel. In 1977 he started to work with the Israel Aerospace Industries, as an aircraft designer, became Director of the Aircraft Engineering Department, and also Director of Business Development. As an engineering manager, he was also Design Group Leader for the Lavi fighter jet and other military and civil aircraft projects. As a government official he often participated in state negotiations and was also appointed Co-chairman of the Russian-Israeli Committee on Astronautics and Aviation.
He was a member of the Presidential Committee to work on the changes necessary to the electoral and administrative structure of the government of the State of Israel. By order of various prime ministers of Israel, he was appointed to the Board of Directors and Chairman of the Board of Directors of several state-owned companies. He is also the winner of the Olive Prize of Jerusalem for his book “An Icebreaker, or a True Story of Survival” in 2011.
