Unlock Your Own Creativity has been written by Roger Von Oech an internationallyrecognized 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".
In this lens we find lots of interesting information about 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. As von Oech describes it, the book explains how you can engage in mental sex
meaning sex of our mental lives (sheesh) as a way to generate new ideas.
What you really get is ten timeless approaches to freeing your brain so it can think in new,
innovative ways. The methods von Oech outlines are deceptive in that they are simple to
understand but not so simple to implement. They require that we recognize and purposely
circumvent certain routine mental locks or limits we all seem to accept without question. In other
words, according to von Oech: We need the ability to unlearn what we know. This has been
explained by Roger using the concept of A Black Dot. He held up a sheet of white paper and
put a black dot on it with his pen. He used this demonstration on thousands of adults during his
seminars and got the same answer from each one of them that it was just a black dot. But when
he tried the same with a bunch of kindergarten kids he got various interesting answers. Some said
it was a Mexican Hat, others said it was a Burnt Hamburger, a Squashed insect. Thus, he
concluded that when we are young, we are naturally creative because we let our minds run free.
But as we grow up and are taught to follow the rules, our thinking narrows. For much of life this
can be a blessing: it wouldnt do to create a new way home from work if it meant driving down
the wrong side of the road.
Creativity is not all that mysterious. One important creative trait as well defined by noble prize
winning physician Albert Szent Gyorgyi is Discovery consists of seeing what everybody has
seen and thinking what nobody has thought .
The lynchpin of the book is that getting whacked is an awakening so you suddenly discover a
new thought path, in a direction you wouldnt have ventured before. How do we start thinking
what nobody has thought?
Usually it takes a whack on the head, like Sir Isaac Newton supposedly had when an apple
striking his skull awakened him to the laws of gravity. Whacks can range from something as
major as loosing a job to something as trivial as wanting an unusual dish for a dinner party. We
are more likely to respond creatively which is to say, think of a new idea, if we have been
chipping away at the Mental Locks that close our minds. Von Oechs Ten Mental Locks are
The Right Answer, Thats Not Logical, Follow the Rules, Be Practical, Avoid Ambiguity, Im
Not Creative, To Err is Wrong, Play is Frivolous, Dont Be Foolish, Thats Not My Area.

According to his book A Whack on the Side of the Head, these Mental Locks are our
uncritical aceptance of seven common statements:
1) There are many different definitions for creativity out there, is there any of them that appeal to
you or do you have your own definition?
Yes, there are a lot of definitions of creativity. One that has worked for me over the years is: Its
the process that produces ideas which are both a) new and different, and also b) have some
application or feasibility in a particular context. Thus, my definition of creativity emphasizes
both originality and practicality. Let me give an off-the-wall example. Lets suppose that you
have an idea for opening a chain of Large and Tall mens clothing stores on the planet Venus.
Clearly, thats pretty original! But is it creative? Well, if thats what you really intend to do, then
my answer would be no because it is a highly impractical endeavor. But lets suppose that
youre writing a novel, and one of the characters has recurring dreams about opening a chain of
Large and Tall mens clothing stores on the planet Venus, and he consults with a dream
therapist and they have ongoing discussions about it and this advances the plot. In this case, the
concept is creative because it works in a particular context. One other thing, lets suppose that
you really are thinking about going into the retail clothing business, and you have the above idea.
It is truly original. If you ask yourself: How can I play with the idea to make it practical, then
you might end up with a creative idea. In other words, you look at this strange idea and decide to
use it as a stepping stone to an idea that is both original and practical. You might play with the
idea of Venus and say, if I look at Venus not as a planet, but as a metaphor for a place of love,
what ideas does that give me? And this could lead to all sorts of possibilities such as: clothing
emphasizing romance, making the store like a love den, selling other love accoutrements in the
store, promoting the store as the place where its Valentines Day all year long, etc. Of course,
the marketplace and your own business abilities will ultimately determine how practical the ideas
are.
2) Considering you have been consulting, writing and speaking about creativity for the past 30
years I assume that creativity is not something we are born with but rather a skill we can
develop. How fast, however, can people be trained to become more creative?
