A counterintuitive business and innovation strategy used by elite entrepreneurs and creative geniuses.The human brain is pretty f*cking amazing.One of its key talents is its ability to spot patterns.You can interrupt patterns to disrupt markets or you can combine patterns to create new markets.Many of the world's most famous creative geniuses and entrepreneurs have done just that.In the 19th century, the German mathematician Carl Jacobi made a number of important contributions to science during his career.He was, however, more well known for his ability to solve extremely complex problems by following a simple strategy of “man muss immer umkehren” or, roughly translated, “invert, always invert.”BusinessIn the early 1980’s Cirque de Soleil was one of the hundreds of traveling circuses that needed to make more money in a declining market.They created a challenge. “How might we change the circus experience from something cheap to entertain kids, to a high-end event for adults?”First, they wrote out common complaints about the standard circus experience.Circuses are famous or infamous for the following:Cheap, often tacky entertainment for kidsAll circus shows followed the same formatThey used unknown performersTerrible animal welfareCirque de Soleil wanted to stand out and make a racket so they inverted the circus experience and did the opposite.High-end circus entertainment for adultsEvery touring show would use a different formatThey would employ world-renowned artists and performersNo animalsThe previous market leaders, The Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey circuses stopped trading a few years ago after over a century in the circus business.Cirque de Soleil is now a world-famous billion-dollar entertainment company.Invert, or die.MathsWhat is 7% of 50? Don’t ask yourself this. It’s hard. Simplify it by inverting the question.Ask yourself what is 50% of 7. It’s 3.5, of course. It’s the same answer, with a simpler question.What is 12% of 25? Is a hard question.What is 25% of 12 is a lot easier. Both methods will give you the same answer.Invert, and simplify.ArtWant to create iconic art that stands out and gets noticed?Andy Warhol inverted colour to iconic shots to create pop art. He took famous images and thought about how to make them different.The best way to do that is to break art into components and invert an aspect that retains the iconic aesthetic but transforms it into some new and fresh.Banksy inverts the items to create thought-provoking paradoxes that stand out and gets attention.His art uses soldiers painting CND symbols or masked activists throwing flowers.Invert, and createAnxietyAs a younger man, I suffered from anxiety.I was a control freak. On a subconscious level, l thought by controlling everything I was protecting myself from anxiety.This is a common but poor strategy.Control freaks aren’t protecting themselves from anxiety, their control freakery is creating it.Most things in life and business are uncontrollable and our futile attempts of trying and failing to control them actually create anxiety.Roman and Greek philosophers worked this out thousands of years ago.The dichotomy of control is a Stoic practice that basically states some things are within our control and others are not. It provides us a framework to be effective at solving problems by dividing them into segments. Things we can control, and things we can’t.Invert, and find peace of mind.InvestingWarren Buffet and Charlie Munger are billionaire business partners.They are contrarian investors. Unlike the crowd, they don’t find safety in following the herd. The herd is terrible investors.They do the opposite. This is their investment strategy.“We simply try to be fearful when others are greedy and greedy when others are fearful” — Warren BuffetInvert, and make better investments.PhysiologicallyThe Navy Seals have a training test called ‘ drown proofing’ where they tie cadets' hands behind their backs and through them into the deep end of a pool.The cadet's natural reactions to thrash about in an attempt to free their hands and keep their head above the water.These cadets would drown if assistance wasn’t available.The more the cadets struggle to keep their heads above the water the deeper they are dragged down.All cadets need to do is relax and their natural buoyancy will see them float safely on the water.Cadets have to fight their survival instinct in order to live.Invert, and liveElite sportsAs a young man in the UK, Ian Wright dreamt of becoming a professional football (soccer) player. He was extremely talented but failed to perform well under pressure.He tried everything but failed trial after trial with 4 different professional football clubs.In his early twenties, Ian got married and had a child. He gave up on his dream and got a job in a factory to pay the bills.He continued to play amateur football on Sundays. A coach from Crystal Palace happened to spot him and invited him for a trial.Ian declined but showed the letter to his boss at the factory. His boss convinced him to take his full holiday entitlement off two weeks and give it a final shot.Ian knew he wouldn’t get signed so he went to enjoy his football and treated it like a holiday safe in the knowledge he would return to the factory.Without the pressure on himself, he played brilliantly and Crystal Palace signed him.He became their top-ever scorer. Arsenal, one of the UK’s biggest teams, signed Ian and went to the club’s top scorer and won the following:Premier League titleThe FA Cup twiceThe League CupThe European Cup Winners Cup.In 2005, Ian Wright was voted into the English footballs Hall of Fame.Wright learned to stop trying too hard and enjoy his football. Relax and let your talent flow.Invert, and perform better.PhilosophyThe British philosopher Alan Watts talks about backward law.“When you try to stay on the surface of the water, you sink; but when you try to sink, you float’ and that ‘insecurity is the result of trying to be secure.” — Alan WattsThe more we try and be something the less likely we are to achieve it.Unhappiness is the result of trying to be happy. Failure is the result of trying too hard to be successful.Humans get in their own way.Invert, and enjoy the process see hubwealthy.com/wealthy
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