We were very intrigued by an article posted on Inc.com by Art Markman, a professor of psychology and marketing at the University of Texas. Professor Markman argued that one core behavior of brilliant thinkers was to “learn widely”:

“The best innovators have a base of knowledge that is both broad and deep.  They start with an area of expertise that they deeply understand.  They have a lot of causal knowledge, meaning that they are good at answering the question ‘Why?’ particularly in their core area of expertise.  They understand both about the big picture in that area of work as well as the fine details of how things work.  In order to keep up with the developments in there area of expertise, they are constantly learning more by reading, attending lectures, and engaging in discussions with other experts.”

“Innovators don’t stop with their core expertise, though.  They know that the best ideas come from combining their core knowledge with insights that come from other areas.  They recognize that drawing analogies from one area to another often provides the basis for new insights.  As a result, innovators also explore new intellectual terrain regularly.”