Creative Think

Asking "Why?"

2008-07-17T08:46:13-07:00

Let's check in with the Creative Whack Pack for some inspiration. Here goes. It's card #2: "Ask Why?" Let's see what it says.

Leonardo da Vinci: "I roamed the countryside searching for answers to things I did not understand. Why shells exist on the tops of mountains along with imprints of plants usually found in the sea. Why thunder lasts longer than that which causes it. How circles of water form around the spot which has been struck by a stone. And how a bird suspends itself in the air. Questions like these engaged my thought throughout my life."

Curiosity is wonderful! It jump starts the creative process. It makes us ask questions. It encourages us to go beyond current right answers. It makes us become explorers.

These are the things I'm curious about today.

• Why does the moon appear much larger when it's on the horizon than when it's overhead?

• Why the vast majority of people would prefer NOT to know exactly how long they will live?

• Why happiness is the absence of striving for happiness?

• Why giving your money away makes you feel rich?

• Why the best time to buy stocks when is most people are panicking?

• Why do adults (over 25) use Twitter? (Personally, I have enough on my hands with my own innocuous thoughts. Also, I'm trying to strengthen my ability to concentrate and not be distracted. I think anyone who is trying to get something done would try to do the same. Why use yet another technology that runs counter to that?)

• Why do women put up with men?

• Why real knowledge is knowing the extent of one's ignorance?

•Why can some people can laugh at themselves and why others are easily offended?

• Why is that sometimes we'll spend a lot of thought and time on a post and receive one comment, and sometimes we'll take five minutes to throw something out and end up generating a lot of conversation?

• Why, if we call oranges "oranges," don't we call bananas "yellows," or apples "reds"?

• Why having three times as much money makes people only marginally happier?

[As you can see, I'm not in Leonardo's league, but these should get me through the morning.]

What are you curious about? Why?

The US Olympic Swim Team Comes to Town

2008-07-13T12:03:50-07:00

Last week, after eight days of intense competition at the US Olympic Trials in Omaha, forty-four men and women were selected to be members of the Olympic team which will represent the United States next month in Beijing.

The team's first stop on their way to China is a 19-day pre-Olympic training camp at Stanford.

[Shown above: US Men's Swimming Head Coach Eddie Reese, and me. Photo by Andrew Scheiner.]

That means that my masters swimming team, Stanford Masters, is sharing water with the Olympians! I usually work out at noon, but Saturday I got up early for the 5:15 am practice. As we were finishing up at 6:45, the Olympians were arriving on deck. All the big swimming names were there: Michael Phelps, Aaron Peirsol, Brendan Hansen, Dara Torres, and Amanda Beard. I felt like a "12 & under" again!

The highlight of the morning for me was getting to spend fifteen minutes talking with Eddie Reese, the Head Coach of the Men's Olympic Team. [Eddie is one of the most successful coaches in swimming history: he's produced countless Olympians, and has led Texas to nine NCAA championships.]

I'm not sure if he remembered me, but I first met Eddie in the late 1990s when I had been the announcer for Stanford's home swimming meets. When I saw Eddie on deck, I said, "I've got just the thing to help you select who's going to swim on the Olympic relay teams," and I gave him a Ball of Whacks. He smiled. I then asked him about a variety of topics: who has a fast kick, dealing with the Japanese media, energy drinks, and managing expectations.

The one comment Eddie made that still sticks in my mind was his response to my question: "What motivates these Olympians?" He replied:

"If you ask a general population of athletes what motivates them, 80% will say something like 'the joy of winning.' The other 20% will say along the lines of 'I hate losing.'

"But 95% of the people here [i.e., the Olympians] are in the 'fear of losing' category. Their distaste for losing means they're prepared to work tremendously hard. But above all, it means that they are fierce competitors."

Interesting thought. And one that I've discovered has application in many other avenues of life beyond sports.

Good luck to all the US Olympic swimmers in Beijing!

Loosening Up

2008-07-07T08:56:16-07:00

Time to reach for another card in the trusty Creative Whack Pack. Ready? Here goes. Ah, yes number 40 which is “Loosen Up.”

“It's not so important to be serious
as it is to be serious about the important things.
The monkey has an expression of seriousness
that would do credit to any great scholar.
But the monkey is serious because he itches.”

This is always good advice, but especially timely now.

Here are three things I do to "loosen up."

