A Whack on the Side of the Head - by Roger van Oech

"How You Can Be More Creative"

Creative thinking is absolute vital to success. The author even says that creative thinking is just like sex for the mind (not sure what his sex life is like, but each to his own...). But we all have a bunch of 'mental locks' that trap us in our current ways of thinking. As much as we try, we can't break free from these mental locks. Some times we just need a 'whack' to snap us out of it.

Mental Lock = "I need to find the right answer"

Whack = There's always a SECOND 'right answer', push yourself beyond the first thing that comes to mind and think of another answer

Mental Lock = "Play is frivolous, we need to be practical"

Whack = Use your imagination! Some times you need to think practically, but sometimes you need to give yourself permission but play and use imagination to come up with new, creative ideas

Mental Lock = "That's not my area, coming up with new ideas is for those creative types"

Whack = EVERYONE should be bringing new ideas together. Rather than working in silos, bring together different departments and different fields. This 'cross-fertilisation' means you can new approaches to old problems. 

Mental Lock = "Making mistakes is bad"

Whack = 'Success' isn't always good (it can trap you into a certain way of thinking) and 'failure' isn't always bad (it means what you're doing now isn't working, but that doesn't mean that you'll never find a solution)

Mental Lock = "I'm just not creative"

Whack = EVERYONE is creative. If you ever saw a cardboard box and pretended it was a space ship or a race car, you're creative. You've just told yourself that you're not. Give yourself a licence to be creative. We need your ideas!

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