Regular readers of Wishful Thinking will know that I hold the work of Roger von Oech in high esteem. Roger was one of the original sparks behind the creative revolution in business; his books and card decks, and more recently his blog and Ball of Whacks, have brought inspiration to thousands of people worldwide.

Roger’s classic A Whack on the Side of the Head is always the first book on creative thinking I recommend to clients. So when he e-mailed me a few weeks ago to let me know he had prepared a revised 25th Anniversary Edition of A Whack on the Side of the Head, I couldn’t resist asking him for an interview. Roger kindly agreed - you can read his answers to my questions below.

Regarding the book itself - if you haven’t yet read Whack, this is definitely one you should have on your creative bookshelf. It’s a thoroughly good read - funny, challenging, useful, unsettling and inspiring. If you already own a copy, then you’ll be pleased to know the new edition is still recognisably the same book, with all the old favourites still in place - but with new ideas, techniques and ‘Whacks’ added for good measure. My experience of reading the new edition was an enjoyable combination of familiarity and surprise. I was also delighted to see that I make a cameo appearance in the book - in a footnote on p.115 (I won’t spoil the surprise by telling you what it’s about).

1. A Whack on the Side of the Head is a classic. Why is that?

Roger von Oech: Whack is about the ten “Mental Locks” that prevent most people from being more creative. These locks include such beliefs as: “There’s one right answer,” “To err is wrong,” “Don’t be foolish,” Avoid Ambiguity,” and “That’s not my area.” These ideas make sense for a lot of what we do, but when we’re trying to be creative they can get in the way. Most people have an intuitive understanding of these ideas, and so it’s easy for them to think about them.

Whack has a lot of unusual and off-beat stories and anecdotes. It’s got weird drawings that capture our imagination. Also, Whack is an accessible and interactive book. People seem to like that. There are a number of exercises in it. I think that we improve our ability to be creative by using our creativity, not by being lectured at. Whack is also fun. I guess people respond to all of these things.

2. Why change a classic book?

I’ve always considered Whack to be a living book, that is, one I could update and revise over time. This 25th Anniversary Edition is actually the fourth edition I’ve done since it first came out in 1983. The last previous edition, however, was in 1998, and there were a number of insights, exercises, and stories I wanted to add and I’ve gone ahead and done so. I hope that it reaches a new generation of creative people!

In addition, my last book was Expect the Unexpected, which came out in 2001. This was a true labor of love and dealt with the ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus whom I consider to be the “world’s first creativity teacher.” This book was well-reviewed but unfortunately it was published a few days before September 11, 2001 and thus, got lost in the strangeness of the post 9/11 period. (What a cosmic irony considering this book’s title!) As a consequence, I’ve taken some of my favorite Heraclitus insights and incorporated them in the new Whack. I’m very happy with the results.

3. How are you different from twenty-five years ago?


At age 60 (me today), I’d like to believe that I have a little more perspective than I did when I was 35. In the intervening years, I’ve (helped) raise a family, had a successful business, and have had a few more life experiences. I think all of that enters into my tone. But, I’ve tried to keep it fun. For example, I’ve added a “Breaktime” chapter between chapters five and six. This allows the reader to “Pause for A Bit,” which is always a good thing.

4. Whack was one of the catalysts of a creative revolution in business. These days the Creative Economy and Creative Industries are all the rage, and the most admired companies are often those that excel at creativity and innovation. Was this what you had in mind?

I think that the “most admired companies” of just about any age have excelled at creativity and innovation. What’s changed though is that today there’s an expectation that a higher percentage of a company’s employees should be creative than was the case twenty-five or thirty years ago. It’s gone from maybe 3% up to 25%. This is a very good thing.

When I started doing “creativity consulting” in 1977, there were probably only four or five other people I was aware of who were doing it. It was a difficult sell to companies. Now, there are thousands (if not more) creative consultants, and business certainly seems receptive to the idea of innovation. I’d like to think that my seminars, workshops, books, and other products have played a small role in this changing creative landscape.

