Give Yourself A Whack on the Side of the Head

The more often you do something in the same way, the more difficult it is to think about doing it in any other way.

Break out of this "prison of familiarity" by disrupting your habitual thought patterns.

Write a love poem in the middle of the night . . . Eat ice cream for breakfast . . . Wear red sox . . . Visit a junk yard . . . Work the weekend . . . Take the slow way home . . . Sleep on the other side of the bed . . . Such jolts to your routines will lead to new ideas.

How can you whack your thinking? What would really disrupt the way you are currently thinking about your problem?

How would each of the following situations change the way in which you think about your issue:

• not being able to talk for a week
• breaking your leg
• losing your job
• suddenly growing ten years older
• suddenly becoming ten years younger
• swallowing a pill that gave you three times as much energy
• having to sleep fifteen hours a day
• your being forced to spend a night in a scary graveyard
• having your IQ increased by 50 points
• having your IQ decreased by 50 points
• having your deadline moved up to tomorrow morning
• having your budget cut by 75%
• having to crawl to work on your hands and knees
• having a good friend from your past allege that you did evil things
• suddenly becoming ten years old for a day
• a vicious civil war in your country
• heat waves in the winter and snowstorms in the summer.

How do you whack your thinking?

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The 25th Anniversary Edition (completely revised, redesigned, and updated) of the book "A Whack on the Side of the Head: How You Can Be More Creative" will be published by Business Plus on May 5, 2008. It is currently shipping from Amazon. The retail price is $16.99 ($11.55 at Amazon). Yowie! Zowie!

Comments

[Marcia]

food for thought, no doubt.
different points of view always change your perspective on things.

[Randy]

Putting yourself "in the shoes" or "wearing the hat" of someone of vastly different background, skills, economic, religious, physical or cultural status - or "merely" of your customer, competitor or critic(what a concept!!)is both humbling (can help remove ego/hubris), simplifying and focuses thinking on your issue back to the basics.

[Jen]

Just had an aha! moment with this the other day. I realized I was getting in a rut with my thought generating method and it needed a little shaking up. I turned to something completely new and different and it put some fresh thoughts in the pipeline.

[Cam Beck]

"having your IQ decreased by 50 points"

I wouldn't enjoy having a negative IQ. ;)

[Roger von Oech]

Randy: Always a good technique.

Jen: Hope it works out.

Cam: I always had you pegged to at least three digits!

[Eric Peterson]

Roger,
I love your suggestions! Ice Cream in the morning sounds GREAT! This is definitely something I need to start practicing. I have found myself becoming stuck in a funk, and I think it's because I've lost my creative desire.

On a side note...I just started reading your book "A Whack on the Side of the Head!" So far (only 40 pages in), it has been a great read! Very thought provoking!

[shelbey]

"A vicious civil war in your country:"

--no more trying to be "neutral" or even "moderate"-- I'd have to take clear sides on the central issue
--time to put thoughts and philosophies and theories into action
--as a writer I'd want to record the stories of pain and resilience
--some sort of "underground" would be established;
--life lived at a more immediate level-- survival, vigilance, connection within a network of like-minded people that look out for each other, can supply each other with basics
--still, an uncertainty of who to trust; huge impact on currently superficial relationships [passing acquaintances, friends-of-friends]

I don't know why I chose this one-- probably because it is sooooo difficult for me to imagine the situation, so it's a real whack. I am taking a couple of cues from students who have come here from Bosnia-- some incredible stories.