Creativity + Productivity + Simplicity = Abundance

Roger von Oech is an internationally-recognized creativity consultant who has worked with major companies from around the world, including Anheuser-Busch, General Foods, Hallmark Cards, Hewlett-Packard, NASA and Procter & Gamble. He’s also the founder and president of “Creative Think”, a consulting firm that specializes in stimulating creativity and innovation.

His book, “A Whack on the Side of the Head”, is a classic in the field of creativity and innovation and is now on its 25th Edition. In addition, he’s written two more excellent books on creativity–“A Kick in the Seat of the Pants” and “Expect the Unexpected (or You Won’t Find It): A Creativity Tool Based on the Ancient Wisdom of Heraclitus”–and has created other products to help stimulate idea generation, including creativity card decks and “The Ball of Whacks”.

Below you will find some of Roger’s methods and techniques for stimulating creativity; that is, for whacking you on the side of the head and kicking you in the seat of the pants.

A Whack on the Side of the Head

A “whack” is something that stimulates us to think differently. Sometimes we all need a “whack on the side of the head” to break us out of our habitual thought patterns, so that we can look at problems in a fresh new way.

Roger’s book, “A Whack on the Side of the Head” identifies 10 “mental locks” which limit or even preclude creative thinking:

• The Right Answer;
• That’s Not Logical;
• Follow the Rules;
• Be Practical;
• Play Is Frivolous;
• That’s Not My Area;
• Avoid Ambiguity;
• Don’t Be Foolish;
• To Err Is Wrong, and
• I’m Not Creative.

The book is filled with provocative puzzles, anecdotes, exercises, metaphors, cartoons, questions, quotations, stories, and tips designed to systematically break through your mental blocks and unlock your mind for creative thinking. Here’s an example on breaking the rules when necessary instead of rigidly adhering to them:

In the year 333 B.C., Alexander the Great from Macedonia arrived in the ancient City of Gordium. While there he heard of the legend of the Gordion knot: whoever was able to untie the complicated knot would become the king of Asia.

Intrigued, Alexander asked to be taken to the knot in order to make an attempt at untying it. He tried unsuccessfully to untie it for a few minutes, and then he stepped back and asked himself: “How can I untie this knot?”

At this point, he got an idea. He pulled out his swords and sliced the knot in half. Asia was fated to him.

Blindly following rules has two main detriments: the first, is that we can get locked into strategies and ways of doing things that may not be the most appropriate. And second, we may be facing a situation in which the circumstances in which the rule was created have changed, so the rule is no longer applicable; yet we keep applying it because we fail to analyze the reason for and the validity of the rule.

Look Within for Change Instead of Blaming Others

Another lesson from “A Whack on the Side of the Head” is to look within for change instead of blaming others.  Roger von Oech explains that he conducted a seminar with the direct sales force of a large pharmaceutical company. Prior to the session, he had the opportunity to talk to the people in the bottom 25% of the sales force and he asked them why they weren’t more successful. They answered with comments such as:

“Our products cost too much.”

“I’ve got a crummy territory.”

“I don’t get along with my manager.”

Roger then writes: “What was their problem? They weren’t taking responsibility for their own performance. They spent their time creating excuses rather than thinking of innovative sales solutions.”

The successful salespeople, instead, did not wait passively for outside circumstances to favor them. Instead, if they were turned down, they would simply start looking for alternative ways to make the sale. They saw change as something that resided within themselves and which they could achieve by being proactive.

A Kick in the Seat of the Pants

In “A Kick in the Seat of the Pants”, Roger von Oech tells the story of Jack.  When Jack wasn’t given the promotion he was after, he realized that he hadn’t been performing very well at work lately and that his once perceptive mind was producing trite solutions to important problems. He decided to go to an idea doctor for help.

When Jack arrived at the doctor’s office, the doctor proceeded to ask him some questions.

“First, have you stuck your neck out and taken any risks lately?”

“Not that I can remember,” Jack answered.

“Have you been asking what if . . . ? to stretch your imagination?”

“I’ve been too busy.”

“Have you kept an open mind when evaluating new ideas?”

“I know what works and what doesn’t.”

The doctor’s diagnosis was that Jack was stuck in a rut. He explained to Jack that he had his ends reversed:

“You see, the human body has two ends on it–one to create with and one to sit on. As long as you actively pursue new ideas, your creative end stays in good shape.  But if you sit around doing the same old things, your brain descends into your rear. The result is that your ends get reversed.”

When Jack asked for the remedy to his problem, the doctor stood up, walked over to him, and gave him a swift kick in the seat of the pants. That kick gave Jack the jolt he needed to get his ends realigned.

The Four Players in the Creative Process

In “A Kick in the Seat of the Pants”, Roger von Oech divides the creative process into four different activities or stages: the explorer, the artist, the judge and the warrior.   The explorer and the artist team together for the germination phase which involves right-brain thinking: nonlinear perception, metaphors, dreams, humor and imagination.

The judge and the warrior are then responsible for carrying the ideas into the world of action.  This second phase involves linear, critical, left-brained thinking.  Roger explains that it’s important for the process of creativity to sharpen the skill of all four players. Here’s a closer analysis of the roles played by the explorer, the artist, the judge and the warrior in the creative process:

The explorer searches for raw material with which to create ideas.  We should explore anywhere and everywhere: as we take the dog for a walk, in the museum, at the grocery store, in magazines, and so on. In fact, we should also go outside of our territory and visit places we’ve never been to before and do things we’ve never tried.  The only equipment the explorer needs is an open, curious mind. Exploration should be fun.