5. A while ago you wrote a funny post in the voice of your books, who complained that you were neglecting them in favour of blogging. How’s your relationship with your books these days? Did your experience of blogging change the way you approached re-writing Whack?

I have a “love-hate” relationship with blogging and some of the other social media (such as Twitter). I felt that blogging was a big help during the 8 months I was re-doing the new “Whack.” I could test out my ideas by writing posts about them. This helped me think them through. It also allowed me to meet new people from around the world (you, for example!).

On the other hand, social media take time. For example, I have a good blogger friend who is well respected in the design and marketing communities because of his social media involvement. But the downside is that he has read only one novel in the past year.

Perhaps I’m old school, but I believe that “reading paper” — as opposed to “reading screen” — is still a worthwhile activity.

6. In an interview for the launch of the new edition of Whack you say that you’ve ‘come to appreciate more the value and importance of constraints and limits in stimulating the creative process’. What prompted this appreciation?

Probably working with companies with limited budgets — as opposed to those who could just throw lots of money and resources at a problem. I think it’s better to have a policy to “out-think” the competition than to “outspend” them.

I’ve also had this experience with my own entrepreneurial activities. This has been true whether I’ve been producing conferences or creating new products that are manufactured in China. When I have a tight constraint, it forces to think more deeply about the problem and look for alternatives.

7. Can you give me a specific example in one of your products?
The “Creative Whack Pack” card deck is a good one (the same applies to the “Innovative Whack Pack” as well). Each card in the deck contains a creativity strategy, an illustration, a story that exemplifies that strategy, and finally a question for the reader to apply the strategy to a problem.

When I’m writing a book, I can take multiple paragraphs to develop and expound on a particular point. But when I was writing copy for a card’s story, and there was only room for eight or nine lines (that’s the constraint), I had to boil my thoughts down to just the basic points. The constraint forced me cut through the story’s clutter to get to the essentials. As a result, I came to understand the basic idea in a fresh way. Of course, if you cut too much, you lose the point of the story, so you have to be aware of that extreme as well. But I’ve found that adding a constraint makes me think.

8. Whack has been rightly praised as an inspiring book. I also find it quite disturbing – there’s something deeply unsettling about the way it undermines all our assumptions and replaces them with ambiguity and paradox. A bit like meeting the Sphinx. George Willet’s illustrations capture that spirit perfectly – charming, playful and slightly macabre. Do you recognise this disturbing quality in Whack, or is it just me?

I agree with you. The creative process can be incredibly messy. It’s a place where there’s no “one right answer,” and paradox and ambiguity prevail. I think one has to appreciate this when he or she enters into their own creative place. Once you’ve done it, it’s a lot easier to get your bearings.

9. Do you think the challenges facing creative people have changed significantly over the past 25 years, or are they fundamentally the same?

I guess the glib answer would be, “Oh, these are the most challenging of times.” But I think it’s always challenging. Creative people of every era have had to deal with their own personal demons, and also deal with negative people, and constraints of all types (time, money, resources). And no matter who you are, you still have to be able to sell your ideas to other people. So, a lot of stuff hasn’t changed. The main limits are usually in our own heads. And that’s why a “good whack” can be beneficial to your thinking!

10. If you had to reduce the advice in the book to a single ‘Whack’ which one would you pick - and why?

I guess if I had a motto or a mantra, it would be: “Look for the Second Right Answer.” This has been my guiding principle for over thirty years.

I find that looking for the second right answer is an incredibly easy way to open my mind. For example, When I’m looking for information, this mantra tells me to go beyond the right answers that have worked in the past and look for others. When I’m trying to be creative, it playfully advises me to put my ideas in unusual contexts to give them new meanings.

When I’m evaluating concepts, it implores me not to get stuck in the negative, and not to fall in love with one particular approach. And, when I’m implementing ideas, it reminds me that if one idea doesn’t work, a different one just might, and to act accordingly.

Thanks for your interest, and best wishes to your readers.

Thank you Roger!

