In the preceding chapters, the author discussed deliberate generation and challenging of assumptions. These are basically the “coming up with 5 alternatives” and “asking why” that we have practiced before in class. However, they are not far removed from original vertical thinking as they are more backwards thinking, which are based on explaining some effect instead of bringing about some effect. Innovation is more forward thinking. To apply it, one should know suspend judgement, which means not judging if the step is right until the end.
One of the dangers associated to being right all the time that I didn’t recognize before reading this book is that being right usually let people think that right is enough, while blocking the possibility of a better arrangement. Another thing that is informative to me is that I always take care of the absolute correctness before I speak. For example, when commenting others online, whenever I came up with an idea, I have to do research and logical thinking to ensure its correctness as to avoid any criticism. I would say this is acceptable in some circumstances, but if the environment is more acknowledged with the use of suspended judgement, we should learn to consider wrong ideas and see its use, both in stimulating new ideas and to push people forward (sometimes you have to lie a little bit to convince others).