How to be a Brilliant Thinker

Develop critical thinking by clarifying the problem, questioning sources, identifying and analyzing arguments, and evaluating their evidence, then synthesizing a personal, well-supported argument through discussion.

Develop your emotional intelligence by perceiving, understanding, and managing emotions; use empathy and focused listening to lead teams, improve decisions, and enhance personal and organizational success.

Develop mathematical thinking through real-world puzzles and problems, from average speeds to algebra, geometry, and triangulation. Learn to calculate, estimate, visualize with graphs, and sharpen numbers and reasoning.

Think visually to convey information more clearly than words alone. Adopt pictures, mind maps, and diagrams—from historical charts to puzzles—to boost creativity and understanding.

Think in combinations by pairing items, products, and partners to spark innovations, illustrated by the printing press, wheeled suitcases, clockwork radios, baby mop, and Pavarotti-U2 collaborations.

Ponder quietly to slow down and speed up, listen carefully, ask questions, analyze data, generate many ideas, and practice contemplation through meditation, incubation, and deliberate decision making.

Explore how lateral thinking challenges assumptions and uses a different perspective. See examples from history, puzzles, and the supermarket breakthrough to master practical techniques.

Challenge dominant ideas and assumptions to unlock lateral thinking, recognize that initial diagnoses often mislead, and ask basic questions to uncover alternative solutions like Uber, Airbnb, and Body Shop models.

Apply a lateral thinking technique by asking, what if the opposite were true? The lecture explores examples like Encyclopaedia Britannica vs Wikipedia, The Body Shop packaging, and open source Linux.

Ask better questions to unlock lateral thinking, exploring basic, childlike, and provocative questions plus six whys and six serving men to reframe problems and uncover insights.

Develop logical thinking and lateral thinking by practicing puzzles, analytical tools, and imaginative questioning, balancing left brain analysis with right brain creativity.

Practice creative thinking by writing a short child’s story using a chosen name, an animal, and a place; craft a clever escape and a hopeful ending.

Analyze problems with the six serving men method, what, why, when, how, where, who, in positive and negative forms, to uncover root causes and craft a prioritized plan.

Learn to facilitate brainstorms by defining the challenge, generating ideas with divergent thinking, and selecting with convergent thinking. Explore similes and practical steps to turn creativity into action.

Learn to evaluate brainstormed ideas using clear criteria, voting with red, yellow, and green stickers, and turning a long list into two to four actionable innovations.

Learn how parallel thinking uses the six hats to explore ideas from multiple viewpoints. Apply white, red, yellow, black, green, and blue hats to improve non-adversarial decision making.

Take a creative photo by shooting an unusual object with close-up framing, odd lighting, and strange shadows, then post the result on Instagram or Facebook.

Set your own goals across seven areas: academic, sport, career, relationships, health, wealth, and personal, then plan your work, write them down, and measure progress toward clear, timely outcomes.

Fight procrastination by turning ideas into action. Create a to-do list focused on high-value tasks, plan your work, and rehearse success to gain momentum.

Develop a brilliant speaking style by clarifying your central message, building a clear structure, and engaging audiences with stories, humor, and practice to persuade and inspire action.

Select two random dictionary nouns and compose a rhyming poem, such as a limerick or haiku, that conveys a clear story or message.

Use the virtual journey memory technique by walking a familiar route and placing vivid, bizarre images at each stop to remember lists in sequence.

Engage your brain with ten things that boost thinking: socialise, language and music practice, bilingual benefits, regular physical exercise and sport, puzzles, math, meditation, healthy foods, and sleep.

Explore nine cognitive biases to understand how they shape thinking. Recognize these biases to improve your thinking.

Discover how playing games, from chess to charades to codenames and Pictionary, boosts concentration, creativity, and lateral thinking, with examples like Rory's Story Cubes.

Discover how ai tools like ChatGPT extend beyond routine tasks to boost creativity and imagination. See a demonstration of using ChatGPT to generate creative ideas for three challenges.

Discover how ChatGPT generates creative ideas, expands prompts for writing and business challenges, and supports promoting creative courses with practical examples from office culture, thrillers, and marketing.

Explore 12 classic and modern books that sharpen thinking, from how to win friends and influence people to thinking, fast and slow, and cultivate creativity, persuasion, and growth mindset.

Revisit and reinforce your favorite thinking methods, focus on areas to improve, and explore recommended courses and books to deepen your lateral thinking and related methods.