#386 The lifeline that keeps you afloat

Regularly asking “Where else?” is one of the simplest ways to become more creative and generate innovative insights.

Not only does this allow you to connect new insights with existing knowledge and experience, but it also invites you to imagine new use cases.

• “Where else have I seen this (or something similar) before?”
• “Where else does this apply (to my current knowledge)?”
• “Where else might this apply (in contexts where I haven’t discovered it yet)?”

Examples

Harvard Medical School professor Herbert Benson suggests the neurotransmitter NO (Nitric Oxide) may be the catalyst for breakthroughs and “aha moments.”
Where else have I seen this before? -> Pranayama/Yogic Breathing: Nasal breathing (and humming “om”) can increase nitric oxide production fifteen-fold. Humming your way to epiphanies might be worth a try.

Learning a language by grouping words instead of reducing it to words and grammar. Where else does this apply? -> Conversation Based Chunking; learning series of digits by grouping them together;… See: chunking concept in cognitive psychology

Uber made it possible for people to share/rent out their car.
Where else might this apply? -> How about sharing/renting out your home? That’s how AirBnB was born.

You don’t have to look elsewhere.
See what’s already there, then ask…
Where else?

This book put into words something I didn’t even know I had forgotten: that we’re all animal, but our minds deny it, so we have to learn to become animal again.

With the memory of what being animal is like
back on my mind
the earth is my home again.