Thinking Man

"Thinking like a Genius" by THE FUTURIST MAG.
1. Geniuses look at problems in many different ways.
Geniuses think productively, not reproductively. When confronted with a problem, they ask “How many different ways can I look at it?,” “How can I rethink the way I see it?,” and “How many different ways can I solve it?” instead of “What have I been taught by someone else on how to solve this?” They tend to come up with many different responses, some of which are unconventional and possibly unique.

2. Geniuses make their thought visible.When Einstein had thought through a problem, he always found it necessary to formulate his subject in as many different ways as possible, including diagrams. He had a very visual mind; he thought in terms of visual and spatial forms, rather than thinking along purely mathematical or verbal lines of reasoning.

3. Geniuses produce.A distinguishing characteristic of genius is immense productivity. Thomas Edison held 1,093 patents, still the record. He guaranteed productivity by giving himself and his assistants idea quotas. His own personal quota was one minor invention every 10 days and a major invention every six months. In a study of 2,036 scientists throughout history, Dean Keith Simonton of the University of California at Davis found that the most respected scientists produced not only great works, but also more ‘bad’ ones. Out of their massive quantity of work came quality.

4. Geniuses make novel combinations.Like the highly playful child with a bucket of building blocks, a genius is constantly combining and recombining ideas, images, and thoughts into different combinations in their conscious and subconscious minds.

5. Geniuses force relationships.If one particular style of thought stands out about creative genius, it is the ability to make juxtapositions between dissimilar subjects. This facility to connect the unconnected enables them to see things others do not.

6. Geniuses think in opposites.Physicist and philosopher David Bohm believed geniuses were able to think different thoughts because they could tolerate ambivalence between opposites or two incompatible subjects. Physicist Niels Bohr had the ability to imagine light as both a particle and a wave, which led to his conception of the principle of complementarity.

7. Geniuses think metaphorically.Aristotle considered metaphor a sign of genius, believing that the individual who had the capacity to perceive resemblances between two separate areas of existence and link them together was a person of special gifts. Alexander Graham Bell compared the inner workings of the ear to a stout piece of membrane moving steel -- and conceived the telephone.

8. Geniuses prepare themselves for chance.Whenever we attempt to do something andfail, we end up doing something else. That is the first principle of creative accident. We may ask ourselves why we have failed to do what we intended, which is a reasonable question. But the creative accident provokes a different question: What have we done? Answering that question in a novel unexpected way is theessential creative act. It is not luck, but creative insight of the highest order. Edison, while pondering how to make carbon filament, was mindlessly toying with a piece of putty, turning and twisting it in his fingers, when he looked down at his hands and the answer hit him between the eyes: Twist the carbon like rope. Creative geniuses do not wait for the gifts of chance, they actively seek the accidental discovery.Creative geniuses know how to use these thinking strategies -- and teach others to use them. Recognizing and applying the common thinking strategies of creative geniuses could help make you more creative in work and personal life.

The above information is condensed from the article entitled “Thinking Like a Genius” in the May 1998 issue of THE FUTURIST, pp. 21 - 25. To purchase he entire issue or subscribe to the magazine contact: The Futurist, 7910 Woodmont Ave, Suite 450, Bethesda, Maryland 20814 or call 1-800-989-8274./http://www.smartleadership.com/articles/genius.htm