1. I exercise — especially swimming. This just about always improves my outlook.

2. Being irreverent always helps. I try to look at things humorously and think of offbeat and goofy ways they might be used or come together. I tell myself jokes — or if I'm with other people ask them for their jokes.

3. If I need a 2-minute "loosening-up," I close my eyes and imagine a huge waterfall with water cascading down. I then follow this with three very long deep breaths. It works wonders!

What can you take less seriously? What specific things do you do to loosen up?

Does It Feel Like the 1970s to You?

2008-06-30T14:17:21-07:00

Mark Twain once said: "History doesn't repeat itself, but it rhymes."

I'm now getting old enough to recognize certain things in this decade — the 2000s — that "rhyme" with things from another decade, the 1970s. See if you agree.

• Both the 1970s and the 2000s have an unpopular but twice-elected Republican president (Nixon in the 70s; George Bush in the 00s).

• Both decades have an unpopular war (Vietnam in the 70s; Iraq in the 00s).

• Both decades have significant rise in petroleum prices (the 70s had the "oil shocks" of 1973-74 which raised prices from $2.50/barrel to $10/barrel; the 00s have spot oil prices approaching $150/barrel).

• Both decades witnessed a rise in environmental consciousness (the 70s had the birth of the "environmental" movement; the 00s has its own apocalyptic religious vision of "global warming").

• Both decades had the democratic party nominate a previously obscure liberal as its candidate for president (Jimmy Carter in the 70s; Barack H. Obama in the 00s).

• Both decades saw the rise of a transformative media technology (the 70s saw the beginning of cable television which began the fragmentation of media centralization away from the "Big Three" networks; 00s have widespread WIFI that allows bloggers and Twitterers a final assault on our attention span).

• The mid-to-late 1970s saw a significant growth in inflation rates; inflation growth is just beginning at the latter part of the decade.

Of course, we should be grateful we don't have "big hair," "bell bottoms," or "swingers" to the same degree that were present in the 1970s.

Question: What other similarities do see between the current decade and the 1970s?

Another Odd British Government Logo

2008-06-27T07:19:33-07:00

Question: have you looked at your logo from a number of different viewpoints lately? Maybe you should.

Last week I reported on seeing the London 2012 Olympics logo while I was there. It's a bit controversial: among other things, some say it looks likes the Lisa Simpson performing a sexual act. Anyway, I hope the Brits have fun with it.

Today, my sources have sent me another odd British logo (hat-tip to Alex), shown below.

This one, done at a cost of £14,000, was done for the U.K. Office of Government Commerce.

What does the OCG do? According to the Times (of London), they are "responsible for improving value for money by driving up standards and capability in procurement."

So, what do you think of the design? Certainly looks modern and clean. Although it's kerned a little too tightly for my tastes.

Logos are seen from a bunch of different angles, especially when they're on mouse pads, pens, and the like. What happens when you rotate this 90 degrees like so?

My goodness, the logo takes on a whole new life! It's practically an icon to Onanism.

Despite many titters and much laughter from the public, the OCG is using it anyway. A spokesman for the OGC said this:

"We concluded that the effect was generic to the particular combination of letters 'OGC' and is not inappropriate to the an organization that's looking to have a firm grip on government spending. The logo presents a very clean, uncluttered and modern identity."

Firm grip, indeed!

The Future of Air Travel?

2008-06-24T17:57:13-07:00

Creative Challenge Question: "What do you think will happen in commercial air travel in the next three years (by 2011)? What are the ramifications for other industries such as tourism, etc.?

With petroleum at record highs of near $140/ barrel, the airline industry is among the hardest hit.

United Airlines just announced that it is laying off 950 pilots.
Aviation experts predict that air capacity will shrink by 20% beginning this fall.
Airlines are un-bundling services such as checked luggage and are now charging for them.
Boeing and Airbus face having up to one-third of their new orders canceled.

It certainly seems like the end of an era. So, how do you think this will all shake out in the next three years?

In your opinion, what things will change dramatically? Who loses, and who benefits?

Crowne Plaza Innovator Series

2008-06-23T09:09:57-07:00

Some of you have asked me what I was doing for Crowne Plaza in London.

I was chosen as a "Crowne Plaza Innovator for 2008." That essentially means I was a paid spokesman for their brand. This is part of Crowne Plaza's ongoing "Innovator" series (for the 82 European Crowne Plaza properties).

I ended up doing 22 radio, magazine, and newspaper interviews, and also two seminars for several of their clients.

Here's a link to one of my favorite interviews that came out of this: from the Times (of London).

