What do you think?
Rate this book
Non-Obvious Thinking: How to See What Others Miss
INSPIRED BY THE #1 WSJ BESTSELLING NON-OBVIOUS SERIES!
"Breakthrough!" ―Tony Robbins, #1 NY Times Bestselling Author
"Must read!" ―Sal Khan, Founder & CEO of Khan Academy
“Eye-opening!” ―Dorie Clark, Bestselling author of the Long Game
“Delightful.” ―Adam Grant, #1 NY Times Bestselling author
Shift Your Perspective. Be More Non-Obvious.
In Non-Obvious Thinking, bestselling futurist Rohit Bhargava and pioneering venture capitalist, Ben duPont come together to offer a concise four step method to think bigger.
From the termite mounds of Zimbabwe to an undiscovered Australian island that seemingly disappeared overnight, this book blends fascinating stories with highly actionable daily lessons. This is not an intimidating theory-filled business book. It’s a digestible roadmap to being more observant and unlocking the potential of your best ideas.
Learn how
Create space for new ideas and thinking.Uncover insights by training your powers of observation.Hone your focus to isolate the details that matter most.Define a twist to make your thinking original and unique.These are the four components of the SIFT framework– a groundbreaking method designed to unlock your creative potential in four simple steps. Whether you're dreaming of entrepreneurial success, seeking creative inspiration, or simply aiming to break free from conventional thought, Non-Obvious Thinking will help you learn to see what others miss.
The world needs more non-obvious thinkers. This book is your guide to becoming one yourself.
"Breakthrough!" ―Tony Robbins, #1 NY Times Bestselling Author
"Must read!" ―Sal Khan, Founder & CEO of Khan Academy
“Eye-opening!” ―Dorie Clark, Bestselling author of the Long Game
“Delightful.” ―Adam Grant, #1 NY Times Bestselling author
Shift Your Perspective. Be More Non-Obvious.
In Non-Obvious Thinking, bestselling futurist Rohit Bhargava and pioneering venture capitalist, Ben duPont come together to offer a concise four step method to think bigger.
From the termite mounds of Zimbabwe to an undiscovered Australian island that seemingly disappeared overnight, this book blends fascinating stories with highly actionable daily lessons. This is not an intimidating theory-filled business book. It’s a digestible roadmap to being more observant and unlocking the potential of your best ideas.
Learn how
Create space for new ideas and thinking.Uncover insights by training your powers of observation.Hone your focus to isolate the details that matter most.Define a twist to make your thinking original and unique.These are the four components of the SIFT framework– a groundbreaking method designed to unlock your creative potential in four simple steps. Whether you're dreaming of entrepreneurial success, seeking creative inspiration, or simply aiming to break free from conventional thought, Non-Obvious Thinking will help you learn to see what others miss.
The world needs more non-obvious thinkers. This book is your guide to becoming one yourself.
- GenresNonfictionLeadership
208 pages, Hardcover
Published October 1, 2024
57 people are currently reading
2407 people want to read
About the author
Rohit Bhargava
29 books180 followersRohit Bhargava is a leading authority on marketing, trends and innovation. He is the founder of the Non-Obvious Company and is widely considered one of the most entertaining and original keynote speakers on marketing disruption and innovation in the world. He is the #1 WSJ and USA TODAY bestselling author of eight books on topics as wide ranging as the future of business, building a human brand with personality, and how to create a more diverse and inclusive world. Rohit is an Adjunct Professor at Georgetown University and writes a monthly column for GQ Brazil. He is married and lives with his wife and two boys in the Washington DC area, loves the Olympics and actively hates cauliflower.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
August 4, 2024
Rohit Bhargava and Ben DuPont have whipped up a delightful guide to thinking differently, affectionately dubbed ‘Non Obvious Thinking’ by Bhargava. I’ve devoured over 500 books on creative thinking over the past three decades, and yet, this one left me with fresh stories and innovative techniques! That’s a tall order. Bhargava and DuPont have curated a truly unique approach that shines in a sea of sameness. And don’t even get me started on the suggested reading at the back – it’s absolutely fantastic! 🤩🤩🤩
August 29, 2024
Read this book with a pen in hand.
Many of us take time in the summer or during the holidays to either re-set our thinking or look for new approaches. This is a book that helps you do exactly that.
Treat it as a workbook. When you see something that strikes you--and at least every few pages, you will--grab the pen and write down HOW the idea/thought/process stuck you and WHAT you might do with it. Even if you might often say "I'm not sure, but this is clever." You can use's Rohit's SIFT method as you write, but you don't have to.
