You Can Also Think Great

HOW TO USE 180° THINKING


Try it. You can’t do wrong wrong.
Here’s how to use 180° Thinking against a challenge or opportunity
that you face:


Step 1. Identify some of the directions of thought that are typically
used when thinking through such a situation.

Step 2. Push your thinking in the opposite direction. If you’re working
in a realm where you can isolate very definable traits or characteristics,
sometimes it’s helpful to write down those attributes,
then next to each one write down the “untribute” (as I call it).
For example: Cold/hot. Big/small. Open/shut. Yes, there are some
attributes that are not so easy to reverse, like oat-flavored, rectangular, or
French. In cases like that, just think “not oat-flavored,” “not rectangular,”
“not French.”

Step 3. Now that you’ve identified the 180° possibilities, go with the
flow. Work with the concept of “small,” even though “big” is the
accepted attribute. Work with “not rectangular” if what you’re
dealing with is rectangular. If not rectangular, then what? Round?
Oval? Triangular? Shaped like the continental United States? It’s
that easy.