It’s been nearly 10 years since Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner’s Freakonomics hit the shelves. Since then, the book – which used data and statistics to make sense of real-world situations – has garnered a cult following. From sumo wrestling match fixing to baby-naming and its impact on socio-economic status, millions of people have read the duo’s take on every day subjects.

However, the book, and the subsequent Freakonomics movement, hasn’t been without its detractors. Many have accused the authors of exaggeration and misrepresentation. It hasn’t been enough to turn off the masses – the Freakonomics empire has grown to include follow-up books, a popular blog, a featured column in the New York Times and a documentary. Fans enjoy the quirky correlations between statistics and pop-culture affairs.

In their new book Think Like a Freak, Levitt and Dubner offer tips on how to retrain your brain to solve difficult problems that others often ignore. The Freakonomics philosophy is a simple one, say the authors: if you decipher incentives, define what you need to measure, ignore conventional wisdom and cast off your assumptions, you’ll be able to get to the bottom of irksome dilemmas.

“Thinking like a freak is simple enough that anyone can do it,” they write. “What’s perplexing is that so few people do. There is nothing magical about this way of thinking. It usually traffics in the obvious and places a huge premium on common sense.”

By relying on data and falling back on fact-based thinking, you move away from bias and see the issue through an unclouded lens. Let’s examine the eight steps that teach us how to think like a freak.

Put Away Your Moral Compass

We are all guided by our moral compass, though some people have a stronger one than others. When we approach an issue our moral compass sometimes leads us astray. If we are consumed by the “rightness” or “wrongness” of an issue, we often lose sight of the big picture. We are able to see the true problem more clearly by eliminating the line in the sand.

Admit You Don’t Know

Our assumptions start us off on the wrong foot if they cause us to pose the wrong question. For example, a young Japanese student wanted to win the annual Coney Island hot dog eating contest. Instead of asking himself how to eat more hot dogs, he contemplated how to make the hot dogs easier to eat. After some research – which led him to dip the buns in water – he blew away the competition and set a new world record. The method has set the standard for competitive hot dog eating but would never have been discovered if he didn’t ask himself the right question in the first place.

Attack the Root, Not the Symptoms

It’s the difference between preventative health care and acute or diagnostic care. By approaching an issue at a different angle, you often come up with a very different solution that solves the problem before it starts.

“It takes a truly original thinker to look at a problem that everyone else has already looked at and find a new avenue of attack,” says Levitt and Dubner. “Why is this so rare? Perhaps because most of us, when trying to figure out a problem, gravitate towards the nearest and most obvious cause.”

Think Like a Child

We grew up with our parents encouraging us to think big. However, thinking small by taking a child-like approach can result in the best solutions. If we get in the habit of tackling a task in a simple fashion with a child’s curiosity, we shed our fears and have more fun during the decision-making process. This will make us love our work and want to do more of it, which is always a good thing.

Incentives Work

Humans are complex creatures who often say one thing in public and do a very different thing in private. Economists refer to this as “declared preference” versus “revealed preference”. If we dig deep to truly identify the right motivator, we can convince people to do just about anything, from purchasing a product to donating to a charity. Financial incentives are always the first to come to mind, but don’t discount moral, social, legal or the “herd-mentality” type incentives that make people want to go with the flow. Treating others with decency is the most powerful tool of them all – sometimes the most loyal customers are ones who encountered a nasty problem, but were treated with decency by the offending company.

Make Your Garden Weed Itself

An honest person will respond to an incentive differently than one who is looking to cheat or steal. By using a variation of the game theory – the art of beating your opponent by anticipating their next move – you can have your garden weed itself. For example, implementing complex online application processes can see companies pre-emptively weed out poor candidates simply because those people are less likely to take the time to fill out the form. Zappos offers new hires who have completed training $2,000 to quit, no questions asked. It may sound crazy but those who remain are highly motivated and loyal to their employer.

Tell More Stories

It is inevitable you will run into some opposition when you think like a freak. Sometimes it’s best to walk away. At other times, you’ll want to use the power of persuasion. However, it’s not easy to do and can be a frustrating feat. You should acknowledge your idea may be imperfect and that the other party has valid points. But don’t be afraid to play your trump card – storytelling. Stories can appeal to us and capture our attention. They resonate deeply with the listener and stick with them for a long time. It could be just enough to convince someone to change their mind.

Quit Sooner Than Later

Throwing in the towel is hard, especially in a society that preaches the “quitters never win” philosophy. The truth is, knowing when to walk away is invaluable, and boosts productivity and innovation. View failure as a temporary setback and move on quickly. Not only is it good for business, studies have shown those who give up unattainable goals suffer less depression and fewer physical ailments.

“As you’ve seen, there are no magic bullets. All we’ve done is encourage you to think a bit differently, a bit harder, a bit more freely,” write the authors. “Now it’s your turn! Our greatest satisfaction would be if it helps you to go out and right some wrong, to ease some burden, or even – if this is your thing – to eat more hot dogs.”