It was an experimental wine that Thierry had been working on…

He thought it had potential, so he decided to share it with Guy.

He poured two glasses. They sipped it.

After they’d both appreciated it for a few minutes, Thierry declared in heavily accented English…

“Now zat iz what you call a phet best-ard!”

And so the wine — and Thierry’s winery — was named.
The point: Don’t be afraid of silly ideas…

That’s the advice Paul Arden gives in his book It’s Not How Good You Are, It’s How Good You Want to Be.

And it’s advice that I agree with big time.

Fat Bastard wine is just one example of a silly idea that turned out to be very successful. I mean, who in their right mind would call a wine Fat Bastard?

Yet, it worked brilliantly…

In just six years, it became an international success, selling hundreds of thousands of cases. In fact, the brand was described by BusinessWeek as a “marketing phenomenon.”

I actually remember first seeing a bottle of Fat Bastard in a Tesco in Grimsby a couple of years ago. And I’m not surprised it’s stuck in my memory…

Imagine looking along your typical supermarket wine shelf. There’s Chateau This and Chateaux That — and then, right in the middle, there’s a bottle of Fat Bastard!

It’s an absurd name — almost juvenile. But attention-getting… and unforgettable.

Arden quotes John Cleese as saying:

“High creativity is responding to situations without critical thought.”

That’s what happened with the wine… Thierry and Guy weren’t thinking critically when they decided to name the wine. They just went with it.

I bet there was a lot of critical thought afterward, as various “suits” undoubtedly told them it was a silly idea. But they stayed with it, and ended up with a hit on their hands.

Using Silly Ideas to Solve Your Problems

Arden also talks about how “thinking silly” can help you overcome a mental block…

This resonated with me, because it’s something I often do if I get stuck. You’re faced with a problem at work and you need to come up with a solution, but your brain just isn’t firing.

It happens to us all, right?

You sit there trying to figure it out, but you end up going round in circles.

The problem remains.

One of the reasons your brain might not be firing properly is because you’re being too critical of yourself… You’re so concerned with coming up with the right solution, first time, that you’re blocking your brain.

As Cleese said, “creativity is responding to situations without critical thought.” So, you need to dump that critical thought and start thinking freely, start thinking “silly.”

Arden’s approach, here, is two-fold…

First, he recommends doing the opposite of what the solution requires…

And second, he recommends looking out the window and using whatever catches your eye — be it a man in the street, a television aerial, whatever — as a possible solution to your problem.

Both ideas sound strange, but it’s exactly this kind of illogic that shakes up your brain and gets it thinking about your problem — and its solution — in a different way.

So whenever you’re struggling to come up with a solution to a problem you’re facing…

Follow Paul Arden’s advice and start “thinking silly”… Your silly idea might just turn out to be the best one you ever have.

Source: Glenn Fischer ETR

Many good ideas have been discovered because someone poked around in an outside industry or discipline, and applied what he found to his own field. For example, Dan Bricklin took the “spreadsheet” concept from accounting and turned it into VisiCalc, the program that helped create the microcomputer software industry. World War I military designers borrowed from the cubist art of Picasso and Braque to create more effective camouflage patterns for tanks and guns.

Certainly no one would question Pablo Picasso’s creativity, and much of his inspiration came from his mother at a young age. According to the artist, “My mother said to me, ‘If you become a soldier, you’ll become a general. If you become a monk you’ll end up as the Pope.’ Instead, I became an artist and wound up as Picasso.”

If you are not born with creativity … then you have to cultivate creativity on an ongoing basis. Here are some ideas:

“Problems cannot be solved by the same level of thinking that created them.”
- Alebert Einstein

“Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep.”
- Scott Adams

Perhaps the greatest myth about creativity is the idea that it’s a rare gift or genetic endowment possessed by only a few. We see an original painting, feel moved to our core by a piece of music, or read about an incredible scientific discovery and mistakenly conclude that some people are born with creative talent while others are not. In reality, each of us is infinitely creative.

