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Thinkertoys: A Handbook of Creative-Thinking Techniques
Rethink the Way You Think
In hindsight, every great idea seems obvious. But how can you be the person who comes up with those ideas?
In this revised and expanded edition of his groundbreaking Thinkertoys, creativity expert Michael Michalko reveals life-changing tools that will help you think like a genius. From the linear to the intuitive, this comprehensive handbook details ingenious creative-thinking techniques for approaching problems in unconventional ways. Through fun and thought-provoking exercises, you’ll learn how to create original ideas that will improve your personal life and your business life. Michalko’s techniques show you how to look at the same information as everyone else and see something different.
With hundreds of hints, tricks, tips, tales, and puzzles, Thinkertoys will open your mind to a world of innovative solutions to everyday and not-so-everyday problems.
In hindsight, every great idea seems obvious. But how can you be the person who comes up with those ideas?
In this revised and expanded edition of his groundbreaking Thinkertoys, creativity expert Michael Michalko reveals life-changing tools that will help you think like a genius. From the linear to the intuitive, this comprehensive handbook details ingenious creative-thinking techniques for approaching problems in unconventional ways. Through fun and thought-provoking exercises, you’ll learn how to create original ideas that will improve your personal life and your business life. Michalko’s techniques show you how to look at the same information as everyone else and see something different.
With hundreds of hints, tricks, tips, tales, and puzzles, Thinkertoys will open your mind to a world of innovative solutions to everyday and not-so-everyday problems.
416 pages, Paperback
First published November 4, 1991
1,095 people are currently reading
9,831 people want to read
About the author
Michael Michalko
15 books84 followersMichael Michalko is one of the most highly acclaimed creativity experts in the world. As an officer in the U.S. Army, Michael organized a team of NATO intelligence specialists and international academics in Frankfurt, Germany, to research, collect, and categorize all known inventive-thinking methods. His team applied the methods to various NATO military, political, and social problems and produced a variety of breakthrough ideas and creative solutions to new and old problems. Michael later applied these creative-thinking techniques to problems in the corporate world with outstanding successes. The companies he worked with were thrilled with the breakthrough results they achieved, and Michael has since been in the business of developing and teaching creative-thinking workshops and seminars for corporate clients around the world.
He is the author of the best-seller THINKERTOYS: A HANDBOOK OF CREATIVE THINKING TECHNIQUES.
He is also the author of Thinkpak (A Brainstorming Card Set), which is a novel creative-thinking tool that is designed to facilitate brainstorming sessions, and Cracking Creativity (The Secrets of Creative Geniuses)which describes the common thinking strategies creative geniuses have used in the sciences, art, and industry throughout history and shows how we can apply them to become more creative in our business and personal lives.
He is the author of the best-seller THINKERTOYS: A HANDBOOK OF CREATIVE THINKING TECHNIQUES.
He is also the author of Thinkpak (A Brainstorming Card Set), which is a novel creative-thinking tool that is designed to facilitate brainstorming sessions, and Cracking Creativity (The Secrets of Creative Geniuses)which describes the common thinking strategies creative geniuses have used in the sciences, art, and industry throughout history and shows how we can apply them to become more creative in our business and personal lives.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 194 reviews
June 26, 2009
Do you need any new ideas for practical designs? How about when something is wrong with your business and you cannot put your finger on it? Did you ever need to brainstorm but not have anyone else around? Have you ever been stuck with writer’s block and for the life of you could not get back to work? In other words, have you ever been stuck with any mental problem that you felt that you cannot solve? If this is the case I think you should have a look at Michael Michalko’s latest book, Thinkertoys: A Handbook of Creative-Thinking Techniques.
Thinkertoys is a great play on words – anyone who grew up in the United States playing with Tinker Toys would not have a hard time remembering the name of this book. But beyond the title, Michael Michalko has done better than a yeoman’s job of cataloguing tried and true techniques and exercises that work individually and for groups. Not a left brained person you say? You don’t need to be. Not a right brained person? Again, you don’t need to be. These tools that Michael Michalko provides puts you in a position that the outcome will be the product of great creative thinking as long as you actually do the thinker work that goes along with the exercise. The entire book pushes the reader to think outside of his or her comfort zone when solving problems, creating ideas, etc. Some of these tools I have already been working on and implementing myself. Let me give you an example…
In addition to my other work I recently have become a monthly columnist with a magazine where I give advice based upon my knowledge and experience. But to be a columnist is very difficult in a way because you have to remain fresh – the material much be both focused and new every issue. Many regular columnists (and bloggers) use different methods to do this. For instance, Jack Welch actually goes on Twitter and asks followers to send him interesting questions or problems. As such I turned to Michalko’s book and found an exercise that really helped to generate ideas for the column. (If you want to know specifically which tool this was contact me through my website and I will give a full explanation). Because of this tool though I not only found enough ideas, but rather more than enough ideas. I have now written several columns in advance for the magazine and am pretty much finished with the entire year’s work. This is the kind of result you can get from sitting down and working with Thinkertoys – I can personally attest!
Also, Michael Michalko has a related product called Thinkpak: A Brainstorming Card Deck. I went out to my local bookstore and bought this card set. It is a great companion to Thinkertoys because each card is directly related to a principle or tool in Thinkertoys. So I carry this card deck with me now along with a list of issues I need to resolve when I travel. Sometimes I pull this book or these cards out because I have work to do and sometimes I do it because, dammit, it is just a good workout for the old noggin!
Thinkertoys is a great play on words – anyone who grew up in the United States playing with Tinker Toys would not have a hard time remembering the name of this book. But beyond the title, Michael Michalko has done better than a yeoman’s job of cataloguing tried and true techniques and exercises that work individually and for groups. Not a left brained person you say? You don’t need to be. Not a right brained person? Again, you don’t need to be. These tools that Michael Michalko provides puts you in a position that the outcome will be the product of great creative thinking as long as you actually do the thinker work that goes along with the exercise. The entire book pushes the reader to think outside of his or her comfort zone when solving problems, creating ideas, etc. Some of these tools I have already been working on and implementing myself. Let me give you an example…
In addition to my other work I recently have become a monthly columnist with a magazine where I give advice based upon my knowledge and experience. But to be a columnist is very difficult in a way because you have to remain fresh – the material much be both focused and new every issue. Many regular columnists (and bloggers) use different methods to do this. For instance, Jack Welch actually goes on Twitter and asks followers to send him interesting questions or problems. As such I turned to Michalko’s book and found an exercise that really helped to generate ideas for the column. (If you want to know specifically which tool this was contact me through my website and I will give a full explanation). Because of this tool though I not only found enough ideas, but rather more than enough ideas. I have now written several columns in advance for the magazine and am pretty much finished with the entire year’s work. This is the kind of result you can get from sitting down and working with Thinkertoys – I can personally attest!
Also, Michael Michalko has a related product called Thinkpak: A Brainstorming Card Deck. I went out to my local bookstore and bought this card set. It is a great companion to Thinkertoys because each card is directly related to a principle or tool in Thinkertoys. So I carry this card deck with me now along with a list of issues I need to resolve when I travel. Sometimes I pull this book or these cards out because I have work to do and sometimes I do it because, dammit, it is just a good workout for the old noggin!
April 27, 2019
This book is great. It can help people with knowing that they have the opportunity to be creative, even when sometimes it looks like not everyone has it. And it gives a framework and ideas of how to make it happen, actually so many different ways that I'm quite sure that each person can find something in there worth trying.
The author suggests many ways for intuitive thinkers (with really cool names) from Chilling Out (relaxation), Stone Soup (fantasy questions) to Rattlesnakes and Roses (analogies). And also offers help and insights on more common ideas such as Brainstorming. Maybe the best thing about it is it's being so thorough and comprehensive.
I really liked this small story that gives a bit of insights on human nature: You can catch a monkey by burying a narrow-mouthed jar of nuts in the ground. A monkey comes along, puts his paw into the jar, and grabs a handful of nuts. But the mouth of the jar is too narrow to let him withdraw his clenched fist. The monkey is unwilling to let go of the nuts and so is trapped. You too can be trapped by not letting go—of your beliefs, opinions, worries, and anxieties. But the book is full of examples and stories that make it fun and interesting.
The book is also applicable to any domain and not limited to just specific areas.
I really did like that he emphasized how important it is to keep the problem in focus. The problem is visible and, thus, will be on the minds of all interested people. It sounds very straightforward, but working in Tech companies, I saw that many times the problem is not actually a real one, sometimes people find solutions to a not-top-priority problem just because this solution is possible.
I also loved that he reminds and specifies requirements and advice for brainstorming, maybe they are supposed to be going without saying, but they are not:
avoid making negative or judgmental statements about ideas, such as:
It’s against all our combined logic.
It can’t be done.
Someone must have already tried it.
You’re on the wrong track.
The market is not ready yet.
Not enough return on investment
These are supposed to be intuitive ideas to us, but many people actually forget about them, and maybe especially Invite people from diverse areas.
I also liked that he shows actual ideas as examples, such as:
Combining “bagel” with “slicer” became a bagel slicer with plastic sides designed to hold the bagel and prevent rotation when slicing.
