Transcript 10 Mental Blocks Roger von Oech Ten Mental Locks 1. The right answer 2.

10 Mental Blocks
Roger von Oech
Ten Mental Locks
1. The right answer
2. That’s not logical
3. Follow the rules
4. Be practical
5. Play is frivolous
6. That’s not my area
7. Don’t be foolish
8. Avoid ambiguity
9. To err is wrong
10. I’m not creative
Conceptual/Mental Blocks
1. The right answer
– Nothing is more dangerous than an
idea when it is the only one we have
– Look for the second right answer,
then…
– e.g., five figures at start of chapter
Conceptual/Mental Blocks (cont.)
2. That’s not logical
– We need a combination of “hard” and “soft”
thinking
– Two main phases in the development of new
ideas: an imaginative phase (thinking
something different) and a practical one
(getting something done)
Exercise
(p.46/50/62)
Make a metaphor for a current problem
Compare your concept to something else,
then see what similarities you can find
See how far you can extend the
comparison
e.g., disciplining a ten-year old is like
performing a magic trick
Metaphor Exercise
Look at metaphor examples p.48/52/66
Make at least two of your own (re the
meaning of life)
Share in groups, discuss briefly
Report out
Conceptual/Mental Blocks (cont.)
3. Follow the rules
– Rules, patterns, and the past are both useful
and constraining
– Creative thinking may simply mean the
realization that there is no particular virtue in
doing things the way they have always been
done
– Consider the stance: every rule here can
be challenged except this one
TRIPLETS
A triplet is a set of three words that are linked
by a common fourth word, consider, e.g.:
ELEPHANT - HOUSE - SNOW
What word could link these three words? (it
can appear either of before or after each of
the three words to form well-known
compound words or phrases)
An answer for this triplet is WHITE, as in:
WHITE ELEPHANT, WHITE HOUSE, &
SNOW WHITE
Some Triplets to Try
BOARD - HOLE - JACK
DOUBLE - ROAD - STITCH
MAKER - TENNIS – STICK
Triplet Exercise
All teams have the same puzzle sheet but each
team has a different set of clues.
Find the link word for each triplet and write it in
the appropriate blank.
Scoring (time to solve & points):
–
–
–
–
–
–
3 minutes, 100 points
4 minutes, 80 points
5 minutes, 60 points
6 minutes, 40 points
7 minutes, 20 points
>8 minutes, 10 points
Copy the first letters of the link words to see an
important message about teams.
1. REIN - HUNTER - SKIN
2. RIG - CRUDE - SNAKE
3. BAD - BULLETIN - FLASH
4. ROBBERY - EXPRESS - WAGON
5. CHEESE - ICE - SOUR
6. SECOND - POLL - PUBLIC
7. BELT - BLOOD - ORDER
8. BRUSH - OIL - SPRAY
9. DOUBLE - LEVEL - BLANK
10. AGREEMENT - FREE - SECRET
11. FIRE - ARTIST - NARROW
12. DUTY - RADIO - VOICE
13. WEAR - WATER - TAKER
14. GROUP - GUIDE - PACKAGE
15. COUPLE - JOB - NUMBER
16. MAN - BITTER - CABINET
17. INSURANCE - ORANGE - SECRET
18. LIFE - LIMIT - PART
19. AGE - PUMPING - WAFFLE
20. INSTANT - READY - VIDEO
21. FARM - CRACKERS - PARTY
22. READING - STICK - UPPER
23. PAINS - UNION - MANUAL
24. SUBMARINE - FEVER - JACKET
Conceptual/Mental Blocks (cont.)
4. Be practical
– Ask what if?
– The impractical can be a stepping stone
– Every child is an artist. The problem is how
to remain an artist after growing up
Exercise Avoiding Be Practical Lock
Pick a problem you are trying to solve or
idea you are trying to develop
Apply one or more of the techniques in this
chapter to the problem
– What if someone else were solving your
problem?
– What if you were the problem or idea?
– What could be a stepping-stone?
Conceptual/Mental Blocks (cont.)
5. Play is frivolous
– If necessity is the mother of invention, play
is the father; use it to fertilize your thinking
– Play is what I do for a living. The work
comes in organizing the results of the play.
Play is Frivolous (cont.)
Consider a Möbius strip
– One-sided surface
– Interesting properties
– Practical applications, e.g.:
Conveyor belts
Continuous-loop recording tapes
Superconductors with high transition
temperature
Nano-graphite with new electronic
characteristics, such as helical magnetism
Conceptual/Mental Blocks (cont.)
6. That’s not my area
– Specialization can not only overly limit
problems we consider, but block ideas
from other fields
– “Make it a point to keep on the lookout for
novel and interesting ideas that others
have used successfully. Your idea has to
be original only in its adaptation to the
problem you are currently working on.”