“There is nothing in a caterpillar that tells you it’s going to be a butterfly.”
- Buckminster Fuller

“It is the tension between creativity and skepticism that has produced the stunning and unexpected findings of science.”
- Carl Sagan

Just as a picture is drawn by an artist, surroundings are created by the activities of the mind.
- Buddha

“Consciousness is the potential for all creation. The more consciousness you have, the more potential you have to create. Pure consciousness, because it underlies everything, is pure potential.”
- Deepak Chopra

“When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be.”
- Lao Tzu

“Every creative act involves a new innocence of perception liberated from the cataract of accepted belief.”
- Arthur Koestler

“The Possible’s slow fuse is lit by the imagination.”
- Emily Dickenson

”Creativity is a type of learning process where the teacher and pupil are located in the same individual.”
- Arthur Koestler

When you play and open yourself to new experiences, you enter into the present moment. You see the world with fresh eyes, relinquishing rigid ideas about how things “ought to be” and opening yourself to creative solutions and transformation. Here are a few activities to jump-start your creativity.

Write
Pick an object. It can be an everyday item off your desk, a travel souvenir, a favorite relic, or any other object that draws your attention. Now imagine that you have just discovered this item on an archaeological dig. Write a short story about what it is and how it was used. Speculate about the people and culture that produced the object . . . who used it? Was it reserved for special ceremonies? What did it represent to those who created it?

Sing
Choose a familiar song and make up new lyrics. Choose something simple such as a favorite children’s song or your favorite Beatles classic.

Go Outside
Take a brisk walk or a run in a beautiful park or somewhere in nature. Inhale the life force of the plants with your full attention, imagining the air entering your lungs, flowing to your heart, and fueling the millions of life processes taking place in every second. At night, go outside and gaze at the stars, feeling the unboundedness of the universe.

Paint
Go to an art supply or crafts shop and buy 3–6 paints in colors you love. You can try watercolors, acrylics, or whatever kind of paint appeals to you. Don’t worry about what you will paint – just choose colors that you make your heart sing. Also select a surface for your project . . . canvas, paper, board. Set aside half an hour where you won’t be disturbed and let yourself paint. Allow yourself to play and request a “silent period” from your inner critic. Paint with your fingers, your hands, or your nose! Let the child in you play freely.

Dance
Turn down the lights and turn up the music and let your body move! You can dance alone or invite a group of friends over. Let go of any ideas about whether you can dance. Let the music wash over you and free your body to move. You’ll feel energized and you may even release hidden reservoirs of creativity.

Learn
Find inspiration by taking a class or attending a workshop. Harness your creativity at SynchroDestiny, the Chopra Center’s empowerment workshop. Find out more here.

To tap into our deepest potential and creative reservoirs, another extremely valuable tool is the practice of meditation. When we meditate, we access the pure consciousness that is the source of all creative inspiration. We go beyond our internal dialogue and repetitive thoughts into the refreshing silence and stillness of pure awareness. With a regular, twice-daily practice of meditation, we gain more and more access to the field of pure potential and spontaneously receive creative thoughts.

As you meditate and cultivate inner stillness, you will be able to act from a place of calm, centered awareness. The combination of stillness and dynamic movement will allow you to create whatever you want. As you venture into the field of all possibilities, keep in mind that feeling uncertain is a sign that you are moving in the right direction – towards greater freedom and expansion.

You may also find it helpful to find inspiration from other pioneers of the unknown. Watch movies, read books about creative people, and immerse yourself in their inspiring stories, remembering that you, too, possess everything necessary to live a creative, fulfilling life. In the words of Julia Child – the renowned master chef who was 37 when she began her culinary career at the Cordon Bleu in Paris: “Try new recipes, learn from your mistakes, be fearless, and above all, have fun!”