“Bathtub” and “hammock” combined to make a baby tub. It’s a simple hammock in the tub with a headrest to hold the baby’s head securely, leaving the parent’s hands free to do the washing.
“Suntan lotion” and “insect repellent” combined to form a lotion that protects against both the sun and insects.
“Coffeemaker” and “sculpture” combined to form a coffeemaker with a top that resembles a sculpture of the top of the volcano Mount Vesuvius. When the coffee is done, the top glows red.
“Doormat” and “vacuum cleaner” combined to form a doormat with built-in suction. When you step on the doormat, the doormat sucks the dirt and debris from the bottom of your shoes.
“Cell phone” and “soda can” inspired the idea of utilizing cell phones as devices that, with sensors, would enable users to dispense soda and other products from vending machines with the expense charged back to the vendor via the carrier.
Really great book, 4+ stars. And let's remind everyone that creativity is inside all of us. We just need to encourage it to get out to the world, and stop criticizing our ideas to the point of suppressing this skill.
The author suggests many ways for intuitive thinkers (with really cool names) from Chilling Out (relaxation), Stone Soup (fantasy questions) to Rattlesnakes and Roses (analogies). And also offers help and insights on more common ideas such as Brainstorming. Maybe the best thing about it is it's being so thorough and comprehensive.
I really liked this small story that gives a bit of insights on human nature: You can catch a monkey by burying a narrow-mouthed jar of nuts in the ground. A monkey comes along, puts his paw into the jar, and grabs a handful of nuts. But the mouth of the jar is too narrow to let him withdraw his clenched fist. The monkey is unwilling to let go of the nuts and so is trapped. You too can be trapped by not letting go—of your beliefs, opinions, worries, and anxieties. But the book is full of examples and stories that make it fun and interesting.
The book is also applicable to any domain and not limited to just specific areas.
I really did like that he emphasized how important it is to keep the problem in focus. The problem is visible and, thus, will be on the minds of all interested people. It sounds very straightforward, but working in Tech companies, I saw that many times the problem is not actually a real one, sometimes people find solutions to a not-top-priority problem just because this solution is possible.
I also loved that he reminds and specifies requirements and advice for brainstorming, maybe they are supposed to be going without saying, but they are not:
avoid making negative or judgmental statements about ideas, such as:
It’s against all our combined logic.
It can’t be done.
Someone must have already tried it.
You’re on the wrong track.
The market is not ready yet.
Not enough return on investment
These are supposed to be intuitive ideas to us, but many people actually forget about them, and maybe especially Invite people from diverse areas.
I also liked that he shows actual ideas as examples, such as:
Combining “bagel” with “slicer” became a bagel slicer with plastic sides designed to hold the bagel and prevent rotation when slicing.
“Bathtub” and “hammock” combined to make a baby tub. It’s a simple hammock in the tub with a headrest to hold the baby’s head securely, leaving the parent’s hands free to do the washing.
“Suntan lotion” and “insect repellent” combined to form a lotion that protects against both the sun and insects.
“Coffeemaker” and “sculpture” combined to form a coffeemaker with a top that resembles a sculpture of the top of the volcano Mount Vesuvius. When the coffee is done, the top glows red.
“Doormat” and “vacuum cleaner” combined to form a doormat with built-in suction. When you step on the doormat, the doormat sucks the dirt and debris from the bottom of your shoes.
“Cell phone” and “soda can” inspired the idea of utilizing cell phones as devices that, with sensors, would enable users to dispense soda and other products from vending machines with the expense charged back to the vendor via the carrier.
Really great book, 4+ stars. And let's remind everyone that creativity is inside all of us. We just need to encourage it to get out to the world, and stop criticizing our ideas to the point of suppressing this skill.
Read
July 6, 2013This book intrigued me, as I'm always interested in ways to amp up creativity. I was happy to find that, in my own peculiar ways, I already practice many (though not all) of the methods mentioned in this book. I can't recall anyone teaching me these methods, they are just little habits that I picked up here and there in the course of learning how to write fiction. I'm amazed to learn that some of my creative methods, which I always thought of as rather quirky, are for real. What does that mean? That some creative methods are commonplace? That people who are more self aware than I am have been able to document and develop these practices? That I should have written about them before someone else did? Not sure what to think. I just know what works for me.
I was more interested in the methods than in the "intuitive" practices mentioned the book. To me, "try this method" is more helpful than "work on developing this attribute." Maybe that's just me.
Other things I liked about this book: It seems to be applicable to many different contexts. It includes many different approaches, which seems to honor the idea that people have strengths and weaknesses. The examples and stories are interesting.
Admittedly, I have not read very widely in the realm of creative methods, so I can't speak to how ground-breaking this book is. All I can say is that I found this book to be practical, enjoyable, and engaging.
I was more interested in the methods than in the "intuitive" practices mentioned the book. To me, "try this method" is more helpful than "work on developing this attribute." Maybe that's just me.
Other things I liked about this book: It seems to be applicable to many different contexts. It includes many different approaches, which seems to honor the idea that people have strengths and weaknesses. The examples and stories are interesting.
Admittedly, I have not read very widely in the realm of creative methods, so I can't speak to how ground-breaking this book is. All I can say is that I found this book to be practical, enjoyable, and engaging.
December 2, 2017
Một trong những "TỪ ĐIỂN" dành riêng cho những người thích sáng tạo. Đọc xong thì cũng lơ lớ biết rằng, "Sáng tạo là cái pim pim gì? Theo khuynh hướng sáng tạo thì nó phê đến mức nào." Nhìn chung thì sáng tạo cũng dựa trên các concept như:
+ Chia để trị: chia nhỏ các thuộc tính và tập trung khai thác các thuộc tính đó. Thần sầu ở chỗ là sẽ cho các biến số, tách + gợp các thuộc tính để tạo ra một thứ thần sầu quỷ khóc gì đó.
+ Think out of box:
/Có cách nào tốt hơn không
/Có kết hợp với các nào không
/Lật ngược,...
+ Định vị trò chơi: nó là gì, thắng sao? thua sao?.
Nhìn chung rất là phê, chỉ là hơi lạc trôi khi phải tổ hợp tất cả các thứ đó lại để tạo bản sắc riêng cho cá nhân. "NO PAIN NO GAIN" mà.
+ Chia để trị: chia nhỏ các thuộc tính và tập trung khai thác các thuộc tính đó. Thần sầu ở chỗ là sẽ cho các biến số, tách + gợp các thuộc tính để tạo ra một thứ thần sầu quỷ khóc gì đó.
+ Think out of box:
/Có cách nào tốt hơn không
/Có kết hợp với các nào không
/Lật ngược,...
+ Định vị trò chơi: nó là gì, thắng sao? thua sao?.
Nhìn chung rất là phê, chỉ là hơi lạc trôi khi phải tổ hợp tất cả các thứ đó lại để tạo bản sắc riêng cho cá nhân. "NO PAIN NO GAIN" mà.
October 8, 2016
Great book.
If you want to create ideas like a chicken creates eggs, read one
A lot of powerful and simple tools based on science help us generate ideas to solve any problem.
Something new, something old
and one of the best ways I have learned is "fulcrum".
easy to understand and apply it
- Write down our challenges or problems
- Choosing any "fulcrum" to leverage ideas
- List things relevant to "fulcrum"
- Connect or link the challenges or problems with things we listed one by one
Done!
Thick book, take time, but it's worth to read.
If you want to create ideas like a chicken creates eggs, read one
A lot of powerful and simple tools based on science help us generate ideas to solve any problem.
Something new, something old
and one of the best ways I have learned is "fulcrum".
easy to understand and apply it
- Write down our challenges or problems
- Choosing any "fulcrum" to leverage ideas
- List things relevant to "fulcrum"
- Connect or link the challenges or problems with things we listed one by one
Done!
Thick book, take time, but it's worth to read.
November 11, 2018
The book is slightly repetitive, with a few obvious concepts and examples.
So why bother giving it a five star review?
It is incredibly comprehensive, and probably the best self-help book I've ever read. Michalko doesn't only make you realise that you have creative potential through neat little optical illusions, but he also gives you a framework for harnessing that creativity.
The best part about this book is how it helps you brainstorm by yourself. According to Michalko, creativity stems from tactical manipulation of ideas and intuitive capabilities. He then discusses different techniques for both of these categories, along with elaborating on effective group brainstorming techniques.
This book will only be appreciated if read slowly, while trying out a few techniques time and again (more to gain if you combine the techniques at times). And this is definitely something you can gain more from by rereading. In fact I've now created an idea drawer, where I've put little folded notes with the names of his suggested techniques. I like to shuffle these notes and surprise myself with which technique to use rather than being more intentional (isn't that what creativity is about? :D)
Michalko makes you realise that perception drives the reality, and I'd recommend you suspend all judgment till you really try out a few techniques and see what they can do for you. Happy reading!
So why bother giving it a five star review?
It is incredibly comprehensive, and probably the best self-help book I've ever read. Michalko doesn't only make you realise that you have creative potential through neat little optical illusions, but he also gives you a framework for harnessing that creativity.
