Whack on the Side of the Head : How You Can Be More Creative

by von Oech, Roger

• ISBN13: 9780446674553
• ISBN10: 0446674559
• Additional ISBN(s): 9780446404662
• Edition: Revised
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1998-12-01
• Publisher: Time Warner
• More Book Details
• Purchase Benefits

Summary

Who is Heraclitus, and what is he whacking, you ask? Heraclitus was an ancient Greek philosopher, widely considered the world's first creativity teacher. The deck has 32 cards, each containing a "whack," or eye-opening exercise based on the epigrams of Heraclitus. They will spur creative thinking and allow you to look at a problem from a fresh perspective. Created by Roger von Oech, author of the best-selling book, A Whack on the Side of the Head and the Creative Whack Pack.

Author Biography

ROGER VON OECH is the president of Creative Think, a California-based consulting firm that has conducted creativity seminars with such companies as American Express, Apple Computer, AT&T, CBS, IBM, NBC, and NASA. He earned his doctorate from Stanford University in a self-conceived program in the history of ideas.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. 1
A Whack on the Side of the Head	p. 3
Mental Sex
What Is Creative Thinking?
Mental Locks
Opening Mental Locks
Getting Whacked
Summary
The Right Answer	p. 25
Learning How to Think
The Second Right Answer
Summary
That's Not Logical	p. 37
Soft and Hard Thinking
The Creative Process
That's Not Logical
Making the Strange Familiar
The Meaning of Life
Summary
Follow the Rules	p. 55
Patterns: The Rules of the Game
Challenging the Rules
Follow the Rules
The Aslan Phenomenon
Slay A Sacred Cow
Summary
Be Practical	p. 71
Our Imaginative Seedbed
Ask "What If?"
Imagine How Others Would Do It
Imagine You're the Idea
The Stepping-Stone
Be Practical
Summary
Play Is Frivolous	p. 89
The Moment of Conception
Twelve-Sided Fun
Pause for a Bit
Summary
That's Not My Area	p. 101
The Solar Cell
That's Not My Area
Cross-Fertilization
Be An Explorer
Summary
Don't Be Foolish	p. 113
Going Along
Benefits of Conformity
Groupthink
Consult A Fool
Put On Your Fool's Cap
Laugh at It
Reverse Your Viewpoint
The Fools and the Rules
Summary
Avoid Ambiguity	p. 137
Thinking Ambiguously
Paradoxes
Consult An Oracle
Listen to Your Dreams
Summary
To Err Is Wrong	p. 155
Hits and Misses
A Different Logic
Is Failure Bad?
Is Success Good?
Summary
I'm Not Creative	p. 165
Self-fulfilling Prophecies
Summary
A Whack on the Other Side of the Head	p. 171
The Student Returns to the Creativity Teacher
Take A Whack At It
Put A Lion in Your Heart
Get Support
Get Rid of Excuses
Slay A Dragon
Flex Your Risk Muscle
Have Something At Stake
Be Dissatisfied
Use Your Shield
Sell, Sell, Sell
Set A Deadline
Be Persistent
Ancient Whacks of Heraclitus	p. 195
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