One Of The Most Critical Fastlane Skills?

[mikecarlooch]

Hey everyone, I'm creating this thread out of a burning curiosity I've had in the last month with what appears to be a critical skill in business...

And I thought to myself, what better way than to ask some successful people like those on this forum and their experience with it?

The skill I'm talking about is abstract thinking. The art of taking something from two different areas and piecing them together to create something valuable.

The reason I'm bringing this up is that it's been VERY difficult to find anyone talking about abstract thinking in an entrepreneurial sense..

And I'm assuming - that a lot of the successful entrepreneurs on this forum - have had to use the art of abstraction in order to create amazing solutions for customers, and in marketing, or anything else.

If you're a little bit confused still, let me give you an example. I saw a post that @biophase made recently where he took a bunch of gummy bears and glued them to a canvas, which then increased the value to about $65 if I remember correctly.

We also do a lot of talk here about freelancing and copywriting, and things of that nature.. And a lot of people in that space end up being like everyone else and doing what everyone else is doing..

Does the answer to being different in those types of things and creating REAL entrepreneurial things lie in abstraction?

This thread may be a total flop, however, I'm INCREDIBLY interested in hearing some of your guys thoughts on this subject..

Thanks!

-Mike

 

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[BizyDad]

Hey everyone, I'm creating this thread out of a burning curiosity I've had in the last month with what appears to be a critical skill in business...

And I thought to myself, what better way than to ask some successful people like those on this forum and their experience with it?

The skill I'm talking about is abstract thinking. The art of taking something from two different areas and piecing them together to create something valuable.

The reason I'm bringing this up is that it's been VERY difficult to find anyone talking about abstract thinking in an entrepreneurial sense..

And I'm assuming - that a lot of the successful entrepreneurs on this forum - have had to use the art of abstraction in order to create amazing solutions for customers, and in marketing, or anything else.

If you're a little bit confused still, let me give you an example. I saw a post that @biophase made recently where he took a bunch of gummy bears and glued them to a canvas, which then increased the value to about $65 if I remember correctly.

We also do a lot of talk here about freelancing and copywriting, and things of that nature.. And a lot of people in that space end up being like everyone else and doing what everyone else is doing..

Does the answer to being different in those types of things and creating REAL entrepreneurial things lie in abstraction?

This thread may be a total flop, however, I'm INCREDIBLY interested in hearing some of your guys thoughts on this subject..

Thanks!

-Mike

Biophase reverse engineered an Etsy listing he found.

His point was there was plenty of profit in it. And there are easy ways to make profit everywhere.

Someone could hypothetically just copy that and make money. (I personally hate copying other people's ideas, but that is more of a personal ethic than a best practice in business. In business, knockoffs and copycats make money all the time. In my view you should at least try to improve it somewhat. Skew the value like MJ says.)

So I don't think you NEED abstract thinking to be a successful entrepreneur.

That said, biophase's post did directly inspire me in an abstract manner. I'm currently exploring starting a company in a completely unrelated field, to what he showed, and his post helped inspire the direction I'm thinking. If I do get it off the ground, I will explain more later.

 

[Raoul Duke]

Biophase reverse engineered an Etsy listing he found.

His point was there was plenty of profit in it. And there are easy ways to make profit everywhere.

Someone could hypothetically just copy that and make money. (I personally hate copying other people's ideas, but that is more of a personal ethic than a best practice in business. In business, knockoffs and copycats make money all the time. In my view you should at least try to improve it somewhat. Skew the value like MJ says.)

So I don't think you NEED abstract thinking to be a successful entrepreneur.

That said, biophase's post did directly inspire me in an abstract manner. I'm currently exploring starting a company in a completely unrelated field, to what he showed, and his post helped inspire the direction I'm thinking. If I do get it off the ground, I will explain more later.

View: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/V8WIdtOZ6io

 

[Isaac Odongo]

The ability to see that there is a problem to solve.
That there is improvement to make in an industry.
That there is a value to skew. And how to skew it.

Think it is a combination of best practices and deeper more engaged, more dynamic thinking.

I think these skills are trainable. In creative writing we have a rule of reading. It is read with the eye of a writer. Read as a writer.

Entrepreneurs must see their surroundings with the eyes of entrepreneurs. What problems may I solve? How can that be improved?

Something of the kind.

I have experienced it much recently. I see ways to improve so many services in a manner that adds value.

~Isaac~

 

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[mikecarlooch]

(I personally hate copying other people's ideas, but that is more of a personal ethic than a best practice in business. In business, knockoffs and copycats make money all the time. In my view you should at least try to improve it somewhat. Skew the value like MJ says.)

So I don't think you NEED abstract thinking to be a successful entrepreneur.

Thanks for your response @BizyDad - Wouldn't you say that abstraction is the thing that creates those new things?

 

[Kevin88660]

Hey everyone, I'm creating this thread out of a burning curiosity I've had in the last month with what appears to be a critical skill in business...

And I thought to myself, what better way than to ask some successful people like those on this forum and their experience with it?

The skill I'm talking about is abstract thinking. The art of taking something from two different areas and piecing them together to create something valuable.

