What is Big Think?

We are Big Idea Hunters…

We live in a time of information abundance, which far too many of us see as information overload. With the sum total of human knowledge, past and present, at our fingertips, we’re faced with a crisis of attention: which ideas should we engage with, and why? Big Think is an evolving roadmap to the best thinking on the planet — the ideas that can help you think flexibly and act decisively in a multivariate world.

A word about Big Ideas and Themes — The architecture of Big Think

Big ideas are lenses for envisioning the future. Every article and video on bigthink.com and on our learning platforms is based on an emerging “big idea” that is significant, widely relevant, and actionable. We’re sifting the noise for the questions and insights that have the power to change all of our lives, for decades to come. For example, reverse-engineering is a big idea in that the concept is increasingly useful across multiple disciplines, from education to nanotechnology.

Themes are the seven broad umbrellas under which we organize the hundreds of big ideas that populate Big Think. They include New World Order, Earth and Beyond, 21st Century Living, Going Mental, Extreme Biology, Power and Influence, and Inventing the Future.

Big Think Features:

12,000+ Expert Videos

Browse videos featuring experts across a wide range of disciplines, from personal health to business leadership to neuroscience.

Watch videos

World Renowned Bloggers

Big Think’s contributors offer expert analysis of the big ideas behind the news.

Go to blogs

Big Think Edge

Big Think’s Edge learning platform for career mentorship and professional development provides engaging and actionable courses delivered by the people who are shaping our future.

Find out more

Transcript

Companies have a tendency to look inwards during recession. You've got a million efficiency efforts going on, largely cost-driven. I think it's the worst mistake companies can make.

What I'm doing is trying to, number one, lead by example. I spend a lot of time out with all of our customers because fundamentally I find their businesses really interesting.

I don't kid myself to believe that I'm doing proper customer research.

Businesses come alive for me when I'm out with the customers, when I see how they interact with products and services we provide, and when I am with the frontline staffs all around the world within Thomson Reuters.

What I am trying to do internally is to streamline as much as possible all of the worthy internal projects that are there. I'm constantly asking the question, if there is a meeting and people are sending out a fifty-page slide pack, why not a ten page, why do you need it at all? If there is pre-reading and there are three articles that would be brilliant for some offsite, how about just one? The knock-on effect in the big company of de-layering, and having everybody ask the question, "Can I make this simple as possible, but no simpler," to steal a favorite Einstein line, I think that's especially powerful when you're going through a difficult period and your customers really need you and need your help.