Roger von Oech - Creativity Whacks to the Head

One of the mental locks that inhibit creativity identified by Roger von Oech is to always follow the rules. Roger uses the following as an example where breaking the rules was the right thing to do.

In the year 333 B.C., Alexander the Great from Macedonia arrived in the ancient City of Gordium. While there he heard of the legend of the Gordion knot: whoever was able to untie the complicated knot would become the king of Asia.

Intrigued, Alexander asked to be taken to the knot in order to make an attempt at untying it. He tried unsuccessfully to untie it for a few minutes, and then he stepped back and asked himself: "How can I untie this knot?"

At this point, he got an idea. He pulled out his swords and sliced the knot in half. Asia was fated to him.

Blindly following rules has two main detriments: the first, is that we can get locked into strategies and ways of doing things that may not be the most appropriate. And second, we may be facing a situation in which the circumstances in which the rule was created have changed, so the rule is no longer applicable; yet we keep applying it because we fail to analyze the reason for and the validity of the rule.

photo credit: Phineas H

Another lesson from "A Whack on the Side of the Head" is to look within for change instead of blaming others.

Roger von Oech explains that he conducted a seminar with the direct sales force of a large pharmaceutical company. Prior to the session, he had the opportunity to talk to the people in the bottom 25% of the sales force and he asked them why they weren't more successful. They answered with comments such as:

"Our products cost too much."

"I've got a crummy territory."

"I don't get along with my manager."

Roger then writes: "What was their problem? They weren't taking responsibility for their own performance. They spent their time creating excuses rather than thinking of innovative sales solutions."

The successful salespeople, instead, did not wait passively for outside circumstances to favor them. Instead, if they were turned down, they would simply start looking for alternative ways to make the sale. They saw change as something that resided within themselves and which they could achieve by being proactive.

photo credit: Chris Owens

When Jack wasn't given the promotion he was after, he realized that he hadn't been performing very well at work lately and that his once perceptive mind was producing trite solutions to important problems. He decided to go to an idea doctor for help.

The doctor proceeded to ask Jack some questions; "First, have you stuck your neck out and taken any risks lately?"

"Not that I can remember," Jack answered.

"Have you been asking what if . . . ? to stretch your imagination?"

"I've been too busy."

"Have you kept an open mind when evaluating new ideas?"

"I know what works and what doesn't."

The doctor's diagnosis was that Jack was stuck in a rut. He explained to Jack that he had his ends reversed.

"You see, the human body has two ends on it--one to create with and one to sit on. As long as you actively pursue new ideas, your creative end stays in good shape. But if you sit around doing the same old things, your brain descends into your rear. The result is that your ends get reversed."

When Jack asked for the remedy to his problem, the doctor stood up, walked over to him, and gave him a kick in the seat of the pants. That kick gave Jack the jolt he needed to get his ends realigned.

Follow Roger von Oech's advice from his book "A Kick in the Seat of the Pants" and adopt the four roles of the creative process: Explorer, Artist, Judge, and Warrior.

The Explorer. When it's time to seek out new information, adopt the mindset of an Explorer. Get off the beaten path, poke around everywhere, be curious, and pay attention to unusual patterns.

The Artist. When you need to create a new idea, let the Artist come out. Ask what-if questions and look for hidden analogies. Break the rules and look at things backwards. Apply creativity techniques. Exaggerate. Look at things from many different perspectives.

The Judge. When it's time to decide if your idea is worth implementing, or if there is anything that needs to be added or subtracted from your idea, see yourself as a Judge. Ask what's wrong and if the timing is right. Question your assumptions and make a decision.

The Warrior. When you carry your idea into action, be a Warrior. Get excited about implementing your idea, eliminate all excuses, and do what needs to be done to reach your objective.

photo credit: mikebaird

In "A Kick in the Seat of the Pants", Roger von Oech divides the creative process into four different activities or stages: the explorer, the artist, the judge and the warrior. The explorer and the artist team together for the germination phase which involves right-brain thinking: nonlinear perception, metaphors, dreams, humor and imagination.

The judge and the warrior are then responsible for carrying the ideas into the world of action. This second phase involves linear, critical, left-brained thinking. Roger explains that it's important for the process of creativity to sharpen the skill of all four players. Here's a closer analysis of the roles played by the explorer, the artist, the judge and the warrior in the creative process:

The explorer searches for raw material with which to create ideas. We should explore anywhere and everywhere: as we take the dog for a walk, in the museum, at the grocery store, in magazines, and so on. In fact, we should also go outside of our territory and visit places we've never been to before and do things we've never tried. The only equipment the explorer needs is an open, curious mind. Exploration should be fun.

The role of the artist is to cultivate, incubate, and manipulate the raw material gathered by the explorer. The artist asks: "How can I make this idea my own?" In addition, "what if . . . ?" questions are invaluable to the artist. The artist employs creativity techniques and is not afraid to be wacky and appear ridiculous.

When the judge comes into play it's time to start giving the ideas the thumbs up or the thumbs down. While rational analysis and logic can inhibit creativity and kill good ideas if applied at the wrong time, applied at the right time they help ensure that the right ideas go forward into fruition. When the right idea has been chosen, it's the warrior's turn to eliminate excuses, do the necessary work, and implement the idea. If the warrior fails to execute the idea, the idea dies.

photo credit: moriza

Columbus challenged the Spanish courtiers to stand an egg on its end. They tried but failed.

He then hard-boiled one and stood it on its end.

"That's not fair," they protested, "you broke the rules."

"Don't be silly," he replied, "you just assumed more than you needed to."

What can you let go of? What unnecessary assumptions can you eliminate? How would that change the way you view your issue?

photo credit: James Jordan

While thinking "outside the box" is often used as a synonym for creativity, thinking "inside the box" with limitations of time, money and other resources often helps the mind to focus and respond with innovative solutions to problems. In an interview published on "Heads up! on Organizational Innovation", Roger explains that constraints force the innovator to think and look more deeply for opportunities.

As an example, he explains that he was watching a Roman Polanski's 1962 film, "Knife in the Water". One of the DVD's special features had an interview with Polanski and his screenwriter in which they both stated that they forced themselves to stick with Aristotle's "three unities for a good tragedy":

• All action takes places within 24 hours;


• All action occurs in the same place; and


• There is a limited number of characters

This made them think more deeply about plot and character rather than taking cinematic shortcuts. That is, these three limits helped them create a much better film than they would have put together had they not set any limits.

In addition, Roger explains that in writing his creativity card decks he was forced to get his point across using precise, carefully chosen words due to the limited space on each card. When it came time to developing his Ball of Whacks--a creativity tool for innovators, he set a budget as a constraint instead of simply pouring open-ended amounts of money into the project, which would probably have resulted in unnecessary, cumbersome features being added.

photo credit: MitzaBot goes BOOM

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