What’s the Big Idea? CEP 818

Created by: Jean-Claude Aura Date: September 2010 Page 1

Thinking Differently

When I was at school, I always wondered why we were studying polynomials and equations and

the like. I felt there was a purpose behind all that stuff, but back then I couldn’t figure it out.

Years went by and my inquisitive repertoire grew bigger, until I became a teacher and was

assigned a math class with a group of 16 year-olds in a technical college. When we reached the

lesson about finding the area of a rectangle, understandably all the students multiplied the

length by the width. When I asked them to find the area of the classroom (rectangular for that

matter) to see how many students it could accommodate, they all asked about the dimensions

of the room. It didn’t occur to anyone to use the tiles on the floor as a reference. When I asked

them to measure the length of one tile with a ruler and then move from there, I could feel they

couldn’t make the connection easily. This incident, along with many others, changed my own

perspective of things, especially the very common ones. Until I came across Sparks of Genius, I

considered my way of thinking unconventional and unfit for the academic world. I felt my

approach to things was illogical since I found it hard to explain my point of view to people.

However, after reading chapters 1, 2 and 16, I came to realize that more people need to involve

their feelings and imagination when analyzing the world around them.

Thinking differently has consolidated a very important aspect of my personal life, which is self

reliance. I normally tend to oppose people who make decisions based solely on public opinion

or general belief. I always encourage them to give room for some personal input, including their

feelings and emotions. ‘Thinking Differently’ has borne out the truth behind my way of thinking.

I remember the day when one of my best friends was planning for his wedding and how he

came up with the list of guests and preparations. I felt his decisions were more based on

satisfying others as they didn’t match his style and lacked personal touch. After his wedding, he

realized how important it was to involve one’s intuition and feelings when making decisions.

‘Thinking Differently’ has taught me that the best results are achieved when a balanced ‘mental

diet’ is considered in making life choices. And in order to lead a successful life, one has to

combine both what ‘makes sense’ and what ‘feels right’.

Nothing less can be said about the effects of ‘Thinking Differently’ in my career. As a teacher,

I’ve always encouraged students to ‘think out of the box’. A typical scenario would be to

present them with a common problem, like how they would go about describing a room, giving

directions, giving an oral presentation to an audience, and so on. In describing a room, I would

ask them to take a few minutes and reflect upon their answer before starting their description.

I would ask them to imagine themselves in the room and then imagine how they would want

this room to be described to them. In giving directions, some students would tend to focus on

landmarks while others would go straightforward with compass-like indications. Once again,

What’s the Big Idea? CEP 818

Created by: Jean-Claude Aura Date: September 2010 Page 2

‘Thinking Differently’ has proven to yield much better results than simply ‘going by the book’.

What’s more, in light of these fruitful results, my own teaching has been reshaped to adapt to

any given situation. When tackling a new topic with my students, I always engage them in the

teaching process. I welcome their input while still keeping the learning objectives in mind. In

other words, I teach them the way that suits their needs as students rather than mine as a

teacher.

What I hope to learn from the remaining chapters is how to manipulate the thinking tools

suggested in the book to achieve ultimate results.