My main message is that when you plan a meeting, in addition to the space, Audio-visual and catering requirements, you should also be thinking about how engaged your meeting participants are. To help you, Crowne Plaza has created the "Think Box" which has a set of tools (including the Creative Whack Pack and Ball of Whacks) to stimulate creativity for meetings.

It was fun talking about creativity and innovation!

[Photo by Ash Knotek]

Virtual Book Tour

2008-06-22T10:53:44-07:00

Many thanks to Paul Williams at Idea Sandbox who put together a "Virtual Tour" for the new 25th Edition of A Whack on the Side of the Head this past week.

Paul enlisted the following four creativity bloggers who each did a review and/or a Q&A with me: Katie Konrath Get Fresh Minds, Jeff Brainard at Catch Your Limit, John Chandler at Creativityist, and Joyce Wycoff at ThinkSmart

Here's one of the questions Katie Konrath asked me in our interview (her entire post can be found here).

Katie: What's an example of where failure has led you in a different direction?

Roger: My third book, "Expect the Unexpected or You Won't Find It" was published several days before September 11, 2001. (This book is about the ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus whom I consider to be the world's first "creativity teacher.")

The book came out and it was an exciting time. Things were going well and the book got up to #69 on the Amazon list on September 10.

Then 9/11 happened. As a result, most of the media and promotional stuff for the book got washed away. The few interviews I did do had questions such as: "How does your book relate to Al Qaeda?" and "What should we be doing about anthrax terrorist attacks?"

Post 9/11 was a very strange time. And of course, the world didn't feel like hearing about 2,500 year old creativity ideas. I learned that you can have the greatest idea in the world, but if the timing's not right, there's very little you can do.

So, I picked up the pieces in 2002. I found a new publisher for a soft cover version of the book. In 2003, I created a new card deck with some of Heraclitus' basic ideas (this became the "Innovative Whack Pack").

And I was able to incorporate some of my favorite Heraclitus' ideas and stories in the new 25th Anniversary Edition of "Whack." Things worked out okay, just not the way I had expected. Which is fitting considering the title of the book ("Expect the Unexpected").

The Logo I'd Forgotten About

2008-06-18T11:46:02-07:00

With the Beijing Olympics fast approaching, I had completely forgotten that it was just a little over a year ago that the London Olympic Organizing Committee publicly unveiled their logo for the 2012 Games.

However, my memory was refreshed this afternoon when I saw a taxi drive by bearing the London logo on one of its door panels (I'm in London).

Seeing the logo made me smile. That's because when it was publicly announced, public criticism was almost universal, with such comments as:

"It looks like a broken swastika."
"Origami meets high explosives."
"Surveillance video of Hugh Grant and Divine Brown."
"Naughty Lisa Simpson logo."
"Man bent over with back pain."
"Car skidding out of control."

But if the logo is appearing on public transportation, I guess they're keeping it. (They paid $800,000 for it.)

I still think it's ugly. I liked these renderings better:

Doing Media in London

2008-06-16T13:26:03-07:00

I'm in London this week as the guest of the European division of the Crowne Plaza hotel chain. Crowne Plaza is positioning itself as the place where savvy business travelers have their meetings. They've created something called the "Think Box" which contains several of my products including the Creative Whack Pack and the Ball of Whacks. Meeting participants can use these to energize their thinking. It's quite a nice package. Check it out here.

[At left, in the studio.] I did a number of interviews (17) today to promote the Crowne Plaza meeting concept including several with the BBC, The Times, and WebChats.TV. Today was a fun day, and I got to to meet some interesting people.

Good Intentions

2008-06-13T08:45:36-07:00

Sometimes good intentions can lead to unintended consequences.

Creative challenge: What does this cartoon remind you of?

Air Travel's Unintended Consequences

2008-06-11T10:05:29-07:00

To help offset rising jet-fuel prices, American Airlines recently added a $15 per bag fee for passengers checking more than one bag on their flights.

So, how is this working out? How does human behavior factor in? Here's one story.

Last night, I flew on an American flight from St. Louis back to San Francisco. The in-bound connecting flight from Miami was two hours late. Thus, all 152 passengers were ready and eager when it finally came to board the flight (the plane was a single-aisle 757).

It took 40 minutes to get all of the passengers on. Why so long? Since passengers didn't want to check their luggage, they brought larger than usual bags on the flight. Since there's only so much overhead storage space, it took passengers longer to rearrange the bags in the over-head space so they could get their bags to fit. And, of course, they did this while they were standing in the aisle so that no one could pass them.

