“One of the hallmarks of great entrepreneurs is their ability to break out of doing things the same way as everyone else,” according to entrepreneur Rohit Bhargava and venture capitalist Ben duPont. “Real entrepreneurship requires non-obvious thinking.”

Bhargava and duPont are both advocates for non-obvious thinking in the world.

Bhargava is the founder of the consulting firm Non-Obvious Company and has spent the past decade authoring his Non-Obvious Trend series and speaking around the globe on the subject. duPont has hosted his signature Non-Obvious dinner, which brings a community together to share their most unusual world-changing ideas for nearly 20 years.

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Their co-authored book, Non-Obvious Thinking: How to See What Others Miss, will be published on October 1.

“Every time we walk down the street while sending an urgent text message, we miss the world around us,” Bhargava and duPont explain. “The routines that power our day can also keep us firmly locked into the same unchanging mindset. Obvious thinking holds people back because it prevents us from seeing the new opportunities around us and keeps us from innovating.”

When Bhargava and duPont connected, they were motivated to try to deconstruct and describe what they’d independently learned about seeing the things that others don’t always see. The collaboration would lead to their “SIFT Method,” a four-step approach to non-obvious thinking.

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“SIFT” is an acronym that stands for “space,” “insights,” “focus” and “twist.” Bhargava and duPont break down how the method works below:

• Space: Find more time and mental flexibility in your daily life to appreciate new ideas and different ways of thinking.
• Insights: Seek new connections between ideas and find the deeper meanings behind the things we observe.
• Focus: Leave the noise behind and learn to focus your attention and thinking on the things that matter most.
• Twist: The act of creation and coming up with something new and different

Bhargava and duPont say the SIFT Method has helped them achieve both short- and long-term goals.

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Bhargava has used the technique to identify and write about “some of the most cutting-edge trends shaping humanity’s next decade,” which he outlines in his books Non-Obvious Megatrends: How to See What Others Miss and Predict the Future and The Future Normal: How We Will Live, Work and Thrive in the Next Decade.

Additionally, duPont has used the method to uncover groundbreaking ideas and the entrepreneurs behind them, which helps determine the ventures he funds and the people he partners with.

“Whether describing trends for the future or supporting the next decade of startup founders, the SIFT method is one we use every day in our work,” Bhargava and duPont say.