The role of the artist is to cultivate, incubate, and manipulate the raw material gathered by the explorer.  The artist asks: “How can I make this idea my own?”  In addition, “what if . . . ?” questions are invaluable to the artist. The artist employs creativity techniques and is not afraid to be wacky and appear ridiculous.

When the judge comes into play it’s time to start giving the ideas the thumbs up or the thumbs down.  While rational analysis and logic can inhibit creativity and kill good ideas if applied at the wrong time, applied at the right time they help ensure that the right ideas go forward into fruition.  When the right idea has been chosen, it’s the warrior’s turn to eliminate excuses, do the necessary work, and implement the idea.  If the warrior fails to execute the idea, the idea dies.

Stimulating Creativity With Constraints and Limits

While thinking “outside the box” is often used as a synonym for creativity, thinking “inside the box” with limitations of time, money and other resources often helps the mind to focus and respond with innovative solutions to problems. In an interview published on “Heads up! on Organizational Innovation”, Roger explains that constraints force the innovator to think and look more deeply for opportunities.

As an example, he explains that he was watching a Roman Polanski’s 1962 film, “Knife in the Water”.  One of the DVD’s special features had an interview with Polanski and his screenwriter in which they both stated that they forced themselves to stick with Aristotle’s “three unities for a good tragedy”:

• All action takes places within 24 hours;
• All action occurs in the same place; and
• There is a limited number of characters

This made them think more deeply about plot and character rather than taking cinematic shortcuts.  That is, these three limits helped them create a much better film than they would have put together had they not set any limits.

In addition, Roger explains that in writing his creativity card decks he was forced  to get his point across using precise, carefully chosen words due to the limited space on each card.  When it came time to developing his Ball of Whacks–a creativity tool for innovators–, he set a budget as a constraint instead of simply pouring open-ended amounts of money into the project, which would probably have resulted in unnecessary, cumbersome features being added.

Conclusion

In an interview Roger con Oech gave to entrepenuer, venture capitalist, and blogger Guy Kawasaki, he explained that his mantra is: “ “Look for the Second Right Answer.”  This opens his mind and pushes it to go beyond the obvious and to continue looking for even better solutions to problems.  This mantra also helps him avoid falling in love with any one particular approach and encourages him to use failed ideas as a springboard to explore a different path for reaching a solution.

If you would like to read more about Roger von Oech, head on over to my Squidoo lens: “Roger von Oech”.

Please share in the comments below the methods and techniques you use when you need to be jolted out of conformity and stagnation and get your creative juices flowing.

photo credit: E. E. Piphanies

Related Posts:

• Lateral Thinking: Think Out-of-the-Box
• Creative Thinking Techniques: The Playful Edition
• 30 Creativity Cards: A Gift I Made for You

Recommended Product:

Learn to meditate, increase your focus and concentration, boost your creativity, and augment your brain power with the Silva Life System.

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A while back I promised to share a “Blog Business Plan” with you; well, here it is. Instead of one humongous post, I’ve decided to break it down into three or four sections and write a separate post for each section. The sections will roughly be the following:

• Finding a Niche for Your Blog
• Marketing Your Blog (Traffic Generation)
• Monetizing Your Blog

I’m going to start off with ways in which you can market your blog. Joe Vitale–a top internet marketer who has written books such as “The Power of Outrageous Marketing” and “The Attractor Factor: 5 Easy Steps for Creating Wealth (or Anything Else) from the Inside Out”– coined the term “persistent marketing”.

He explains that, whatever business you’re in, you need to be doing marketing every day. Below you will find 35 ways to market your blog; you should be doing at least one or two of these every day.

1.  Create valuable content. Steve Pavlina writes that you need to remember that the purpose of each post that you publish is to create genuine value for others.

He adds that when he sits down to write he sometimes imagines myself standing on an outdoor concert stage before an audience of a million people. He then asks himself, “What shall I say to this audience of fellow human beings?” Even if you have nowhere near the traffic that Steve has, copying this attitude is one of the things that will help you increase the number of visitors to your blog.

In addition, strong content not only brings traffic to your blog, it also encourages other sites to link to you.

2. Take advantage of your email signature.  Tina Su, who blogs at ”Think Simple Now” wrote in her article “From 0 to 2000+ Subscribers in 90 Days” –published in Darren Rowe’s “Problogger” –that she added a note about subscribing to her email signature, so it appeared at the foot of every email she sent out.  Do the same; let every email that you send out help market your blog.

3. Create a “blog card” for those occasions in which you want to hand out your blog url instead of your business card. Hugh McLeod from the GapingVoid.com will print them for you with one of his cartoons in the front and your blog’s details on the back (go here).

4. Go on Twitter. However, it’s not enough to sign up for twitter and simply hope for the best. Create a strategy for yourself on how you will use twitter. Here’s an example:

• Spend fifteen minutes on twitter every morning.
• Send a direct message to one follower each day.
• Tweet two interesting links which will provide value for others.
• Retweet something interesting one of your followers tweets about.
• Tweet one interesting quote.
• Send one broadcast on your latest blog post.
• Check to see if someone has asked a question in your area of expertise; if so, try to help them.
• Post one or two tweets about your day-to-day life, such as what you had for breakfast or something cute your kid just said.
• Find five interesting people to follow each day. (You can follow me).