The best part about this book is how it helps you brainstorm by yourself. According to Michalko, creativity stems from tactical manipulation of ideas and intuitive capabilities. He then discusses different techniques for both of these categories, along with elaborating on effective group brainstorming techniques.
This book will only be appreciated if read slowly, while trying out a few techniques time and again (more to gain if you combine the techniques at times). And this is definitely something you can gain more from by rereading. In fact I've now created an idea drawer, where I've put little folded notes with the names of his suggested techniques. I like to shuffle these notes and surprise myself with which technique to use rather than being more intentional (isn't that what creativity is about? :D)
Michalko makes you realise that perception drives the reality, and I'd recommend you suspend all judgment till you really try out a few techniques and see what they can do for you. Happy reading!
February 3, 2014
It started out okay with what for me was a review of methods I had previously been exposed to and I hoped to get something new out of it. But, he just kept rehashing the same things in more and more convoluted ways and the whole thing devolved into something so tedious and boring that I am surprised that I endured to the end. And, when did Lao Tzu become the guru of business strategy? It is going to take a while to get the bad taste out of my head. Virtually worthless. Tell your boss how wonderful it is and get her out of your hair for a few days.
August 30, 2023
Я знала, що креативності можна навчитись, але що так само є способи тренування інтуіції - це відкриття. Я думала, що це вроджений дар, а насправді ні.
Креативні люди відрізняються від некреативних тільки тим, що вважають себе креативними)))
Президент Трумен переживав потрясіння і складності воєнного часу набагато легше, ніж його попередники. Попри всі труднощі, відповідальна посада не зістарила президента і не виснажила його життєвої наснаги. Секрет: «окоп Трумена» - сховок у своєму мозку (уявою створене місце, де затишно, щасливо, кофортно - гора, берег океану і тд, куди не допускаєш проблеми), до нього він часто повертався у найбуремніші обставини, врівноважувався і повертався до реалій.
Всі великі наукові відкритя були зроблені в одному з трьох “B”- “bus”, “bed”, “bath”.
Волт Дісней робив так: одного дня грав роль мрійника, наступного - реаліста, а потім - критика
———
Ідейки знатних людей, які блокуввли креативність:
Чарльз Дуелл, директор Патентного бюро США 1899рік: «Усе, що можна було винайти, уже винайдено.
Розсмішило про компʼютери, які «можна стануть в нагоді хіба тільки для науковців», про те що жінки ніколи б не захотіли брати участь у виборах «бо вони надто чуттєві» … а найбільше:
Король Пруссії передбачав зникнення залізничних доріг: «Нікому не схочеться платити немалі гроші, щоб дістатися з Берліна до Потсдама за одну годину, якщо він може туди заїхати безплатно за один день на своєму коні».
А малюночки з завданнями на тренування уяви - це просто топ! Я розвʼязала десь біля 85% і дуже собою пишаюсь))) але може це так книга складена, щоб легко вирішувати і це додавала впевненості))) хто-зна, хто зна))
свою назву виправдовує повністю. Тільки там не 21 спосіб, а 1021. Класно!
І обкладинка у виданні 2023 - набагато гарніша, люблю відтінок тіффані)
Креативні люди відрізняються від некреативних тільки тим, що вважають себе креативними)))
Президент Трумен переживав потрясіння і складності воєнного часу набагато легше, ніж його попередники. Попри всі труднощі, відповідальна посада не зістарила президента і не виснажила його життєвої наснаги. Секрет: «окоп Трумена» - сховок у своєму мозку (уявою створене місце, де затишно, щасливо, кофортно - гора, берег океану і тд, куди не допускаєш проблеми), до нього він часто повертався у найбуремніші обставини, врівноважувався і повертався до реалій.
Всі великі наукові відкритя були зроблені в одному з трьох “B”- “bus”, “bed”, “bath”.
Волт Дісней робив так: одного дня грав роль мрійника, наступного - реаліста, а потім - критика
———
Ідейки знатних людей, які блокуввли креативність:
Чарльз Дуелл, директор Патентного бюро США 1899рік: «Усе, що можна було винайти, уже винайдено.
Розсмішило про компʼютери, які «можна стануть в нагоді хіба тільки для науковців», про те що жінки ніколи б не захотіли брати участь у виборах «бо вони надто чуттєві» … а найбільше:
Король Пруссії передбачав зникнення залізничних доріг: «Нікому не схочеться платити немалі гроші, щоб дістатися з Берліна до Потсдама за одну годину, якщо він може туди заїхати безплатно за один день на своєму коні».
А малюночки з завданнями на тренування уяви - це просто топ! Я розвʼязала десь біля 85% і дуже собою пишаюсь))) але може це так книга складена, щоб легко вирішувати і це додавала впевненості))) хто-зна, хто зна))
свою назву виправдовує повністю. Тільки там не 21 спосіб, а 1021. Класно!
І обкладинка у виданні 2023 - набагато гарніша, люблю відтінок тіффані)
September 17, 2016
I definitely recommend this book. It is full of how to's for any kind of problem you might have. However, it does a very a good job to make one understand the "why" in a very subtle way by using lots of analogies and stories.
It is quite easy to read and apply. So, I definitely suggest trying to apply what you've just read even though you have nothing specific to solve. If that's the case choose any of the biggest problems the world has in common. Who knows? Maybe you'll come up with a great solution. If that sounds too far fetching to you then you really have to read this book.
A very shallow summary
Creativity, as is everything, depends on your perception; of yourself, of things happening and of the world. If you believe and act like you're creative and use the tools with a faith in the process then you'll be creative.
Just do it. It is all you need. Rest will follow. Trust in the process.
It's not about the quality but the quantity. Produce as many ideas as you can. Don't care about them being smart even related.
Writing is gold. Always write. Keep pen and paper cloee to yourself at all times. Otherwise you'll forget.
Divide and conquer your problems. Pick the most important parts. Don't attack the whole if it's too big.
Be relaxed and positive. Friendly sarcasm helps to f friends can take it, knows why and can contribute.
Consistency is unimportant. Change your mind if you're convinced.
Sleep on it if you're stuck. Mind still works to solve problems while you're asleep. And in ways you never can achieve while awake.
Analogies help a lot. Try hard. Push it.
It's all about perception. If you can't change something then change how you look at it. That it can even be yourself.
It is quite easy to read and apply. So, I definitely suggest trying to apply what you've just read even though you have nothing specific to solve. If that's the case choose any of the biggest problems the world has in common. Who knows? Maybe you'll come up with a great solution. If that sounds too far fetching to you then you really have to read this book.
A very shallow summary
Creativity, as is everything, depends on your perception; of yourself, of things happening and of the world. If you believe and act like you're creative and use the tools with a faith in the process then you'll be creative.
Just do it. It is all you need. Rest will follow. Trust in the process.
It's not about the quality but the quantity. Produce as many ideas as you can. Don't care about them being smart even related.
Writing is gold. Always write. Keep pen and paper cloee to yourself at all times. Otherwise you'll forget.
Divide and conquer your problems. Pick the most important parts. Don't attack the whole if it's too big.
Be relaxed and positive. Friendly sarcasm helps to f friends can take it, knows why and can contribute.
Consistency is unimportant. Change your mind if you're convinced.
Sleep on it if you're stuck. Mind still works to solve problems while you're asleep. And in ways you never can achieve while awake.
Analogies help a lot. Try hard. Push it.
It's all about perception. If you can't change something then change how you look at it. That it can even be yourself.
January 10, 2014
This book is a gem. You would think that this guide would give typical, abstract advice about how to write down ideas in your journal and talk with others about your issues to gain insight. However, this book does more than just that. The authors provide you an enormous list of ideas, real-life examples, exercises, and explanations about their applications. In the end, it's up to you which one you think is the most useful for your situation.
Basically, Thinker Toys are highly useful for whenever you're stuck in a rut, and don't know how to come up with an innovative solution to a business problem (or heck, any problem for that matter). Even the creative thinking ideas in the book are themselves creative (e.g. cherry split, etc.). I can see myself using them very often in the near future, both in school AND in my future profession as a user experience designer.
Basically, Thinker Toys are highly useful for whenever you're stuck in a rut, and don't know how to come up with an innovative solution to a business problem (or heck, any problem for that matter). Even the creative thinking ideas in the book are themselves creative (e.g. cherry split, etc.). I can see myself using them very often in the near future, both in school AND in my future profession as a user experience designer.
April 24, 2020
Despite all the quarantining, I don't have a lot of time to write a review, but let's just say this book was better than I thought it would be and I plan to keep it as a reference for a long time to come. It is chock full of ideas. Granted, some of them are better than others, but many of them are very, very good. And, all things considered, we may need some new ways of solving problems in the days and weeks ahead. This book just may help you arrive at some.
If that wasn't enough to entice you to read this, each chapter is headed with a quote from Sun Tzu and the author's credentials are pretty impressive, too. (Not Sun Tzu impressive, but nonetheless, you should find them interesting.)
If that wasn't enough to entice you to read this, each chapter is headed with a quote from Sun Tzu and the author's credentials are pretty impressive, too. (Not Sun Tzu impressive, but nonetheless, you should find them interesting.)
