ack,
Thank for your response. I too use it for actual issues and not just academic problems. It might not be obvious, but I don't think this is a strategy that should be applied frivolously to real world problems. This is why I stressed that this was the real game to me. Conventional wisdom should only be set aside when it makes sense. It became "conventional" and "wisdom" for a reason. I guess what I am trying to say here is that every problem shouldn't be attacked from all angles for the sake of doing it when the obvious straight forward approach works. I do advocate practicing the technique on your own liberally - even as just a thought experiment, because it is a skill that is improved with practice and becomes invaluable when needed for actual problems.

For me, the hardest thing to do...and to get others to do...is to not "tune out" other people's approaches. I have found that the vast majority of "leaps" into new solutions for me have come from ideas (sometimes just small, seemingly insignificant, comments) that came from someone with an entirely different perspective on the problem.

I find that a far easier task than not tuning out someone who is describing an approach I have already considered and dismissed. I have to force myself to keep listening to make sure they do not bring new information to the idea that I hadn't considered before dismissing it. Otherwise, I find myself abruptly cutting them off and explaining why it won't work. In comparison, it is relatively easy for me to listen to a completely new or different idea. I agree though that even that is a struggle when I believe I have already thought of the best solution.

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