The reality is that most professionals read books and never act on or apply the information. I always say that reading a book and not applying the information is like spending all day in the kitchen preparing a five-course meal and not eating it. In this article, I’m going to give you one process you can use to look for interconnections among the books you read. It’s worked very well for me, and so it will work for you as well.
Everything is interconnected. But there are times when the interconnections aren't obvious. So, it’s up to you to find them. Develop the habit of always tying new information to what you already know, creating some kind of system of knowledge. Think of the author as your mentor. The book is about the thinking of the author. Relate what you’re reading and learning to what you already know. And to the issues and problems and practical situations you’re facing. If you’re unable to do this, chances are you don’t understand the information in the book as well as you think.
Introduction to the Haystack Method: Look for Interconnections Among the Books You Read
Rohit Bhargava developed the Haystack Method, which he uses to discover and curate near-term trends. For 10 years, he revealed the trends in his book series Non-Obvious. The first part of the book was usually the same and the second part included the trends he curated during the past 12 months.
Have you read?
Non-Obvious Megatrends: How to See What Others Miss and Predict the Future by Rohit Bhargava
Look for Interconnections Among the Books You Read: 5 Components of the Haystack Method
- Gathering.
- Aggregating.
- Elevating.
- Naming.
- Proving.
I use the Haystack Method in the way it was intended. I discovered that it works well to show the interconnections among the books you read.
Step 1: Gathering
The Gathering stage is where you read books to get the information you need. When I’m gathering information with the intent to learn, my primary sources are books, articles, and YouTube videos. Rohit Bhargava also recommends that you can collect stories and ideas from your interactions with people or with content. However, for this article, I’m only referring to reading books.
When you’re gathering information, a critical question to ask is, “Where have I seen this before?” This is an active process of piecing information together.
Step 2: Aggregating
When previewing books, I recommend that you look for the main idea and the secondary ideas that support it. You usually find them in the Introduction of the book. Take individual ideas and disconnected thoughts and group them together based on bigger ideas. Once again, you’re piecing together information.
After gathering ideas, combine them. Aggregating means adding meaning to the ideas. This personalizes things when you add your impressions.
Step 3: Elevating
What interests you most about the idea? Think about the underlying themes that relate one group of ideas to another, to describe a broader idea. Elevate an idea into something that might be a game-changer.
Step 4: Naming
- It involves describing an elevated idea in an easy-to-understand and memorable way.
- Sharing a specific point of view.
- Finding a name for an idea is important.
Step 5: Proving
Find supporting documentation. That’s why it’s important to make note of important information. Test the ideas to see if they solve the problems you face.
How to Look for Interconnections Among the Books You Read: Dissecting the Haystack Method to Understand it
In this context, Gathering represents the detailed notes that you take from each book you read. After reviewing your notes, extract the five big ideas from the book. When Aggregating the five big ideas from each of the five books for an entire month, connect them with Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. This assumes you’re reading one book a week.
- Why does each idea matter?
- Why should anyone care about it?
- How can you group the ideas together?
If you’re reading books to learn about in-demand skills, one thought is to group them by skills. However, several skills are related to each other. For instance, problem-solving, creativity, critical thinking, and decision-making are related skills. So you could find an encompassing group to use. You have a lot of flexibility here.
When it comes to Elevating, you have 25 ideas at the end of each month to combine in any way. You can combine ideas across skills, industry, the sky's the limit. Rohit Bhargava says to follow the money. Some ideas have an underlying revenue factor. What would happen if you explored that angle to see where it leads? Naming your idea makes it easier for you to explain it. And choose a name that people will immediately understand the meaning of the idea.
In Proving the ideas from the books, some of that may be done for you, based on the author’s credibility. However, the way you combine the ideas may be more intuitive. Have you come across other information that has led you down that path? That’s something to think about. Proving for me, also means testing the combined and elevated ideas to see if they solve your problems.
Informational Text Analysis: How to Look for Interconnections Among the Books You Read
Let’s say that you’re reading books to solve a big problem. That means you’re Gathering information from the books you read. To make sure that you remember what you’re reading, connect what you’re reading to what you already know. To make sure that you understand the concept, explain or teach it to another person. Apply what you’re learning to the real world. Use a project that you’re working on.
Now, when you read books, make sure that you pick out the big ideas. Try to pick out about five ideas as mentioned above. A nonfiction book often has a core idea and then some secondary ideas that support it. But how do you spot an idea in books? Jack Foster offers clues in his book, How to Get Ideas. Any of the following information in books would be a big idea.
Examples of Big Ideas
- Solve problems.
- Help people.
- Save, fix, and create things.
- Make things better, cheaper, and more useful.
- Increase revenue.
- Save time.
- Make processes more efficient.
- Improve the company's reputation.
- Prevent liabilities.
- Cut costs.
- Aligns with your reason for reading the book.
- Answers to questions that you have.
The list is not exhaustive. And I’m sure that you could easily add more types of big ideas to the list. The bulleted list is meant as a starting point. An important point is that the ideas you find in a book are seldom fully formed. This means you have to work with them to make the ideas better. One way to do that is to combine them.
Start Aggregating ideas to make them better. This means you combine different ideas, adding your unique insights. Why do the ideas really matter? This gives meaning when aggregating them. Analyze the information by making connections among the ideas.
Elevating ideas means making them bigger and more encompassing. I advise readers to read books across multiple disciplines. Make connections across industries and disciplines. Evaluate the feasibility of ideas. At this stage, you can Name and Prove your ideas. Depending on why you’re using the Haystack Method, you may not need those two steps.
The Haystack Method was created to curate trends. But that’s not how I’ve been using it. I’ve been using it to analyze and synthesize information. Now you’ve read several books. And you’ve found lots of ideas. What are you going to do with them? Now is the time to use the ideas to Create original work.
Next Steps
The One Problem is just one way to learn from me. You can also join the Art of Learning membership site.
