Roger von Oech

Note: I read the 1990 version of this book.
I learned about this book in the bibliography section of Seth Godin's Linchpin. It's aim is to stimulate you to be more creative. I found it very helpful.

What is the point, you may ask of being creative? Creative people stand out from the crowd, sometimes make things possible that didn't seem so, may increase productivity, or maybe just make life more enjoyable. Some examples are Albert Einstein, Johann Gutenberg, Isaac Newton, and William show more Shakespeare.

What happens if you're not at all interested in being creative? This quote (in the book) from physicist Tom Hirshfield summarizes it well: If you don't ask "Why this?" often enough, somebody will ask "Why you?".

My favorite quotes from this book:
The best way to get a good idea is to get a lot of ideas. (pg 28)

The metaphor is probably the most fertile power possessed by man. (Ortega y Gasset, pg 44)

Some people are so closely married to their ideas that they put them up on a pedestal. It's difficult to be creative when you have that much ego tied up in your idea. (pg 94)

A man's errors are his portals of discovery. (James Joyce, pg 154)

...two benefits of failure. First, if you do fail, you learn what doesn't work. Second, the failure gives you an opportunity to try a new approach. (pg 160)

What concerns me is not the way things are, but rather the way people think things are. (Epictetus, pg 162) show less

This book opened up my eyes to being more creative and thinking in a more creative way. von Oech brings forth a bunch of rules of business that stifle creativity, and one by one, he tears them down and shows how they do more harm than good when trying to be innovative (but hold an important place when it comes to critical systems).

Did you know that you're more likely to be creative if you consider yourself creative?

Did you know that the QWERTY keyboard was designed to slow down your typing show more speed?

Did you know that the Fool of the ruler was put in place to let the king hear something from someone who wasn't a "yes man"?

Applying the knowledge gleaned from this book, you too could be just a bit more creative, and get your process out of the dark ages and into the next century.

Recommended for people who need a little help being creative (though, in the end, the thing that makes one more creative is yourself). show less

When was the last time you had a creative idea? This morning? Last month? Last year? Sometimes you need A Kick in the Seat of the Pants to get your thinking going. This book does just that by taking you on a guided tour through the four roles of the creative process - Explorer, Artist, Judge and Warrior.
When it's time to seek out new information, adopt the mindset of an Explorer. Get off the beaten path, poke around in outside areas, and pay attention to unusual patterns.
When you need to show more create a new idea, let the Artist in you come out. Ask what-if questions and look for hidden analogies. Break the rules and look at things backwards. Add something and take something away. Ultimately, you'll come up with an original idea.
When it's time to decide if your idea is worth implementing, see yourself as a Judge. Ask what's wrong and if the timing's right. Question your assumptions and make a decision.
And when you carry your idea into action, be a Warrior. Put a fire in your belly, eliminate your excuses, and do what's necessary to reach your objective.
Kick provides exercises, stories, tips and Roger van Oech's proven techniques to help you strengthen each of your own creative roles. show less

Roger von Oech takes the premise that our educational system and business environment stifle creativity. Through this book, von Oech provides illustrations, puzzles, inspirational quotes, and exercises to help us adults rediscover our creativity.

Von Oech points out that solving a problem requires "soft thinking", which is imagination and creativity, and "hard thinking", which is the practical phase of decision making. Both "soft thinking" and "hard thinking" have their place. When tackling show more a problem, we should start off like an artist, using "soft thinking" skills to realize there's more than one idea. We can then convert to being a judge, using "hard thinking" skills" to decide which ideas are acceptable and practical to implement.

A Whack on the Side of the Head provides numerous examples and great lessons to improve creativity. The book provides great information about where and how to use "soft skills" to look at a problem from a different perspective.

www.ResolvingConflictsNow.com show less