July 19, 2017
yazar tıkanmasına , fikir tıkanmasına hatta lavabo tıkanmasına bile vizyon katacak bir kitap.
April 1, 2018
Q:
Можете ли вы вообразить Винсента ван Гога, жалующегося на невозможность продать свои картины как на свидетельство отсутствия у него таланта? Томаса Эдисона, разочаровавшегося в своей идее создания лампочки, когда он потерпел неудачу 5000 раз? Леонардо да Винчи, слишком стесняющегося претендовать на многое из-за отсутствия образования? Альберта Эйнштейна, опасающегося выглядеть глупым из-за того, что клерк из патентного бюро не сумеет представить теорию мироздания? Микеланджело, отказывающегося расписывать потолок Сикстинской капеллы, потому что до этого никогда не рисовал фрески? Плачущего и причитающего Моцарта, который обвиняет несправедливый мир в своей бедности? Уолта Диснея, разочаровавшегося в своем воображении, когда его уволили с первой должности редактора газеты из-за слабой фантазии? Генри Форда, отказавшегося от своей мечты после того, как специалисты объяснили: у него нет капитала, чтобы выдержать конкуренцию в автомобильной промышленности? Или подавленного Пабло Пикассо, бредущего по улице с опущенной головой и считающего, что никто его не замечает? (c)
Q:
Тибетские монахи не произносят молитв – они вращают молитвенные барабаны, и звуки уносятся в божественный космос. Иногда монах вращает одновременно целую дюжину барабанов, напоминая циркового артиста, крутящего много фарфоровых тарелок на длинных стержнях.
Вращая молитвенный барабан, тибетский монах может предаваться мыслям о еде, о своем будущем после смерти – словом, о чем угодно. Есть и христианские священники, которые во время богослужения не ощущают духовной связи с ритуалом. Если такие монахи или священники берут на себя роль представителей религии и делают это со всей очевидностью для себя и других, вскоре их сознание следует за выбранной ролью. Но для тибетского монаха или христианского священника недостаточно одного намерения быть религиозными.
Монах должен обязательно вращать барабан, а священник – читать молитвы. Если кто-то ведет себя как тибетский монах, он станет им. Если христианин-священник совершает все положенные ритуалы, он рано или поздно эмоционально прикоснется к религии.
Если вы ведете себя, как человек мыслящий, вы им станете. Важно иметь само намерение превратиться в творца и неукоснительно выполнять все «ритуалы».
Пожелав научиться писать картины и проделав все то, что должен делать живописец, вы со временем станете по крайней мере приличным художником. Из вас вряд ли выйдет новый Ван Гог, но вы наверняка будете мастером в большей степени, чем тот, у кого такого намерения не было, или тот, кто ничего для этого не сделал. Невозможно предсказать, как далеко уведут вас намерения и действия. Этот мир не дает гарантий – есть только шансы и превратности судьбы. Когда тянешься к звездам, можешь так ни к чему и не прикоснуться, но уж наверняка не зачерпнешь пригоршню грязи. (c)
Q:
Квота идей
Квота поможет активно генерировать идеи и альтернативы, не дожидаясь, когда они появятся сами собой. Старайтесь выполнять квоту, даже если идеи, приходящие вам на ум, на первый взгляд будут казаться смехотворными или притянутыми за уши. Квота не должна мешать генерировать больше идей, чем «положено». Пусть она служит лишь гарантией того, что вы не опуститесь ниже установленного минимума.
Томас Эдисон запатентовал 1093 изобретения. Он свято верил, что надо упражнять собственный ум и умы своих сотрудников, и считал, что без установленной квоты идей не достиг бы столь многого. Его личная квота равнялась одному маленькому изобретению каждые десять дней и одному крупному – каждые полгода. Для Эдисона квота идей определяла разницу между поеданием простого бифштекса и королевским пиршеством.
...
Эта картинка чем-то напоминает сознание – всякий раз, когда смотрите на нее, вы видите нечто новое. Каково же ее содержание?
Скорее всего, вы рассмотрели несколько букв и цифр. Если я скажу вам, что здесь можно рассмотреть все 26 букв латинского алфавита и цифры от 0 до 9, то это побудит вас искать еще и еще. И вы все это действительно увидите, потому что все это здесь есть. Точно так же вы можете заставить свой ум генерировать новые и новые идеи, чтобы выполнить установленную квоту. (с)
Q:
Крохотные истины
Вам начнут открываться крохотные истины, которые могут обнаружиться, лишь когда внимание будет полным. Вспоминайте картину часто и обязательно визуально. Некоторые считают, что такие истины подсказаны самим Богом. (c)
Q:
Господин Привычкин
...
Давайте пищу уму
Думайте
Думайте, когда читаете. Читая, надо обязательно думать. Ищите свежие решения старых проблем, неизведанные пути в бизнесе, новые тенденции развития, технические новинки, связи и параллели между тем, что читаете, и вашими проблемами.
Джон Несбитт, автор «Мегастратегий» и основатель «Группы Несбитта» в Вашингтоне, округ Колумбия, весьма успешно применял метод определения тенденции, который сам называл анализом содержания текущей информации. Несбитт позаимствовал этот метод из книги о Гражданской войне в США. В свою очередь, историк, написавший эту книгу, очень многое почерпнул из анализа сбора информации ЦРУ. Ну, а ЦРУ скопировало свой метод с того, каким пользовались союзники во Вторую мировую войну. Они по достоинству оценили огромное значение провинциальных газет, доставлявшихся контрабандой из маленьких городов Германии. Время от времени в этих газетах публиковались ценные сведения о топливе, продуктах питания и многом другом. А в Швейцарии небольшая группа офицеров-разведчиков определяла пути перемещения немецких войск, читая светскую хронику, упоминавшую фамилии важных военных чинов. (c)
Q:
Можете ли вы вообразить Винсента ван Гога, жалующегося на невозможность продать свои картины как на свидетельство отсутствия у него таланта? Томаса Эдисона, разочаровавшегося в своей идее создания лампочки, когда он потерпел неудачу 5000 раз? Леонардо да Винчи, слишком стесняющегося претендовать на многое из-за отсутствия образования? Альберта Эйнштейна, опасающегося выглядеть глупым из-за того, что клерк из патентного бюро не сумеет представить теорию мироздания? Микеланджело, отказывающегося расписывать потолок Сикстинской капеллы, потому что до этого никогда не рисовал фрески? Плачущего и причитающего Моцарта, который обвиняет несправедливый мир в своей бедности? Уолта Диснея, разочаровавшегося в своем воображении, когда его уволили с первой должности редактора газеты из-за слабой фантазии? Генри Форда, отказавшегося от своей мечты после того, как специалисты объяснили: у него нет капитала, чтобы выдержать конкуренцию в автомобильной промышленности? Или подавленного Пабло Пикассо, бредущего по улице с опущенной головой и считающего, что никто его не замечает? (c)
Q:
Тибетские монахи не произносят молитв – они вращают молитвенные барабаны, и звуки уносятся в божественный космос. Иногда монах вращает одновременно целую дюжину барабанов, напоминая циркового артиста, крутящего много фарфоровых тарелок на длинных стержнях.
Вращая молитвенный барабан, тибетский монах может предаваться мыслям о еде, о своем будущем после смерти – словом, о чем угодно. Есть и христианские священники, которые во время богослужения не ощущают духовной связи с ритуалом. Если такие монахи или священники берут на себя роль представителей религии и делают это со всей очевидностью для себя и других, вскоре их сознание следует за выбранной ролью. Но для тибетского монаха или христианского священника недостаточно одного намерения быть религиозными.
Монах должен обязательно вращать барабан, а священник – читать молитвы. Если кто-то ведет себя как тибетский монах, он станет им. Если христианин-священник совершает все положенные ритуалы, он рано или поздно эмоционально прикоснется к религии.
Если вы ведете себя, как человек мыслящий, вы им станете. Важно иметь само намерение превратиться в творца и неукоснительно выполнять все «ритуалы».
Пожелав научиться писать картины и проделав все то, что должен делать живописец, вы со временем станете по крайней мере приличным художником. Из вас вряд ли выйдет новый Ван Гог, но вы наверняка будете мастером в большей степени, чем тот, у кого такого намерения не было, или тот, кто ничего для этого не сделал. Невозможно предсказать, как далеко уведут вас намерения и действия. Этот мир не дает гарантий – есть только шансы и превратности судьбы. Когда тянешься к звездам, можешь так ни к чему и не прикоснуться, но уж наверняка не зачерпнешь пригоршню грязи. (c)
Q:
Квота идей
Квота поможет активно генерировать идеи и альтернативы, не дожидаясь, когда они появятся сами собой. Старайтесь выполнять квоту, даже если идеи, приходящие вам на ум, на первый взгляд будут казаться смехотворными или притянутыми за уши. Квота не должна мешать генерировать больше идей, чем «положено». Пусть она служит лишь гарантией того, что вы не опуститесь ниже установленного минимума.
