Notes on: Seeing what others don’t. By Gary Klein.

We come up with creative ideas though contradictions, connections and creative desperation. When using a contradiction strategy, we centre on a weak belief. We take it seriously instead of explaining it away or trying to jettison it. We should be open to surprises and willing to take them seriously even if they violate our beliefs about the way things work. We use it to build our story. Ask: What feels unusual, conflicting or contradictory, can it be celebrated. When we make connections, or notice coincidences or curiosities, we add a new anchor to our beliefs and then work out the implications. Usually the new anchor comes from a new piece of information we receive. Encourage innovation, unpredictable mingling of ideas, swapping and borrowing concepts and making serendipitous discoveries. Ask: What if i tried applying a new philosophy, technique or approach? When using creative desperation, we try to find a weak belief that is trapping us. We want to jettison this belief so that we can escape from fixation and from impasse. The creative desperation path requires us to critically examine our assumptions to detect any that are tripping us up. Ask: What if what I believe to be fact wasn’t true?