Reflect on critical open questions through different lenses.

Most of the technologies we've ended up inventing and developing, and most of the strategies we've ended up pursuing, have been borne by a long cultivation of an open question, followed by the nurturing of a slow hunch. I am able to tolerate open questions for months, or years. Open questions could include queries about how to find a co-founder for your business idea when people have their own interests and projects to work on or how to sell your new product to an entity that is typically averse to risk (Answers: Work with them on their projects to show your worth and tempt them with interesting questions; show how to dramatically reduce a risk they already bear.)

Usually, the simple answers that come quickly do not satisfy me. But instead of giving up or forgetting it, I work at the problem each day from different angles, under different lenses -- which can include but are not limited to: looking at extremes, considering what essential assumptions are and how to test them, and discovering how a different industry might solve a problem. Eventually I find some real traction with an idea that seems novel and has a good chance of working.