What can we learn from these thinking strategies and how can we apply them to become more creative in our work and personal life? This has to be a continuous learning process, enriching the mind and consequently our actions, habits and ultimately our destiny.
Thumbnail descriptions of some of the strategies as described by Michalko:
Knowing how to see
Genius often stems from finding a new perspective that no one else has taken. This means abandoning an approach that is a spill-over of past experience and reconceptualising the problem.
Making your thought visible
Once geniuses obtain a minimal verbal facility, they seem to have the skill to express their ideas visually and spatially, they have the flexibility to display information in a variety of ways Einstein had a very visual mind. So did Da Vinci.
Thinking what no one else is thinking
Thinking fluently, immense productivity is a distinct characteristic of genius. Thomas Edison held 1093 patents-still a record. Mozart produced more than 600 masterpieces of music. The Waste Land” a Masterpiece was the result of many good and bad passages penned down and then fine-tuned by T.S.Elliot. Out of massive quantity came quality. Geniuses produce. Period.
Making Novel Combinations
Einstein’s equation E=mc² was a “combinatory play” of known concepts.
Connecting the unconnected
Leonardo Da Vinci forced a relationship between the sound of a bell and a stone hitting water. This enabled him to make a connection that sound travels in waves.
By using these strategies, we may not become another Einstein or Michelangelo but we would certainly be more creative than someone without the knowledge or intention. We can’t possibly know how far these things can take us but we live a world that offers no guarantees but only great opportunities.
Genius is little more than the faculty of perceiving in an unhabitual way.
– William James –
