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Do The Opposite: Creativity Techniques For Original Thinking
One of the easiest ways to ensure that your idea is unique is by simply doing the opposite of what others are doing. Every idea is made up for smaller ideas. In creativity research, we call these ideas “components.” Think of a component like a Lego piece. You can build whatever you like with them, but you need to have enough pieces, and you need those pieces to fit together. How good your overall idea is doesn’t depend on any single piece. It depends entirely on how those pieces fit together. When you practice the “Do The Opposite” strategy, you’re essentially taking an important component and inverting it. Of course it’s not going to fit into what you’ve already created, but it’s not supposed to.
Keep your focus on what you gain, not just what you lose. If you did the opposite of what others expected, what would be the real trade off? Perhaps you can make it work, or perhaps even asking this question is enough to push you in an entirely different direction. Either way, you’ll be exploring the unknown. For a creative person, this is already paradise.
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By Jared Volle, MS
5
77 ratings
One of the easiest ways to ensure that your idea is unique is by simply doing the opposite of what others are doing. Every idea is made up for smaller ideas. In creativity research, we call these ideas “components.” Think of a component like a Lego piece. You can build whatever you like with them, but you need to have enough pieces, and you need those pieces to fit together. How good your overall idea is doesn’t depend on any single piece. It depends entirely on how those pieces fit together. When you practice the “Do The Opposite” strategy, you’re essentially taking an important component and inverting it. Of course it’s not going to fit into what you’ve already created, but it’s not supposed to.
Keep your focus on what you gain, not just what you lose. If you did the opposite of what others expected, what would be the real trade off? Perhaps you can make it work, or perhaps even asking this question is enough to push you in an entirely different direction. Either way, you’ll be exploring the unknown. For a creative person, this is already paradise.