=================================================

If you enjoyed the interview, there’s plenty more inspiration on Roger’s blog and of course in the 25th Anniversary A Whack on the Side of the Head.

UK readers - get your copy here.

Photo by LittleMissSilly

I’m on a panel next Thursday 1st May, at All Together Now - Social Media and the Future of Community Sport, a joint Sport England and Channel 4 event at the Channel 4 building.

This is what it’s about:

Over the course of the past three years the emergence of blogging, social networking services and platforms which showcase and share user generated content have transformed the possibilities of how we connect, converse and collaborate with one another.

’In the 20th Century, we were defined by what we owned, in the 21st Century we will be defined by what share and give away’ Charles Leadbeater, author of We Think

The potential for organisations and brands to harness these technologies and tools to engage with users, customers and their communities in radically new ways is becoming clear.

How can all those organisations working to promote active participation in sports and the brands that wish to sponsor their activates and campaigns work together to make the most of the unrivalled viral power and network effects of the web in the run up to 2012?

Other speakers will include Thomas Godfrey, Commercial Director of Sport England, Jon Gisby, Director of Technology and New Media at Channel 4, Rebecca Caroe, Gi Fernando of Technlightenment, Antony Mayfield and Ed Mitchell.

I’ll be there as an ambassador for social media, to share my experience of blogging, social networking, Twitter, etc. and give the representatives of sports organisations some idea of the possibilities and pitfalls of engaging with people via the web.

After receiving the invitation I was struck by two thoughts: 1. How much time I spend on football messageboards when I should probably be doing something else, and following on from that, 2. that sport may be the ultimate social object [WARNING: cartoon with rude word] i.e. conversation starter and social catalyst. If I meet a stranger and they let slip they’re interested in football, I know we’ll have plenty to talk about and there will be no awkward silences (well not unless they turn out to be a Rangers fan).

So it looks to me as though sports organisations have an open goal in front of them - they have something that most people love to talk about and nearly anyone has an opinion on. But will they slot the ball calmly home or sky it over the bar? Or will they be fatally distracted by the animated advertising board behind the goal?

There are still a few free tickets left, so if you’re interested in any combination of social media, sport and marketing, then register for the event, ask me some easy questions during the debate, and come and say hello afterwards.

If you can’t make it on the day but you’ve got any thoughts on how sports or other organisations should engage with people via social marketing, please leave a comment below. I don’t think I’ll be able to link to you from the stage but I’ll certainly Twitter my thanks if I use any ideas from the comments.

Thanks to Steve Moore of Policy Unplugged for inviting me to join the panel and giving me an excuse to post a photo of Celtic.

EDIT: I’ve posted my presentation slides to Slideshare. You can probably tell I was trying to keep things as simple as possible.

Photo by -bast-

Fellow coach Ed Batista has published a three-question interview with me. I always think you can tell good coaches by the questions they ask, and Ed’s questions prompted me to reflect on my work and explain some things I hadn’t consciously thought about before - thanks Ed!

As well as enquiring about my work and use of technology, Ed held me to account by asking how my New Year’s Resolution is going - if you want to find out whether I’ve kept it, you’d better head over to Ed’s blog.

PS - If you were following my Twitter feed you’d have heard about this interview last week, as well as the Jill Bolte-Tayor video and free tickets for Charles Leadbeater’s talk about creativity and the internet. On the other hand, you’d also have heard about me watching football on TV and using the wrong end of my Wacom pen, so I guess it all evens out.

This is the most inspiring talk I’ve seen for ages. It’s about something much more important than creativity, although I’m sure it will resonate for anyone who takes a creative approach to life, in whatever field you work.

Neuroanatomist Jill Bolte Taylor had an opportunity few brain scientists would wish for: One morning, she realized she was having a massive stroke. As it happened — as she felt her brain functions slip away one by one, speech, movement, understanding — she studied and remembered every moment.

If you think that sounds intriguing, wait till you watch the whole thing. Don’t try to skim it - it’s about 20 minutes long and it’s worth making time to sit and watch it when you’re not thinking about anything else. I’m glad I did.