Томас Эдисон запатентовал 1093 изобретения. Он свято верил, что надо упражнять собственный ум и умы своих сотрудников, и считал, что без установленной квоты идей не достиг бы столь многого. Его личная квота равнялась одному маленькому изобретению каждые десять дней и одному крупному – каждые полгода. Для Эдисона квота идей определяла разницу между поеданием простого бифштекса и королевским пиршеством.
...
Эта картинка чем-то напоминает сознание – всякий раз, когда смотрите на нее, вы видите нечто новое. Каково же ее содержание?
Скорее всего, вы рассмотрели несколько букв и цифр. Если я скажу вам, что здесь можно рассмотреть все 26 букв латинского алфавита и цифры от 0 до 9, то это побудит вас искать еще и еще. И вы все это действительно увидите, потому что все это здесь есть. Точно так же вы можете заставить свой ум генерировать новые и новые идеи, чтобы выполнить установленную квоту. (с)
Q:
Крохотные истины
Вам начнут открываться крохотные истины, которые могут обнаружиться, лишь когда внимание будет полным. Вспоминайте картину часто и обязательно визуально. Некоторые считают, что такие истины подсказаны самим Богом. (c)
Q:
Господин Привычкин
...
Давайте пищу уму
Думайте
Думайте, когда читаете. Читая, надо обязательно думать. Ищите свежие решения старых проблем, неизведанные пути в бизнесе, новые тенденции развития, технические новинки, связи и параллели между тем, что читаете, и вашими проблемами.
Джон Несбитт, автор «Мегастратегий» и основатель «Группы Несбитта» в Вашингтоне, округ Колумбия, весьма успешно применял метод определения тенденции, который сам называл анализом содержания текущей информации. Несбитт позаимствовал этот метод из книги о Гражданской войне в США. В свою очередь, историк, написавший эту книгу, очень многое почерпнул из анализа сбора информации ЦРУ. Ну, а ЦРУ скопировало свой метод с того, каким пользовались союзники во Вторую мировую войну. Они по достоинству оценили огромное значение провинциальных газет, доставлявшихся контрабандой из маленьких городов Германии. Время от времени в этих газетах публиковались ценные сведения о топливе, продуктах питания и многом другом. А в Швейцарии небольшая группа офицеров-разведчиков определяла пути перемещения немецких войск, читая светскую хронику, упоминавшую фамилии важных военных чинов. (c)
Q:
November 28, 2020
Reading this book was like having a good playtime after long. Growing up we all played a bunch of games - board games, videogames, outdoor games, indoor games, games that required pencil and paper, and games that required nothing but memory and perhaps a sense of humor. Each game helped build tangible & intangible skills. By forcing you to play again, Thinkertoys adds to that repository the skill to think differently, something adults lose at convenience.
At first, the activities described may seem didactic and "too kiddish" but when you find the right moment to apply it, fun begins. This book made me bend my mind and stretch those muscles and find creative ways to introspect, problem-solve, and at times simply ideate.
Do read! It's a bedside book to be kept handy, cheers.
At first, the activities described may seem didactic and "too kiddish" but when you find the right moment to apply it, fun begins. This book made me bend my mind and stretch those muscles and find creative ways to introspect, problem-solve, and at times simply ideate.
Do read! It's a bedside book to be kept handy, cheers.
January 26, 2012
This book provides a collection of techniques for improving creative thinking. Doubtlessly most provided techniques can be helpful, and I will refer back to the book when I need an inspiration for an idea.
However when reading book form cover to cover I found style of book somehow dull and provided examples simplistic. Book is clearly meant for business readers as most of the examples on generating ideas are from sales, marketing and management. I personally would prefer more engineering-oriented approach to creative thinking.
However when reading book form cover to cover I found style of book somehow dull and provided examples simplistic. Book is clearly meant for business readers as most of the examples on generating ideas are from sales, marketing and management. I personally would prefer more engineering-oriented approach to creative thinking.
January 17, 2015
This reads like a very entertaining textbook on creative thinking techniques. Tt is comforting that creative thinking can indeed be "acquired" if one is not born with an aptitude for it, and the meat of the book lies in actually putting these to practice. It is designed well that one does not need to read it front to back. I had great fun skipping from one method of thinking to the next, and since I read it at a time when I had no avenues to practice it, I now know where to come back for tips when I need them :)
February 15, 2020
3.5 stars rounded up to 4. I think this is a great resource to come up with creative ideas. But I felt like it started getting repetitive halfway through. Also I listened to the audiobook which, if not from the library (mine was), comes with a bonus PDF to see all his visuals (there are tons!). Except many people who listen to audiobooks do so because of visual challenges. I feel like he could have used his own problem solving skills to come up with a different alternative for print than...print.
April 10, 2016
Whilst the techniques in this book aren't all original (the Lotus, the CIA's Phoenix etc), they've all been collated and presented in a very interesting and useful way. If you haven't learned creative and visual thinking before this book will absolutely blow you away and change your approach to work and life. You will never utter the word "impossible" again. I also recommend the companion Thinkpak deck of cards based on the SCAMPER technique.
July 19, 2007
I edited a lot of (translated) books about creativity, learning, and education early in my career as an editor at Kaifa, but I think Thinkertoys is one of the best of them all. The book is well-structured, the idea-generating techniques it presents are highly practical, each one clearly illustrated with real examples from the real world.
May 24, 2015
Disappointing rehash of stuff that's been around for years. One suggestion is to consult one's "spirit guides" who will provide creative inspirations. Weak attempt by the author to spice it up with hackneyed optical illusions and worse still quotes from the art of war. I really wouldn't waste time and money with this awful book.
June 8, 2019
One of my favorite books by far - so much that I keep a physical copy everywhere I work. This classic book on creativity has a bunch of proven, useful techniques to come up with new ideas and solutions easily. It should be recommended reading for every university student.
November 29, 2009
This book gives more practical brainstorming ideas than you will know what to do with. Be prepared to do mental exercises to get the most out of this book.
May 31, 2019
Це така, цілковито практична книжка, яка має бути під рукою, якщо ти креативний розробник і часто п’єш каву. Вона розрахована на роки роботи і мусить бути перевірена часом.
August 2, 2022
I was turned onto this book by a creativity meeting we had at work. This book is the real deal - it really talks about many activities that can get creative juices flowing. It is oriented towards business/product development, but it delivers. Now I have to choose a few thinkertoys to test out, there is no way one person can use them all. He has as "Art of War" quote on every chapter, so I'm interested in listening to that soon also. I didn't do many Kindle highlights on this one yet, I've been too busy getting blown away. I'll definitely listen and read this one many times!
April 19, 2017
4,5* to be fair. Tons of useful "toys" to play when you need ideas or problem-solving solutions.
March 14, 2025
Excellent resource that provides a variety of tools for problem identification and problem solving!
April 16, 2021
This book has brilliant exercises that will help you think creatively. The book also presents cases and stories of accomplished individuals who were creative problem solvers and present their creative techniques. Its a fun read.
December 25, 2024
6 stars: If you work in any sort of creative job or strategic job, this is a really useful book to go through about how you can create new ideas. Here are the best bits:
Arturo Toscanini found himself unable to describe the effect he wished from a particular musical passage. After a moment's thought, he took a silk handkerchief from his pocket and tossed it high into the air. The orchestra, mesmerized, watched the slow, graceful descent of the silken square. Toscanini smiled with satisfaction as it finally settled on the floor. "There," he said, "play it like that."
An idea grows by annexing its neighbor. Two ideas can cross-catalyze each other, but both need to be present in order for a new concept, product, or idea to form, like two chemicals forming a new compound.
Denise Parker, one of the top archers in the world, creates what she calls her "happiness room," a place to which she withdraws to visualize an upcoming match. She described it this way in a New York Times article: There's stairs leading up to it and these big doors you go through. It has brown wall-to-wall carpeting, a king-sized waterbed, stack stereo, a big-screen TV and a VCR, posters of Tom Cruise and Kirk Cameron on the wall, and a fireplace that's always blazing. That's where I go when a meet's coming up. I drive up to it in a Porsche, go inside, lie down on the waterbed, and watch a tape of myself Shooting perfect arrows. Later when I get to the tournament, everything seems familiar. Even at the Olympics I was calm as I began to shoot.
An old Sioux warrior had eight magnificent horses. One night, during a great storm, they all escaped. The other warriors came to comfort him. They said, "How unlucky you are. You must be very angry to have lost your horses."
"Why?" replied the warrior.
"Because you have lost all your wealth. Now you have nothing," they
responded.
"How do you know?" he asked.
The next day the eight horses returned bringing with them twelve new stallions. The warriors returned and joyously announced that now the old warrior must be very happy.
"Why?" was his response.
"Because now you are even richer than before." They responded.
"How do you know?" he again responded.
The following morning, the warrior's young son got up early to break in the new horses. He was thrown and broke both his legs. The warriors came, once more, and talked about how angry the old warrior must be at his misfortune and how terrible it was for the boy to break both his legs.
"How do you know?" the warrior said once more.
Two weeks passed. Then the chief announced that all able-bodied men and boys must join a war party to fight against a neighboring tribe. The Lakotas won but at great cost, as many men and young boys were killed.
When the remaining warriors returned, they told the old warrior that it was lucky his son had two broken legs, otherwise he could have been killed or injured in the great battle.
