Quotes About Insight

The quality of the problem that is found is a forerunner of the quality of the solution that is attained. It is in fact the discovery and creation of problems rather than any superior knowledge, technical skill, or craftsmanship, that often sets the creative person apart from others in his field.

The best endings don't leave us happy. Instead, they produce something richer—a rush of unexpected insight, a fleeting moment of transcendence, the possibility that by discarding what we wanted we've gotten what we need.

it is springtime and I am blind"... Clarity depends on contrast - 134

First, we can distance through space. The classic move is known, unsurprisingly, as the "fly-on-the-wall technique.

In those situations, the ability to move others hinges less on problem solving than on problem finding.

generally involves crossing the boundaries of domains."2 The most creative among us see relationships the rest of us never notice.

Today, they must be good at asking questions—uncovering possibilities, surfacing latent issues, and finding unexpected problems.

Cognitive neuroscientists at Drexel and Northwestern universities have found that the flashes of insight that precede "Aha!" moments are accompanied by a large burst of neural activity in the brain's right hemisphere

Most inventions and breakthroughs come from reassembling existing ideas in new ways.

To reprise language from the previous chapter, the solution isn't algorithmic (following a set path) but heuristic (breaking from the path to discover a novel strategy).

One of the most effective ways of moving others is to uncover challenges they may not know they have.

Clarity depends on contrast. In

He who laughs last doesn't get it." —HELEN GIANGREGORIO

They think they know a lot about me, because I know a lot about them.

began by writing about creativity. Creativity took him into the study of play. And his exploration of play unlocked an insight about the human experience that would make him famous. In the midst of play, many people enjoyed what Csikszentmihalyi called "autotelic experiences"—from the Greek auto (self) and telos (goal or purpose). In an autotelic experience, the goal is self-fulfilling; the activity is its own reward.

Because of their difficulty analyzing the particulars, they became adept at recognizing the patterns.

Empathy is related to Symphony—because empathic people understand the importance of context. They see the whole person much as symphonic thinkers see the whole picture.

writing is an act of discovering what you think and what you believe

The true knowledge is not in the things, which are few, but in finding the connection between the things.

The true knowledge is not in the things, but in finding the connections between the things.

It's dangerous to be people-blind.

Mais, c'est évident !".

There's something beautifully soothing about a fact — even (or perhaps especially) if we're not sure what it means.

Education is learning what you didn't even know you didn't know.