The reason I'm bringing this up is that it's been VERY difficult to find anyone talking about abstract thinking in an entrepreneurial sense..

And I'm assuming - that a lot of the successful entrepreneurs on this forum - have had to use the art of abstraction in order to create amazing solutions for customers, and in marketing, or anything else.

If you're a little bit confused still, let me give you an example. I saw a post that @biophase made recently where he took a bunch of gummy bears and glued them to a canvas, which then increased the value to about $65 if I remember correctly.

We also do a lot of talk here about freelancing and copywriting, and things of that nature.. And a lot of people in that space end up being like everyone else and doing what everyone else is doing..

Does the answer to being different in those types of things and creating REAL entrepreneurial things lie in abstraction?

This thread may be a total flop, however, I'm INCREDIBLY interested in hearing some of your guys thoughts on this subject..

Thanks!

-Mike

I think you are talking about innovative thinking rather than abstract thinking.

Abstract thinking is just higher order thinking that everyone who has went through formal education could do.

Doing what everyone else is doing does not need abstract thinking. But again I can turn and justify that by saying when everyone does something it is sign of a proven large enough demand/market and hence you skipped the question on if the need exists and if customers are willing to pay for it. Then it becomes justified using some level of abstract thinking.

 

[heavy_industry]

80% of the required skills are mental faculties.
Discipline of thought, emotional mastery, determination, focus, long-term planning, self-reflection etc.

The other 20% are domain-specific skills and knowledge that are unique for every business. E.g. building skyscrapers would require a whole different skillset than running a pharmaceutical company. Some of the skills overlap across domains (e.g. leadership).

But if you take care of the mental skills, which are foundational, everything else becomes a cakewalk. You can learn anything you need 10 times faster than other people.

 

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[BizyDad]

Thanks for your response @BizyDad - Wouldn't you say that abstraction is the thing that creates those new things?

It can.

But I can also find those things by reading the reviews of an existing product, looking at the complaints, and figuring out a way to solve those complaints.

I love abstract thinking. I'm just pointing out that it's not 100% necessary to be an entrepreneur.

It is super helpful. Sometimes. Sometimes abstract thinking just leads you to thinking about a whole bunch of problems that it will take to start a business and then you get bogged down and not starting anything.

Anyways, if it isn't necessary, if you can build a whole fast lane business without abstract thinking, then it can't be by definition a "critical" skill.

Communication is a critical skill for entrepreneurs.

Also, abstract thinking is probably one of the hardest things to train your brain to do. So someone might come on here and say to themselves, "Well shoot, I don't know how to think abstractly, so I guess I can't be an entrepreneur".

What an action fake that would be, trying to develop the skill of thinking abstractly.

 

[mikecarlooch]

But again I can turn and justify that by saying when everyone does something it is sign of a proven large enough demand/market and hence you skipped the question on if the need exists and if customers are willing to pay for it. Then it becomes justified using some level of abstract thinking.

Thanks! I did miss that, you're right.

 

[mikecarlooch]

It can.

But I can also find those things by reading the reviews of an existing product, looking at the complaints, and figuring out a way to solve those complaints.

I love abstract thinking. I'm just pointing out that it's not 100% necessary to be an entrepreneur.

It is super helpful. Sometimes. Sometimes abstract thinking just leads you to thinking about a whole bunch of problems that it will take to start a business and then you get bogged down and not starting anything.

Anyways, if it isn't necessary, if you can build a whole fast lane business without abstract thinking, then it can't be by definition a "critical" skill.

Communication is a critical skill for entrepreneurs.

Also, abstract thinking is probably one of the hardest things to train your brain to do. So someone might come on here and say to themselves, "Well shoot, I don't know how to think abstractly, so I guess I can't be an entrepreneur".

What an action fake that would be, trying to develop the skill of thinking abstractly.

Thanks! This makes sense in where to draw the line. I noticed it's been super helpful in creating content and could also see how it can be awesome in entrepreneurship. However while thinking abstractly about things I've also come up with some great ideas but like you said some of them cause you to get bogged down in overwhelm.

 

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[Panos Daras]

@mikecarlooch Excellent post! The skill/ strength you are talking about is called Ideation in the CliftonStrengths assessment. From GPT: " Ideation falls under the Strategic Thinking domain. People with Ideation strength are naturally creative and innovative thinkers. They have a unique ability to generate new ideas, make connections between seemingly unrelated concepts, and find novel solutions to problems. They thrive in brainstorming sessions and enjoy exploring different perspectives.
Individuals with Ideation as a top strength tend to:

1. Be fascinated by ideas and enjoy playing with them in their minds.
2. Have a constant flow of ideas and are always thinking about new possibilities.
3. Be able to see patterns and connections that others might miss.
4. Enjoy intellectual stimulation and engage in thought-provoking conversations.
5. Seek opportunities to collaborate with others, particularly those with diverse perspectives or expertise."

I did this test a while ago and for me, it was the second highest skill after Strategic.
If you want you can also do this test here: CliftonStrengths
You have to pay of course. I did not it was paid by my employer.
Nevertheless, whether you do the test or not always remember that execution is what matters the most. So in the same book, it says that let's say you are predisposed to any strength, if you do not execute it does not matter.