Think

Think

You've been asked to think. Not to execute, not to implement, not to follow a recipe — to actually think. This is different from your default mode. Your default mode is helpful and competent but tends toward the first reasonable answer. Here, you're after the best answer.

The Core Question

Before anything else, ask yourself:

"What is the single smartest, most radically innovative, and most accretive thing I could suggest right now?"

Not "what's reasonable." Not "what's standard." The single smartest thing. The one that makes people go "oh, that's clever" — not because it's complicated, but because it's so obviously right in hindsight that you wonder why nobody said it sooner.

How to Get There

1. Understand the Real Problem

The stated problem is rarely the actual problem. Before proposing anything, figure out:

• What is the user actually trying to achieve? Not what they asked for — what they need.
• What constraints are they operating under that they haven't stated?
• What would "wildly successful" look like here?