Although twitter is definitely a way to meet great people whom you share common interests with, as well as a way of keeping informed, remember that you’re using twitter primarily as a marketing tool.  Consider subscribing to Twitip.com for more ideas on how to use twitter to market your blog.

5. Be active on Stumbleupon. Stumbleupon potentially puts your blog posts in front of 6,695,885 stumblers. You can sign up for a free “Traffic Rush Home Study Course” here.

6. Create squidoo lenses. Squidoo lenses rank high on Google, so if you link back to your blog they provide yet another way for people to find you. Simply take posts you’ve already written and turn them into squidoo lenses. For example, one of the main topics for this blog is creativity. I’ve turned several of my posts on creativity into the following squidoo lens: “How to Be More Creative”.

Squidoo.com has a dashboard from which you can check your stats: how many people are visiting each of your lenses, where they’re coming from, and what urls they click on (so you can see how many people who visit your lenses click on your blog url). Join squidoo right now, just click here.

7. Pick a few core social sites. So far I’ve mentioned Squidoo, twitter, and stumbleupon. However, there are many more social sites you can choose from. For a great free introduction into the world of social sites, download “The Authority Black Book”. Remember not to dabble in several different social media sites; instead, choose a few that really resonate with you and aim to become a power player.

Whatever social sites you choose, follow Seth Godin’s advice: the networking that matters is helping people achieve their goals; over time they will return the favor and help you to achieve your goals.

8.  Ping your blog posts to relevant services. Ping services automatically notify blog directories and search engines that your blog has been updated.

9.  Use article syndication. Take a blog post you’ve written, change it around a bit so that it’s not an exact copy of the blog post, and submit it to Ezinearticles.com. For example, I took my blog post “14 Tips to Stay Young” and turned it into these three articles:

• “How to Stay Young: Three Things You Probably Didn’t Know”
• “Five Secrets to Reverse Aging”
• “Five Common Sense Tips to Help You Stay Young”

From the “Author’s Area” on Ezinearticles.com you can see how many URL clicks you get for each of the articles you have submitted to them. This makes it easy to measure how much traffic you get from them.

10.  Submit your blog to directories. Although admittedly not very “creative”, another way to get found is to submit your site to DMOZ and other directories that allow free submissions.

11.  Create an e-book and give it away for free. Hunter Nuttall explains in his blog post “How to Realistically Get 500+ Blog Subscribers” that he wrote an e-book called “The Zen of Blogging” when he first started out with his blog.  He managed to get Darren Rowse from “Problogger” to link to it, people enjoyed his e-book, and this gave him a nice subscription boost.

12.  Create a vibrant community on your blog. By encouraging people to leave comments on your blog, and responding respectfully to those comments, you can create a vibrant community on your blog.  If people enjoy stopping by your blog and feel a sense of belonging there, it’s very likely that they’ll tell their  friends and encourage them to stop by as well.  Word of mouth marketing is one of the most powerful marketing methods that there is.

13.  Hold a contest. Luciano Passuello over at Litemind.com created a contest on his blog where he asked participants to submit their “Best Personal Excellence Tips”.  He then visited several personal development blogs, contacted the owner of each of these blogs, and invited them to participate in the contest.  I had never been to his blog before, but he contacted me, I participated in the contest, and I became a subscriber.

14. Follow up on first time commentators. Set a goal to send a personal e-mail to one new commentator each day thanking them for taking the time to leave a comment and encouraging them to subscribe to your blog.

15. Participate in forums. Participate in discussion forums in your niche area and contribute regularly. Many of them allow you to add your link as a signature to your posts, and if you have something of value to say, it is very likely that people will follow your link back to your blog.

16. Network with other bloggers. Remarkablogger has a great post entitled “Create a Blog Pack to Get Blog Traffic and Increase Subscriptions” in which he explains that a “blog pack” is “a loose, informal alliance between people who are all near the same level in order to help each other grow.”

Members of the pack help each other to grow by subscribing to each others’ blogs, submitting their friends’ best posts to social media sites, linking to each other (when appropriate), commenting on each others’ blogs, and so on.

Also, participate in the projects carried out by members of your network (without stretching yourself too thin).  This year, I’ve participated in several projects hosted by members of my network, including the following:

• Stacey from Createabalance.com asked her network to participate in creating an e-book, and I contributed an article;
• Robin from Let’s Live Forever asked her network to send in a recording of their voice, which I did;
• Melissa from Writing Forward asked members of her network for a creative writing tip to include in a post she was putting together, and I sent in a tip; and so on.

17. Have other bloggers interview you. An offshoot of networking with other bloggers is that sooner or later someone will ask to interview you on their blog, which will expose you to their readers. (And if they don’t, take the first step and ask someone in your blogging network to interview you, as long as you’ve noticed that they interview people on their blog.) For instance, I was interviewed on the blog MizFitonline.com here.

18. Comment on related blogs with thoughtful comments that add value to the conversation. This has two benefits: first, if the blog is set up with “do follow” you get a back link to your blog. And second, people who read the comments might click over to your blog. In addition, this helps you to build up name recognition in your niche.  Look for lists of blogs in your target niche and make it a point to comment on at least one new blog each day.

