In his great book, 'A Kick in the Seat of the Pants', Roger von Oech discusses the four roles of the creative process. He gives great examples of each in this wonderful book.
I was flipping through the book this evening, looking for something for an upcoming presentation I'm doing, when I came across this:
Occasionally, the judge needs to let his stupid monitor down and be a little crazy. An exercise I highly recommend any judge to play is the "Fool and the Rules". In it you roast your basic beliefs and assumptions. By doing so, you may discover that some of your assumptions are obsolete or dogmatic, and thus may be clouding your thinking. At the very least, it's a lot of fun.
What followed were some examples. Check this out:
Rule: Our policy is: no alcohol at work.
Fool: Of course we should have drinking at work. It's an incentive to show up. Not only that, it would reduce stress and lead to more honest communications. Our fellow employees would look better. There'd be fewer complaints about low pay. It would cut down on absenteeism - you could come to work hung over. It would improve communications; you'd tell your manager exactly what you thought. It would save on heating costs in the winter and would encourage car pooling. It would decrease job dissatisfaction; if you had a bad job, you wouldn't know it. Finally, it would eliminate vacation: people would rather go to work.
Exercise: Pick one of your basic beliefs and roast it!
That is why I really dig that book... and why I really dig books by Seth Godin, and Guy Kawasaki. They don't tell you what to do, they tell you that anything and everything is possible if you just go out and try different things.
Any beliefs you care to roast?
Interesting idea. It sucks people need rules such as “No alcohol at work.” It should be a no brainer. A lunchtime drink should be ok if it doesn’t impede your work performance. The stupid and ignorant ruin it for the rest.
Sounds like a great way to challenge your preconceptions.
Posted by: Chuck Conway | May 10, 2004 at 06:17 PM
Chuck,
Yeah, the book is filled with a ton of great stuff!
My new job title is going to be "Status Quo Roaster". What do you think?
Jon
Posted by: Jon Strande | May 10, 2004 at 07:07 PM
Thanks for reminding me of Roger Von Oech. I got his book "A Whack on The Side of The Head" when I was in high school and I've been insufferably creative ever since.
Posted by: Dave Young | May 12, 2004 at 11:26 AM
Dave, My pleasure! I still don't have "A Whack...", I should get that. So thank you!
Posted by: Jon Strande | May 12, 2004 at 11:41 AM