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The Creative Contrarian: 20 "Wise Fool" Strategies to Boost Creativity and Curb Groupthink
Tackle your thorniest problems using the Wise Fool’s savvy Strategies! The Wise Fool is the archetypal contrarian known for his creativity, irreverence, and humor. He looks at life in unorthodox ways and pushes back against the status quo. Throughout history, powerful decision-makers (Egyptian pharaohs, Chinese emperors, Persian sultans, and European kings) consulted Wise Fools to question the assumptions that kept them mired in stale and obsolete solutions. In The Creative Contrarian , best-selling author (A Whack on the Side of the Head), speaker, and toy designer (Ball of Whacks) Dr. Roger von Oech provides readers with a fully-illustrated “Wise Fool Guide” to challenge established procedures and engage in creative thinking. Roger shows how to gain the confidence to speak up in “groupthink” situations ― and boldly present a different perspective. From laughing at your most beloved ideas to test their validity to adding constraints to problems to reveal new solutions, he offers a framework for creativity that works in business, design, education, and anywhere new ideas are required ― and appreciated! Employing a wealth of stories and examples, The Creative Contrarian presents 20 Wise Fool Strategies: Together, these jewels of insight will help you see things from the Wise Fool’s perspective! As the Wise Fool puts it: “Nothing is more dangerous than an idea when it’s the only one you have”; and “Every ‘right’ idea eventually becomes the ‘wrong’ one.” The Creative Contrarian: 20 “Wise Fool” Strategies to Boost Creativity and Curb Group think is an indispensable resource for anyone seeking fresh solutions to common problems at the office, in the classroom, or at home.
208 pages, Hardcover
Published October 12, 2021
4 people are currently reading
38 people want to read
About the author
Roger Von Oech
41 books32 followersRoger von Oech is an American speaker, conference organizer, author, and toy-maker whose focus has been on the study of creativity.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
August 14, 2022
This is consistent with Wiley’s reputation for publishing self-promotional books for small businesses in wide-spaced, big fonts, peppered with quotations to barely fill 191 pages.
But these anecdotes have better quality than most seemingly self-published Wiley books. For one, the writing is clear and free of mistakes, thanks to the obvious work of a good editor. They also used quality smooth paper to heighten the disturbing drawings. To hit 200 pages, there is a bibliography at the end all the way from 1494 (is that even in print?).
What is Roger selling? The idea that you should question everything and go against the crowd. Like that annoying guy Tom Hanks played in “Big” who said in a corporate meeting, “I don’t get it.” And that was enough to win him the CEO’s favor after they played chopsticks on a giant keyboard in a giant toy store. Which proves that if you’re Tom Hanks, you can be your Own Man.
This is a quick read to whet your appetite to know more, but there really isn’t much more to being oppositional. Just don’t follow grammatical rules and “Think Different” even if you call yourself a fruit.
To keep the book’s usefulness after you scan it in an hour, Roger wants you to randomly open a passage when you have a problem. And who hasn’t asked the Universe to give us signs through innocuous means like tea leaves and Tarot cards?
Maybe if you have the budget, you can hire Roger to “train” your workers to be more annoying —I mean contrarian. That would work if they cared to jeopardize their jobs, miss deadlines, and risk the ire of their “progressive” boss.
Still, I got several good ideas and confirmation of my biases from this book. But I was born an unfeeling fool who cannot control my impulse to speak the truth. So for me, it doesn’t pay to be the Bad Guy, unless you want a career in activism, law, journalism, or comedy (I tried three of those).
Sure there are the geniuses and innovators, but they’re such a minuscule number in history that it’s unlikely we can simulate their thinking or success. Or maybe the point is just to think? At the very least, borrow this book from your library to nudge your mental complacency.
@IvyDigest
But these anecdotes have better quality than most seemingly self-published Wiley books. For one, the writing is clear and free of mistakes, thanks to the obvious work of a good editor. They also used quality smooth paper to heighten the disturbing drawings. To hit 200 pages, there is a bibliography at the end all the way from 1494 (is that even in print?).
What is Roger selling? The idea that you should question everything and go against the crowd. Like that annoying guy Tom Hanks played in “Big” who said in a corporate meeting, “I don’t get it.” And that was enough to win him the CEO’s favor after they played chopsticks on a giant keyboard in a giant toy store. Which proves that if you’re Tom Hanks, you can be your Own Man.
This is a quick read to whet your appetite to know more, but there really isn’t much more to being oppositional. Just don’t follow grammatical rules and “Think Different” even if you call yourself a fruit.
To keep the book’s usefulness after you scan it in an hour, Roger wants you to randomly open a passage when you have a problem. And who hasn’t asked the Universe to give us signs through innocuous means like tea leaves and Tarot cards?
Maybe if you have the budget, you can hire Roger to “train” your workers to be more annoying —I mean contrarian. That would work if they cared to jeopardize their jobs, miss deadlines, and risk the ire of their “progressive” boss.
Still, I got several good ideas and confirmation of my biases from this book. But I was born an unfeeling fool who cannot control my impulse to speak the truth. So for me, it doesn’t pay to be the Bad Guy, unless you want a career in activism, law, journalism, or comedy (I tried three of those).
Sure there are the geniuses and innovators, but they’re such a minuscule number in history that it’s unlikely we can simulate their thinking or success. Or maybe the point is just to think? At the very least, borrow this book from your library to nudge your mental complacency.
@IvyDigest
October 26, 2021
BE TRUE TO YOU
Being true to yourself sometimes involves seeing and acting contrary to the mainstream. You may need to "develop a thick skin" or "flex your risk muscle" to navigate uncharted waters. Roger offers these and 18 other "Wise Fool" strategies in this delightful and inspiring book to help us be more creative in our work and personal lives.
He shares stories from across many field and periods of history when some people chose to "drop what's obsolete" and "use their forgettery" to discover unimaginable solutions to problems. When we employ these and other strategies, we can more easily traverse the rapids of our lives. Just imagine what new realities we can create when we "find what's out of whack," "exercise humility" and "laugh at it."
I've enjoyed all of Roger's previous products from the ground breaking book "A Whack on the Side of the Head" to the idea stimulating magnetic manipulative toy, the Ball of Whacks. Thank you Roger for this artistically designed, well-researched and playfully crafted revivification of the Wise Fool. May it help us all break through our logjams and flourish!
Being true to yourself sometimes involves seeing and acting contrary to the mainstream. You may need to "develop a thick skin" or "flex your risk muscle" to navigate uncharted waters. Roger offers these and 18 other "Wise Fool" strategies in this delightful and inspiring book to help us be more creative in our work and personal lives.
He shares stories from across many field and periods of history when some people chose to "drop what's obsolete" and "use their forgettery" to discover unimaginable solutions to problems. When we employ these and other strategies, we can more easily traverse the rapids of our lives. Just imagine what new realities we can create when we "find what's out of whack," "exercise humility" and "laugh at it."
I've enjoyed all of Roger's previous products from the ground breaking book "A Whack on the Side of the Head" to the idea stimulating magnetic manipulative toy, the Ball of Whacks. Thank you Roger for this artistically designed, well-researched and playfully crafted revivification of the Wise Fool. May it help us all break through our logjams and flourish!
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