19. Join blog networks such as Alltop and 9rules. I receive Yaro Starak’s “Blog Tips Newsletter”, and in the December 28, 2008 edition he explains that his traffic rose considerably after being admitted into the 9rules network. In fact, shortly after his membership was announced on the 9rules blog his subscriber count went up by 25%.

20. Create links and trackbacks. For each post you write ask yourself if there are relevant posts on other blogs that you can link to.  This adds value for your readers and creates goodwill with other bloggers.  In addition, many blogs automatically have trackbacks enabled, so there will be a link to your blog in their comments section.  This can bring traffic and attract the attention of the blogger you’re linking to.

21. Join Blog Carnivals. At the very least joining blog carnivals creates links back to your blog, but it can also be a source of traffic.

22.  Review relevant products on Amazon.com.  Also, create product lists on Amazon for your niche.

23. Take full advantage of Technorati. They allow you to  submit 20 tags relevant to your blog.  A lot of people use technorati when they’re searching for information, and the tags that you choose can lead these people straight to your blog.

24.Use attention-grabbing headlines for your posts. Using attractive headlines is one way of getting readers to visit your blog from Search Engines and Feeds. For the ultimate list of blog heading templates, go here.

25. Make it easy for your visitors to submit your posts to all major social bookmarking sites. You can use plug-ins such as the Sociable plug-in.

26. Make sure that you ask visitors to subscribe. Salespeople are always taught to ask for the sale. You might think that by placing a large orange subscription button on your site it can be inferred that you’re asking people to subscribe. However, it’s important that at the end of each post you ask people directly to subscribe to your blog.

By the way, if you’re enjoying this post it would be a great idea to subscribe to “Abundance Blog at Marelisa Online” by clicking here. 

27. Use a professional looking blog design. I’m sure you’ve heard of the 4 P’s of marketing: Product, Pricing, Promotion and Placement. However, there’s actually a fifth “P”: Packaging. No matter how good your product is, it will be more difficult to get people to buy it if it comes wrapped in an ugly package. Likewise, you can have great content on your blog but if the design is inferior many people will simply bounce off your site.   If you’re looking for a great theme for your blog, you can’t go wrong with the Thesis Theme.

28. Email A-List bloggers about your best posts.  Make sure that you only email those blog posts that you’re certain would benefit their readers, and that you lay the proper groundwork first (comment on their blog frequently with comments that add value, submit a guest post that does well, answer their questions on twitter, and so on). Here’s an article on Copyblogger with great suggestions on how to get A-List bloggers to link to you: “Why No One Links to Your Best Posts (And What to Do About It)”.

29. Don’t forget the “alt” tags for your images. Image searches can bring a lot of traffic to your blog.

30. Write five pillar posts. This is one of the techniques that Yaro Starak suggests in his free e-book, “Blog Profits BluePrint”. Pillar posts tend to be “how-to” in nature, they’re very comprehensive, and they pack a lot of value for the reader. These posts tend to become authoritative posts, which attract a lot of links.

31. Brand yourself. Get a recognizable gravatar so that people automatically link it to you when they see it in the comments section on other blogs, on stumbleupon, on twitter, and so on.  Also, make sure that your core message remains consistent. Does your design, copy and layout reinforce your core message?  How about the comments you leave on other blogs? How can you own a keyword term so that it becomes synonymous with your brand? You can find tips on how to build your brand here and here.

32.  Write guest posts. This is the strategy recommended by Leo Babauta from zenhabits.net.  He explains that once you have a few good posts on your blog, you should write valuable guest posts as often as possible. I’ve written guest posts for “Dumb Little Man”, “Pick the Brain”, “The Change Blog”, and “Write to Done”.

33.  Unleash an idea virus. According to marketing guru Seth Godin, the future belongs to people who unleash idea viruses; that is, an idea that runs amok among the target audience. You can download his book “Unleashing the Idea Virus” for free here.

34. Write a tutorial. Tutorials attract a lot of traffic and they also serve to establish your expertise in your target area.

35. One of the best ways to get your blog found is through search engine optimization. Download Google’s “SEO Starter Guide” for free.

Bonus: Copyblogger compiled a great list of resources for marketing your blog, which you can find here.

Conclusion

I once read that having a business, and failing to market it, is the equivalent of a man winking at a girl in the dark: he knows he’s doing it, but no one else does. If you run a Google search you’ll find lots of additional information on how to market your blog.

Basically, you need to set a target of how many visitors you want to attract to your blog; then choose a marketing method or a mixture of marketing methods that you will apply to achieve your target; execute; then measure whether or not you achieved the results you were after.  Adjust as necessary and repeat.

So, what else? How are you marketing your blog?

photo credit: Arturo de Albornoz

Recommended Product:

Learn to meditate, increase your focus and concentration, boost your creativity, and augment your brain power with the Silva Life System.

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“Oh, to be alive in such an age when miracles are everywhere and every inch of common air throbs a tremendous prophecy of greater marvels yet to be.”

- Walt Whitman

Below you will find five YouTube Videos which will help remind you that we truly live in a wondrous time.

1. Louis CK on Conan: “Everything’s Amazing, Nobody’s Happy”

Louis C.K. is an Emmy Award-winning American stand-up comedian, writer, actor, producer and director. In this snippet of an interview he did on “Late Night with Conan O’Brien” he has some interesting things to say on how we should be amazed by the technology that’s available to us today instead of complaining over every last tiny hitch.