Actually, I do assume that part of our genetic inheritance as human beings is the ability to look at
the world in new and different ways. And just as some people can run faster or jump higher than
others, the ability to think creatively is not evenly distributed. But we all have it to some extent.
But many people tend to lose their creativity as they go through the school system and become
socialized into adulthood.And, yes, I think there are strategies you can employ to bolster your
creativity. I wouldnt be in this business if I believed otherwise! My books and card decks
contain a lot of these strategies. My basic style is fun and informative (at least I hope it is).
3) You have worked with many of the largest organizations in the world (IBM, Microsoft,
Dupont, CitiGroup, Disney, Sony, just to name a few). What role does the corporate culture play
in stimulating creativity among the employees?
It plays a very significant role. If youre part of a work culture that encourages and expects
you to come up with innovative ideas, then you will probably look for ways to come up with
different approaches to solve traditional problems.One thing I recommend is that companies put
a innovation requirement in peoples performance plans. If people know theyre going to be
measured and rewarded for coming up with ideas, then theyll put part of their workday
focus in looking for innovative solutions. It also helps to give them the skills and tools to think
creatively and implement innovative change.

4) In the near future I am planning to start my own company. Should it become successful I will
need to hire some people, and probably I will want creative people to join my team. How can
you understand if someone is creative? Is there any way to test it?
Talk to them, spend time with them, talk with their colleagues. Give them some open-ended
problems to solve. See how many ways they can solve them. Do they rely on just one approach,
or are they able to approach the problems from several points of view.Do they have a sense of
humor? I think thats very important: theres a close relationship between the ha-ha of humor
and the aha of creative discovery. Can they laugh at themselves? Do they have wide interests
that go beyond the narrow confines of your particular field? Do they seek out ideas and
information from outside areas and disciplines? Do they have any offbeat hobbies? Thats a start.
5) I like to define invention as new concepts or products that emerge from individuals ideas or
from scientific research. Innovation, on the other hand, refers to the implementation (or
commercialization) of the invention itself. According to you what is the relationship between
invention, innovation and creativity?
Some of this is just semantics. But this is how I carry these words around in my head. For me,
creativity is the ability to come up with original and feasible ideas. There are many fields and
domains where one can do this. Invention (for me) typically refers to a specific product or
service that is new. I tend to think of innovation as being more in the realm of industry,
business, and commerce. And I think of innovation as getting a larger enterprise to change. But
these are just my definitions.
6) I am very curious about your Ball of Whacks (a piece composed of 30 magnetic blocks that
can be taken apart and rearranged in many different ways). How can such an apparently simple
object function as a creativity tool?
I like to think of the Ball of Whacks as a creative stimulant and mental freshener. A large
part of the human brain is given over to hand and eye functions. Playing with the individual
pieces they are actually rhombic pyramids and making various shapes and forms with
them will get your brain going in a way that just reading or sitting at a computer does not. I also
like to the think of the Ball of Whacks as a creativity workshop in a ball. I wrote a 96 page
illustrated guidebook that provides the user with some creative strategies and exercises he can
employ. Playing with the Ball of Whacks is also a lot of fun.
7) Final question, are there any simple exercises that people can do at home or in the office to
stimulate their creativity?
I think the easiest and most powerful creativity strategy you can employ at home or in the
office is this: Look for the second right answer. When most people have a problem, they stop
with the first right answer they find. That approach is fine for certain problems mathematical
ones come to my mind. But most problems have a variety of answers, and if you stop looking
after you find an answer, then all the good alternatives will go undiscovered. But if you look for
the second, and third, and fifth right answer, you are more likely to get some good creative
alternatives. For example: Im holding a pen. What is it? A writing device the first right
answer. But what are the other right answers? Its a pointer. A coffee stirrer. A telephone dialer. A
weapon. A hole punch. An emergency tracheotomy tool. An advertising medium.
As a management consultant Roy Blitzer had said, The only person who likes change is a wet
baby. But we need change- the type of change that comes through the creative thinking of all
people, not just geniuses.