What if This One Question Could Make You As Creative As The Worlds Most Famous Artist?
This story originally appeared in my book club. Since I recently sold the company I launched at 19 years old — we did $5m in sales and raised $2.5m in VC- I’ve shifted my focus to reading a book a day. Join my book club now to see what a 26 year old with one exit under his belt is reading.
It’s about 1030am here in Austin Texas and I just finished reading the most tactical book I’ve ever read on manufacturing creativity.
The book is called “A Whack on the Side of the Head”, click here to buy on Amazon.
Here are 3 lessons I took from the book.
Changing contexts is a way to discover the possibilities of your resources
Gutenberg combined two previously unconnected ideas: the wine press and the coin punch.
The purpose of the coin punch is to leave an image on a small area such as a gold coin.
The function of the wine press is to apply force over a large area to squeeze the juice out of grapes.
The resulting combination was the printing press and moveable type.
Today, in your office or at your cubicle, remember to change your context drastically to unlock the potential of your resources.
You’ll always find what you’re looking for so look carefully
Ever notice when you buy a new car, you start seeing that car everywhere on the streets. It’s almost like everyone copied you.
False. It’s because your mind finds what it’s looking for. The same is true in business and all areas of life. If we look for beauty, we find it. If we look for conspiracy, we find it. It’s all a matter of setting your mental channel.
Reset your mental channels frequently. This means ignoring what you think is “right”. If you think there’s only one right answer, then you’ll stop looking as soon as you find one.
Look for the second, third, and fourth.
Without the sun, you see beautiful stars
Whenever you want to get a different perspective on a situation, ask yourself: What is the sun, or the most dominant feature of this situation? What new stars come into view when you ignore it?
Another approach is to remove your favorite idea, or favorite part of the design. What’s left over?
Look for more ideas as you tumble around these questions. The best idea comes from many good ideas.
These are just 3 concepts I pulled from the book but I’ve got over 100 in my full notes. This book is too valuable for you not to read — an instant way to unlock your creativity.
Click here to grab it on Amazon (its hard to find)
If you liked these book notes, you’ll probably like these too:
Billionaire Red McCombs: “You Either Make Dust, Or Eat It”
The Most Persuasive Man Ever That You’ve Never Heard Of
Hey there! Quick favor: if you click that heart button below, it means more people will see these lessons for free. Would mean the world to me. Thanks! -NL :)