One of the examples he uses are airplanes: he explains that instead of grumbling because the seat won’t go back as far as we want it too or the internet connection is momentarily out-of-service, everyone should exclaim throughout the entire flight: “OMG, I’M FLYING, I’M FLYING!” The video lasts for a little over four minutes and it’s helpful for adjusting your perspective when things aren’t going exactly your way.

2. Louis Armstrong: “It’s a Wonderful Life”

This is a beautiful and uplifting video for when you need a pick-me-up (I found it over at Lance’s “The Jungle of Life”).

3. Rod Stewart: “Forever Young”

“May the good Lord be with you down every road you roam. And may sunshine and happiness surround you when you’re far from home . . . Be courageous and be brave, and in my heart you’ll always stay forever young.”

4. The Cuppy Cake Song

The singer here is 3-year old Amy Castle and this is just one of the cutest videos I’ve seen on YouTube.

5. Bobby McFerrin’s “Don’t Worry, Be Happy”

Although some have called the lyrics of this song “the philosophy of denial”, worry doesn’t do anyone any good. If you can do something about a negative situation, do it; if there’s nothing you can do, there’s no sense worrying about it.

(Photo courtesy of annia316)

Related Posts:

• “Be Happy Now - Set Goals Without Postponing Joy”
• “Happiness Extravaganza: Tips, Tidbits, and Tools”
• “How to be Happy”

Recommended Product:

Learn to meditate, increase your focus and concentration, boost your creativity, and augment your brain power with the Silva Life System.

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“Creativity involves breaking out of established patterns in order to look at things in a different way.” –

Edward de Bono

British physician, author, inventor, and consultant Edward de Bono has had a major impact on the way we think and particularly in the field of creativity.  He coined the phrase “lateral thinking” which involves approaching problems from diverse, unexpected angles and from different perspectives. Dr. de Bono meant to differentiate lateral thinking–in which you nudge the mind to make sudden turns– from vertical thinking, which is logical and sequential thinking.

Lateral thinking can be learned, and Dr. de Bono has created several techniques to help you apply lateral thinking to problem solving and idea generation.  Some of these are the following: think of as many different alternatives for solving a problem as you possibly can;  challenge any assumptions you may have about your problem; and insert random elements which will encourage you to look at the problem from a different and unexpected perspective.

Challenge Your Assumptions

Assumptions are mental shortcuts: we assume that a situation we’re facing is like other situations we’ve encountered before, and that what worked then will work once again.  In fact, the more experienced we are in a particular area, the more likely we are to bring lots of baggage to the problem, which can inhibit us from finding novel and creative solutions.

In order to challenge your assumptions, write down all of the dominant ideas that apply to a particular situation and then deliberately challenge them. List all of the assumptions that you’re making and next to each one write a counter-assumption - not necessarily its negation, but its opposite.

Once you drop preconceived notions you’re more likely to find better solutions.  One approach–suggested by Jurgen Wolff on his blog “Time to Write”–is to pretend that you’re a Martian that has just landed on earth and is seeing things on this planet for the first time.  This would put you in a position of questioning everything, seeing your problem or situation with completely fresh eyes, and taking nothing for granted.

Introduce Random Elements

Selecting a random element that has absolutely no connection to the problem at hand provides an unexpected entry point to the problem so that you can face it from a unique angle.  I’ve mentioned using a random word as an initial stimulus on this blog before.  De Bono explains that the brain is so good at making connections that it will find a way to connect the random word to the problem at hand, no matter how remote the word may seem.

Take a word from a random word generator—or open the dictionary to a random page and select a word–extract its underlying principles, and then apply them to your problem. Be careful not to discard a specific word because you simply conclude that it’s of no use and then getting another word instead. If you do this you’re probably just looking for a word that would neatly fit the problem you’re trying to solve. Instead of a word, you can also use a picture as the random element or even an object.

In addition, the random element that you introduce can be a “false rule”. Basically, you take a rule, quote, idea or suggestion from somewhere else and apply it to your own situation. For example, apply the following rules to your problem:

• Must be 18 or older.
• Needs to be refrigerated.
• The statute of limitations is one year.
• What goes up must come down.
• Fasten your seat belt.

How does applying the “false rule” to your problem make you see it differently?  What new elements does it introduce?  How does it shift your perception of the problem?  Does the general principle of the rule also apply to your problem?

The general principle of the random input, whether it’s a word, picture, object or false rule, is to open up new lines of thinking.  If you’re stuck and have run out of ideas during the creative thinking process, try a random element to help you find a starting point.

Three Lateral Thinking Puzzles

Here are three lateral thinking puzzles for you to try and resolve (the answers are provided below, but make an effort to resolve the problems before looking at the answer):

1.  Acting on an anonymous phone call, the police raid a house to arrest a suspected murderer.  They don’t know what he looks like, but they know his name is John.  Inside they find a carpenter, a taxi driver, a car mechanic and a fireman playing cards.  Without even asking his name, they immediately arrest the fireman.  How do they know they’ve got their man? (Source).

2. A murderer is condemned to death. He has to choose between three rooms. The first is full of raging fires, the second is full of assassins with loaded guns, and the third is full of lions that haven’t eaten in 3 years. Which room is safest for him? (Source).

3.  Look at the picture below with the nine dots. Can you connect the nine dots using 4 straight lines, without lifting your pencil from the paper and without retracing any lines?