I then recommend you keep that annotated version at hand and, when faced with a hard problem, a need for a new way of looking at things, or are just feeling stuck, pull it out and see what you annotated. I bet it helps.
The book is well-written, uses simple words and is full of interesting and inspiring stories. Best of all, it's a quick read. I think you'll like it!
Many of us take time in the summer or during the holidays to either re-set our thinking or look for new approaches. This is a book that helps you do exactly that.
Treat it as a workbook. When you see something that strikes you--and at least every few pages, you will--grab the pen and write down HOW the idea/thought/process stuck you and WHAT you might do with it. Even if you might often say "I'm not sure, but this is clever." You can use's Rohit's SIFT method as you write, but you don't have to.
I then recommend you keep that annotated version at hand and, when faced with a hard problem, a need for a new way of looking at things, or are just feeling stuck, pull it out and see what you annotated. I bet it helps.
The book is well-written, uses simple words and is full of interesting and inspiring stories. Best of all, it's a quick read. I think you'll like it!
January 24, 2025
The goal of this book is to teach you how to overcome blind spots and become a more original thinker. The authors call this “non-obvious thinking.” In Non-Obvious Thinking: How To See What Others Miss, the argument is made that often the best ideas come from unexpected voices, the non-experts who bring an outsider’s perspective. Non-obvious thinkers are the instigators who come up with bold, original ideas that propel all of us forward—and have the courage and determination to turn them into reality. Here are several highlights:
Creating space goes beyond simply producing more time for contemplation. Sometimes it also involves creating the physical space to have new ideas by cultivating more mental agility.
Ditch Your Prebuttals: A prebuttal is a counterargument to what someone might say before they ever say it. It is the equivalent of shouting your disagreement with an unspoken idea, effectively shutting down any chance for genuine dialogue. Prebuttals declare to the world that instead of choosing to listen and think, those who employ them believe that their perspective is the only one that matters. Prebuttals are a lazy coping mechanism that can lead any one toward a more narrow-minded perspective.
Make Oasis Moments: An oasis moment offers refuge from the usual noise and chaos of the everyday, allowing for reflection and open-mindedness. Take a short break; slow down and reflect for a few minutes creates space in crowded and busy moments.
Embrace Danger and invite friction into your life to heighten your awareness and build resilience. When we bubble-wrap our world to make it ultra-safe or super-easy (or both), we risk losing the ability to learn from the mistakes we never make. Embracing opportunities to take risks and make mistakes opens you to push your own mental and physical boundaries. Create more space for experimentation and say yes to more unfamiliar experiences.
Change Your Rituals: What you do first in the morning matters. To avoid getting stuck in a mental rut, try something different in the first moments of your day. Rituals are often presented as going hand in hand with perseverance and dedication. While morning rituals do have the potential to evolve into positive habits, they can also get us into a mental rut. As they harden into rigid routines, they can have the effect of setting our brains on autopilot.
Practicing time spaciousness can help you avoid feeling constantly hurried or pressured by time constraints. Allowing for more time and spaciousness, like being more patient, can be challenging because it demands that we ignore some of the pressure the world puts on our shoulders. Giving yourself more time starts with the mental permission to slow down without feeling that any self-imposed pause is a failure.
Uncover insights: Often, insights come from deep listening, research, or analysis. Occasionally they get illustrated in cleverly conceived and effective advertising stunts. But the common starting point for insights is observation. Ask story questions - The goal of this approach is to shift the focus away from looking for answers to eliciting stories instead. Asking questions that elicit stories rather than answers leads to more interesting observations.
Hone Your Nunchi: Understanding what others think and feel without asking them directly is a familiar skill in Korean culture. Known as nunchi, this 5,000-year-old form of emotional intelligence is essential to navigating social pressures and sensitive topics. In Japan, there is a similar concept called kuuki wo yomu, which roughly translates to “reading the air” or being able to discern the unspoken meaning behind what people say and do. Both philosophies operate on the principle that what is being said or done explicitly doesn’t always reflect or match the actual meaning, deeper emotions, or intentions of others. The practice of reading body language is also based on this idea.
Get Your Hands Dirty: When we immerse ourselves in tasks we typically don’t do, we can gain a deeper understanding of the processes, intricacies, and challenges involved. We also build empathy for the people who are doing those tasks. Step in others’ shoes.
Focus Your Ideas: Focus also involves a similar process of distillation. Our favorite analogy to describe this is through a term that is usually associated with museums: curation. The art of curation is about discerning what is most meaningful. Identify the real problem. Pinpointing a common element among ideas can help you zero in on the bigger picture.