Here's the juicy unintended consequence: since we pulled out so late, the pilot came on and said, "We'll try to speed things up for you, and fly a little faster to make up up some of the time we lost getting out of the gate."

So, in effect, American's new checked bag policy ended up costing them money in extra jet-fuel use. Wow!

QUESTION: What unintended consequences have you noticed lately?

Getting to Know You!

2008-06-05T18:39:12-07:00

Here's something fun! This is a photo of a piece of outdoor sculpture I took last year in Berlin (when I was at the Berlin Film Festival). I think it's quite evocative.

Creative challenge: think up a fun caption for this photo!

My Luis Buñuel Marathon

2008-06-02T08:05:56-07:00

For the past two weeks, I've had a delightful time watching ten films by the great Spanish director Luis Buñuel (1900-1983). It's been like taking a "creativity shower." (These films are all available on DVD through Netflix).

Most of the films I saw were from his later years, 1960 onwards, when Buñuel was past sixty. These are generally regarded as his best works.

Indeed, for someone who just turned sixty, I find it quite motivating to see an artist whose best work is not from his thirties or forties, but from his sixties and seventies! (I think some of this can attributed to Buñuel's ongoing collaboration with the screen-writer Jean-Claude Carrière).

Buñuel, the man whom Alfred Hitchcock called the "greatest director ever," draws you right into his stories. And once you're there, almost anything can happen — he's constantly surprising you with his imagination. Three main themes in his work appealed to me:

1. Life is paradoxical: something can mean one thing, and it can also mean another.

2. Life is mysterious: unexpected and unpredictable things happen.

3. The spiritual takes different forms: it's important to be open to it.

All in all, I found watching Buñuel a great way to stretch my mind.

These are the films I watched. I'll list them in the order I viewed them. It was a very enjoyable ride. (I put an * next to my three favorites.)

The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (1972). With Fernando Rey. Winner of the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. A group of six friends tries to have a meal together but a succession of highly unusual occurrences interferes. The interruptions become more and more surreal as the movie goes on. Some intriguing dream sequences. Lots of fun!

*That Obscure Object of Desire (1977). With Fernando Rey. Nominated for a screenplay Oscar. A man on a train explains to his fellow passengers (through flashbacks) how he came to madly desire a young woman (on whom he had dumped a bucket of water when the train left the station). A tantalizing tale! I loved the two Conchitas. A great film!

Diary of A Chambermaid (1965). With Jeanne Moreau. A Parisian chambermaid takes a job at a country estate in the late 1920s. Her employers and her co-workers are strange. A young girl is murdered in the woods. Fascinating study of class, politics (emerging fascism), and gender roles.

*Viridiana (1961). With Fernando Rey and Silvia Pinal. Winner of the Palme d'Or at Cannes. Franco invited Buñuel back to Spain to make this film. When it was released, it was banned in Spain. A young woman who is about to take her vows is invited to visit her dying Uncle. Many strange and unusual things ensue. The homeless people's re-staging of the "Last Supper" is priceless.

The Young One aka White Trash (1960). In English. Buñuel examines race relations in the United States. A black jazz musician wrongly accused of rape escapes to an island where a white game warden and his young ward are the only residents. Fascinating study of racism in America.

*The Milky Way (1969). The adventures of two modern day pilgrims who travel from Paris to Santiago de Compostela in Spain. Wherever they go, they meet people who are totally absorbed in matters relating to Christian dogma and heresy. Takes place in multiple eras with appearances by the Marquis de Sade and Jesus Christ. Full of mystery. A mind-jolting, remarkable film.

Belle de Jour (1967). With Catherine Deneuve. Won the Golden Lion at Venice. A frigid newlywed becomes a daytime call girl to satisfy her desires and curiosity. Some wonderful dream and imagination sequences.

The Phantom of Liberty (1974). One of Luis Bunuel's most free-form films. It consists of a series of vaguely inter-related episodes that show how our notions and freedom are culturally based. Quite thought-provoking. One of its most famous scenes is dinner party where people sit on lavatories around a dinner table and then retire one at a time to a little room down the hall to eat.

Un Chien Andalou (1929) and L'Age D'Or (1930). These were Buñuel's first two films (done in collaboration with Salvador Dali and Max Ernst). They're short and pure surrealism. "Un Chien Andalou" features the famous slitting of the eyeball scene. "L'Age D'Or's" premiere was disrupted the Fascist League of Patriots. Buñuel came from these early efforts.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

What are your favorite Buñuel films?