Solutions to the Three Lateral Thinking Problems Above

The solution to the first problem above is that there was only one man sitting at the table; the other three, the carpenter, the taxi driver, and the mechanic were women.

As for the second problem, the safest room is the third.  Lions that haven’t eaten in three years are dead.

For the third problem, the solution is to extend the lines beyond the square-frame created by the dots, as shown in the picture below:

Psychologists have speculated that the nine-dot problem is difficult because people are so dominated by the perception of a square that they don’t “see” the possibility of extending lines outside the square formed by the dots.

Lesson in Lateral Thinking: The Tale of Two Pebbles

Edward de Bono tells the story of a farmer in a small Indian village who owed lots of money to the village moneylender and did not have the means to pay it back. The moneylender was old and ugly and was attracted to the farmer’s beautiful young daughter. The devious moneylender proposed the following: he would pick up two pebbles from the road—one black and one white—and put them in a bag. The girl would then put her hand in the bag and take out a pebble.

• If she took out the black pebble, she had to marry the moneylender and her father’s debt would be forgiven.
• If she took out the white pebble, she didn’t have to marry the moneylender and her father’s debt would still be forgiven.
• If she refused to take out a pebble her father would be put in jail.

As the moneylender bent down to pick up the pebbles from the road, the girl noticed that he picked up two black pebbles and put them in the bag. What should she do? If you’re using logical thinking you would probably conclude that the girl should show that there were two black pebbles in the bag and expose the moneylender as a cheat.

However, what the girl did was to put her hand in the bag and take out a pebble. She then pretended to stumble and let the pebble fall onto the pebble-strewn path where it immediately became lost among all the other pebbles.

“Oh, how clumsy of me!” she said. “But never mind, if you look into the bag for the one that’s left, you will be able to tell which pebble I picked.”

Obviously, since the pebble that was left in the bag was black, then she must have picked the white pebble. Since the moneylender couldn’t admit what he had done, the girl effectively turned what looked like an impossible situation into an advantage.

Conclusion

While logic is concerned with “truth” and “what is”, lateral thinking is concerned with “possibilities” and “what could be”.  You can train your mind to automatically approach situations from different angles and perspectives. One way to to this is by solving lateral thinking puzzles,  which demand an open mind and a creative approach. If you’d like to keep your brain on its toes you can try the following puzzle books available on Amazon:

• Outstanding Lateral Thinking Puzzles
• Cunning Lateral Thinking Puzzles
• Colorful Lateral Thinking Puzzles

photo credit: pasotraspaso

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• Four Outstanding Thoughts on Innovation
• Thoughts to Get Your Creative Juices Flowing
• Creative Thinking Techniques: The Playful Edition

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Editor’s Note: I celebrate Christmas so this article makes reference to that holiday, but please feel free to substitute the appropriate traditions for the holiday that you celebrate as you read this.

“And the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice cold in the snow, stood puzzling and puzzling, how could it be so? It came without ribbons. It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes or bags. And he puzzled and puzzled ’till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn’t before. What if Christmas, he thought, doesn’t come from a store. What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more.”

- Dr. Seuss

Although the holidays are lauded as being the most wonderful time of the year, for many people this season brings with it feelings of sadness and anxiety. Whatever you may be celebrating in the next few weeks–Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanza, New Years’ Eve, and so on—being happy this holiday season is a choice you can make, and there are steps you can take to help you bring more joy to your holidays. You’ll find five of these steps below.

Alter Your Image of the “Ideal Christmas”

If we create a picture in our minds of what the “ideal Christmas” looks like—probably based on idealized memories of our childhood Christmases–and we can’t reproduce it, we’re creating dissatisfaction with the present moment. Also, a lot of people feel that the holiday season has to be perfect; and, of course, perfection is unattainable. Forget the images you have in your head of a “Norman Rockwell Christmas” and be honest with yourself about what you can realistically achieve during the holiday season.

Be kind to yourself and remember to set achievable goals.  For example: don’t commit to cooking a seven-course Christmas dinner for fourteen people all by yourself; don’t accept every holiday party invitation that you receive when you’d rather spend some alone time with your spouse; and don’t feel that you have to get a present for your cousin three times removed whom you haven’t seen in the past five years. You need to pace yourself, stick to your budget, and get enough rest.

Focus on What’s Good This Holiday Season

Dr. Tal Ben-Shahar teaches a course at Harvard University on “Positive Psychology” which, at its height, was the university’s most popular offering. One of the happiness tips he offers is to keep in mind that being happy is mostly dependent on our interpretation of the events going on around us.

In addition, Daniel Gilbert, author of “Stumbling on Happiness”, reminds us that reality is a movie being generated by our minds. That is, barring extreme circumstances, our level of well-being is determined by what we focus on and on how we choose to interpret events. So instead of focusing on Christmas traditions that you won’t be able to celebrate this holiday, for whatever reason, why not concentrate on creating new traditions instead. (There are  some great ideas for new holiday traditions here).

Count Your Blessings

Gratitude shifts your focus from what your life lacks to the abundance that is already present. In addition, psychological research has shown that giving thanks makes people happier and more resilient, it strengthens relationships, it improves health, and it reduces stress. Giving thanks also helps you to put things in perspective and to notice things that you’ve been taking for granted.

Create a list of everything that you can think of that you’re grateful for. You can also convey your appreciation to people whom you’ve never properly thanked, or write a heartfelt letter to someone who means a lot to you, and send it to them. Even if you might not be getting everything that you scribbled on your letter to Santa this year, begin to notice all of the simple pleasures and little things that are already present in your life.

