(*information obtained from the book “A More Beautiful Question”)

According to Tom Monahan, 180-degree thinking is thinking wrong. For example, in his workshop he encourages participants to come up with ideas for things that don’t work; an oven that can’t cook, a car that doesn’t move. Even though it might sound crazy, when you actually do the exercise, interesting things can emerge such as coming up with offbeat alternate uses for the oven or the car.

The goal of 180-degree thinking is not necessarily to generate lasting ideas on the spot; if you do come up with an idea worth pursing, that’s a bonus. The real point is to begin to train the mind to think differently when confronted with a problem or a challenge; to consider a wide range of possibilities, including offbeat ones, and to connect ideas that don’t normally go together. In return, doing such helps you become better at what if questions which tend to free up the imagination because they allow you to shift reality, if only briefly.

• What if a restaurant provided customers with a menu only when they leave?
• What if some company started selling socks that didn’t match?

180-degree thinking is a interesting concept because it allows you to bring life to old things. For example, as mentioned earlier with the oven; 180-degree thinking allows me to bring life to old gadgets/tools that were once useless. I think that this concept can be applied in numerous situations such as relationships, goals, and etc. For example, my goal is to improve my health, so if I come up with things that don’t work such as workout equipment. Then, I can start to think of alternate uses for the equipment such as turning it into a stretching tool, or use it as a cool coat rack.

What are your thoughts ?