The Genius Machine: The 11 Steps That Turn Raw Ideas Into Brilliance

The Genius Machine shines brilliantly as a tribute to Gerald Sindell's lifelong commitment to crafting raw ideas into sparkling gems, and helping others do the same. Sindell declares that "Genius thinkers recognize that, when they have created something of value in any one area, it will probably be of value in many areas." The maxim applies perfectly to this book, which is of value to creatives in so many different walks of life. If you are involved in creative development on any front, this book is for you. I have worked through many of these concepts with Gerald Sindell's help, which resulted in the publishing of my first book, Zone of Insolvency. Practical applications of the eleven steps are bigger than life. Read The Genius Machine today!

I am living testimony to the impact of Sindell's processes, as he used them to help me become conscious of, and articulate, the 8 natural laws of identity that are the foundation of my work and my life. Identity Is Destiny: Leadership and the Roots of Value Creation The Identity Code: The 8 Essential Questions for Finding Your Purpose and Place in the World In this respect, Gerry Sindell's book is really a primer on how to change the world for the better. His precepts, taken together and applied millions of times over, would yield a far more productive society, with benefits for everyone - from the innovators to the populations of people they touch. Read The Genius Machine as a way to revitalize the meaning and impact of your life.

Full disclosure: I have known Gerry for about 15 years and he has assumed many roles in my life: mentor, manager, friend, officiant at my wedding, book doctor, just to name many. He was instrumental in the development, sale, and success of my two parenting books, Positive Pushing: How to Raise a Successful and Happy Child (Hyperion, 2003) and Your Children are Under Attack: How Popular Culture is Destroying Your Kids' Values, and How You Can Protect Them (Sourcebooks, 2005). Just to give you an idea of the value of Gerry's ideas found in The Genius Machine, the first iteration of Positive Pushing was bought for a four-figure advance by a small publisher who later bailed on the project. After a major restructuring and rewrite of the manuscript led by Gerry, the much-changed book sold to Hyperion for a six-figure advance. He is currently helping me prepare three new book proposals. To learn more about my work, [...] You might think then that I am too biased to provide an objective assessment of Gerry and his book, The Genius Machine (and you may be right). At the same time, I can speak as living proof of the value of The Genius Machine and the ideas that lie within it. So perhaps consume what I say with a grain of salt, but please do consume it. Quite simply, the ideas in The Genius Machine work. I have gone through the Endleofon process many times with my book ideas and am always amazed at what emerges at the end of journey; often hardly resembling the original idea, yet so much more clear and compelling. The Genius Machine has the unique ability to take an idea--a diamond in the rough, if you will--and help the originator of the idea to focus it, sharpen it, direct it, and express it in its most effective form. The Genius Machine not only helps to articulate and communicate the ideas most clearly, but it also helps to shape them into a form that is highly marketable. The Genius Machine will certainly be a "must-read" for anyone who has an idea, but doesn't quite know what to do with it. And, BTW, having Gerry in the flesh work with you is an even greater gift.

"My work is to help people think." Thus does Gerald Sindell introduce himself. It soon becomes obvious that this is more than a vocation; indeed, it is a passion, a mission, and a crusade to help people develop as many raw ideas as possible (their own as well as others') into "brilliance." I agree with him that he is "driven" and very much admire him for that. "The terrible gap that lies between existing knowledge and the persistence of ignorance - and its concomitant poverty, illness, and suffering - drives me crazy." What we have in this exceptionally stimulating book is everything Sindell has learned about that process...thus far. Some thinking is contemplation (What will I learn from this book?) and other thinking involves problem solving or decision making (Which key points should I stress in my review?). "This book is about a third kind of thinking, one that is directed toward improving an existing idea, thinking through a complete issue, or creating something new." Sindell wants each of his readers to become what a calls a "genius thinker" but that said, he fully realizes that a reader's IQ (or whatever else may be the metric of choice) will not take off like a Solid Rocket Booster (SRB) after reading his book. With regard to the title, it may also cause some misunderstanding. Over time, he developed a system to create intellectual capital (ideas) and called it the "Endleofon (END-leo-fahn), an old English word for 'eleven,' and some of my clients call it the Genius Machine." Why eleven? Because the Endleofon system is based on eleven core principles. He devotes a separate chapter to each. "This book is designed for straightforward navigation, so that, having read it through once, you will be able to jump easily to a useful spot whenever you need a refresher." According to Sindell, "genius thinkers" look at what everyone else does and see something different; they know who they are (and aren't) and what they are driven to contribute; they know that nothing exists in a vacuum; they know that the only way to be certain something works is to discover the test that would prove the opposite; they also know they are "standing on the shoulders" of others; and they recognize that, when they have created something of value in any one area, it will probably be of value in many areas; when working with something new, genius thinkers step from time to time and ask: What are the underlying principles operating here? Or are we using new rules, and if so, can they be pulled together into a coherent group or body of law?; they complete their work by answering two questions: Can it stand on its own? Have I provided enough additional information so that what we have innovated can be replicated or continuously improved?; genius thinkers enter the frame of reference of the intended user and ask, "Have I done everything possible to ease the learning curve?" Thus far, I hope that this review has indicated what Sindell offers in this book without compromisi

"Innovation begins with a need--whether it's the next-generation high-speed switch, a change in corporate culture, the design for a flagship product, or finishing a book on deadline. Throughout our lives we are met with challenges to create something that isn't already there. We can either do decent work and make something that, at the very least, does the job, or we can come up with something that is simply brilliant. In many ways, the choice is yours." - From The Genius Machine What is a genius thinker? According to author Gerald Sindell, founder of Thought Leaders International, a genius thinker is one who looks at what everyone else has looked at and sees something new. In his new book The Genius Machine, Sindell distills the eleven-step revolutionary system he has used to guide leaders, organizations, and authors. By taking an idea and then running it through Sindell's innovation hopper, concepts are subjected to critical thinking, including differentiation, implication, refinement and advocacy. Sindell calls his eleven-step system Endleofon (END-leo-fahn), an Old English word for "eleven", but his clients call it the "Genius Machine"--and for good reason: by subjecting any plan or proposed solution to these critical steps, an individual, team or business can go from the beginning of a problem to the point where an idea/work becomes fully developed and ready to take its rightful place in the world. Here are few fascinating nuggets from Genius Machine: * "Identity is the source of that feeling deep inside us that says we have something we were meant to do in this world, and that if we could just find it, we'd be on the right path. Fortunately, we *can* find it." * "Geniuses always have their antennas out for shuffle-the-deck breakthroughs in their own immediate area and in the world in general. This is one reason why we need to develop our own personal array of filters that we bring us the information we need as soon as it happens. Shuffle-the-deck breakthroughs in the Great Conversation changes the conversation." * "Elegance is inherently attractive: simplicity is artful. In thinking and writing, too, elegance is appealing. When we have refined our thinking to the point that our hard work has become invisible, then we will have achieved elegance. Elegant thinking has many advantages over its cruder competition: elegance communications more efficiently, is likely to be adopted faster, and will often have the strength to fend off the competition." * "If you were not successful in getting your way of seeing things out in the world, what is it the world would have lost?" * "We can often discover our entire framework by looking closely at any single element of what we're creating, since the truth of the whole is carried in every one of its parts. Everything we create, in each of its parts, expresses our values, our expression of what we think is the nature of life and humankind, our hopes for ourselves and the world." From business to