Death Notice of A Creativity Metaphor

2008-05-30T08:19:02-07:00

[Note: I first posted this over a year ago, and it was one of my most commented upon pieces. Alas, since the "light bulb" is still the conventional symbol for "new ideas," I think its message is still relevant. Any replacement suggestions are much appreciated.]

* * * * * * * * * *

Today, I'm announcing the death of a long time metaphor for creativity and innovation: the light bulb.

If you think about it, it's really quite amazing that a 125-year-old invention has had such longevity as a symbol for fresh thinking.

Imagine, for example, if the Long Play (LP) phonograph album (the 33 RPM version popularized in the 1950s) had become the metaphor for "new ideas." It would have been laughed out of existence no later than the early 1980s.

This hit home to me in a recent conversation I had with an art director with one of my publishers. We were reviewing cover mock-ups for one of my upcoming projects. One of them had a light bulb — symbolizing a "new idea."

I told her: "We can't use the light bulb for two reasons. First, it's a very, very, very old metaphor for a new idea. And second, the environmentalists are going to vilify the incandescent light bulb in coming years."

So long, trusty innovation metaphor. You served well! But it's time to find something new.

Question: What are your suggestions for the new creativity metaphor?

New York Times Praises New Whack Edition

2008-05-27T06:46:36-07:00

This put a big smile on my face.

It's from today's New York Times. It's from a review in their business section:

Let’s start with the best: A Whack on the Side of the Head (Business Plus), a book about increasing creativity, has just been reissued to celebrate its 25th anniversary and it is easy to understand its lasting appeal.

The author, Roger von Oech, a consultant, has taken an abstract subject — how to think differently — and made it concrete by asking a series of questions, all of which involve breaking what he calls the mental locks that bind our thinking.

He suggests breaking the locks by acknowledging that they are there and forcing yourself to pry them open.

We are typically taught, for example, that there is one right answer to a problem. But, he says, keep searching even after you find it. After all, as Linus Pauling, winner of the 1954 Nobel Prize in chemistry and the 1962 Nobel Peace Prize, put it, “The best way to get a good idea is to get a lot of ideas.”

—The New York Times,
Business Section,
May 27, 2008

The whole article is here. It is from Paul Brown's Small Business column, and is entitled "Small-Business Books that Break the Mold." Thanks Paul! I'm delighted, naturally!

Using the Ball of Whacks With ADHD Students

2008-05-21T13:23:56-07:00

It's neat to create something, and then to have people use it in ways you never thought about.

Such is the case of the Ball of Whacks.

We recently received the following delightful letter from Monica Ciurej, MSW, who is a school social worker. She writes about using it with her ADHD students.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Hi!

I am a school social worker and have used the Ball of Whacks to demonstrate the ability to re-organize, calm, increase self-esteem and cope with difficulties.

In teaching re-organization to students with ADHD, I've found the Ball of Whacks to be a good teaching tool. You break the ball down, and then you put it together one piece at a time, just as you would complete one problem at a time on a worksheet. And before you know it it's put together or done.

Secondly, I use the ball to distract kids from anger, crying, and agitation. Even if they "break" it they can put it back together. Applied to their emotions, they see how one blow-up can be fixed and life gets put back together and we keep on "rolling" on.

Students are encouraged to try making different objects and shapes with the Balls pieces. After they've successfully made a new shape, their self-esteem improves.

Lastly, the Ball of Whacks is great at teaching coping strategies for kids who might be anxious or nervous. This helps keep their hands busy and is quiet enough for the classroom environment and is not disruptive.

When the students feel like things are "broken," the Ball of Whacks is a great visual of how we can fix things with a little support (magnets) and keep making mistakes and start over.

It's also a great ice-breaker for kids I'm meeting for the first time.

Thanks Again,

Monica Ciurej, MSW

Thank you, Monica. Good luck to you and your students!

London's Underground Menagerie

2008-05-17T10:39:42-07:00

It's always fun to stop over Tim Siedel's Bad Banana site for a nice dose of visual stimulation and creativity. His recent post about animals whose outlines can be made from route lines of the London Underground system caught my fancy. These animals were first "discovered" by Paul Middlewick in the late 1980s. Go here to see the full list of animals.