Be A Satisficer: Barry Schwartz’s The Paradox of Choice stunned the business world by suggesting that too many choices can diminish happiness and cause anxiety. One of the main points of the book is that people are maximizers or satisficers, depending on the situation. Maximizers “seek and accept only the best,” and they also score high on the regret scale. Even when they end up with a decision or outcome that is objectively better, they often struggle to be happy with their choices. In contrast, satisficers “settle for something that is good enough and don’t worry about the possibility that there might be something better.” And, interestingly, satisficers are just as discriminating as maximizers. Learning to appreciate when an idea is good enough instead of always seeking more options can be the key to focus.
Define the Twist: The final stage of their method, defining the twist, is about using your insights to create or imagine something new and original that no one else can or has before.
Find Option C: Avoiding limited two-option thinking can help you arrive at nuanced, original third options that others are unable to imagine.
Practice Enigmatology: Developing your ideas with a puzzle-maker’s mindset allows you to make the known unknown (and irresistible) again. Using enigmatology means drawing inspiration from what is already there and then applying a twist to make it unique and lasting.
Think Un-Whatever: Defining your thinking and ideas as the opposite of the status quo can successfully offer a twist that sets them apart. Ask yourself, “what is the argument that no one else in my field would ever make?” The answer might lead you in a fascinating, non-obvious direction.
Mind the Intersections: Examining the intersection of markets and industries might help you spot a non-obvious solution or idea. Seeking intersections can help you define a twist in your thinking and lead to a new combined direction that is better than its components.
Creating space goes beyond simply producing more time for contemplation. Sometimes it also involves creating the physical space to have new ideas by cultivating more mental agility.
Ditch Your Prebuttals: A prebuttal is a counterargument to what someone might say before they ever say it. It is the equivalent of shouting your disagreement with an unspoken idea, effectively shutting down any chance for genuine dialogue. Prebuttals declare to the world that instead of choosing to listen and think, those who employ them believe that their perspective is the only one that matters. Prebuttals are a lazy coping mechanism that can lead any one toward a more narrow-minded perspective.
Make Oasis Moments: An oasis moment offers refuge from the usual noise and chaos of the everyday, allowing for reflection and open-mindedness. Take a short break; slow down and reflect for a few minutes creates space in crowded and busy moments.
Embrace Danger and invite friction into your life to heighten your awareness and build resilience. When we bubble-wrap our world to make it ultra-safe or super-easy (or both), we risk losing the ability to learn from the mistakes we never make. Embracing opportunities to take risks and make mistakes opens you to push your own mental and physical boundaries. Create more space for experimentation and say yes to more unfamiliar experiences.
Change Your Rituals: What you do first in the morning matters. To avoid getting stuck in a mental rut, try something different in the first moments of your day. Rituals are often presented as going hand in hand with perseverance and dedication. While morning rituals do have the potential to evolve into positive habits, they can also get us into a mental rut. As they harden into rigid routines, they can have the effect of setting our brains on autopilot.
Practicing time spaciousness can help you avoid feeling constantly hurried or pressured by time constraints. Allowing for more time and spaciousness, like being more patient, can be challenging because it demands that we ignore some of the pressure the world puts on our shoulders. Giving yourself more time starts with the mental permission to slow down without feeling that any self-imposed pause is a failure.
Uncover insights: Often, insights come from deep listening, research, or analysis. Occasionally they get illustrated in cleverly conceived and effective advertising stunts. But the common starting point for insights is observation. Ask story questions - The goal of this approach is to shift the focus away from looking for answers to eliciting stories instead. Asking questions that elicit stories rather than answers leads to more interesting observations.
Hone Your Nunchi: Understanding what others think and feel without asking them directly is a familiar skill in Korean culture. Known as nunchi, this 5,000-year-old form of emotional intelligence is essential to navigating social pressures and sensitive topics. In Japan, there is a similar concept called kuuki wo yomu, which roughly translates to “reading the air” or being able to discern the unspoken meaning behind what people say and do. Both philosophies operate on the principle that what is being said or done explicitly doesn’t always reflect or match the actual meaning, deeper emotions, or intentions of others. The practice of reading body language is also based on this idea.
Get Your Hands Dirty: When we immerse ourselves in tasks we typically don’t do, we can gain a deeper understanding of the processes, intricacies, and challenges involved. We also build empathy for the people who are doing those tasks. Step in others’ shoes.
