Letter 19: May 12, 2008
This week a reader, after sharing some thoughts on writer's block, said that it's better to work with martial arts teachers who help students learn useful real-world skills, and don't take excessive care to prevent injury. "Hit me on the head a couple of times and I'll learn."
And that really hit me because... well, no, it didn't. And that really interested me because I had just that afternoon been looking at Roger Von Oech's classic book A Whack on the Side of the Head, which tells us that sometimes a whack right there is what we need to release creativity.
I'd been thinking of writing to you about it. The synchronicity persuaded me. So here I go.
Von Oech, unlike my reader, doesn't actually want you to hit each other. Stop it, sit up straight at the back. Instead he lists ten mental blocks to creativity, which need to be cleared.
Let's do this quickly.
1. "The Right Answer." Don't assume there is one, or that there is just one.
2. "That's Not Logical." Creativity sometimes demands irrational thinking. Or demands feeling, I suppose.
3. "Follow the Rules." Don't be limited by the way things are. Be creative (my two favorite ways of killing every promising idea, in certain organizations: we've done that and we don't do that).
4. "Be Practical." Same comment from me.
5. "Avoid Ambiguity." Don't. Be creative.
6. "To Err is Wrong." Okay, you know the Thomas Edison story? After inventing the lightbulb in theory, he tried a large number of ways - the number varies from narrator to narrator, so I think I'll go for a world record and say it was seventeen million ways - to make one that would actually work. When told he had achieved nothing, he said, "Nonsense! I know seventeen million ways in which it doesn't work!"
Also, today is baseball legend Yogi Berra's 83rd birthday, and let's celebrate by remembering he had an exceptionally high strikeout rate. You can’t score unless you swing. I mean that demurely.
(Note: I just researched this, and it's untrue. Berra was exceptionally efficient. Oh, well. It's still a good story.)
7. "Play is frivolous." Play is closely related to creative action.
8. "That's not my Area." A large part of creativity is in linking things that don't obviously belong in the same box.
9. "Don't be Foolish." C'mon.
10. "I'm not Creative." Well, clear numbers 1 to 9 and then we'll talk.
Von Oech also produced the Creative Whack Pack which is a set of cards with creativity-jogging suggestions based on the above. It has been on my bedside reading pile since 1999 and has never done me any harm. If you try it, let me know what you think.
Something you can try today: any of the above! Be creative!
David
David Jung McGarva
+1 (818) 707 1871
Write me: david at todayiwrite dot com
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