The differences between redwork and bluework can be summarized in the table below.

REDWORK BLUEWORK

Avoid variability Embrace variability

Prove Improve

Do Decide

Repetitious Dissimilar

Blue collar White collar

Physical Cognitive

Individual Team

Homogeneity Heterogeneity

Production Reflection

Performance Planning

Process Prediction

Compliant Creative

Conformity D

The difference between doing and thinking can be described in several ways:

Our interaction with the world is doing.

Improving our interactions with the world is thinking.

Proving and performing is doing.

Growing and improving is thinking.

A focused, exclusive, driving, proving mindset is best for doing.

An open, curious, seeking, improving mindset is be

Using nouns rather than verbs might take some of the sting out of a comment. Compare "You performed poorly" with "Your performance was poor."* How judgmental does each one sound? If you sense that the former places more emphasis and judgment on the individual, you're on the right track. One way to tilt toward observation over ju

Here is the key difference: Thinking, benefits from embracing variability. Doing benefits from reducing variability.

Many of the strategies that thawed Frozen are components of the IMPROVE play. Improvement-which comes from egoless scrutiny of past actions, and deep reflective thinking about what could be betteris the core purpose of bluework, which is meant to improve redwork. Bluework in isolation is useless. It's relevant only to the extent that it makes redwo

A meeting or conversation might start like this:

. "Before we anchor everybody's thoughts, what do you think the number should be? Write it down on the index card in front of you."

. "Before we discuss this, I'd like everybody's best estimate.

What day will we ship the first product? Text your answer to the meeting app."

. "I'd

Idea Swap

Have people argue for the opposite position. Break up the meeting into small discussion groups and invite people to talk to someone who voted the opposite than they did to learn what was behind that vote. This will allow them to practice being curious instead of compelling. They can practice asking curious questions and open-ended question

Because the two different kinds of work-decision-making (thinking)

and execution (doing)-take two opposite approaches to variability, they require two distinctly different mental processes and two different kinds of language. It's helpful to label these two different modes so you can clearly identify which one you're in. Let's call thinking, decisio

These curious questions sound like this:

."What's behind what you are saying?"

."Can you tell us more about that?"

. "What are you seeing that leads you to believe that?