Lately, I've been having lots of fun with the Whack Pack from Roger von Oech. My girlfriend recommended it when she saw the innovation games from Enthiosys. I've been reading a lot about creativity, empowerment, and ba and was curious to try out the Whack Pack. The Whack Pack contains a set of cards and a hand-book with exercises. Each card describes a technique for stimulating creative thinking by helping you to release, what Roger von Oech calls, mental locks. There's also an additional set of cards targetting innovation. If you're interested in thinking more creatively I heartily recommend the Whack Pack. I've summarised some of the techniques below to give you a flavour of what's inside.
The key to thinking creatively is to forget what you know. Education has taught us that there's one right answer. This is wrong. There's always more than one right answer. One right answer gives us only one course of action, and that's risky in a world that's constantly changing. Never stop at the first right answer, find others for options and comparison. We're also taught that right answers are good and wrong answers are bad. Wrong again. Part of thinking creatively is about trying different things. First one approach. If that fails, try another approach, and then another, and so on. Don't be afraid to fail. If your imagination is to run free you must welcome errors because they indicate that you are diverging from thinking more of the same.
Knock your thinking out of the norm by challenging the rules, breaking the rules. Don't let your imagination be constrained by them. Similarly, don't let your thinking be contained within your area of expertise. Develop the attitude of an explorer and be prepared to discover new ideas wherever your mind takes you. Go mad. Play the fool to provoke wacky ideas. These can stimulate your imagination and provide stepping stones that lead you off the beaten track to places rich with new ideas.
Roger von Oech describes two phases in creative thinking: An imaginative phase followed by a practical phase. During the imaginative phase he says you employ soft thinking, which is metaphorical and playful, to generate ideas that are different. In contrast, during the practical phase you employ hard thinking, which is logical, precise and consistent, to evaluate and execute ideas. Don't curtail your imagination by thinking logically too soon. Give your artistic side a chance before judging your ideas. Playing with ideas is fun. And having fun is contagious and motivating. Incubate ideas for a while before evaluating them. Back-off from the idea by putting it on the mental backburner. Let your subconscious work the idea, put it into perspective, and find new connections and stepping stones.
Don't forget to put your ideas into action. If you don't they're worthless.
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