Use Your Inner Genius To Solve Your Problems
Tough problems
of all kinds can be resolved because one universal principle
is at the core of learning to think like a genius: you’ve
got to break the rules.
Scott Thorpe
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If you ask people to identify a genius
Albert Einstein’s name would probably be close to the
top of most lists. But why was Einstein a genius? Here’s
a definition of “genius” for you. A “genius”
is someone who figures out a way to solve a problem by getting
out of a ““rule rut”.” I owe the phrase
““rule rut”” to Scott Thorpe and his
fascinating book. “How
To Think Like Einstein.” (I referred to this
book in an earlier article, “There
Are No Right Answers To Wrong Questions,” February
28, 2006.)
Thorpe claims that the real secret to
Einstein’s genius was his habit of breaking rules. He
doesn't mean breaking rules that tell us which side of the
road to drive on. And he also doesn’t mean breaking
etiquette rules and using the soup spoon to stir your coffee.
He is referring to Einstein’s habitual way of breaking
the rules to find solutions to problems.
Consider the image of ruts in the road.
Before paved roads and automobiles, people drove wagons over
dirt roads. The more the wagons rode over the roads, the more
ruts formed in the roadway. The deeper the ruts, the more
likely that the next wagon was going to ride in the same ruts
as the wagon before.
If you can’t
solve a problem, it is probably because you are stuck
in a rule rut. We all have rules—ingrained patterns
of thinking that we mistake for truth. Our rules form
naturally. Ideas become rules with repeated use. When
a rule rut forms, all conflicting ideas are ignored.
Scott Thorpe
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A “rule rut” is a special
kind of rut, created by habitual thinking. And just as wagons
follow the ruts created by earlier wagons, each of us falls
into the habit of following earlier thought patterns, which
keep us stuck in “rule ruts.”
Solutions to problems cannot be found
in “rule ruts.” Solutions come from getting out
of the ruts and thinking differently.
If you are stuck in a problem, whatever
the problem is, you cannot find the solution by continuing
to drive your wagon down the road following the same tracks
as everyone else. That just keeps you stuck in the rut. Depending
on your problems and how long you have faced the problem,
your own “rule ruts” could be as deep as the Grand
Canyon or just tiny tracks on the path. The deeper your own
“rule ruts,” the more important it is to climb
out of the rut and see another perspective.
In the middle
of difficulty lies opportunity.
Albert Einstein
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I had a teleconference call this morning
with my publisher about a problem related to my forthcoming
book. I thought that I had to do something I didn’t
really want to do. The publisher suggested another solution.
As soon as he pointed it out to me, I could see clearly that
I was stuck in my own “rule rut.”
Imagination
is more important than knowledge.
Albert Einstein
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Imagining a way out of a “rule
rut” is genius. And this is the process Einstein used
to revolutionize human understanding of physics. Einstein
simply imagined beyond the rules of Newtonian physics. And
from his imagining, he saw solutions that no one else could
see. In the process, he changed our world forever.
The problems
that exist in the world today cannot be solved by the
level of thinking that created them.
Albert Einstein
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All advancements come from breaking some
kind of rules. Just consider some of the rule breakers of
our times. The civil rights movement broke Jim Crow laws which
kept people in ruts because of race. The feminist movement
involved breaking rules, both written and unwritten, which
kept women in ruts because of gender.
Look at the issues facing us. Whether
it is gay marriage, steroids in baseball, hiring immigrants,
treatment of political prisoners in Guantanamo, or any other
matter, the issues screaming across the headlines and from
our TV screens have to do with rules. What are the rules?
Who makes the rules? Who benefits from the rules the way they
are? Who would benefit from changing the rules?
The real obstacle
when we are faced with an impossible problem is inside
us. It is our experiences, mistaken assumptions, half-truths,
misplaced generalities, and habits that keep us from
brilliant solutions. The great new ideas, the vital
solutions exist. They are just outside of the prevailing
thought. Otherwise someone would have found them already.
You must break the rules to solve impossible problems.
Scott Thorpe
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In my forthcoming book—where I
ran into my own “rule ruts”—I make the point
that the reason so many of us struggle with money is that
we learned rules that do not serve us. Before we can live
abundant lives, we need to break some rules. In other words,
the solution to whatever problem you are attempting to solve
right now comes from using your own genius to climb out of
your own “rule rut.”
For Your Abundant Success,
Kalinda Rose Stevenson
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