Three essential keys to solve problems, innovate and get things done
A fundamental precept of this book is that smart thinking and intelligence are not the same thing. That's because IQ and other so-called intelligence tests focus almost entirely on abstract reasoning abilities. Smart thinking, on the other hand, has nothing to do with abstract cognitive ability; instead, Markman says, it is really about the content of what you know and how you use it.
So Smart Thinking, unlike raw intelligence, is not innate. It is possible to learn Smart Thinking and then apply it to the real world.
The Three Keys to Smart Thinking
Markman's book is organised around 3 core elements of Smart Thinking:
- Develop Smart Habits - the good news here is that using willpower is the worst way to build a habit! Instead, developing smart habits essentially involves two steps: stopping the performance of an old behaviour, and replacing the bad habit with a good one.
- Acquire High-Quality Knowledge - Effective learning requires that you process deeply, explain things to yourself and be active in your pursuit of knowledge. Markman suggests summarising for yourself 3 key things about books, lectures, meetings, etc. that you really want to remember.
- Use High-Quality Knowledge when needed - a useful tip to doing this is to redefine the problem, which often suggests a different solution based on knowledge from some other arena.
Applying Smart Thinking
An example of the application of Smart Thinking is how James Dyson, who developed the ability to learn and build knowledge that was then applied in a new context. By defining the purpose of a vacuum cleaner as separating dust from air without requiring paper or cloth filters, Dyson was able to visualise a different solution using the application of a cyclone to create centrifugal force.
5 Ways to Create a Culture of Smart Thinking
- Ask people to explain their reasoning to you when they present an idea. This helps you to learn and remember - and also forces others to fill in any gaps in their own thinking.
- Discourage people from multi-tasking. Markman says it is 'one of the evils of the modern world'!
- When giving a presentation, end it with a summary of the three key points that you want people to remember.
- Keep presentations focused on three main things - this enables people to remember better.
- Be open to new ideas. Any really new idea will feel uncomfortable at first but if you show openness to ideas, the people around you will become more open as well.
"Five percent of the people think; ten percent of the people think they think; and the other eighty-five percent would rather die than think."Thomas Edison