Hunch by Bernadette Jiwa

I finished this book in April 2025. I recommend this book 7/10.

Why you should read this book:

This is a book about adding creativity and looking for ideas on how to improve the world around us. The book can help you explore areas you might not have thought of on a current project, or kick-start you down the road of entrepreneurship.

Get your copy here.

🚀 The book in three sentences

1. Short chapters, well-written, and quick read.

2. Three exercises: Observe, understand, and imagine what's possible.

3. About adding creativity to an idea.

   
   

🎨 Impressions

This is a great book for someone who want to be a self-starter, but have not nailed down their target.

📝 My notes and thoughts

• P28. In our think tank and start-up culture, the importance we place on simply having ideas is overrated. Our energies would be better directed toward improving and evaluating the quality of our ideas before we begin to execute them. We can evaluate and improve our ideas in six steps:

  • Focus: Priorities in distracted thinking time.

  • Notice: Practice paying attention to behaviors, patterns, and anomalies.

  • Question: Get into the habit of questioning.

  • Discern: Determine which ideas might be worth pursuing first.

  • Predict: Translate insight into foresight.

  • Try and Test: Get feedback by testing.

• P36. On September 22, 2015, Jason Gay sent a tweet to his Twitter followers. It read: "There's a guy in this coffee shop, sitting at a table, not on his phone, not on a laptop, just drinking coffee, like a psychopath."

• P71. How can we notice what the world wants if we don't notice what's wanting in the world? How can we decide where to go next if we don't take the time to notice what's going on right now? It's only by noticing how people act that we can begin to unpack their unspoken desires and unmet needs. Sensemaking is akin to putting the every day under a microscope in order to discover what might be hidden in the details or beneath the behaviors.

• P81. A hunch happens at the intersection of all three qualities:

  • Curiosity: Interest + Attention: Learn to see problems and discern which ones are worth solving.

  • Empathy: Worldview + Understanding: Understand how it feels to be the person with the problem.

  • Imagination: Context + Experience: Build on what is already understood in order to connect ideas and describe new possibilities for the future.

• P101. Curiosity: Ability to notice with intention. Questions and testing pages 101 through 107.

• P125. Empathy: The ability to understand how other people feel. Question and testing pages 126 through 139.

• P151. Imagination: The ability to make unexpected connections between problems and solutions. Questions and testing pages 151 through 159.

• P168. Seven steps to idea execution:

  • Prioritize: choose the idea you're most excited to bring to life. Pick one!

  • Articulate: define your problem and identify whom you're solving it for.

  • Plan: Create an action plan from concept to creation and validation.

  • Assemble: gather the information, collaborators, and resources you will need.

  • Execute: create a prototype or beta test—this is your minimum viable project.

  • Validate: test your idea on those you have identified as having the problem.

  • Evaluate: get feedback, adjust, adapt, and modify.