What’s Your Favorite Thinking Technique?

Have you thought about your default thinking patterns?   I wrote a post on 3 Thinking Techniques to Improve Your Intellectual Horsepower at Sources of Insight.    I use these 3 techniques fairly regularly.  If you think about thinking as simply asking and answering questions, then improving your questions, can improve your answers.  That’s the power of these 3 techniques; they are simple ways to improve your questions to improve you results.

What’s your favorite thinking technique?

Published 19 August 09 04:28 by J.D. Meier
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# jenny31robertson said on August 19, 2009 3:07 PM:

My favorite way of thinking is using mindmaps. It is funny how much is stored in your brain. Like the other day I wrote down the subject World War II. I didn't know I knew so much about it. I think mindmaps are perfectly design for the way the brain works. Standard linear note taking is not capable of your brain's fullest potential.

# Richard Lowe said on August 19, 2009 5:50 PM:

I have used techniques from "The Thinker's Toolkit" - mostly the "pair ranking" which I couldn't quickly find a good reference to online, but basically, in a list of things you want to rank, you compare each combination of 2 things and record which you think is better and write down the rationalization for why it's better. Each item in the pair that 'wins' gets a point... at the end of all the comparisons, you should have an ordered list based on how many points each item has scored.  I highly recommend the book:

http://www.amazon.com/Thinkers-Toolkit-Powerful-Techniques-Problem/dp/0812928083/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1250717920&sr=8-1

Also, I have used the CARVER Matrix which is supposedly a mission target prioritiation scheme used by Navy SEALS (as outlined in the book "Unleash the Warrior Within" - a mostly BS book, but the CARVER Matrix is cool)

Here's a reference about it:

http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2007/05/how-to-prioritize/

Back to the first book, tho... the Thinker's Toolkit has a lot of very very cool thinking tools in it.

# Richard Lowe said on August 19, 2009 5:58 PM:

Uh, that should be "rationale" not "rationalization" :D

# J.D. Meier said on August 19, 2009 8:22 PM:

@ Jenny

I'm a fan of mind maps and I use them often.

@ Richard

The Thinker's Toolkit sounds interesting.  I originally thought this was part of THINKERTOYS but I see it's different.

I've used CARVER before and it's helpful.  I think what's important from it is having an agreed set of values/criteria.  I think the most effective decision frameworks are about organizing and clarifying criteria and giving them weights.

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