Give to Others

There’s a quote by James M. Barrie that states: “Those who bring sunshine into the lives of others cannot keep it from themselves.” By giving to others you take the focus off of yourself and you add a lot more meaning to your holiday season.

There are many ways you can help others during the holidays, such as gathering toys your kids no longer play with and donating them to children who would not otherwise have toys. You can also put together a basket filled with all the traditional staples of a Christmas dinner and take it to a family that’s going through a rough patch. Or simply help an elderly neighbor put up her Christmas lights.

Participate in Christmas Activities that You Truly Enjoy

As I pointed out in my post “Five Joyous Tips for Being Happy”, creating a list of things that you enjoy doing and that give you a sense of accomplishment can help you raise your energy level even when you’re down. So create a list of twenty things you love about Christmas.

It can include watching your favorite Holiday movies, such as “Miracle on 34th Street”, “It’s a Wonderful Life”, “A Christmas Story”, “How the Grinch Stole Christmas”, “A Charlie Brown Christmas”, and so on.

Also include listening to your favorite Christmas Carols on your list: “Jingle Bells”, “Oh Come All Ye Faithful”, “I’m Dreaming of a White Christmas”, “Oh Tannenbaum”, and “Deck the Halls”.  List some of the foods you love to eat this time of year, as well as festive activities you enjoy, which can include decorating the Christmas tree, sitting in the dark with a cup of eggnog just enjoying the Christmas lights, and baking gingerbread cookies.

Once again, it’s not enough to create the list; you actually have to carry out the items on your list, even if you don’t quite feel up to it. If you make yourself participate in some of the Christmas activities you’ve enjoyed in the past, there’s a good chance that you’ll enjoy them again, which will give you your energy back.

Conclusion

By giving yourself permission to have a less-than-perfect holiday season, creating new traditions instead of focusing on what’s missing this holiday season, counting your blessings, volunteering and giving to others, and making sure that you participate in the holiday activities that you truly enjoy, you can beat the holiday blues.  Whatever holiday you may be celebrating this season, may it be merry and bright.

photo credit: Grzegorz ?obi?ski

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Foie gras–French for fat liver–is a delicacy made of duck or goose liver that has been especially fattened. This fattening is typically achieved through gavage, which is the process of force-feeding the birds with corn in order to deposit large amounts of fat in the liver, thereby achieving the buttery consistency of foie gras.

Today there is much public outcry over the alleged cruelty involved in gavage-based foie gras (it was outlawed in Chicago for awhile); the feed is administered using a funnel fitted with a long tube, which forces the feed into the animal’s esophagus. Specific complaints include diseased livers swollen to many times their normal size, expansion of the abdomen making it difficult for birds to walk, and scarring of the throat and esophagus.

At this point you’re probably asking yourself: “So, what does this have to do with my productivity?”  In the quest for doing more–which we often mistake for productivity–we often apply the rough equivalent of gavage to our own work methods.  We work insanely long hours, skip meals, fail to get any exercise, stop by a fast food joint on the way home from work and get a burger and fries because we’re too tired to shop for healthy food and cook, and so on.

Continuing With Our Foie Gras Analogy

There’s an alternative to gavage-based foie gras which uses natural voluntary feeding.  Award-winning Spanish producer “Patería de Sousa” produces foie gras by taking advantage of the natural instinct of geese to gorge on food in preparation for migration.  The woodlands in Extremadura, Spain– where the geese are raised and allowed to roam freely– are a source of high-quality food: figs, legumes, acorns, olives, and natural cereals.

Dan Barber, named “Best Chef of New York” in 2006, had this to say about the Patería de Sousa foie gras:

“I’ve tasted the best liver pâté of my life. My best culinary experience.”

In fact, Dan gave a TED Talk in which he describes the process used by Eduardo Sousa in making foie gras.  Dan visited the farm in Extremadura and throughout their meeting Eduardo kept repeating: “My life’s work is to give the geese what they want”.  Dan even refers to him as “the goose whisperer”.

Eduardo’s biggest obstacle was the market place which demands bright yellow foie gras. In fact, chefs are trained that the best quality foie gras is bright yellow. However, because Eduardo’s geese are not force fed, the liver his farm was producing was gray. He then found a wild yellow plant called the Lupin bush, and he planted it on his 30 acres.

The geese started eating the seed of the Lupin bush and the result was bright yellow foie gras.  Dan remarks during his TED talk that Eduardo seemed to have an answer for everything, and it was always rooted in nature; he kept insisting it was about working with his landscape.

Dan continues to narrate that as he spoke to Eduardo he heard a clapping noise in the distance and, upon looking up at the sky, he saw a flock of wild geese flying over the farm.  Eduardo’s geese started calling out to the wild geese, which began to circle over the farm a few times and finally landed.  Dan then looked incredulously over at Eduardo and asked: “You’re telling me that your geese call out to the wild geese to stop by for a visit?”  And Eduardo answered: “No, they come to stay”.

At this point Dan tried to explain to Eduardo that this just couldn’t be because the DNA of a goose is to fly South for the winter.  And Eduardo answered: “No, their DNA is to find the conditions that are conducive to life; to happiness. And they find it here.” The wild geese stop, they mate with the “domesticated” geese, and Eduardo’s flock continues to grow.  And Eduardo can continue to produce the foie gras that won him the coveted Coup de Coeur in 2006, basically, the gastronomical equivalent to the Olympics.

