I was first introduced to this style of thinking I assume is called "spectrum thinking" when I got to have dinner with Peter Thiel and some friends.
Whenever someone asked his opinion on something, he'd give a "spectrum of possibilities" for every answer.
There was little emotion involved in this, but rather logic and facts.
Example: If I asked his thoughts on the future of the Dollar, he would respond:
"Ok, here's 3 scenarios..."
Then he would give 3 different "scenarios" ranging from:
- Normal and boring scenario.
- Good and Bad mixed scenario.
- Crazy worst case scenario.
Then he'd backup each scenario with data or comparable past events. Sometimes even while talking through the problem he'd update his possibility of a scenario happening!!
He rarely thought something was black and white, but that everything was a spectrum of possibilities.
It was super cool to see this kind of thinking in action....it's the true definition of an "open mind" because no hard conclusions are drawn, just possibilities of events based off current knowledge.
