Think Like A Fool

Photo by Heather Mull

One of the inspirations for this blog is a book by Roger Von Oech titled A Whack on the Side of the Head in which he has a chapter called Don't Be Foolish. He summarizes some of this chapter in his blog post, Think Like a Fool. Ironically, I find that many clowns and physical comedians could improve their acts by thinking foolishly more often. It's also a rich creativity tool.

Some of his tactics for thinking like a fool include:

• Reverse standard assumptions
• Notice things others overlook
• Be irreverent
• Be cryptic
• Be absurd
• Take the contrary position

In his book he also mentions other fool tools:

• Laugh at it
• Reverse your viewpoint
• Parody the rules

In the coming weeks I'll be adding to his list, but I'll throw this question out to you—What other ways can you think like a fool?