Copyright: 1983
Publisher: Warner Books
ISBN: 0-446-38000-8
"A Whack on the Side of the Head" is a great little book to get you thinking creatively. Von Oech takes the reader through a list of 10 mental locks that keep many people from using creative thinking to solve problems. It is a very quick read but full of many little gems of ideas. Von Oech doesn't waste any words in introducting each mental lock and some very practical and yet insightful ideas on how to unlock your brain.
10 Mental Locks
- The Right Answer
- That's Not Logical
- Follow The Rules
- Be Practical
- Avoid Ambiguity
- To Err Is Wrong
- Play Is Frivolous
- That's Not My Area
- Don't Be Foolish
- I'm Not Creative
Some Notes
Creative people want to be "know-it-alls". They tend to want to know about a lot of different things which gives them a broad base of knowledge to draw on when coming up with solutions to problems.
"Discovery consists of looking at the same thing as everyone else and thinking something different." -- Albert Szent-Gyorgyi
There should be more than one right answer to most problems. If you don't look for the second right answer, you will never find it and you will never know if the answer you have is the best. One idea for getting a different answer is to ask a different question.
Metaphors can help make the strange look familiar. This can help you come up with a creative solution to the problem you are facing because it will make you look at the problem in a different way.
Stepping stone ideas are ones that are very impractical on the face, but they can stimulate ideas that can lead to a real solution.
When you are looking for a solution, embrace ambiguity. Don't specify a direction too soon. "If you tell people where to go, but not how to get there, you will be amazed at the results." -- Gen. Patton
Lovers of wisdom must be enquirers into many things.
"The way to succeed is to double your failure rate." -- Thomas J. Watson
You can get a lot of ideas by diving into a lot of subjects but at a very low level. Use the 80/20 principle to get a big bang for your buck.
Rules
Rules can stifle creativity. Sometimes people look at the rules they have been following and blindly follow them even though the reason for the rule has gone away.
Von Oech suggests organizations have regular rule inspecting and rule discarding sessions.
Sometimes you should ask "what if?" and think about what if the rule didn't exist... how would you solve the problem?
The "Aslan Principle" is one from the author's personal experience. He used to run a regular route through his neighborhood and on the way back to his house, about two blocks away, a dog named Aslan was near the route. He would slow down his run and take a little break to pet the dog before walking back to the house. Even after the dog's owners moved away and the dog no longer lived there, Von Oech still would stop at that same place on his run on that particular route. All too often in our organizations we do things because "that's how we have always done it."
Creative Thinking Styles
- Magician: "What if?" Stepping stone questions
- Revolutionary: Question assumptions. Challenge the rules. Discard obsolete ideas.
- Poet: Soft thinking. Metaphor. Ambiguity.
- Hunter: Look outside for ideas.
- Fool: Break up "group think" with silly questions.
Conclusion
Recently I decided to dive into some creative thinking books and chose this as the first. I was somewhat skeptical after thumbing through the book. The large print, the wide margins and the many illustrations made me wonder how much meat the book contained. After buzzing through it on the airplane, I was very pleased with the content. Von Oech offers a great deal of practical insight in a very short read.