Like analogical thinking, Yunkoi’s idea involves the reimagining of disparate ideas to synthesize new and innovative products (like the handheld Nintendo Game Boy).

It also allows us to understand that which we cannot see at all.” Chapter 9 explores an idea called “lateral thinking with withered technology” (term used by Nintendo game designer Gunpei Yunkoi). Chapter 5, subtitled “Thinking Outside Experience,” explores the importance of analogies as a tool for problem-solving: “Analogical thinking takes the new and makes it familiar, or takes the familiar and puts it in a new light, and allows humans to reason through problems they have never seen in unfamiliar contexts. I found the lessons of chapters 5 & 9 particularly impactful. Each chapter opens with a compelling story that serves as a springboard for the main point of the chapter (Epstein is an especially adept storyteller). Both specialization and range are necessary for human progress and fulfillment, but-as Epstein illustrates over the course of his book-range is uniquely positioned in the Information Age as a way to inject newfound creativity and outsized results for those who embrace it.

Whereas hyperspecialization suggests a linear path from A to B, the narrative of range is more complex and circuitous, filled with detours and cul-de-sacs. Epstein contrasts this with “range,” an alternative approach that integrates knowledge from multiple domains. Hyperspecialization is the idea that a singular-focus combined with deliberate practice is the optimal path to success in a given field. Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World by David Epstein (2019) is a thoughtful counterpoint to the narrative that success is best achieved through hyperspecialization.

Range by david epstein