7 Secrets of How to Think like a Rocket Scientist (Category J)

The very first secret about rocket scientists is that they are not in it for the money. They are in it for the fun. They are the biggest dreamers on Earth because they dream on a cosmic scale. And they love sci-fi books and movies.

• Forget about your fears, the facts, looking silly or stupid—and test your ability to dream. Don’t be afraid of looking silly. Be like children who want to hear the same fairy tale, then imagination wouldn’t look silly to you.

• Find your big picture and it will give your task perspective and joy. The big picture focuses your mind and subconscious on a larger purpose. It gives meaning to all the little tasks you must tend to in order to achieve your goal. Keep your big picture in mind when solving your problems. The big picture will help you take the next step—it will give you direction.

• Since you must aim, why not aim the biggest? Have dreams of gigantic scale. You may not always achieve those goals, but you never hit a target that you don’t aim at. Ernest Shackleton, the polar explorer, aimed high. Shackleton failed in nearly every mission he launched, and yet he is considered today to be the greatest of the Antarctic explorers. He aimed high, but he changed his plans to fit the circumstances—he didn’t believe in Pyrrhic victories, and he didn’t lose a man in his command.

• Unfortunately, when we talk about creativity, about generating new ideas, and about solving diffi cult problems, most people become stiff and formal. There is a strong tendency to become judgmental and critical, to get serious, and to not be creative at all. This is mainly because they are afraid to offend, to make a mistake, to appear irreverent or nonchalant, to look silly. And thus, you just can’t be creative when someone tells you to be creative. BS is making stuff up, telling stories, trying to amuse, and is definitely irreverent. We all do it. BS is fun, BS is playful, BS is creativity without constraints. You can’t get away with BSing your way through with just any BS. It’s got to be good BS. You’ve got to be able to sniff out the wheat from the chaff.

• The first step to knowledge—to finding the answer—is to eliminate what isn’t true. Brainstorming consists of making a long list of possibilities. The goal is to create as many ideas (the good, the bad, and the ugly) as you can, to make your list as long as possible. No idea, no matter how absurd, stupid, ridiculous, or silly, should be discarded. Absolutely no judgment should be made at this stage. Give your creativity (and everyone else’s) free rein. Don’t take the process too seriously. Don’t be afraid to play with ideas. The time to criticize will come later.

• Stories capture our imaginations, create our myths, and mold our beliefs and values. Stories give our lives meaning; they integrate our brains. Story creates purpose. Storytelling is a necessary part of thinking and the development of the human brain. Story creates order out of chaos. It establishes patterns that serve as templates for life. Story structures knowledge, making it memorable and whole. Story takes specific ideas, events, and elements and weaves them into a cohesive, holistic narrative. With stories told (not seen), children will be able to draw their own pictures out of it.

• You need your rest—and so does your brain. No one knows why. Bertrand Russell, the great mathematician and philosopher, made a personal discovery worth noting that if a problem required conscious racking of mind for 10 hours to solve the problem, the same problem can be solved just by initially racking mind on problem for 1 hour, then stop thinking about it. After 9 hours when we return back to problem, the subconscious mind would have solved the problem for you. The important thing is that, first, it must be a problem that really matters to you. You must have the desire. Next, you should learn as much about the problem as you can. You should be intimately familiar with the issues even though you don’t know the answer. It helps to have a number of very specific questions about the problem. Confusion is often a necessary part of learning and problem solving. If you are never confused, you probably aren’t working on problems that are difficult enough for you. Finally, the last thing you need is time—especially time to sleep on it. That is why it is important to start on hard problems early, so you have sufficient time for your subconscious mind to work on it. For example, if you have a hard problem to solve, force yourself to carefully read problem statement, understand the problem, start thinking on its answer. If answer is not visible in 1 hour, sleep over it. The problem would be solved for you by your subconscious mind. !:-)

• When John F. Kennedy made this statement about moon expedition in May 1961, the United States had very little to go on. We had no micro electronics, no portable computers, no deep-space communications network, no giant rockets, no lunar navigation system, and practically no manned space flight experience. America had yet to put a man in orbit around Earth, let alone go to the moon. John Kennedy dreamed a great dream and fi red the imaginations of not only Americans but also people around the world.

• It is only when you have desire to do something, you will end up doing it. Otherwise, it is as good as not done or worse if done with little care. This heavy desire can come only from high imagination.

1. DREAM -

  a. Imagine It - "One who has never failed, has never attempted!".
  b. Work on the Big Picture - "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step”.
  c. Aim High - “You might loose 99 percent of games when you play, but you will surely miss 100 percent of all the games if you don’t play”.
  d. BS! (Back to School or Bull Shit) - BS knows no decorum, no bound, no fear, and no respect. 
  e. Brainstorm - “When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.” - Sherlock Holmes.
  f. Create Desire - It is only when you have desire to do something, you will end up doing it.
  g. Tell a Story - "Biggest part of creativity lies within being able to think independently and draw pictures out of it."
  h. Sleep on It - It is important to start on hard problems early, so you have sufficient time for your subconscious mind to work on it.
  i. Think JFK - He gave us the big picture and aimed higher than anyone dared believe. Maybe he even BS’d a little.

2. JUDGE -

  a. Get Real - 5 types of thinkers - Realist,  Idealist, Pragmatist, Analyst, Synthesist
  b. Play Games - Create a game out of your problem
  c. Simulate It - Simulation is next level of this game
  d. Run a thought experiment
  e. Know your limits
  f. Weigh Ideas

3. ASK -

  a. Ask dumb questions
  b. Ask big questions
  c. Ask "What if?"
  d. Ask "Animal, Vegetable, Or Mineral?"
  e. Ask just one more question

4. CHECK -

  a. Prove yourself wrong
  b. Inspect for defects
  c. Have a backup plan
  d. Do a sanity test
  e. Do a sanity test
  f. Check your arithmetic
  g. Know your risks
  h. Question your assumptions

5. SIMPLIFY -

  a. Keep it simple, stupid
  b. Draw a picture
  c. Make a mock-up
  d. Name the beasts
  e. Look at the little picture
  f. Do the math
  g. Apply the Occam's Razor

6. OPTIMIZE -

  a. Minimize the Cost
  b. Minimize the Time
  c. Be Mr. Spock
  d. Make it faster, better, cheaper (But not all three)
  e. Know when bigger is better
  f. Let form follow function
  g. Pick the best people
  h. Make small improvements

7. DO -

  a. Learn by doing
  b. Sharpen your axe
  c. Correct it on the way
  d. Do something
  e. Don't ignore trends
  f. Work on your average performance
  g. Look behind you
  h. Learn from your mistakes