"How do you know?" the old warrior replied
President Truman bore up under the stress and strain of being a wartime president better than any previous office-holder. Despite a multitude of problems, the office of the presidency did not age him or exhaust his vitality. When a reporter asked how he managed, Truman answered, "I have a foxhole in my mind." He explained that, just as a soldier has a foxhole for protection, he would retreat to his own mental foxhole, where he allowed nothing to bother him.
George Washington solved his most difficult problems during the Revolutionary War with intuition. He would instruct his orderlies not to let anyone disturb him while he relaxed and intuited decisions. In fact, the founding fathers thought intuition was so important that they tried to remind us of its power on the back of the dollar bill. There is a picture of an unfinished pyramid with an eye above it. The pyramid is not complete until the seeing eye is settled in the capstone position. Or, until the intuitive component of the mind plays a major role in developing ideas or making decisions.
Do you live in area where stereos and cars get stolen often? A fake front showing splayed wires and a gashed frame.
Attached with Velcro over the real radio, it creates the illusion that the radio has already been stolen.
Peter Juroszek and colleagues at the University of Bonn in Germany have found that strips of land ploughed at night grow five times fewer weeds. The seeds of most weeds need less than a millisecond's light for germination to begin, whereas the seeds of most crops can grow in complete darkness. Ploughing brings seeds temporarily to the surface before they are reburied. Wheat fields in particular grew so few weeds that pesticides are unnecessary.
Once there was a man who died and found himself in Hell, with the road to Heaven blocked by a huge mountain. Although indignant that he was in Hell, the man assumed he could do nothing to change his situation and settled down to an eternity of suffering. He never discovered that the mountain was on wheels— to reach Heaven he needed only to push the mountain aside.
Once you identify the forces operating in your challenge, they become as negotiable as a mountain on wheels. You can either learn to live with the negatives by limiting your options and compromising your goals, or you can change their position and neutralize their impact.
George Smith made candy on a stick in the early 1900s. Competition was fierce. He tried hard to find a new marketing twist to differentiate his stick candy from others. One day, he decided to take a break and went to the race track. One of the finest racehorses of the day was racing, and he bet a substantial amount of money on it. The horse won. The name of the horse was Lolly Pop. Smith named his stick candy "lollipops" and made candy history.
Whenever we attempt to do something and fail, we end up doing something else. As simplistic as this statement may seem, it is the first principle of creative accident. Reversing the question from "Why have I failed?" to "What have I done?" reverses the negative into a positive.
Adaptation is a common and inescapable practice in creativity. Even the "Star Bangled Banner," which was written in defiance of England, was essentially the same as a popular tune sung in English pubs.
John Patterson, president of National Cash Register, was a fan of Napoleon. Patterson rode horseback with his executives every day at 5 A.M. He demanded that they maintain a "little red book" to record daily activities, thoughts, ideas, and so on. He ruthlessly fired many an employee who failed to maintain a notebook. He died in the midst of his business travels while scribbling in his little book. Interestingly, one sixth of the major U.S. companies were headed by ex-NCR employees between 1910 and 1930. Among the disenchanted former NCR employees was Tom Watson, founder of IBM.
A few months back, engineers looked for ways to safely and efficiently remove ice from power lines during ice storms and were stumped. They decided to take a thought walk around the hotel. One of the engineers came back with a jar of honey he purchased in the gift shop. He suggested putting honey pots on top of each power pole. He said this would attract bears and the bears would climb the poles to get the honey. Their climbing would cause the poles to sway and the ice would vibrate off the wires. Working with the principle of vibration, they got the idea to bring in helicopters to hover over the lines. The hovering of the helicopters vibrated the ice off the power lines.
The great landscape artist J. M. W. Turner used an unusual technique to stimulate his imagination. Whenever he visited friends who had young children, he would give them watercolors and paper to make drawings. Sometimes he would suggest a general theme, and other times he would let them draw anything they wanted. The results were original and spontaneous expressions of primary consciousness. Turner would then take the drawings, observe them with an open mind, and create his own visual impressions from the children's work, in much the same way that Leonardo da Vinci imagined faces and scenes among stains on the wall. Turner would use these visual impressions to inspire his imagination to create new perspectives for the familiar landscape.
"the best control comes from not controlling." The legendary founder of Wal-Mart, Sam Walton, was a living demonstration of this contradiction. Walton was normally in his office only from Friday and Saturday to noon, yet Wal-Mart was considered one of the more tightly managed organizations in the retail industry. Someone once asked Walton how he could possibly run Wal-Mart when he was out of the office much of the time. He responded by saying, simply, that this was the only way to run a customer-focused organization. He spent Monday through Thursday in the field interacting directly with customers and employees and seeing what the competition was up to. In fact, while Walton was alive, Wal-Mart stores were built without an office for the store manager for the same reason. The manager's job was to be out with the customers and employees.
Take notes. In Albert Paine's biography of Mark Twain, Paine wrote: "On the table by him, and on his bed, and on the billiard-room shelves, he kept the books he read most. All, or nearly all, had annotations-spontaneously uttered marginal notes, or comments. They were the books he read again and again, and it was seldom that he had nothing to say with each fresh reading."
General George Patton was once asked if he ever experienced fear or uncertainty before battle. He replied that he often experienced fear before, and even during, a battle, but the important thing was "I never take counsel of my fears.
Dar um jeito is an expression in Brazil that, loosely translated, means "no problem is unsolvable and no barrier too great to cross."
This exercise is designed to help you pay pure attention to the world around you. It was developed by Minor White, who taught photography at MIT. Select a photograph or picture that gives you pleasure, the more detailed the better. Get comfortable and relax. Set a timer or alarm for ten minutes. Look at the photograph or picture until the timer goes off, without moving a muscle. Stay focused on the image. Do not allow your mind to free-associate. Pay attention only to the image in front of you. After the timer goes off, turn away from the image and recall your experience. Review the experience visually rather than with words. Accept whatever the experience is for what it is. After your review and your experience becomes kind of a flavor, go about your everyday work, trying to recall the experience whenever you can. You'll begin to experience tiny truths that you can find only by paying pure attention. Recall the experience frequently and recall it visually.
Some think these tiny truths are the voice of God.
Allied forces discovered the strategic value of reading newspapers smuggled out of small German towns. These papers sometimes carried useful stories on fuel, food, and other items. Similarly, a small group of Swiss intelligence officers were able to figure out German troop movements by reading social pages to see where famous German officers were mentioned.
Collect and store ideas like a pack rat. Keep a container (coffee can, shoe box, desk drawer, or file folder) of ideas and idea starters. Begin collecting interesting advertisements, quotes, designs, ideas, questions, cartoons, pictures, doodles, and words that might trigger ideas by association.
When you are looking for new ideas, shake up the container and pull out two or more items at random to see if they can somehow trigger a thought that might lead to a new idea. If not, reshuffle and eventually you'll come up with some intriguing combinations of useful ideas.
Imagine a long passenger train traveling down a railroad track. One person is staring straight ahead at the train as it passes him. He sees that part of the train that is passing in front of him, from car to car. First, the engine, then the first car, the second car, and so on. If he has good peripheral vision, he might glimpse parts of those cars that have already passed him by and parts of those cars which have yet to pass. Another person views the same train from an airplane high above. She sees the whole train all at once, from beginning to end. This is the difference between the two sides of our brain. The left brain processes pieces of information sequentially, one by one, hit by bit. The right brain processes information all at once, holistically, intuitionally.
Travelers pay for lodging while traveling. Reverse this to travelers do not pay for lodging. The public library system is a great success in giving people access to books and information for free. Why not use the same model to give people a place to stay for free? Set aside land in different cities where people are allowed to stay for free. You basically get a "land library card" that allows you to stay on a piece of land for a certain amount of time. This will help the homeless and those who wish to travel cheaply.
Problem: The french fries made in Kroc's first stand in Illinois didn't taste like the originals; they were tasteless and mushy. He tried the McDonalds' recipe again and again, to no avail. A friend finally solved the mystery-Kroc stored his potatoes in the basement, while the McDonalds kept theirs outside in chicken-wire bins, exposed to desert winds that cured the potatoes, SCAMPER Solution: Modify the storage area. Kroc cured the potatoes by
installing large electric fans in the basement.
The FBI wanted to close down an international smuggling ring that smuggled drugs, counterfeit money, and counterfeit cigarettes into the country. Their plan was to round up all the criminals on one day to prevent the felons from escaping. They put together an elaborate ruse with two undercover SCA agents, one male and one female, who had worked with the smugglers for several years. The two agents staged a fake engagement and a few months later invited the smugglers to their fake wedding on a yacht named Royal Charm docked near Atlantic City. Invitations were sent out, a date was given, and RSVPs were received from different points around the world. They were assured transportation would be provided to the yacht from a warehouse decorated in festive ribbons. The felons, dressed in tuxedos and fashionable gowns, were arrested one by one as they arrived at the ware-house. The arrests led to the seizure of $52 million of counterfeit cigarettes, $25 million in counterfeit bills, and $25 million in drugs (ecstasy, methamphetamines, and Viagra). By choosing the right place, the FBI rolled up one of the largest and most sophisticated smuggling rings in one day.
