How to analyze unfamiliar data: circle, dive, and riff

When you come face to face with unfamiliar data, how do you proceed? How do you avoid sending yourself and your shiny "speed of thought" tool slamming into a dead end? Dan Murray's got a routine — and he's also got certain music and right-brained books to go along.

Dan's first rule: "Don't pre-think." It's the hardest thing for people to learn, he says. …