Watch the video on the TED site. Thanks to Garr Reynolds at Presentation Zen for enthusing about the talk so much that I made time for it.

Dr Taylor has written a book about her experience, which you can order via her website - if I were you I’d watch the video before you read about the book, it’s much better to hear the story via the live talk.

When I first heard about Twitter, I was horrified. Of all the weird and wonderful internet applications I’ve come across, this sounded like one of the more banal and pointless. But recently I’ve been forced to eat my words. I’m a convert. Here’s why…

What is Twitter?

If you’ve never heard of Twitter, this is the basic idea. You sign up for account at Twitter.com Whereupon you’re faced with the question What are you doing? and a box where you can type your answer in not more than 140 characters. When you’re done, hit the update button and your ‘Tweet’ (yes, they really call them that) is published on the Twitter site.

Each time you add a Tweet, it appears on the same page, which also has an RSS feed so people can sign up to ‘follow’ you. As an example, here’s my Twitter feed.

You can also ‘follow’ other people and have their Tweets delivered to you. Here’s the feed of people I’m following.

Why 140 characters? Because that’s the maximum number of characters in a standard text message on a mobile phone (or SMS message on a cellphone as I believe they are known over the pond). So not only can you follow people on the Twitter site, you can also send and receive Tweets on your mobile phone - i.e. you can be connected to Twitter anywhere with mobile phone reception.

Why on earth would you want to do any of that?

Good question. I couldn’t imagine why anyone would want to do it, so I didn’t, for ages. Even when people I respect were enthusing about it. Over a year ago I remember Russell teasing me about being behind the times, but as far as Twitter was concerned, I was happy to be a Luddite. It sounded like a combination of all the bad things about digital communication rolled into one, with none of the plus points.

Over the past year I’ve become increasingly mystified by the number of apparently sane and intelligent friends and acquaintances urging me to join them on Twitter. To the point where, like Facebook last year, I got the distinct impression that if I didn’t join in, I was missing out on something. Read the rest of this entry »

While we’re on the subject of the Age of Conversation, here’s the full list of authors of the upcoming Age of Conversation 2. If you look closely you’ll see I’m in there, very pleased to take my place in such a great lineup of bloggers and writers.

The overall title of the new book is Why Don’t They Get It? I’ll be writing my 400 words on the theme of The New Brand of Creative. I’m mulling it over right now - if you have any thoughts you’d like to share on that subject, I’d be grateful if you would leave a comment below.

Due to the word limit I doubt there will be room in the book to acknowledge commenters who stimulate my thinking about this topic, but if we get a good discussion going I’ll be happy to highlight the best contributions in a later post on this blog.

Authors of the Age of Conversation 2

Adam Crowe, Adrian Ho, Aki Spicer, Alex Henault, Amy Jussel, Andrew Odom, Andy Nulman, Andy Sernovitz, Andy Whitlock, Angela Maiers, Ann Handley, Anna Farmery, Armando Alves, Arun Rajagopal, Asi Sharabi, Becky Carroll, Becky McCray, Bernie Scheffler, Bill Gammell, Bob Carlton, Bob LeDrew, Brad Shorr, Bradley Spitzer, Brandon Murphy, Branislav Peric, Brent Dixon, Brett Macfarlane, Brian Reich, C.C. Chapman, Cam Beck, Casper Willer, Cathleen Rittereiser, Cathryn Hrudicka, Cedric Giorgi, Charles Sipe, Chris Kieff, Chris Cree, Chris Wilson, Christina Kerley (CK), C.B. Whittemore, Clay Parker Jones, Chris Brown, Colin McKay, Connie Bensen, Connie Reece, Cord Silverstein, Corentin Monot, Craig Wilson, Daniel Honigman, Dan Goldstein, Dan Schawbel, Dana VanDen Heuvel, Dan Sitter, Daria Radota Rasmussen, Darren Herman, Darryl Patterson, Dave Davison, Dave Origano, David Armano, David Bausola, David Berkowitz, David Brazeal, David Koopmans, David Meerman Scott, David Petherick, David Reich, David Weinfeld, David Zinger, Deanna Gernert, Deborah Brown, Dennis Price, Derrick Kwa, Dino Demopoulos, Doug Haslam, Doug Meacham, Doug Mitchell, Douglas Hanna, Douglas Karr, Drew McLellan, Duane Brown, Dustin Jacobsen, Dylan Viner, Ed Brenegar, Ed Cotton, Efrain Mendicuti, Ellen Weber, Emily Reed, Eric Peterson, Eric Nehrlich, Ernie Mosteller, Faris Yakob, Read the rest of this entry »

