The Creative Contrarian: 20 "Wise Fool" Strategies to Boost Creativity and Curb Groupthink

Product Description
Tackle your thorniest problems using the Wise Fool’s savvy Strategies!
The Wise Fool is the archetypal contrarian known for his creativity, irreverence, and humor. He looks at life in unorthodox ways and pushes back against the status quo. Throughout history, powerful decision-makers (Egyptian pharaohs, Chinese emperors, Persian sultans, and European kings) consulted Wise Fools to question the assumptions that kept them mired in stale and obsolete solutions.
In The Creative Contrarian, best-selling author (A Whack on the Side of the Head), speaker, and toy designer (Ball of Whacks) Dr. Roger von Oech provides readers with a fully-illustrated “Wise Fool Guide” to challenge established procedures and engage in creative thinking.
Roger shows how to gain the confidence to speak up in “groupthink” situations ― and boldly present a different perspective. From laughing at your most beloved ideas to test their validity to adding constraints to problems to reveal new solutions, he offers a framework for creativity that works in business, design, education, and anywhere new ideas are required ― and appreciated!
Employing a wealth of stories and examples, The Creative Contrarian presents 20 Wise Fool Strategies:
Some offer ideas to enhance your creativity (“Reverse Your Perspective,” “Look for Ambiguity,” and “Kiss a Favorite Idea Goodbye”)
Some provide tips on how to break away from the herd (“Buck the Crowd,” “Flex Your Risk Muscle,” and “Seek Other Right Answers”)
And still others convey prudent warnings in an unpredictable world (“Exercise Humility,” “Imagine Unintended Outcomes,” and “Develop a Thick Skin”)
Together, these jewels of insight will help you see things from the Wise Fool’s perspective! As the Wise Fool puts it: “Nothing is more dangerous than an idea when it’s the only one you have”; and “Every ‘right’ idea eventually becomes the ‘wrong’ one.”
The Creative Contrarian: 20 “Wise Fool” Strategies to Boost Creativity and Curb Group think is an indispensable resource for anyone seeking fresh solutions to common problems at the office, in the classroom, or at home.
From the Inside Flap
If you don’t ask “why this?” often enough, somebody will ask “why you?”
The Creative Contrarian is for people who like to “think differently,” and also for those looking for ways to hone their creative edge.
If being innovative is part of your job—engineers, entrepreneurs, managers, programmers, designers, teachers, parents, coaches, artists, and students—then this book is for you!
Using a fun and engaging style, Roger von Oech presents 20 “Wise Fool” Strategies to boost yourcreativity and curb groupthink.These include: “Use your forgettery,” “Flex your risk muscle,” “Drop what’s obsolete,” “Laugh at it,” and “Reverse your perspective.”
Jam-packed with innovation boosters for taking the initiative, this book provides practical tips to help you develop a “how-else-can-I-look-at-this?” attitude. Reading it will make you a little less dogmatic, and a lot more playful; less convinced you’ve already got the best answer, and more skeptical of “received truths.”
You can’t see the good ideas behind you by looking twice as hard at what’s in front of you.
From the Back Cover
PRAISE FOR Roger von Oech:
“Roger von Oech has won a loyal following around the country.” ―BusinessWeek
“Using von Oech’s ideas may beat consulting the I Ching.” ―Fortune
“Roger von Oech runs laps around everyone else in the creativity consulting business.” ―San Francisco Examiner
Be a Creative Contrarian:Consult Your Wise Fool!
The Wise Fool is the archetypal contrarian known for his creativity, irreverence, humor, and candor. This character looks at life in unorthodox ways, and pushes back against the status quo. Throughout history, powerful decision-makers (Egyptian pharaohs, Chinese emperors, European kings) consulted Wise Fools to challenge the assumptions that kept them mired in stale and obsolete solut