Questions to Ask Yourself

Ask yourself the following questions to make sure that you’ve found conditions conducive to life and to happiness in your work life:

• Is there a better way to do this?
• Am I leading an unhealthy lifestyle in the chase for the promotion or higher profits?
• Is my work rhythm sustainable?
• Does working this way make me happy?
• Am I getting enough sleep?
• Do I eat well?
• Do I exercise?
• Do I take breaks?
• Do I use relaxation techniques such as yoga, meditation, massages, and walks in nature?

Try applying the term “whisperer” to your work.  A “word whisperer” has a very different connotation than a “freelance writer”, or whatever occupation you apply it to.  It’s about finding the right relationship or natural balance with your work, where you give it what it needs and your work in turns gives you what you need.

photo credit: antonellomusina

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Before proceeding with the five stress-busting techniques, let’s begin with a test to determine your stress level. Read the following description completely before looking at the picture:

The picture below was used in a case study on stress levels at St. Mary’s Hospital. Look at both dolphins jumping out of the water. The dolphins are identical. A closely monitored, scientific study revealed that, in spite of the fact that the dolphins are identical, a person under stress would find differences between the two dolphins. The more differences a person finds between the dolphins, the more stress that person is experiencing. Now look at the picture:

Did you find more than one or two differences between the two dolphins? If so, you’re in dire need of the stress-busting tips below:

The Stress-Busting Time Table

“The Stress-Busting Time Table” is a stress management technique I found over at netdoctor.co.uk. Basically, you create a table with three columns:

• The first column lists one hour increments from the time you get up in the morning to the time you go to bed.
• In the second column you pencil in what you plan to do during each of those hours.
• Then in the third column you write down what you actually did.

At the end of the day you compare the last two columns so that you can assess where you’re overcrowding your day and expecting too much of yourself.  In fact, I would add that you could also have a fourth column in which you can jot down how you feel as you’re performing each activity so that you can better identify stress triggers.

• What activities cause you the most stress?
• Are you underestimating how much time you need to complete each task?
• Are you spending too much time on tasks that don’t really need to get done or that someone else could do?
• Is there someone in particular who is present during times of high stress?

Eat Oranges

Eating oranges helps reduce stress because of their wealth of vitamin C. Studies suggest this vitamin can reduce levels of stress hormones, such as cortisol, while strengthening the immune system.  In a German study researchers subjected 120 people to a stressing event: a public speaking task combined with math problems. Half of those studied were given vitamin C and the other half were not. Signs of stress–such as elevated levels of cortisol and high blood pressure–were significantly greater in those who did not get the vitamin supplement. (Source).

Switch Brain Hemispheres

This is a technique suggested by Michael Kerr.  As you know, for different activities we rely more heavily on either our left or right brain hemispheres.  You can reduce stress by switching to an activity that uses the hemisphere of your brain that is not causing you stress.

For example, if the source of your stress is centered in the creative and emotional right hemisphere–you’re feeling depressed, anxious, worried or otherwise emotionally distraught–, then change to a task that requires more of your left hemisphere to kick in, such as filling out a sudoku puzzle, organizing, or performing some other task that requires linear, sequential thinking.

If the stress is a result of being time pressured or overworked, chances are your left brain hemisphere is stressed. In this case, do a right-brain activity, like engaging in play, playing a musical instrument, drawing, or engaging in some other creative pursuit.

Have a Handful of Pistachios

In a Penn State study researchers added pistachios to a healthy moderate-fat diet and investigated the effects on cardiovascular response. The nut was incorporated into the subjects’ diets and both psychological and physical stressors were then introduced.

The researchers found positive results with as little as 1 and 1/2 oz of pistachio added daily to the diet, which reduced the high blood pressure effects of stress. Consuming 3 oz of pistachios daily showed even greater relaxation of the arteries, thereby easing the workload on the heart. (Source).

The One Minute Miracle – Yoga for the Hands Ritual

“The One Minute Miracle” is a book by Daniel Millstein that describes a one minute yoga for the hands ritual that uses 12 simple hand gestures and affirmations. This ritual has helped thousands bring more peace into their lives.  You can perform this ritual by following along with the YouTube video below:

Editor’s Note: A few people have sent me messages because they don’t see two dolphins in the picture. Um, it’s a dolphin and a cow (it’s a joke, since laughter is a great way to relieve stress). And for the record, I was also kind of worried at first when I saw the cow

(Dolphin Stress Test courtesy of Tidewater Muse)

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“Yes, VIRGINIA, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus. It would be as dreary as if there were no VIRGINIAS. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The eternal light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.

Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies! You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas Eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if they did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that’s no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.”(Source).

Many of us are familiar with the quote above which was the response given to eight-year-old Virginia O’Hanlon when she wrote a letter to the editor of “New York’s Sun” in 1897 asking if there is a Santa Claus. Certainly a creative answer! I’m sure there are plenty of creative people in your life, so if you’re wondering what to get them for Christmas, below you will find some fun and whimsical suggestions:

“The Nine Modern Day Muses (and a Bodyguard)”

Jill Badonsky, M.Ed. is a nationally recognized workshop leader, artist, performer, and humorist. Her book, The Nine Modern Day Muses (and a Bodyguard) presents a fresh approach toward acces