This document provides strategies and rules of thumb for seeing solutions from different perspectives using opposite thinking. The author discusses how he developed this ability due to having dyslexia. Some of the strategies discussed include saying "yes, and" instead of "yes, but", looking for a second right answer instead of just one, expecting the unexpected, failing forward, breaking patterns, and communicating ideas concisely within 60 seconds. The goal is to train the mind to consider new possibilities and alternatives in order to spark creative insights and solutions.

1. How To See Solutions That
Others Can’t See!
Chic Thompson
author of “What a Great Idea!”
Thank God
I’m Dyslexice
Copyright Chic Thompson 2015. All rights reserved.

2. From my first childhood drawings to my latest
business venture, I have loved creating, finding and
sharing new ideas.
My best ideas have always come in the
shower and not at a desk.

3. As a young kid, I took really long showers
and would jump out verbalizing my
“shower ideas.”
One day, my dad said, “Chic...
Whoa... I’m sure he was worried about the water or
electric bill.
Ideas are a
a dozen!
iSI
iI

4. As a student, I spent many hours“stuck”battling the
fears of expressing my ideas in class. I barely passed
high school courses (I drew cartoons and gave oral
presentations for extra credit.)
This strategy didn’t work in college. I only passed
chemistry, economics and math classes. I dropped out
three times.

5. It’s now been over fifty years since my dad’s
warning, and my “shower ideas” have gone from a
“dime a dozen” to the currency of my life.
I’ve worked in the new products lab for Gore-Tex®
and in marketing with Disney. I started a health
education cartoon company, and I now teach creative
leadership at The Brookings Institution and the
University of Virginia Darden School of Business.

6. The most common question that I get asked by my
MBA students is:
“How did you go from dropping out of college to new product
developer, to drawing cartoons, to now teaching at business schools
that would never accept you as a student?”
My answer is simple.
I see in opposites…
I look for what’s right about every failure…
I reverse words…
I then connect adjacent, unrelated
possibilities.

7. This opposite strategy comes so naturally to me
because I have the gift of dyslexia* and I see and
take a lot of supposed missteps.
To capitalize on this tendency to see in
different directions, whenever something
goes wrong or when I hear a wild idea, I
instinctively ask,
The answers that have come from asking, “What’s
right…” have changed my life and hopefully the lives
of my clients.
What’s right
about it?
*Dyslexia: a learning disability involving difficulties in acquiring and processing
language and is manifested by a lack of proficiency in reading, spelling, and writing.

8. I also love to reframe my client’s challenge by asking:
“What would you never do to achieve your desired
result?” and then flip the never into a big, new
possibility.
My goal has always been to look for second and
third “right answers” that aren’t in the back of any
teacher’s edition.
What would
you never do?

9. The magic of opposite thinking is that, at first
glance, the opposite idea might sound absurd,
contradictory, or illogical. Because opposites
fly in the face of all reason, and yet they are
strangely compelling.
At second look, some of the ideas generated
from opposite thinking can turn out to be
brilliant, true, and logical.
They can open up possibilities, break through
mental blocks, and pull the rug out from under false
assumptions.

10. To help you understand and embody opposites, I am
sharing my paradoxical Top 10 “Rules of Thumb.”
The steps are not a linear approach to problem
solving. You can mix and match the rules and apply
them whenever you need a mental jump-start.
They are by definition intended to be disruptive.

11. Top 10 Opposite Thinking “Rules of Thumb”
1. “Yes, and” vs. “Yes, but...”
2. Begin with the End in Mind
3. The Question is the Answer
4. Look for a Second Right Answer
5. Expect the Unexpected
6. Fail Forward
7. Break Your Patterns
8. Disciplined Dreaming
9. Less is More
10. First 60 Seconds Makes a Lasting Impression

12. When a child thinks up a new idea, their initial
thoughts are about the possibilities… the fun they
could have.
But mature minds see first what is wrong
with a new idea. “Yes, but it’s too costly…”
goes the voice in their head. Then their inner
voice puts them down for thinking up the idea.
Rather than saying “Yes, but... ,” which gives
an excuse for inaction, say, “Yes, and... ,” which
encourages a dialogue.
vs.

13. “Begin with the End in Mind”
I start any challenge by thinking about the future,
seeing the vision and the possibilities.
I ask three questions:
1. What is the result I want to see, feel and hear.
2. Why do I want to achieve this result?
3. Then I ask, how could I achieve this result?
Finally with a swirl of possibilities in my mind, I
reflect on the past to learn about hurdles that need
to be overcome.