Source: Deepak Chopra

Ackoff, Russell L. The Art of Problem Solving; John Wiley, 1978
Wharton School professor and father figure in operations research Russ Ackoff is brilliant and incisive. He has an uncanny ability to frame problems so the solutions pop out and is funny to boot. There are many parables in the text – a form of exposition to which I am partial – and these clarify some quite complicated analyses and lead to “morals” such as, “The less we understand something, the more variables we need to explain it”.
Management in Small Doses; John Wiley, 1986
Pretty much the same comments as above.
Both books are at reading level 1.

Adams, James L. Conceptual Blockbusting; Addison-Wesley, 1987
The author has a background as an engineer and Stanford professor. He defines various “blocks” to creativity such as stereotyping, judging etc. and suggests strategies to overcome them. The best parts are the exercises peppered throughout the various chapters. Be sure to try these. (Sample: Imagine the sensation of a long attack of hiccups). Reading level 1.

DeBono, Edward Lateral Thinking; Harper & Row, 1970
Vertical thinking, according to DeBono, is digging the same hole deeper. Lateral thinking is digging someplace else. Junior is bothering his aunt who is knitting a sweater. He feels constricted by the playpen and howls. Solution: put the aunt in the playpen where she can knit undisturbed while junior romps outside. Several sets of exercises are included. Reading level 1 with gusts of 2.
DeBono specifies hats of six colors, each associated with a different thinking mode. Putting on the white hat requires you to present facts and figures in a neutral, objective manner. The red hat requires you to present how you feel about “the proposal” emotionally, the black hat what your negative assessments are, and so on. The method is designed to switch thinking away from arguments into collaboration. Widely used techniques. Reading level 1.
Serious Creativity; Harper Collins, 1992
Prolific as he is it is easy to understand how DeBono can afford to live on his own private island. This book summarizes his other works and gives new anecdotes, business examples and exercises. Reading level 1.

Isakson, Scott G. and Donald J. Treffinger Creative Problem Solving: The Basic Course
Bearly Ltd., 1985
This is a workbook that comes in a three hole binder and provides detailed instructions on data finding, problem structuring, idea and solution finding etc. The checklists of questions are quite helpful though the text is somewhat boring. Reading level 1 but goes to 2 quite often.

Michalko,Michael Thinkertoys; 10 Speed Press, 2006
The original edition of this book was good and this one is better. The graphics are great and it has a friendly feel – you just want to flip through it and browse at length. Wonderful quotes from Sun Tzu at the start of each chapter. Michalko teaches you several techniques to challenge your assumptions. In “reversal” for example, you ask what happens if you change the order of things by say giving a onus to waiters before they start serving diners. Turns out that productivity actually increases. Reading level 1.

Miller, William The Creative Edge; Addison-Wesley, 1987
A consultant to major corporations, Miller does a fine job of showing how to enhance creativity in individual and group settings. His discourse on intuitive methods is good, as is his discussion of human values. Methods of achieving “win-win” solutions in the workplace are neat. Reading level 1, very occasionally 2.

Parnes, Sidney J. The Magic of Your Mind; Creative Education Foundation, 1981
Another book that talks about the creative process, what blocks it and how we can overcome the blocks. Many standard exercises are presented. The sans-serif type is none too easy to read but, to compensate, there is a profusion of cartoons most of which are very, very funny. Reading level 1.

von Oech, Roger A Whack on the Side of the Head; Warner 1983
A Kick in the Seat of the Pants; Harper & Row, 1986
Nobody would publish his first book so von Oech did it himself and created a block-buster success that is still being touted by purveyors of manuals on self publishing. It also established his reputation as a creativity consultant and he picked up many prestigious Silicon Valley clients including Apple Computers. Oversize and easy to read. Good graphics and pictures. Fun exercises. Reading level 1.

Creative risk taking is essential to success in any goal where the stakes are high. Thoughtless risks are destructive, of course, but perhaps even more wasteful is thoughtless caution which prompts inaction and promotes failure to seize opportunity.

