11 Steps to Brilliant Thinking

Getting started with brilliant thinking

There is a genius in every person – but it is not always easy to get
him or her to come out.

Gerald Sindell (2009) in The Genius Machine recommends starting with
some key questions.

1. Distinctions

What do I see? New ideas are the result of perceiving new
distinctions.

It sometimes works just to look at the problem from a different
perspective. Give it a try – next time you are faced with a problem just
remind yourself to look at it differently and notice one thing that is
different.

2. Identity

Who am I? Why are these ideas important to me and why am I driven to
share them with the world? Have I made my identity clear to the audience
so they know where I am coming from?

All good things start with knowing who you are.

3. Implications

Where do my ideas lead? If what I am saying is true, then what are
all the consequences I can imagine?

By investigating implications you start looking at interrelationships
and start building ways to deal with the problem in multiple ways.

4. Testing

What am I blind to? Have I imagined how my ideas might impact a
variety of situations, places, and people? Have I questioned everything
about my assumptions? What would prove me wrong? Can I create a model of
my work, and find precise analogues.

So try building a model of how it works. It may not be perfect but
will get better with more testing.

5. Precedent

Who else has seen something like this? By asserting that I have
something to say, I am entering into the great conversation of ideas
that stretches back through the centuries. We cannot have knowledge of
everything that was said before we got around to thinking, but we must
try to know important precedent thought in our area.

If this type of problem was solved before it may be interesting to
look at the solution. It may also be important to not do what was done
before.

6. Need

Who needs this knowledge? If what I am saying is so, who would this
knowledge be valuable for? This question forces us out of focusing
solely in our own area and may lead us to find the universals in our
thinking. Understanding who needs us most will also help us in crafting
what we say, because we will want to be useful to those who will give
what we have to say highest priority.

Understanding the user may also be the key to solving the problem and
create a market.

7. Foundation

Are there underlying principles? What is the world I’m working in?
What are the underlying values expressed here? What are the applicable
rules or structure that obtain here? Can I pull these together into a
coherent group or body of law?

Existing research may apply and give some perspective. Building up
some statistical approaches and models may also help.

8. Completion

Is everything here? If this is valuable for someone, am I giving my
audience everything they need for this to be useful? If everything they
need is not here, am I including referrals for the other information
they will need in order to know enough to take action or teach
others?

A solution that does not solve the problem is not a solution. All
aspects have to be considered.

9. Connection

Who am I addressing? Do we understand the frame of reference of our
audience?

Are we writing for our reader, speaking to our listener, carefully
guiding the experience of our user?

Even when the solution exists – it is important to work out the
social dynamic of putting the solution to the end user. This may take
longer than expected by is the difference between success and
failure.

10. Impact

Where do I want to go? In creating this work I have launched an alter
ego of myself, which will eventually take on a life of its own. If this
development or body of knowledge succeeds in the marketplace of ideas,
will it help me fulfil my goals for my life? Are the identities of the
creators, the creation, and the users, aligned?

Solutions always have an impact. Is this the impact that you want?
Will another solution have a different impact.

11. Advocacy

Am I supporting the adoption of my ideas? My thinking stands for me.
Now, I must stand for what I have created.

Brilliant thinking starts with a problem and ends with a new way to
do things. Some of the ideas in this article may help with this thinking
process.

Have fun!