LAMSTAIH

No, I haven’t disabled the spell checker!

LAMSTAIH is an acronym created by Andy Stefanovich. It stands for ‘Look at more stuff; think about it harder’. He’s written about it in his book called Look at More, which has the bold subtitle A Proven Approach to Innovation, Growth and Change. I haven’t read the book, although I’ve heard Stefanovich talk about the concept.

Anyway, the point if this entry is that LAMSTAIH is one of the reasons that I write every day.

In our information age, it’s easy to complain about the overwhelm of data, articles, podcasts etc. But it’s really a blessing to have such access. I try to keep my input wide and varied; to stay alert; to scan the horizon; and to stretch beyond my comfort zone.

LAMS isn’t about looking at more of the same. It’s about looking at a range of topics to stimulate your brain, to make connections, to challenge your status quo.

This side of the equation comes relatively easily to me. Although I make a point of updating my input sources form time to time to avoid getting stuck in a rut.

The TAIH aspect is a different problem. Maybe it’s just me, but hard thinking doesn’t come easily. But it’s only when we add this to our input that we add value. It’s a necessary part of continuous learning and development. So, my solution/incentive to do the thinking is to commit to writing.

For me, the best way to think something through is to try to communicate it to some else. And my medium of choice is this blog.