Discipline is based on pride, on meticulous attention to details, and on mutual respect and confidence. Discipline must be a habit so ingrained that it is stronger than the excitement of the goal or the fear of failure.

Do more than is required. What is the distance between someone who achieves their goals consistently and those who spend their lives and careers merely following? The extra mile.

Every choice carries a consequence. For better or worse, each choice is the unavoidable consequence of its predecessor. There are not exceptions. If you can accept that a bad choice carries the seed of its own punishment, why not accept the fact that a good choice yields desirable fruit?

Learning is about more than simply acquiring new knowledge and insights; it is also crucial to unlearn old knowledge that has outlive its relevance. Thus, forgetting is probably at least as important as learning.

Money is always on its way somewhere. What you do with it while it is in your keeping and the direction you send it in say much about you. Your treatment of and respect for money, how you make it, and how you spend it, reflect your character.

Self-discipline is an act of cultivation. It require you to connect today’s actions to tomorrow’s results. There’s a season for sowing a season for reaping. Self-discipline helps you know which is which.

Thoughtless risks are destructive, of course, but perhaps even more wasteful is thoughtless caution which prompts inaction and promotes failure to seize opportunity.

We only live once, but once is enough if we do it right. Live your life with class, dignity, and style so that an exclamation, rather than a question mark signifies it!

You cannot afford to wait for perfect conditions. Goal setting is often a matter of balancing timing against available resources. Opportunities are easily lost while waiting for perfect conditions.

Your future takes precedence over your past. Focus on your future, rather than on the past.

Your mind, while blessed with permanent memory, is cursed with lousy recall. Written goals provide clarity. By documenting your dreams, you must think about the process of achieving them.

Source: www.brainyquote.com

“I think that only daring speculation can lead us further and not accumulation of facts.”
Albert Einstein

“Technological change is like an axe in the hands of a pathological criminal.”
Albert Einstein

“The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift.”
Albert Einstein

“Creativity is a type of learning process where the teacher and pupil are located in the same individual.”
Arthur Koestler

“Thank goodness I was never sent to school; it would have rubbed off some of the originality.”
Beatrix Potter

“When I am working on a problem I never think about beauty. I only think about how to solve the problem. But when I have finished, if the solution is not beautiful, I know it is wrong.”
Buckminster Fuller

“There is nothing in a caterpillar that tells you it’s going to be a butterfly.”
Buckminster Fuller

“It is the tension between creativity and skepticism that has produced the stunning and unexpected findings of science.”
Carl Sagan

“If you want to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first create the universe.”
Carl Sagan

“It is better to have enough ideas for some of them to be wrong, than to be always right by having no ideas at all.
Edward de Bono

“Creativity is the sudden cessation of stupidity.”
Edwin Land

“Creativity requires the courage to let go of certainties.”
Erich Fromm

“Conditions for creativity are to be puzzled; to concentrate; to accept conflict and tension; to be born everyday; to feel a sense of self.”
Erich Fromm

“Happiness is not in the mere possession of money; it lies in the joy of achievement, in the thrill of creative effort.”
Franklin D. Roosevelt

“Eveyone is a genius at least once a year. A real genius has his original ideas closer together.”
Georg C. Lichtenberg

“The world is but a canvas to the imagination.”
Henry David Thoreau

“Decision by democratic majority vote is a fine form of government, but it’s a stinking way to create.”
Lillian Hellman

“The best way to have a good idea is to have lots of ideas.”
Linus Pauling

“There is nothing new except what has been forgotten.”
Marie Antoinette

“Your theory is crazy, but it’s not crazy enough to be true.”
Niels Bohr

“All children are artists. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up.”
Pablo Picasso

“A painter told me that nobody could draw a tree without in some sort becoming a tree; or draw a child by studying the outlines of its form merely . . . but by watching for a time his motions and plays, the painter enters into his nature and can then draw him at every attitude . . .”
Ralph Waldo Emerson