(Edison)
Lunch with someone different
In group of 2-3
Use one of pairings on p.139 or your
choice of two lunch partners
Brainstorm what they might learn from
each other about “the meaning of life”
If you have time, repeat with a different
pairing
“The most reliable source of
innovation is the unexpected.”
- Peter Drucker
Bionics (borrow from nature)
1. Elm tree seeds
A. Reliable celestial
2. Hooked spines on burr
3. Snake thermoscopic
B.
vision (0.002 C)
4. Bamboo stalk
(composite fibers)
5. Bee eyes (facets filter
polarized light)
6. Seals’ hearing apparatus
C.
7. Beehive hexagonal
G.
construction
D.
E.
F.
compass
Infrared photography
Velcro
Improved helicopters
Stronger, lighter pool
tables
Improved hydrophone
design
Fiberglass-reinforced
plastics
Conceptual/Mental Blocks (cont.)
7. Don’t be foolish
– Resist excessive group pressures for
conformity
– Occasionally, turn your “stupid monitor”
down, play the fool, and see what crazy
ideas you can come up with
When in Rome, do as the Romans do.
But watch out for groupthink
Alfred Sloan in GM board meeting
“That makes it unanimous, so I’m going to
table it… We’re looking at this idea in just
one way, and this is a dangerous way to
make decisions. When everyone thinks,
alike, no one is doing very much thinking.”
(p.155)
Exercise – Playing the Fool
In groups, someone puts out briefly a
difficult situation they are puzzling about
All help view it from a different/reverse
viewpoint
If time permits, repeat with a different
situation
Participation assignment for next
time
Read and think about Heraclitus’ epigrams
about life, nature, and the cosmos
(p.200/202)
Pick a favorite and discuss (write) what
you think it means, possibly with more
than one interpretation
Turn in at beginning of next class
Conceptual/Mental Blocks (cont.)
8. Avoid ambiguity
– “If you tell people where to go, but not how
to get there, you’ll be amazed at the results.”
(George S. Patton)
– Take advantage of the ambiguity in the
world. Look at something and think about
what else it might be.
Paradoxes
Real knowledge is knowing the extent of
one’s ignorance. -Confucius
Art is a lie that makes us realize the truth.
-Picasso
There is no surer way to misread any
document than to read it literally.
–(Judge) Learned Hand
Happiness is the absence of striving for
happiness. –Chang Tzu
Exercise – Random Cues
Follow Oech p. 140/148/190:
1. Pick some project decision, or problem
you have right now
2. Pick a random number and go to that
word on next page
3. Think about how the random thing
applies to your situation
Heraclitus’ Epigrams
(200/202)
What was one of your favorites?
Talk a bit about it
Other thoughts about the same one?
Another favorite one:
Conceptual/Mental Blocks (cont.)
9. To err is wrong
– If you hit every time, the target is too near or
too big
– You miss 100% of the shots you never take
(Wayne Gretzky)
– Differentiate between errors of commission
and those of omission - learn how to fail
intelligently
Conceptual/Mental Blocks (cont.)
10. I’m not creative
– Visualization and self-fulfilling
prophecies
– “What concerns me is not the way
things are, but rather the way people
think things are.” (Epictetus)
There is a natural tendency to compare
ourselves with others. Unfortunately, when
we make these comparisons, we tend to
compare our weakest attributes with
someone else’s strongest… It is obvious
that these kinds of comparisons are
destructive and only reinforce the fear that
somehow we don’t measure up. (Marvin
Ashton)
– To be a champ you have to believe in
yourself when nobody else will. (Sugar
Ray Robinson)
–Visualization and self-fulfilling
prophecies
Successful Visualization
Three elements within you that determine
how successfully creative visualization will
work for you in any given situation:
– Desire
– Belief (that preparation and visualization can
help you have the result you seek)
– Acceptance (of that which you are seeking)
Net effect of these three is intention
Discover your own creative self
Look at von Oech’s ten p.222
Identify some things about your creative
style, for example:
– Situations when you are/have been more
creative
– Things that help you be creative
– Blocks to overcome…
Take notes for yourself
Successful, creative people are able to
shift flexibly among four types of roles
Each involves a different type of
thinking
Explorer
Artist
Judge
Warrior
Explorer
Search for new information and resources
Facts, concepts, experiences, knowledge,
feelings...
Look off the beaten path, outside the usual
Artist
Turn these resources into new ideas
Experiment with a variety of approaches,
follow your intuition
Rearrange things, look at things
backwards
Ask “what if” questions, look for hidden
analogies and connections
Break rules
Judge
Evaluate the merits of an idea and decide
what to do with it
Weigh evidence critically, look for
drawbacks in the idea, ask if the timing is
right, question assumptions
Make a decision
Warrior
Carry your idea into action
Implement your idea, develop strategy,
commit yourself
Overcome excuses, obstacles, setbacks
Have courage to do whatever it takes
Take a whack at it
Take a whack at it
springboard off von Oech’s ideas
starting on p.237