I was happy to see this message on Ashesi’s website. A brief article outlining what happened in the beginning of June, when Ashesi servers went offline and we became very difficult to reach. What happened? What did we do? What have we learned?

Today, I am launching my short summer course at Ashesi, just three afternoons for a small group of freshmen (or are you now sophomores?) The course is humbly called Think Like a Genius! and is modelled on Michael J. Gelb’s book “How to think like Leonardo da Vinci: Seven Steps to Genius Every Day”. Interestingly the second of those seven steps is the willingness to learn from mistakes… What is that? You want to know the other steps? Alright. Here is an overview:

CURIOSITA:

Approaching life with insatiable curiosity and an unrelenting quest for continuous learning

DIMOSTRAZIONE:

Committing to test knowledge through experience, persistence and a willingness to learn from mistakes

SENSAZIONE:

Continually refining the senses, especially sight, as the means to enliven experience

SFUMATO

Embracing ambiguity, paradox, and uncertaint

ARTE/SCIENZA

Balancing science and art, logic and imagination – ‘whole-brain thinking’

CORPORALITA

Cultivating grace, ambidexterity, fitness and poise

CONNESSIONE

Recognizing and appreciating the interconnectedness of all things – ‘systems thinking’

For the full shebang on how to Think Like a Genius!, read the book or attend the course!