Brian Eno and Peter Schmidt had published four editions (in 1975, 1978, 1979 and 1996) of what they call "Oblique Strategies." It's a deck of cards with a random aphorism on each, dedicated to prodding people out of creative funks. And it is now available in iphone:
Some examples:
Use an unacceptable color.
Remove ambiguities and convert to specifics.
Fill every beat with something.
Don't stress one thing more than another.
Ask people to work against their better judgment.
Call your mother and ask her what to do.
Humanize something that is free of error.
Breathe more deeply
Do nothing for as long as possible
Use "unqualified" people.
Make a blank valuable by putting it in an excquisite frame
Faced with a choice, do both
Use fewer notes
Get your neck massaged
Remove specifics; convert to ambiguities
Remove the middle, extend the edges
Imagine the music as a series of disconnected events
Take away the elements in order of apparent non-importance
Discover the recipes you are using and abandon them
Disconnect from desire
Mechanize something idiosyncratic
Do something boring
Accept advice
Pay attention to distractions
Look closely at the most embarrassing details and amplify.And some unpublished ones from his diaries:
Describe the landscape in which this belongs. (9 August)
What else is this like? (9 August)
List the qualities it has. List those you'd like. (9 August)
Instead of changing the thing, change the world around it. (9 August)
What would make this really successful? (9 August)
Who would make this really successful? (9 August)
How would you explain this to your parents? (9 August)
Try faking it. - from Stewart Brand (9 August)
What were the branch points in the evolution of this entity (20 August)
Back up a few steps. What else could you have done? (20 August)
When is it for? Who is it for? (23 August)
What do you do? Now, what do you do best? (27 August)
First work alone, then work in unusual pairs. (8 September)
Take away as much mystery as possible. What is left? (30 December)
1 comment:
More:
1. Be more specific
2. Be more emotional
3. Subvert clichés
4. Go across the street
5. Who is in a similar business?
6. Cement? Consolidate?
7. Turn it upside down
8. Which medium?
9. Be quick and dirty
10. Make an exhaustive list of everything you might do & do the last thing on the list
11. Take a risk
12. Work against your better judgement
13. Take away the elements in order of apparent non-importance
14. BANJO – Bang Another Nasty Job Out
15. Phone a Friend
16. Use an egg timer to get started
17. Faced with a choice, do both
18. Do something really tiny but exquisite
19. Don’t be frightened to display your talents
20. They can only say no
21. Ask for more money
22. Use ‘unqualified’ people
23. Do as much as you can for a short period of time
24. Bridges -build -burn
25. Tidy up
26. Do the words need changing?
27. Shut up for a moment
28. Call ten people who don’t want your product
29. Remove the error from something human
30. Discard an axiom
31. Listen to the quiet voice
32. Buy a strange magazine
33. Give the game away
34. Use fewer words
35. Repeat your greatest success
36. What would Microsoft do?
37. What would Linus Torvalds do?
38. Just carry on
39. Reinforce success
40. Spectrum analysis
41. What mistakes did you make last time?
42. Courageous spending
43. Do it for nothing
44. State the problem in words as clearly as possible
45. Change the order
46. Cluster analysis
47. Do something boring
48. Overtly resist change
49. Accept advice
50. Work at a different speed
51. Down the pub
52. Free associate
53. Go for a run
54. Build a bridge
55. Do the things you love and the money will take care of itself
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