‘The New God’ is a perspective shift where you imagine yourself as an omnipotent, omniscient entity with absolute power over the problem’s domain. By temporarily removing every conceivable limitation—physical, financial, ethical, or technological—you can identify the core, “divine” principles that would lead to a perfect resolution.
Thinking Without Limits
Most people ask: “What can I do with my current budget and team?” The New God asks: “What would the perfect world look like if I had infinite power?” Once you’ve designed that “Divine Solution,” you work backward to see how close you can get with human tools.
Assume the Divine Role
Mentally assume the role of the ultimate architect of your problem’s reality. Feel the sense of limitless power. No rules apply to you.
Example: “How can we eliminate global poverty?”
Design the 'Divine Solution'
Describe the perfect, unconstrained outcome.
- “I would create a universal resource replicator that provides infinite clean water, food, and energy to every human.”
- “I would instill innate empathy in all beings, making greed impossible.”
- “I would make all knowledge instantly accessible to everyone at birth.”
Extract the 'Divine Principles'
What are the underlying laws of your perfect solution?
- Principle 1: Abundance is the natural state, not scarcity.
- Principle 2: Knowledge should be freely shared, not hoarded.
- Principle 3: Cooperation is more powerful than competition.
Backcast to Reality
What “Divine Intervention” (radical change) could we implement today to move toward this ideal?
- Insight: If knowledge is a divine resource, we must democratize it.
- Action: Build a decentralised, offline-first digital library that can be accessed by any low-cost mobile device without internet, pre-loaded with every textbook and medical manual in existence.
Practice
Problem: “A toxic workplace culture.” Divine Solution: “Everyone can read each other’s thoughts and feels each other’s pain instantly.” What is the practical takeaway for building transparency and empathy?