Ahaaa …!

Aha-Erlebnisplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigA term coined by the German psychologist and theoretical linguist Karl Bühler. is a concept which describe the synchronicity between understanding, improvising, creativity and insight which can be applied to describe a number of different situations…

• a piece of missing information that completes the “puzzle”.
• the act or result of apprehending the inner nature of things or of seeing intuitively.
• an introspection and realization.
• the power of acute observation and deduction, penetration, discernment and perception.
• an understanding based on the identification of relationships and behaviours within a model, context or scenario.
• unpredicted and sudden realization, inspiration, insight, recognition or comprehension.

Aha-Erlebnis is regarded by most people as a realization that seems to manifest itself suddenlyplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigUnexpectedly, inexplicably and out of the blue so to speak. , a moment of brilliance to suddenly understand how to solve a difficult problem and provide us with a sudden insight, solution or answer to a problem that has been troubling us for some time. However, attaching this “miraculous” implication to the concept Aha-Erlebnis is a gross and grave misunderstanding. To experience an aha-moment is “concealed” hard work.

The secret lies in 'a problem that has been troubling us for some time', implying that we have been thinking about and toying with different ideas for a while. Thus, an Aha-Erlebnis or aha-moment actually - in essence - is an insightful realization, resulting from analyzing, learning, preparedness, thinking, knowledge, previous experiences, courage to lift the bar and skills.

Insightful realization is identifying and the derivation of a “rule”, which efficiently links the cause (problem) with effect (solution). Insightful realizations fall into two main categories…

• Analysis of past experience to gain insight and understanding for use when necessary in the present and/or future (i.e. past experiences and lessons learned).
• Simulations of future scenarios using existing insights and understanding to estimate probable outcomes based on our current savvy of how things work (i.e. common sense).