Focus Your Ideas: Focus also involves a similar process of distillation. Our favorite analogy to describe this is through a term that is usually associated with museums: curation. The art of curation is about discerning what is most meaningful. Identify the real problem. Pinpointing a common element among ideas can help you zero in on the bigger picture.
Be A Satisficer: Barry Schwartz’s The Paradox of Choice stunned the business world by suggesting that too many choices can diminish happiness and cause anxiety. One of the main points of the book is that people are maximizers or satisficers, depending on the situation. Maximizers “seek and accept only the best,” and they also score high on the regret scale. Even when they end up with a decision or outcome that is objectively better, they often struggle to be happy with their choices. In contrast, satisficers “settle for something that is good enough and don’t worry about the possibility that there might be something better.” And, interestingly, satisficers are just as discriminating as maximizers. Learning to appreciate when an idea is good enough instead of always seeking more options can be the key to focus.
Define the Twist: The final stage of their method, defining the twist, is about using your insights to create or imagine something new and original that no one else can or has before.
Find Option C: Avoiding limited two-option thinking can help you arrive at nuanced, original third options that others are unable to imagine.
Practice Enigmatology: Developing your ideas with a puzzle-maker’s mindset allows you to make the known unknown (and irresistible) again. Using enigmatology means drawing inspiration from what is already there and then applying a twist to make it unique and lasting.
Think Un-Whatever: Defining your thinking and ideas as the opposite of the status quo can successfully offer a twist that sets them apart. Ask yourself, “what is the argument that no one else in my field would ever make?” The answer might lead you in a fascinating, non-obvious direction.
Mind the Intersections: Examining the intersection of markets and industries might help you spot a non-obvious solution or idea. Seeking intersections can help you define a twist in your thinking and lead to a new combined direction that is better than its components.
July 15, 2024
I am grateful for the advance review copy and am leaving this review willingly.
I thoroughly enjoyed this well-distilled book on how to approach insights and innovation in a changing world. What struck me was how much emphasis there is in self mastery. It's a pattern I am seeing across a number of 'think like a futurist' texts: we need to modulate our own sense-making instrument (our body and brain) in order to think effectively.
There is a great illustrated table of contents. The book has a wonderful structure: short stories and anecdotes to illustrate the point then actionable steps to implement. A handy resource for honing strategic thinking, pattern recognition skills, and innovation practice.
I thoroughly enjoyed this well-distilled book on how to approach insights and innovation in a changing world. What struck me was how much emphasis there is in self mastery. It's a pattern I am seeing across a number of 'think like a futurist' texts: we need to modulate our own sense-making instrument (our body and brain) in order to think effectively.
There is a great illustrated table of contents. The book has a wonderful structure: short stories and anecdotes to illustrate the point then actionable steps to implement. A handy resource for honing strategic thinking, pattern recognition skills, and innovation practice.
November 26, 2024
First the typical disclaimer I won a copy of this book via Goodreads giveaway however that does not change my review.
Okay I'm not a typical personal/professional development girly. Books by Brene Brown make me cringe *I know I'm sorry to disappoint*
I loved this book however. I liked the format and the relatable reading material. I appreciate the ideas being backed up by facts and reference materials as well.
I also loved the inspiration section.
10/10 would recommend to everyone I know.
Okay I'm not a typical personal/professional development girly. Books by Brene Brown make me cringe *I know I'm sorry to disappoint*
I loved this book however. I liked the format and the relatable reading material. I appreciate the ideas being backed up by facts and reference materials as well.
I also loved the inspiration section.
10/10 would recommend to everyone I know.
July 17, 2024
This is a great read! Each chapter starts with interesting examples to set the stage for what’s to come and concludes with real-world examples to use what you’ve just learned. It’s a quick read and that makes it easy to go back to re-read favorite lessons. On top of that, it’s fun and enjoyable. I know this will be something that I will continue to reference moving forward.
January 15, 2025
I thought this book was a lot older than it is. Until I got to the chapter about generative AI, and I realized the information is relevant and timeless at the same time. Worth a read to help reset your thinking
September 29, 2024
Imperdível. Como eu esperava. Não percam!
October 10, 2024
Great book for those who want to think outside the box. Includes one of my favorite ways to solve a problem which is to view it backwards. Great tips!
December 11, 2024
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. This is a book I could see myself reading every year to remind myself to think outside the box or with a twist. I definitely recommend. #GoodreadsGiveaway
Read
December 19, 2024I couldn’t get into it.
June 25, 2025
decent corporate read
March 6, 2025
This book looks like it was generated from chat gpt , absolutely zero valueable insights and filled with obvious advice
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews