Creativity Now, 2nd Edition

Try the opposite

THE PRINCIPLE

Thinking of the opposite of what’s usually done may lead you to a practical solution

When we try to think of solutions to a challenge our first impulse is to return to the methods that have already been tried.

Instead, figure out the opposite of the way it’s usually done. Then brainstorm how the opposite could be turned into something that works.

Example One: When the producers of the film Gorillas in the Mist were concerned about how they could possibly get gorillas in the wild to do all the things in the script, a young member of their staff suggested, ‘Why not let the gorillas write the script?’

What she meant was that rather than making the gorillas fit what’s in the script, shoot whatever they do naturally ...