Dr. Randas Batista of Curtiba, Brazil, adopted when he had many patients dying of congestive heart failure. When the heart is weakened by heart failure, it tries to compensate by stretching its muscles to help it beat, thus enlarging it. But as the heart's muscular left ventricle enlarges, it becomes less efficient at pumping blood through the body. Dr. Batista lacked the resources necessary for the standard American treatments for the disease drug therapy and heart transplant—so he came up with a radical solution. His solution was to cut off pieces of the heart to make it smaller. Dr. Batista described the solution as paradoxical, because You cut away part of the heart to make it stronger. Surgeons around the world are learning new lessons from Dr. Batista's procedure.
Ernest Hamwi was trying to sell paper-thin Persian waffles at the 1905 World's Fair. It was hot, and for days he watched people walk past his little stand to a nearby ice-cream stand. When that stand ran out of dishes, Hamwi brought some hot waffles over. He fashioned the waffles into cones, let them cool, and served ice cream on top of them.
(I call this “The tripler” its a brave new word i created): What happens when salespeople change the pace of their presentation? Fast-talking salespeople ate sometimes regarded with suspicion, but rapid speech may actually increase one's persuasiveness. One firm approached Los Angeles residents in parks and shopping malls and asked them to listen to a tape-recorded speech arguing that caffeine should be regarded as a dangerous drug. All subjects heard the same message, but half heard it at the slow rate of 102 words per minute, half at the fast rate of 195. The fast-talking communicator was viewed as being more knowledgeable and objective, and was more effective at changing the subjects' attitudes. Within limits, the faster you talk, the more likely people are to assume you know what you're talking about.
The lotus blossom strategy technique. Google it. It can help you brainstorm solutions to any problems you’re facing in life
In 1973, the world was hit by an oil shortage and a sudden rise in prices. Oil companies were caught with their pants down —except The Royal Dutch Shell company. They had realized that improbable events can take place without warning and that such events demand swift and sure management, ideas, and decisions. They had prepared several different future scenarios, from "boom or bust" to "constrained growth," to address any economic eventuality. A period of constrained growth did, in fact, follow the oil shortage, and their "constrained growth" scenario positioned The Royal Dutch Shell company to exploit the shortage. The Royal Dutch Shell company grew from number eight to number two during the 1970s by taking quick advantage d unexpected opportunities.
"In peace prepare for war, in war prepare for peace." SUN TZU
"There are two ways to spread the light, to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it." -Edith Wharton
Our sales manager asked each employee to chip in one dollar a week to finance promoting the tires with shopping mall displays and cards left on windshields. This small contribution gave employees a sense of ownership (entrepreneurial attitude). To get the employees excited and give them a new sense of purpose (motivation), he exhorted them with speeches, songs, and slogans (such as "We make them, we can sell them").
The "house data box," a box shaped like a mailbox that could be placed in front of the house for sale. In the box would be a roll of tear-off sheets listing information about the house such as asking price, various taxes, how long owned, points, special features, etc. The prospect would drive up, pull out an information sheet, and drive away. The serious ones would call back for an appointment. This should considerably reduce the number of missed prospects and save homeowners from wasting time saying the same thing again and again.
Arturo Toscanini found himself unable to describe the effect he wished from a particular musical passage. After a moment's thought, he took a silk handkerchief from his pocket and tossed it high into the air. The orchestra, mesmerized, watched the slow, graceful descent of the silken square. Toscanini smiled with satisfaction as it finally settled on the floor. "There," he said, "play it like that."
An idea grows by annexing its neighbor. Two ideas can cross-catalyze each other, but both need to be present in order for a new concept, product, or idea to form, like two chemicals forming a new compound.
Denise Parker, one of the top archers in the world, creates what she calls her "happiness room," a place to which she withdraws to visualize an upcoming match. She described it this way in a New York Times article: There's stairs leading up to it and these big doors you go through. It has brown wall-to-wall carpeting, a king-sized waterbed, stack stereo, a big-screen TV and a VCR, posters of Tom Cruise and Kirk Cameron on the wall, and a fireplace that's always blazing. That's where I go when a meet's coming up. I drive up to it in a Porsche, go inside, lie down on the waterbed, and watch a tape of myself Shooting perfect arrows. Later when I get to the tournament, everything seems familiar. Even at the Olympics I was calm as I began to shoot.
An old Sioux warrior had eight magnificent horses. One night, during a great storm, they all escaped. The other warriors came to comfort him. They said, "How unlucky you are. You must be very angry to have lost your horses."
"Why?" replied the warrior.
"Because you have lost all your wealth. Now you have nothing," they
responded.
"How do you know?" he asked.
The next day the eight horses returned bringing with them twelve new stallions. The warriors returned and joyously announced that now the old warrior must be very happy.
"Why?" was his response.
"Because now you are even richer than before." They responded.
"How do you know?" he again responded.
The following morning, the warrior's young son got up early to break in the new horses. He was thrown and broke both his legs. The warriors came, once more, and talked about how angry the old warrior must be at his misfortune and how terrible it was for the boy to break both his legs.
"How do you know?" the warrior said once more.
Two weeks passed. Then the chief announced that all able-bodied men and boys must join a war party to fight against a neighboring tribe. The Lakotas won but at great cost, as many men and young boys were killed.
When the remaining warriors returned, they told the old warrior that it was lucky his son had two broken legs, otherwise he could have been killed or injured in the great battle.
"How do you know?" the old warrior replied
President Truman bore up under the stress and strain of being a wartime president better than any previous office-holder. Despite a multitude of problems, the office of the presidency did not age him or exhaust his vitality. When a reporter asked how he managed, Truman answered, "I have a foxhole in my mind." He explained that, just as a soldier has a foxhole for protection, he would retreat to his own mental foxhole, where he allowed nothing to bother him.
George Washington solved his most difficult problems during the Revolutionary War with intuition. He would instruct his orderlies not to let anyone disturb him while he relaxed and intuited decisions. In fact, the founding fathers thought intuition was so important that they tried to remind us of its power on the back of the dollar bill. There is a picture of an unfinished pyramid with an eye above it. The pyramid is not complete until the seeing eye is settled in the capstone position. Or, until the intuitive component of the mind plays a major role in developing ideas or making decisions.
Do you live in area where stereos and cars get stolen often? A fake front showing splayed wires and a gashed frame.
Attached with Velcro over the real radio, it creates the illusion that the radio has already been stolen.
Peter Juroszek and colleagues at the University of Bonn in Germany have found that strips of land ploughed at night grow five times fewer weeds. The seeds of most weeds need less than a millisecond's light for germination to begin, whereas the seeds of most crops can grow in complete darkness. Ploughing brings seeds temporarily to the surface before they are reburied. Wheat fields in particular grew so few weeds that pesticides are unnecessary.
Once there was a man who died and found himself in Hell, with the road to Heaven blocked by a huge mountain. Although indignant that he was in Hell, the man assumed he could do nothing to change his situation and settled down to an eternity of suffering. He never discovered that the mountain was on wheels— to reach Heaven he needed only to push the mountain aside.
Once you identify the forces operating in your challenge, they become as negotiable as a mountain on wheels. You can either learn to live with the negatives by limiting your options and compromising your goals, or you can change their position and neutralize their impact.
George Smith made candy on a stick in the early 1900s. Competition was fierce. He tried hard to find a new marketing twist to differentiate his stick candy from others. One day, he decided to take a break and went to the race track. One of the finest racehorses of the day was racing, and he bet a substantial amount of money on it. The horse won. The name of the horse was Lolly Pop. Smith named his stick candy "lollipops" and made candy history.
Whenever we attempt to do something and fail, we end up doing something else. As simplistic as this statement may seem, it is the first principle of creative accident. Reversing the question from "Why have I failed?" to "What have I done?" reverses the negative into a positive.
Adaptation is a common and inescapable practice in creativity. Even the "Star Bangled Banner," which was written in defiance of England, was essentially the same as a popular tune sung in English pubs.
John Patterson, president of National Cash Register, was a fan of Napoleon. Patterson rode horseback with his executives every day at 5 A.M. He demanded that they maintain a "little red book" to record daily activities, thoughts, ideas, and so on. He ruthlessly fired many an employee who failed to maintain a notebook. He died in the midst of his business travels while scribbling in his little book. Interestingly, one sixth of the major U.S. companies were headed by ex-NCR employees between 1910 and 1930. Among the disenchanted former NCR employees was Tom Watson, founder of IBM.
A few months back, engineers looked for ways to safely and efficiently remove ice from power lines during ice storms and were stumped. They decided to take a thought walk around the hotel. One of the engineers came back with a jar of honey he purchased in the gift shop. He suggested putting honey pots on top of each power pole. He said this would attract bears and the bears would climb the poles to get the honey. Their climbing would cause the poles to sway and the ice would vibrate off the wires. Working with the principle of vibration, they got the idea to bring in helicopters to hover over the lines. The hovering of the helicopters vibrated the ice off the power lines.
