The only way to succeed is to discover this

assumption and discard it

One thing we can do is make better

use of the power of contradictions.

The captain figured he

would give this approach a shot and then ream the young firefighter out.
So he began in the way we recommended, by asking the firefighter what
he had in mind in the way he carried out the assignment
In his 2010 book, Where Good Ideas Come From, Steven Johnson
recommends ways to increase creative turbulence. According to Johnson,
we should find ways to increase the density of ideas to which we are exposed
and to increase our contact with creative people. We should foster
serendipitythe random collision of ideas. We should increase our
intersections
with different communities, using real and virtual gathering
places such as coffeehouses and social networks. group and network
collaboration as opposed to individual efforts. We
should take on multiple hobbies. Each of these recommendations would
strengthen our chances of making unexpected connec
We cant create more Chalfie moments by tripling
the lunchtime seminars. We cant create more Gopnik discoveries by
preparing more exotic desserts or transcribing all the comments of twoyearolds in accordance with the adage out of the mouths of babes.
Many people spend large chunks of time in coffeehouses and never get
more than a caffeine buzz.

The more random combinations we

produce, the greater the burden to
screen out the useless ones. Insight
involves making a new discovery without
having to consider bad ideas. As the
mathematician Henri Poincar
put it, Creation . . . does not consist in
making new combinations. . . .
The combinations so made would be
infinite in number and most of them

absolutely without interest. To create

consists precisely in not making useless
combinations
As long as we keep critical thinking in
perspective, it is clearly an
essential skill if we want to make good
judgments and decisions. However,
some critical thinking advocates seem to
go overboard with it. Like any
skill, it has boundary conditions; there are
times to ease back on it. Too
many risk-averse organizations have
embraced critical thinking programs
and methods as a way to reduce decision
errors without thinking about
how critical thinking can dampen the up
arrow and interfere with the noncritical,
playful attitudes we need to explore new
ideas. In many ways,
thinking critically runs counter to forming
insights. Still, if there is any
place for critical thinking in fostering
insights, it would be in times of
desperation when we need to undo the
flawed assumption that is getting
in our way.