Today’s the day to get your copy of The Age of Conversation.

What?

The Age of Conversation is a book co-authored by over 100 of the world’s leading marketers, writers, thinkers and creative innovators. Each of them wrote 400 words on the theme of ‘conversation’. If the names David Armano, Roger von Oech, Tony D. Clark and Mark Earls ring any bells, you’ll have an idea of the standard of writing you can expect.

Why?

Not only is the book a cracking read, but all the profits go to help children’s charity Variety achieve its mission of improving the lives of children around the world.

Why today?

Because Today (Sat 29th March) is the day that Drew McLellan and Chris Wilson are orchestrating a campaign to drive sales and push The Age of Conversation up the Amazon bestseller charts. They’re doing this via blogs and social media services such as Twitter, Facebook, Digg and Stumbleupon.

What else can I do to help?

Very nice of you to ask. After you buy your copy of the book, go to Chris Wilson’s post and Digg it. Then have a read through his list of easy ways to help and do whichever ones you can.

What’s a bum rush?

I’ve no idea, but it’s for charity so let’s do it!

If you are responsible for getting the best out of a team of creative professionals, my new e-book on Creative Management for Creative Teams is for you. Feel free to download and share it (here are the terms of the Creative Commons licence).

The e-book is a compilation and revision of my blog series on business coaching.

Introduction to the E-book - Why Coaching?

As a creative director, business owner or manager of a creative team, the chances are you already coach your people to an extent - and you may be better at it than you realise. But there’s also a fair chance that you have received little support in developing your people management skills.

In the creative industries, so much attention is lavished on creative ‘talent’ and the products of creativity that vital aspects of the creative process are often overlooked. Such as the massive influence (positive and negative) managers and creative directors have on the creativity of their teams. While many individual managers are doing an excellent job of managing and developing their teams, there is little wider recognition of people management in the creative sector.

It’s hard to develop a skill that goes unrecognised. And you don’t need me to tell you that managing temperamental creatives can be one of the most challenging jobs going. Read the rest of this entry »

Image © Dave Gray, reproduced by kind permission

If creativity is your livelihood, is it a good idea to pursue multiple interests and develop a range of skills, or should you focus on one or two key talents and become the best around in your specialism?

I’m asking the question because two of my favourite blogs take completely opposite positions on this issue. In the red corner, Steve Hardy devotes his entire blog to the concept of the Creative Generalist, and recently wrote an excellent post about What Specifically Do Generalists Do?. In the blue corner, advertising copywriter Scamp has this to say about creative generalism:

the idea enrages me so much that every time it pops up I feel the need to reach for a hammer, like I’m playing a blogging version of whack-a-mole.

At the risk of getting whacked by Scamp’s hammer (and of mixing metaphors) I’m going to look at both sides of the question and see if I can referee the fight.

Read the rest of this entry »

I’ve just created a new blog, Wishful Linking, to share links that may be useful and/or interesting to you as a creative professional. So if you’d like me to send you links to web pages about creativity, creative careers, managing creativity, intellectual property, creative industries, blogging, marketing, time management etc, then sign up for the RSS feed now. (If you’re wondering what that means, here’s an explanation of RSS.)

I’m hoping Wishful Linking will be a nice companion site for Wishful Thinking. My previous creative links posts have been well received, but I wanted something quicker and easier to update, so that you get more links more often. After playing around with a few options, I think Tumblr could be just the job.

Well, there it is. Hope you like it - let me know what you think.