14. “The Question is the Answer”
We don’t really find, create, or invent creative
solutions; we actually “reveal” them.
Here are the questions I ask to prepare my
mind for revealing solutions to my challenges.
• What do I have to be more open-minded
about to be successful?
• What are my blind spots?
• What is unique about this challenge that I have
never seen before?
• What if I trusted my customer/client 100%, would
that change my perspective?
?? ??
?

15. “Look for a Second Right Answer”
Here are some old “rules of school” that may be
holding you back:
1. There is only one right answer.
2. The teacher is always right.
3. The right answer is in the Teacher’s Edition.
4. Don’t pass notes.
To create an environment for ideas, the new rules are
the exact “opposite” than those from school.
So, look for second and third right answers,
challenge the way it has always been done and most
of all, learn how to collabrate.
The answers still aren’t on the ceiling, but if you
look with creative eyes, the questions might be.

16. “Expect the Unexpected”
“Stuff happens.”
— Bill Nye, the Science Guy
I’m a strategic pessimist. My visionary clients are
notoriously optimistic and often blinded by their
love for their own ideas.
So I love to hold “destroy-your-business”
brainstorms to visualize their competitive landscape.
I ask, what product, service or person could
put you out of business within five years?
I’m trying to see my client’s blind spots.

17. “Fail Forward”
A person that is open to creativity accepts failure.
Indeed, the person that is open to creativity expects
failure. For without failure, there’s no innovation
going on.
At first, “expecting failure” might sound
counterintuitive. After all, failure means a loss of
money (your money), self-esteem (your self-esteem),
and status (your status).
But when we think in opposites, we realise that
we learn through “trial and error” not trial and
rightness.
qeadz

18. “Break your Patterns”
1. Move your watch to your opposite arm.
2. Listen to a new radio station.
3. Watch a different newscast on TV.
4. Sit in a different seat at meetings.
5. Mix and match your clothing combinations.
6. Drive to and from work a different way.
7. Use your opposite hand for your mouse.
These exercises will prompt your brain to look at
things in different, creative ways.
(At Least One Day per Week)

19. “Disciplined Dreaming”
What % of your day do you spend daydreaming?
What % of your daydreaming is about the future?
What % of this daydreaming do you share?
My “Take 5” recommendation:Your Action Step: Take 5
1. Daydream for 5 minutes every day.
2. Center your daydreams 5 years in the future.
3. Share your thoughts with 5 friends.

20. “Less is More”
“Meetings are indispensable when you don’t want
to do anything.”
—John Kenneth Gailbraith
✔✔ Describe your passion in 6-8 words.
✔✔ Cut your number of PowerPoint slides in half
and double the type size.
✔✔ Eliminate half of the distractions on your desk
and on your walls.
✔✔ Make your resume and every report only
one page. Additional information can be an
attachment, if absolutely necessary.

21. “First 60 Seconds Makes
a Lasting Impression”
I used to love “show and tell” in school.
Now everyday, whether it’s in an elevator,
a café, an airplane or a conference room we
have opportunities to show and tell our ideas,
our challenges and our passions in life.
To prepare for this opportunity, I encourage you to
learn to communicate by just using a napkin, the
back of an envelope or your iPad.
Can you describe your idea
in 60 seconds or less?

22. How to Kill Your Great Idea!
1. Make sure it’s the only idea you ever have.
2. Expect to receive all the credit.
3. Never look for a second right answer.
4. Wait for market surveys and full market analysis.
5. Drag your feet; lack a sense of commitment.
6. Run it through a committee.
7. Hold lengthy meetings to explore its merit.
8. Boost cost estimates, just to be safe.
9. Over promise. Under deliver.
10. Create a 100 slide “road show.”
Here’s your opposite thinking
Great Idea Action Plan.
Now do the exact opposite
to create Great Ideas!

23. eBooks by Chic Thompson
(Click Covers for an Amazon Preview)

24. Chic Thompson worked in new product development
for Gore-Tex®
and Walt Disney and is now a Fellow in
Entrepreneurship at the University of Virginia Darden
School of Business.
In 2001, Harvard Business School wrote a case study on
his entrepreneurial career.
For more information: www.whatagreatidea.com.