Hunch: Turn Your Everyday Insights Into The Next Big Thing

Distraction is the enemy of insight.

Our narrow frames of reference mean that we sometimes forget to value the genius of the waitress who hones awareness in every moment, the brilliance of the teacher who holds the attention of a room full of five-year-olds or the wisdom of the crisis counselor who finds exactly the right words to help someone in trouble.

Ideas are solutions in search of problems, innovations that on the surface look like they have the power to change everything. IDEAS = SOLUTIONS IN SEARCH OF PROBLEMS

How can we notice what the world wants if we don’t notice what’s wanting in the world?

OPPORTUNITIES = PROBLEMS BEGGING FOR A SOLUTION

Intuition is a very powerful thing, more powerful than intellect, in my opinion. That’s had a big impact on my work. —Steve Jobs

Technology is hijacking our minds. As a result, we’re noticing less and missing more. We’re not just missing opportunities; we’re throwing away the chance to think and reflect—to be the kind of person who sees ways to make things better. Distraction is the enemy of insight.

This ability to question, to be imaginative and curious in the face of uncertainty and to act on the information we have, the things we sense but may not yet know to be true, is what enables us to pioneer, recognize opportunities and make a difference.

Our Insights Are Only as Good as Our Questions

Someone else was there with the ideas first, but the people we celebrate and want to emulate had an inkling about how to breathe new life into those products by making them meaningful to those who would use them. It’s possible to become that kind of person intentionally. In my work as a business adviser, I help entrepreneurs and business leaders to deconstruct what makes ideas fly. Together we seek a deeper understanding about the context in which those ideas will be embraced by and become meaningful to their clients, customers or users. This is how I enable my clients to discover the untapped potential of their innovations, ideas or stories. When it comes to making ideas take off, often the hope is that marketing will help people to understand why they need the product or service and thus make them want it. The truth is, the best marketing in the world can’t save an idea that hasn’t been developed with an understanding of who it’s for and why it will matter to those people.

Moments of insight are shaped by the experiences that lead up to them, and we cannot ever know the true impact of the thousands of experiences and encounters that made each of us who we are—or how they influence the judgments we will go on to make.

FOCUS: Prioritize undistracted thinking time. NOTICE: Practice paying attention to behaviors, patterns and anomalies. QUESTION: Get into the habit of questioning. DISCERN: Determine which ideas might be worth pursuing first. PREDICT: Translate insight into foresight. TRY AND TEST: Get feedback by testing.

We are in danger of becoming a generation of plugged-in, look-it-uppers who are more ready to take things at face value and less willing to inquire or explore. More satisfied with proof and less open to discovery. More inclined to consume rather than create. More fearful of uncertainty than open to possibility.

In a world of change, the learners shall inherit the earth, while the learned shall find themselves perfectly suited for a world that no longer exists. —Eric Hoffer

The word itself comes from the Latin cura—to care, to be careful and diligent. There are three types of curiosity. Diversive curiosity is our hunger for novelty; this is what makes us click on cat videos and keeps us scrolling through Facebook feeds. Empathetic curiosity is the drive to understand another person by trying to see the world as he does. Epistemic curiosity is our deeper, more directed quest for understanding that prompts us to explore, ask questions and make connections.

We do good work when we give ourselves the opportunity to do it.

If we want to have the opportunity to be right, we have to entertain the possibility of simultaneously being wrong and taking action before we’re certain.

The truth is you don’t have to be part of a team that’s developing a self-driving car or coordinating a mission to Mars to change the world. It’s possible to change tiny corners of it with simple, thoughtful ideas.

World-class innovators are moving from industry- or demographic-based

Consider for a second how many hours each day you devote to consuming, reacting and responding to the inputs of others via e-mail and social networks. How much time do you devote to creating, thinking and questioning?