Seeing What Others Don't: The remarkable ways we gain INSIGHTS

the doctrine of continual transformation runs counter to the emergence of insights. Advocating for continual or even periodic transformation makes it into a routine to be performed. In contrast, insights are accidental.

Insight advocates could share what they learn by using stories.

A checklist mentality is contrary to a playful, exploratory, curiosity-driven mentality.

we should find ways to increase the density of ideas to which we are exposed

five different strategies for gaining insights: connections, coincidences, curiosities, contradictions, and creative desperation.

ELPING ORGANIZATIONS GAIN MORE INSIGHTS means breaking the tyranny of the down arrow in the performance equation. It means dialing back the War on Error. We’ll need to restore a better balance between the arrows, between trying to reduce errors and deviations on the one hand, and increasing insights on the other (see diagram).

In the last thirty years, American industry unintentionally performed a large-scale natural experiment. Major corporations went all in on the down arrow. The name of the experiment was Six Sigma.

during incubation our unconscious mind continues to chew on the problem. A second idea is that incubation may work by letting us recover from mental fatigue. Prolonged concentration may drain our mental energy, and so a period of relaxation may be needed to get us going again. A third explanation is that in a relaxed state we can summon forth remot

What trapped them was overconfidence in flawed beliefs coupled with reluctance to seriously consider other possibilities.