Creativity = willingness to err + ability to recover

books:


	• A Whack On the Side of the Head Roger Von Oech Creative Think, 1973 - 141 pages average customer review:based on 2 reviews view larger image
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Creativity = willingness to err + ability to recover

This book - A Whack on the Side of the Head, even with its subtitle (How You Can Be More Creative) - conveys an exclusively humorous message. That is what I thought. However, while the writing is clearly entertaining and relaxing, the message is a serious one and the author communicates it effectively. In ten brief chapters the book describes essential blocks for creativity.

Creative thinking allows for the possibility that the right answer can be illogical, and one get that answer only by following some rules of thumb while breaking others, as long as in this frivolous play people do not lose more than they gain. This is the gist of Chapters 1 - 5.

Subsequent chapters recognize that specialization aids productivity and hence gains from exchange. However, there is the obvious caution that too narrow an area of specialization stifles imagination. Thus, it does not hurt to "occasionally, let your `stupid monitor' down, play the fool, and see what crazy ideas you can come up with" (p.128). The reason is that in creative efforts ambiguity pays; to err is not to do wrong. Temporary failure is sometimes better than temporary success, for `if you hit every time, the target is too near or too big' (p. 154). And so, creativity is not the lack of ideas, it is absence of action on the many ideas we all have.

I like this book and would not hesitate to recommend it.
Amavilah, Author
Modeling Determinants of Income in Embedded Economies
ISBN: 1600210465

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A Whack On the Side of the Head

A Whack On the Side of the Head is about the ten mental locks that prevent you from being more innovative - and what you can do to open them. It's based on Roger von Oech's experiences as a creative thinking consultant working with such clients as Apple, ARCO, Colgate-Palmolive, DuPont, Federal Reserve Bank, GE, GTE, Hughes Aircraft, IBM, ITT, Kaiser, NASA, Pizza Time Theatre, ROLM, Sears, Tektronix, Wells Fargo Bank, and Xerox.

What you will learn by reading this book:

* You'll get 36 tips to help you open the ten most common mental locks.
* You'll understand the difference between soft and hard thinking, and find out when to use each type.
* You'll learn why breaking the rules can be the avenue to innovation.
* You'll find out how to use impractical ideas as stepping stones to practical, creative ideas.
* You'll identify the places where you "hunt" for ideas.
* You'll learn how to play the fool, and why this is an effective creative thinking strategy.
* You'll find out why creative thinking is not only constructive but also destructive.
* You'll understand why play is the father of invention.
* You'll find out why the third right answer is usually more creative.
* You'll find out that you have both an "artist" and a "judge" within you, and when each is appropriate.
* You'll learn how a little dose of ambiguity can stimulate your thinking.
* You'll discover why a "whack on the head" can sometimes be the best thing to happen to you.
--- from book's back cover

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