The great landscape artist J. M. W. Turner used an unusual technique to stimulate his imagination. Whenever he visited friends who had young children, he would give them watercolors and paper to make drawings. Sometimes he would suggest a general theme, and other times he would let them draw anything they wanted. The results were original and spontaneous expressions of primary consciousness. Turner would then take the drawings, observe them with an open mind, and create his own visual impressions from the children's work, in much the same way that Leonardo da Vinci imagined faces and scenes among stains on the wall. Turner would use these visual impressions to inspire his imagination to create new perspectives for the familiar landscape.
"the best control comes from not controlling." The legendary founder of Wal-Mart, Sam Walton, was a living demonstration of this contradiction. Walton was normally in his office only from Friday and Saturday to noon, yet Wal-Mart was considered one of the more tightly managed organizations in the retail industry. Someone once asked Walton how he could possibly run Wal-Mart when he was out of the office much of the time. He responded by saying, simply, that this was the only way to run a customer-focused organization. He spent Monday through Thursday in the field interacting directly with customers and employees and seeing what the competition was up to. In fact, while Walton was alive, Wal-Mart stores were built without an office for the store manager for the same reason. The manager's job was to be out with the customers and employees.
Take notes. In Albert Paine's biography of Mark Twain, Paine wrote: "On the table by him, and on his bed, and on the billiard-room shelves, he kept the books he read most. All, or nearly all, had annotations-spontaneously uttered marginal notes, or comments. They were the books he read again and again, and it was seldom that he had nothing to say with each fresh reading."
General George Patton was once asked if he ever experienced fear or uncertainty before battle. He replied that he often experienced fear before, and even during, a battle, but the important thing was "I never take counsel of my fears.
Dar um jeito is an expression in Brazil that, loosely translated, means "no problem is unsolvable and no barrier too great to cross."
This exercise is designed to help you pay pure attention to the world around you. It was developed by Minor White, who taught photography at MIT. Select a photograph or picture that gives you pleasure, the more detailed the better. Get comfortable and relax. Set a timer or alarm for ten minutes. Look at the photograph or picture until the timer goes off, without moving a muscle. Stay focused on the image. Do not allow your mind to free-associate. Pay attention only to the image in front of you. After the timer goes off, turn away from the image and recall your experience. Review the experience visually rather than with words. Accept whatever the experience is for what it is. After your review and your experience becomes kind of a flavor, go about your everyday work, trying to recall the experience whenever you can. You'll begin to experience tiny truths that you can find only by paying pure attention. Recall the experience frequently and recall it visually.
Some think these tiny truths are the voice of God.
Allied forces discovered the strategic value of reading newspapers smuggled out of small German towns. These papers sometimes carried useful stories on fuel, food, and other items. Similarly, a small group of Swiss intelligence officers were able to figure out German troop movements by reading social pages to see where famous German officers were mentioned.
Collect and store ideas like a pack rat. Keep a container (coffee can, shoe box, desk drawer, or file folder) of ideas and idea starters. Begin collecting interesting advertisements, quotes, designs, ideas, questions, cartoons, pictures, doodles, and words that might trigger ideas by association.
When you are looking for new ideas, shake up the container and pull out two or more items at random to see if they can somehow trigger a thought that might lead to a new idea. If not, reshuffle and eventually you'll come up with some intriguing combinations of useful ideas.
Imagine a long passenger train traveling down a railroad track. One person is staring straight ahead at the train as it passes him. He sees that part of the train that is passing in front of him, from car to car. First, the engine, then the first car, the second car, and so on. If he has good peripheral vision, he might glimpse parts of those cars that have already passed him by and parts of those cars which have yet to pass. Another person views the same train from an airplane high above. She sees the whole train all at once, from beginning to end. This is the difference between the two sides of our brain. The left brain processes pieces of information sequentially, one by one, hit by bit. The right brain processes information all at once, holistically, intuitionally.
Travelers pay for lodging while traveling. Reverse this to travelers do not pay for lodging. The public library system is a great success in giving people access to books and information for free. Why not use the same model to give people a place to stay for free? Set aside land in different cities where people are allowed to stay for free. You basically get a "land library card" that allows you to stay on a piece of land for a certain amount of time. This will help the homeless and those who wish to travel cheaply.
Problem: The french fries made in Kroc's first stand in Illinois didn't taste like the originals; they were tasteless and mushy. He tried the McDonalds' recipe again and again, to no avail. A friend finally solved the mystery-Kroc stored his potatoes in the basement, while the McDonalds kept theirs outside in chicken-wire bins, exposed to desert winds that cured the potatoes, SCAMPER Solution: Modify the storage area. Kroc cured the potatoes by
installing large electric fans in the basement.
The FBI wanted to close down an international smuggling ring that smuggled drugs, counterfeit money, and counterfeit cigarettes into the country. Their plan was to round up all the criminals on one day to prevent the felons from escaping. They put together an elaborate ruse with two undercover SCA agents, one male and one female, who had worked with the smugglers for several years. The two agents staged a fake engagement and a few months later invited the smugglers to their fake wedding on a yacht named Royal Charm docked near Atlantic City. Invitations were sent out, a date was given, and RSVPs were received from different points around the world. They were assured transportation would be provided to the yacht from a warehouse decorated in festive ribbons. The felons, dressed in tuxedos and fashionable gowns, were arrested one by one as they arrived at the ware-house. The arrests led to the seizure of $52 million of counterfeit cigarettes, $25 million in counterfeit bills, and $25 million in drugs (ecstasy, methamphetamines, and Viagra). By choosing the right place, the FBI rolled up one of the largest and most sophisticated smuggling rings in one day.
Dr. Randas Batista of Curtiba, Brazil, adopted when he had many patients dying of congestive heart failure. When the heart is weakened by heart failure, it tries to compensate by stretching its muscles to help it beat, thus enlarging it. But as the heart's muscular left ventricle enlarges, it becomes less efficient at pumping blood through the body. Dr. Batista lacked the resources necessary for the standard American treatments for the disease drug therapy and heart transplant—so he came up with a radical solution. His solution was to cut off pieces of the heart to make it smaller. Dr. Batista described the solution as paradoxical, because You cut away part of the heart to make it stronger. Surgeons around the world are learning new lessons from Dr. Batista's procedure.
Ernest Hamwi was trying to sell paper-thin Persian waffles at the 1905 World's Fair. It was hot, and for days he watched people walk past his little stand to a nearby ice-cream stand. When that stand ran out of dishes, Hamwi brought some hot waffles over. He fashioned the waffles into cones, let them cool, and served ice cream on top of them.
(I call this “The tripler” its a brave new word i created): What happens when salespeople change the pace of their presentation? Fast-talking salespeople ate sometimes regarded with suspicion, but rapid speech may actually increase one's persuasiveness. One firm approached Los Angeles residents in parks and shopping malls and asked them to listen to a tape-recorded speech arguing that caffeine should be regarded as a dangerous drug. All subjects heard the same message, but half heard it at the slow rate of 102 words per minute, half at the fast rate of 195. The fast-talking communicator was viewed as being more knowledgeable and objective, and was more effective at changing the subjects' attitudes. Within limits, the faster you talk, the more likely people are to assume you know what you're talking about.
The lotus blossom strategy technique. Google it. It can help you brainstorm solutions to any problems you’re facing in life
In 1973, the world was hit by an oil shortage and a sudden rise in prices. Oil companies were caught with their pants down —except The Royal Dutch Shell company. They had realized that improbable events can take place without warning and that such events demand swift and sure management, ideas, and decisions. They had prepared several different future scenarios, from "boom or bust" to "constrained growth," to address any economic eventuality. A period of constrained growth did, in fact, follow the oil shortage, and their "constrained growth" scenario positioned The Royal Dutch Shell company to exploit the shortage. The Royal Dutch Shell company grew from number eight to number two during the 1970s by taking quick advantage d unexpected opportunities.
"In peace prepare for war, in war prepare for peace." SUN TZU
"There are two ways to spread the light, to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it." -Edith Wharton
Our sales manager asked each employee to chip in one dollar a week to finance promoting the tires with shopping mall displays and cards left on windshields. This small contribution gave employees a sense of ownership (entrepreneurial attitude). To get the employees excited and give them a new sense of purpose (motivation), he exhorted them with speeches, songs, and slogans (such as "We make them, we can sell them").
The "house data box," a box shaped like a mailbox that could be placed in front of the house for sale. In the box would be a roll of tear-off sheets listing information about the house such as asking price, various taxes, how long owned, points, special features, etc. The prospect would drive up, pull out an information sheet, and drive away. The serious ones would call back for an appointment. This should considerably reduce the number of missed prospects and save homeowners from wasting time saying the same thing again and again.
July 13, 2018
Really a very, very good book. Definitely a must-read for those who strive to continuously challenge and improve their thinking. There are some parts in the middle of the book which are not very relevant, but the beginning 150 pages and the last 100 pages are fantastic, especially the final chapter on experiences and interpretation.
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March 14, 2021My friend Robby and I read two chapters a week for four months & it helped us unlock solutions to creative dilemmas and personal ones, but this book is absolutely packed with at least a hundred of the worst analogies and similes I’ve ever seen. The writing style is messy, but there are lots of good ideas if you can see past that.
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