These delightful animals are a great example of creative thinking: "Looking at the same thing as everyone else and thinking something different." (Albert Szent-Gyorgyi)

Guy Kawasaki's Interview With Me

2008-05-14T19:47:05-07:00

Recently, I did an interview with Guy Kawasaki, the popular entrepreneur, author, venture capitalist, and blogger.

He was kind enough to help promote the new 25th Anniversary Edition of A Whack on the Side of the Head. Many thanks, Guy!

To read the complete interview go here: Roger von Oech interview with Guy Kawasaki.

Here are some of the highlights:

Guy: What's changed about creativity in the last twenty-five years?

Roger: When I started doing "creativity consulting" in 1977, there were probably only four or five other people who were doing creative seminars for companies. It was a difficult sell. Now, there are thousands--if not more--creative consultants, and business seems receptive to the idea of innovation. I'd like to think that my seminars, workshops, books, and other products have played a small role in this changing creative landscape.

Guy: Generally speaking, have companies gotten more creative?

Roger: Yes. I think that the "most admired companies" of just about any age have excelled at creativity and innovation. What's changed today compared to twenty-five years ago is there's an greater expectation that a higher percentage of a company's employees should be using their creative abilities. It's gone from maybe 5% of the work force to 35%. This is a very good thing.

Guy: Can companies conduct team creativity activities over the Internet?

Roger: It depends what you mean by "creativity activities." If you mean product design, no doubt about it. I'm currently developing a successor product to the "Ball of Whacks." I have an engineer in Portland. We can shoot ProCad files over to my manufacturer's engineers in Hong Kong. Ten minutes later we're discussing design revisions. It really shortens product cycle times.

If you mean social media such as blogs and company Wikis, these can be quite useful in terms of gathering opinions and refining points of view. And some of what's said can be a beneficial prod to the creative process.

But if you mean, can you get the electricity, dynamism, and productivity that can result from some "in-person" creative and brainstorming sessions, I haven't experienced that yet.

Guy: What kind of computer do you use?

Roger: I've been an Apple user since 1981. I'm currently working with a MacBook Pro 15", a 30" monitor, and an iPhone. My relationship with Apple started in 1980 when I did my first creative session with a group of engineers--this was before they were a public company. Over the years, I've done creative sessions with various Apple marketing, engineering, and design groups.

Also, Steve Jobs was a speaker at the first "Innovation in Industry" conference I produced. I still remember his words "You make what you want for yourself." That's what motivated him to start Apple. I've found that most of what I've created is the result of something I've personally wanted or desired. And I imagine that's true for most of your readers.

Guy: What's the most important advice that you could give these newfangled "Web 2.0" companies?

Roger: This too shall pass, or to say it another way: "Every right idea eventually becomes the wrong idea." I'm not saying social media are going away; no, they're here to stay. But they will morph and turn into something else. So it's important to be flexible in your approach to your business.

I guess the best advice I would give them is "Don't fall in love with ideas." By ideas I mean: systems, marketing approaches, technologies, partnerships, whatever. Because as soon as you as you fall in love with one approach, you lose sight of other possibilities.

By the way, I hope many of these Web 2.0 companies are successful. Both my children work in the industry: my daughter Athena runs customer support at Ning, and my son Alex is in marketing at Uptake, the travel information site formerly known as Kango.

Guy: Is there a digital equivalent to your Creative Whack Pack?

Roger: Yes! All your readers have to do is go to the Creative Think web site and click on my photograph at the top. They will receive a "Creative Whack," which is a nice pithy creative thinking strategy complete with a story, some examples, and an illustration. Each click gives you a new message. I use it myself.

To read the complete interview go here: Roger von Oech interview with Guy Kawasaki.

UpTake Announces Public Beta

2008-05-14T07:21:15-07:00

My son Alex's company, UpTake.com, has announced their Public Beta is now up and running. Check it out!

Want to get away? Looking for the best places to travel?

Family vacation? A few days off to recharge? Perhaps a mancation? (But not a staycation)?

All the travel information you need: UpTake. I typed in "Banff" and got some get-away ideas. Interesting stuff.

Founded in 2006, UpTake has collected and organized more than 20 million traveler reviews, ratings, blogs and articles from across the web to help travelers to make better decisions about where to go, where to stay and what to do.

UpTake uses a travel ontology and natural language analysis to extract meta-tags from the collective intelligence it has collected and returns unbiased, personalized recommendations based on travelers’ facts and feelings.

The company is headquartered in Palo Alto, California with global engineering teams in Beijing and Moscow.