For several years I have been studying design thinking and creativity. Much of this material has found its way into the classes I teach. As a result of this work I now believe that design thinking is the best front end process to develop a business concept. I couple it with "business model" to complete the development of a new business.
One issue that has troubled me for about two years is Einstein's comment that "he visualized the theory of relativity before he worked out the formula". Until today I could not understand how one thought visually. Turns out that visual thinking uses the images as metaphors and metaphor is well known to be the highest form of thinking (that produces creativity).
This new understanding came from this superb article, "Picasso and Einstein Got the Picture". If you are interested to understand higher level thinking, read and re-read the article. The article also provides the basis to understand the relationship between mathematics, music and art (another theme I have been trying to understand for a long time.)
The new theme I will be pondering is whether the use of metaphor in thinking can be taught. If math were taught visually I think that might be a good first step. We will see where this goes. Stay tuned for the next 2-3 years to see the answer. Usually takes that long to find a good answer to a question like this one.
Happy New Year.